Oh-ya means No

The street kids come up, as they inevitably do, asking for change. They mime that they are hungry, and they have no place to stay. "Icecream!" I shake my head "no" They keep up with us as we walk, jabbering along in Kinyrwandan and French. "No" I say, "O-ya." Immediately they stop, they turn and find someone else to solicit.

Its amazing, this Oya. It is always immediately effective, to people selling things, begging, taxi men, always...even if I say it with a smile, which in Bangladesh signaled that I didn't really mean it.