People-watching

People-watching is a favorite activity of mine, odd behavior is a specialty, and odd behavior bordering on the philanthropic is even more amazing.  For example, once in Spain, I turned a corner down a disturbingly dark alley only to hear "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" coming from the depths. As I crossed the shadows and cobble stones, what I found was even more surprising: a man with a ukelele had rigged strings to his fingers and arms so that his music was accompanied by a tiny mannequin with his own tiny ukelele.  It was hokey, but unexpected.   A pleasant surprise after a day getting lost in the city.

In Guayaquil last week, I was a little angered with a car that had stopped suddenly in a busy crosswalk as pedestrians were trying to rush through.  "Typical Guayaco driver," I thought as everyone had sped up to avoid getting hit. But, as I looked back to give the driver an angry look, a tiny, old nun stepped out of the car with a large, plastic bag.  She reached the pedestrian island, scooped into her bag, and rained cat food down on the pigeons in the vegetation.  The nun smiled with delight, watched a moment as the pigeon's ate, then hobbled back to the car. It was over as quickly as it had begun.  She drove off and everything went back to normal, all just a part of the daily routine.