Neigborhood watch

Ahmed and Maxine

     Last night around 10 Courtney got a phone call from our landlord, Ahmed.  One of the doors of our car was unlocked, and the door was ajar.  Apparently, one of the neighbors had noticed the door, called Ahmed, and stationed two teenage boys to watch over the car until we could be notified.
     Cars are unusual here on Hithadoo; most people ride a motor scooter or walk.  A few ride bicycles, including the father who picks up his little boy up at Maxine's school.  The boy stands upright, stiff and straight, on the cross bar of the bike while  the father holds one arm around him and steers the bike with the other.   Sometimes, picking Maxine up by car,  I feel as conspicuous as a Hollywood star taking a limousine to her child's school.

Jamal and African Grey

     The first time I went grocery shopping I walked.   I planned to ask the store to deliver but  I had forgotten to take our address along with me.  I told Musa, the grocer, that I didn't know the address.  "I know where you live,"  he said gently .  Sure enough, the groceries were at my door before I got home.
       Yesterday morning I parked the car near the grocery on the main street, which is torn up from construction.  I headed west on foot, toward the ocean,      in search of a beach where Maxine and I could gather shells and build sand castles. The Indian Ocean is three blocks from the main street, and  there are entrances to the shore at the end of almost every intersecting  street.   The side streets are narrow, unpaved, and contain a  maze  of deep, wide, puddles, so  it makes more sense to walk down them than to maneuver the car.
        Maxine and I were walking toward the ocean when Jamal drove  up on his scooter.  I told him what I was doing.  "Oh, no, don't go to that beach," he said firmly.  "And don't turn that way, either," pointing right.  "Take your third left from the road, and go by the hospital.  The beach is on hospital grounds.  You will be OK there." He watched until I took the correct left, and then he drove off.