Morning Musings

Going about my morning business I consistently notice several things:

1) The water flowing through the 'canalizacion' down the mountainside settlements, through my neighborhood, and toward the center of the city to join up with the big river always smells fresh and perfumed like laundry detergent even though it is muddy brown in color. My senses automatically equate the sudsy smell of detergent with cleanliness so it always takes me aback when I look down into the tumultuous tides and realize that lots of someones upstream deemed the tributary a good laundry resource. And then I realize how lucky I am to always have lived with a fresh (running!) water source; never worrying about dirty sediment getting stuck in the wrinkles of washed clothes. But then again I rarely think about what sort of smell my post-laundry water is being observed by someone downstream...
(Speaking of laundry, having not used a dryer for the past two and a half months I realize how much more energy efficient it is to live in a warm climate. However, I wonder if the extra electricity that I use turning the lights on at 6:30 every night since it gets dark so early evens out my usage...)

2) Waking up to the sound of horse's hooves clip-clopping atop asphault never ceases to surprise me. Carts drawn by men or horses make their daily rounds through neighborhoods selling flowers, fresh avocados, and an array of produce. I just wish that they didn't always bring along their megaphones for the incessant drone of "Piña por mil, aguacate aguacate. Mandarinas: diez por mil."

3) Usually one thinks of the area surrounding a university as catering to the student population. Immediately around the Facultad there are lots of papelerias, restaurants and ice cream shops, but one street up is the longest stretch of funeral homes with hearsts parked outside that I have ever seen. It is quite depressing to walk by them every day thinking about the sad families sitting around inside deciding upon coffins and staying up all night with the bodies of loved ones. I just hope that this 'death row' doesn't inhabit this exact location because so many college students are passing away...