Awkward, Much?

So, there’s a guy here in the office, seems nice enough, but I think he’s crossing a line of propriety. Before I left, he gave me a little silver ring as a gift – I said thank you, but thought it was strange. Yesterday, he brought in some tea for me (I don’t actually drink tea, but I thanked him anyway – and it’s not something he’s supposed to do around here – not that I’m really certain of what he *does* do, mind you), and today he came in with a bag of oranges for me. I said “thank you, that’s very kind”, but I think I’m also going to have to tell him that it’s not appropriate for him to give me gifts. But he barely speaks English, and doing this with an interpreter would be awkward as all get out.

It’s possible that he’s just being nice, but given the rules about gender interactions in this part of the world, I think that it’s also kind of sketchy, whether it’s intended to be or not. He seems nice enough, but this isn’t right. Now, how to broach the subject. Oy. This is one of the reasons why I don’t want to be marooned here by myself (and despite assurances that it won’t happen, it wouldn’t surprise me if it did), navigating this kind of thing is weird for me. In the US, I might think that whoever was doing the gift giving was either being nice or had a bit of a crush, but it wouldn’t really have any larger meaning beyond that. Here…well, the rules are different.

Once again, I marvel at the wisdom of whoever thought it would be a good idea for me to come here.

Back to work…