We take in the surroundings, the street food, sights, and smells. As darkness gathers the faces in the crowds grow younger. The youth dominate nights and evenings. In the early morning when the city is just beginning to stir, we walk through old neighborhoods with little parks and squares of green where the elderly are gathered to exercise. One woman in her 70s is twirling in her hoola hoop, two others slightly younger than her are stretching using the branches of a young banyan tree for support. An old man is cleaning his car with what looks like a small brush. He removes the leaves from under the windshield wiper meticulously.
An hour later, the office going crowds emerge on the streets. The food vendors are open for business as well. We get in line behind a dozen folks at what seems to be a very popular dumpling shop. Everyone gets a couple of dumplings and coffee. The lady serving them is working at a very brisk pace. We don't want to be clueless and touristy, break her flow trying to figure out what the contents of each dumpling are - there are only three kinds. So we get one of each and its the the right choice - they are all uniquely delicious. We sit on a park bench eat our breakfast. On a tree nearby is a big bird with bright blue and white plumage, quite oblivious of the humans around.
Yesterday, we walked on a street full of stores selling birds - much smaller than this one. The colorful parakeets were not confined to cages. They sat on little branches outside unlike the smaller, quieter birds. There is a rhythm and meaning to what happens in a country and city you have never visited and in many cases are unlikely to return to. These vignettes from my slice of time there will come to define what meaning I ascribed to what I experienced. To me it felt like a very peaceful place where people had their lives very well organized and were flowing through their days quite effortlessly. This may be a great distortion of reality but perception can be reality to outsiders - a very happy, serene and positive one in this case.
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