As we approach the town plaza, the music and raucous laughter are getting louder and louder. The smell of food is also in the air. It’s cooler now, but it is still warm, that a kilometer of walk makes me all sweaty, including my palm that is still tightly held by Theo.

He gives me a beverage bought from a vendor with black hair, black eyes but a fair complexion. Then he buys a very irregular-shaped fried potato with spicy sauce at the top. It is also very delicious. Then he pulls me into another booth selling skewered meat that smells like lamb or chicken. It’s cooked over braziers of...