07.12.07
Posted in India
at 22:43
On the way to school, I ride the city bus. The women sit up front. I try to show respect to other people on the bus, because I’m in their culture, and most of the passengers are older than me. I have to walk from the flat to a bus stop, ride the bus, then walk from another bus stop to the college.
On the way home from school, I ride the college bus. It’s full of girls. I’m the only male save for the driver and I sit up front. The other passengers show me respect because I am a “pastor” (meaning I teach a class at the Bible College) despite the fact that they are my age. This makes me uncomfortable. The bus leaves from the college and takes me directly to my flat.
P.S. I’m really pleased with the title of this post. I think Lewis Carroll would have been proud.
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Posted in India
at 22:43
So the balcony outside my room affords a good view of the front yard of our neighbors across the way. They have a dog and a guineafowl who are friends–of sorts.
The other day I saw an autorickshaw driver wandering around outside the neighbors’ front gate. Then I noticed something. Is he chasing the guineafowl? Sure enough. The man and the bird were engaged in an ultra low speed chase.
The driver, hands behind his back as he mosied about, demonstrated remarkable nonchalance for someone trying to catch an animal. But what was he going to do with it? It wasn’t his bird. The man opened the front gate, herded the bird in, and closed the gate. He must have accidentally let the poultry loose while dropping off a fare.
What he didn’t know is that the bird can get out on its own. On one occasion I watched it flap a few times, perch on the gate, and jump off, gliding to the ground outside. It regularly struts about the street–once I even saw it get shooed out of the jewelry shop next door.
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