To be a fair-haired kid in Oman

Another day Märt was asking me:
"Mommy, why do everybody always touch me?"
Me: "Because you are different. They do not have any fair-haired kids either kids with green or blue eyes here."
Märt: "Ok. But then, why don't they touch YOU?"
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Our fair-haired kids do get lots of attention here that is both lovely but sometimes also tiring. There is hardly any trip to shop or restaurant or walk in the street when the locals do not come to touch our kids. Very often, we hear the locals pointing at Marie with "Baby! Baby!" and in worse situations they want to grab her to their lap. The problem is Marie is a very shy and she always starts to cry when some stranger takes her to his/her lap. I must admit I have been very rude sometimes and have said "Don't touch!"
Our boys have been to the restaurant's kitchen where they have returned from with candies as thank you for the photos the Indian expat cooks had taken of and with them.

I do not know - maybe this is a cultural thing. In Estonia, when we see a black kid in the street or in the shop we do not go to touch him/her either grab him/her to our lap. But probably we - cold northern people - are just not enough emotional?