A Foreign Perspective

I went for a walk yesterday. The scenery was different than a walk in Dillsburg! Here's what I saw...

• random cows hanging out. everyone looks out for the cows, and gives them the utmost respect. would be nice to be a cow.
• traffic. lots of traffic. every shape and form. cars. suvs. rickshaws. bicycles. motorcycles.
• people. but mostly men. this is a man's world. women are scarce in public. i first noticed this because i was interested in what women wore out in public, and wondered if it would be traditional indian dress, or western dress. it's hard to come to a conclusion when you can't find any women to observe! the few i have found are all wearing indian dress.
• a security guard, sitting outside a row of shops. he was treating his shotgun more like a cane or a toy. i wonder if it's ever been used, or if it just completes his uniform?
• dirt. trash. haphazard signs on buildings. everything looks a bit run down. even the "new" things don't look new. might be some pollution effect. not sure on this yet. everything just looks dirty and old.
  
• only one other white person. in 90 minutes of being in the city, everyone we saw was indian except one other person. different than my experience in some other foreign cities.
• children who are employed as beggars. it's hard to know how to handle the begging here. often young children will be holding a baby, and will ask for money. sometimes they are part of a large "begging scheme". some of their needs are legit, but the money won't often go to their needs. learning how to handle this on a daily basis would be a big challenge for me. how can i have a big, generous heart, but still help the problem, not make it worse?
• school children in uniform. i wonder why these children were out in the middle of the morning. did they have a break from school? were they skipping school? interesting...
• dogs. lots of random dogs. they don't receive the same respect as cows. would not be nice to be a dog.
• food stands. lots of food for sale all around me. part of me wants to sample everything i can.
  another part of me wonders if that serving spoon has ever been clean...
• produce for sale. "bananas sir?" "grapes?" "maybe oranges, sir" we are all sir. it's cute. they speak my language far better than i can speak theirs. i am reminded to be amazed and grateful that we can communicate in english.

Dillsburg might be a little dull after this!