Random Thoughts

1. The women travel in pairs or groups. Men travel alone or in pairs/groups. Less often am I noticing male-female couples.
2. Both male-male and female-female couples will walk arm-in-arm or hand-in-hand. I thought at first this might be due to congestion and an attempt to stick close to each other. But they do this on unbusy side streets, also. It could be affection. It could just be a show friendship.
3. The poor, sick or disabled are very evident here. Perhaps because I make connections to Biblical stories. Images I conjured of Blind Bartimaeus or of the paralyzed man lowered through the roof appear in front of me.
4. The streets are dirty. Not just from the dust that comes in through the desert, but people simply throw their wrappers, their liquids, garbage on the street. The cleaners come by...but the lack of funding available for sanitation and garbage removal (evident by the lack of garbage cans) is obvious.
5. I live next door to the Dept of Justice.
6. There are gecko-like lizzards here. They live in the gardens, from what I can gather. Yesterday, I caught sight of one, leaned over to find it, it scurried between my feet, making me jump and sqeak. I look for them from afar now...hope to get a picture of one before I leave.
7. The men and boys make comments as women walk by. I have no idea what they say...but my guess is my mother would wash their mouths out.