Close Encounters of the Random Kind

 #1, Sauna Man: Sitting in the park smoking a ciggie (highly illegal!) and approached by a grizzled wizened be-bebearded old man. Turns out he's Afghani, doesn't like the Taliban, life is better in Colombia etc., etc.  And I can stay in a "free hotel" (?!?) . . . he struggles for the word, "sauna."

 Now, back in the day, I occasionally visited the "baths," but that was probably different.  I'll never know.


 #2, Secret Police Man:  Waiting at the corner for the light to change, guy in a business suit asks me and another guy where we're from.  "Oh, you must register with the police, half a block." Then he pulls out his wallet and shows us what looks like a driving license and points to the word " official. "

The light changed, I walked on, and didn't look back.  It almost would have been worth it to find out what his scam was . . .

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