Cusco Central Market
Published in
Nov 20, 2023
Mercado Central de San Pedro: Negotiating in Spanglish
It’s not ‘baby alpaca’, only ‘maybe alpaca’, I tell her.
To even the playing field, I change to Spanish: ‘Setenta y cinco dolares’, $75. It’s nice but mainly wool.
She says ‘ciento diez’, $110.
I tell her that’s more than it would cost me back in the U.S., and the only reason we’re still talking because she has very nice facial features. Anyway, I have to go now.
Senor, she says, I’ll sell it to you for $75 but please-please give me $110.
I fork over the money. She won. She beat me with the please-please.
Originally published at https://www.fridayflashfiction.com.
