hello

two army officials, ever-present in their posts and with their machine guns, approach us in the snow. they speak in Hindi to bashir as we walk; they are of the few who do not speak english. the conversation lasts quite a while. i can pick out only such references as "america," "usa," and "english." as they leave, one looks at me and says, "english?"

"yes," i say.
"hello."
i respond, "nemeste."
their faces brighten.

later, i ask bashir what the conversation was about. he says only, "a lot of things." not happily.

we walk on.