Market

It doesn't look like much during the day, but at night this market, right next to the medina, is packed.  The man on the left wanted his picture taken, then asked me where I was from.  During our conversation, about 15 people gathered around to see what the tourist had to say; many others piped up with questions of their own.  One of the observers jumped in and began speaking and then yelling in Arabic about Islam.  I still felt fine, but an older Libyan man, perhaps sensing that the situation could escalate, came over and broke up the conversation and escorted me on down the street.

This has happened to me many times on my journey over the past six months.  Nobody has even threatened me, let alone robbed or harmed me in any way.  And whenever a situation gets a little dicey, a bystander has stepped in to help me out.  In southern Africa, it was often a woman -- sometimes an older one, often someone in her 20s; up here, older men do more of the bailing out.