Yesterday when we visited one temple, a little girl tagged me, begging for money. She wouldn’t accept “no” and followed me endlessly. I took out a balloon and gave it to her. She threw it on the ground, stomped on it so it exploded, and continued to follow me asking for money… That’s a reaction I’ve never had from giving away a balloon… understandable, but new.
As Annie and I were getting into a cab, a woman holding a baby asked, not for money, but for me to buy milk for her baby. Okay, I softened and took a few steps to the guy selling stuff on the side of the road. She pointed at a big container … about 1/3 the size of the kid she was holding… and when i asked, “how much?”, the guy said the equivalence of $5…. I said, how about a smaller container… so he took out something smaller (maybe $3.50) I figured I was hooked so took out a bill (worth $10) and paid for it. He gave me change as though I gave him a bill worth $5… saying that’s all I gave him. Sheepishly I went back in the cab feeling I had been played for a fool by both this woman and the guy selling the milk.
Otherwise, It’s been a good couple of days. I make balloons for the workers and guests at the hotel as well as salesmen at shops. I enjoy spending so much time with Annie, almost like we’re joined at the hip and I love the food… especially the MOMO soup (like a veggie dumpling soup).
We ran into an Irishman who just got done with a 10-day, 10hr/day meditation workshop. He said it was exhausting! I asked if he had found enlightenment? His response surprised me and gave me a good smile.
