"Probably not as nice as these trees, though."
Kitty picks up the conversation. "You're staying at the Wolf's Head? How do you find it? My da likes to go there for a drink every once in a while."
Daniel shakes his head affectionately. "Same old Kitty. She's putting you at your ease. It was the same when I first came here."
It seems that Daniel's and her families live next door to one another in the village, and have ever since the Aouns, Daniel's family, first arrived in Ireland. Six-year-old Kitty was so anxious for her new neighbors to feel welcome that she even tried to teach herself Arabic in order to converse with them.
"We actually spoke French at home," Daniel notes. "But it was a nice thought. Kitty learned everything she could about Lebanon to try to make me feel at ease. She was kind of disappointed when I turned out to be obsessed with Man United and McDonald's."
It is clear that Kitty enjoys looking after people, and that she wants to make you feel at ease. She tries to involve you in her conversation with Daniel, including you in their banter and steering away from inside jokes and discussion of people you don't know.
I allow her to do so, participating in their conversation cheerfully and playing my part in the jokes between them.
I am coolly polite but stay aloof and respond only briefly to her attempts at conversation.
I am curt and tight-lipped, saying very little at all.
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