Englishman in Bandung

By Vodkaman

Little Gendis

I wandered around the block to the grove, to see what is happening there, as it has been a while since my last visit. Ibu Teta saw me coming and as usual, invited me in for a cup of coffee. Teta buys in single packets of white coffee, as she knows that I like it. Her supply however, had run dry, so she dispatched her son to buy some more despite my protests, but that is the kind of person she is.

I really wanted to blip Teta but she was not too keen, but she did offer up her grand daughter as a viable alternative.

Introducing little Gendis.

This charming little girl was shy and very unsure of the big white giant, understandable really. To reduce the obvious imposing size of my generous stature, I got down and dirty, so now I was the same size and Gendis immediately felt more comfortable. Gran explained that photos were to be taken and as soon as the big eye was presented, Gendis went into Shirley Temple mode, tucking her hands on her cheeks and smiling. She even turned to the left and then to the right, just like a professional model!

Gendis was obviously used to the camera and had been coached on what looks cute and indeed it did, but this was not what I was looking for. After shooting the cute shots that she wanted or expected me to take, I moved to the doorway, to get better light behind me. She was obviously not used to people taking so many photos and started to become unsure again.

In the new location, she half heartedly did the hands thing again, but within seconds, the novelty wore off and the finger went in the mouth. Bingo, this was what I wanted, the shy little girl that I met when I arrived. I knew from experience that I only had a couple more shots, otherwise tears would rain down. I lowered the camera and showed her the images on replay, as I know children love to see this and she was relaxed again.

To do Gendis justice, I would need to visit a few more times and gain her confidence. I may even get a chance to capture Ibu Teta too. I have put a selection of the other shots in folio so that you can see the sequence of events, they are in chronological order.

Dave

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