Day 17: Chinese tourists and starving artists

Today, I played for a couple of hours. I started in front of the Harvard Coop, but had to move about 15 minutes in when the artist on the bench across from me asked me to move. Since I was technically not supposed to be that close to him anyways (the ordinance says street performers here have to be 50 feet away or something like that, and I was 15 feet from him), I moved around the corner, to the entrance of a little cobblestone alleyway. I played there for another hour and a half, until my batteries decided to die on me. I'm beginning to think that the exertion of starting up drains a lot of battery power, because they can't seem to handle turning off and on very well.

A pair of Chinese tourists listened for a while. After they left, some guy told me that they had told him (in Chinese) that I sang "with soul" and that they really liked me. This, of course, despite the fact that they didn't speak a word of English, so they had no clue what I was singing about.

I didn't make much money, but I had a good time. I particularly have a newfound respect for the artist who asked me to move, because he did so kindly and without the dirty looks I often get from other street performers who try and get me to move.