Well we did it again tonight. We went walking and became so intrigued by what we were seeing and the interaction with people on the streets that we got lost again in an area of Alex that we have not been to before. With the tall buildings and narrow streets, it is easy to lose track of landmarks and such. City streets are not laid out in squares or blocks and there are often dead ends and odd shaped blocks.
It is strange in a city of 6 million where very few speak our language one might think there would be a some hostility towards Americans, especially with the policies and comments that some of our politicians make. But we felt none at all while we were searching our way around. And on many streets we walked, we were the only westerners. A lot of people say "Hello” or "Welcome" to us and smile. One young man took out picture as we walked by. Often the streets are very dark, yet we feel perfectly safe. Some will try to direct us if they see us heading down a street that has no exit and wave to us as we leave.
It is so hard to describe what we see -- especially during this special time for Muslims. Praying, busy traffic, a street soccer game, horses, donkeys, vendors and crowds of people all going about their lives without hardly any ill feelings. Once in a while a couple of drivers vying for the same traffic lane might yell at each other, but that is usually the extent of it.
We went into a pharmacy where someone can always speak English and a lady understood where we needed to go to get back home. She sent her teen age daughter (scarfed and all) to walk us back to school. The daughter didn't speak any English -- she just smiled and took us back. When we got back we gave her some money for helping us -- she kept smiling and refused to take it. We finally convinced her to accept and she thanked us and went on her way back.
Now how often in the US would a parent send their young daughter out on the streets in a city of 6,000,000 people to walk two strangers back to their home? Maybe I am cynical but I don’t think that would happen too often.
