Lighter!

The nice part about rainy season is you get lots of chances to cozy up in your hut, light a bunch of candles (including the scented ones your aunt thought you were giving as souvenirs) and drink a hot cup of tea. The bad part about the rainy season is the constant damp makes striking a match difficult and/or impossible. On one particularly gross afternoon I really wanted tea, so I wasted over half of my matches before giving up.

After that afternoon I decided to buy a lighter. As the bitik owner handed me my lighter, he asked why I was buying it. He did not ask this question in the tone of voice you'd use towards someone buying ten bunches of bananas, which is a tone of What in the world?? curiosity, nor did he use the tone of voice used when someone is buying a box of fresh strawberries, a can of whipped cream and package of shortcakes, which is an Oh, strawberry shortcakes? How lovely type of curiosity. He asked it in the tone of voice used when a young child buys several large bottles of hot sauce. I have never witnessed a young child do this, but I imagine my curiosity would be of the What is that young child planning to do with several large bottles of hot sauce? Certainly nothing innocent... variety. He probably thought I was going to leave his store and smoke a pack of cigarettes, which would have been quite unseemingly as it was still Ramadan and I am a woman.

I would have liked to reply to his question with a mischievous grin and a gleeful "Light stuff on fire!" but I'm not sure that would have translated correctly so my actual reply was, "My matches are spoiled." Then he asked (in a tone of normal curiosity) what I needed matches for and when I said candles he tried to sell me a battery-powered lantern, with the warning that candles are not good for the house. I told him I like candles, and anyway, I still need to light my gas. I must have given an acceptable answer, because he allowed me to leave his shop with the lighter, and only the lighter.

Here are the reasons my lighter is amazing:

1. It works.
2. The mini-flashlight on the non-lighter end of the lighter is not actually a mini-flashlight. It is instead a light-up image of the president that can be projected onto any flat surface.