It's thunderstorming. A real, live, loud, pouring rain, suddenly cold, booming thunder and bright lightening thunderstorming. Five minutes ago, it was sunny and hot. Two minutes ago, it started sprinkling with still blue in the sky. Now I can hardly see the horse and rider statue up on the hill.
I, along with countless others, am under an overhang on a marble-looking bank. The locals reaction to the sudden rain tells me that it is not an unusual occurrence. Their calm appearance as they wait out the storm, tells me it shall soon pass.
The city of popyan is made up of perfectly square blocks of shops, hostels, cafes, and restaurants. A few old, carefully constructed churches spot the city.
The narrow one way streets are full of cars. A few are closed, and instead of cars they are filled with hardworking men in hard hats, slowly pounding away at the pavement, shoveling dirt, and pouring cement. It is slow work; there is no rush, even though there are no machines.
The stores have the worst service of any country I have seen. No one is in a hurry. No one. The line to buy just six items took me 30 minutes. In America, we would be angry. Here, it is the norm.
Everywhere else, people are learning to "just be." The sit in the park for hours as their kids buy corn to feed the pigeons.
I love the joy. The children scream in delight and grab a pigeon by its wing, then hand it to their father who holds it as his friend untangles the string from its foot.
Vendors push their carts around, repeatedly saying "mango mango papaya aquacate mango" or "helado helado, coco mora helado". Over and over and over they advertise their products, all day every day.
The well dressed people walk around, the women in high heels holding designer purses. I feel so out of place, yet embrace the fact that even if I was dresses as a local and not a traveler, my blonde hair would still make me an outsider.
Nobody says hello to me. Nobody makes eye contact. It is so unusual, and I can not decide if it is a welcome change or not. I am truly invisible, yet everyone sees me and notices I am different.
Suddenly, it starts to rain, and the atmosphere changes. The movement in the park center changes from relaxed contentment to quickly touching its boundaries, and within minutes, it is empty. Vendors bring out plastic that had until now been hidden. They quickly cover their books, food, and trinkets, and have a little extra to cover themselves. They were well prepared for this moment.
At first people move slowly, meandering under roof ledges and tents. Then, the rain increases, and they move more quickly, a hidden force powerfully corralling the humans under the little shelter.
People still laugh. How can such a poor culture have so much joy? I know it is because their happiness is not within material possessions. It is within each other, and as long as they are together, there is joy.
The rain lightens; a few people run away to their houses or cars. Then it downpours again, and the edges are vacated completely for the inner wall of the bank. There is a fountain, but it turns off as the wind increases and insists on soaking us all.
It blows my mind how so many people are just being - and are content. They seem as if they have no where to go, nothing to do, or if this rain date beneath the bank roof was as planned as our jobs. No one complains- there are only smiles.
I literally cannot comprehend this. How different is it when rain surprises Americans to the point of staying put?
A child climbs on the fountain and plays with a super hero doll. His smile makes me smile. I am filled with contentment by the contentment of those around me.
Someone is smoking weed.
An adorable little girl and her father come in. She is wearing his oversized sweatshirt; he adjusts the hood on her head, and she grins and waves her floppy arms.
The rain slows, and people again scatter. The streets are again full and bustling. The rain quickly forgotten.
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The rain continued off and on all night. I am filled with so much joy though. The city is so beautiful. The people are beautiful. A helpful lady at a drugstore directed me to an optica to buy a contact case, and the lady working there was delightful as well.
I walked around...the city is beautiful.
I bought some groceries, standing in line for so long, yet enjoying being surrounded by so many people. They crowded the supermarket entrance, procrastinating going back out in the rain.
My meals today consisted of fruit and ham and cheese tortillas, and one yummy fried arepa and a frappuchino and sandwich from a café. I splurged today. It's a wonderful life.
And this, my friends, is the joy of traveling.
:)
