Perhaps escaping flying spindles and blades, I saw an inordinate number of insects on my meander this afternoon :: a paper brown praying mantis, a lizard of some sort moving entirely too fast for accurate classification, and a veritable plethora of various bees.
I’ve no idea if every monday will be Szentendre Mowing Day, but this one certainly was. All over town, on sides of roads, in front of businesses, and even in some private homes came the whirrs of weed whackers and sit-downs throwing up the scent of freshly cut greens. I say greens because the lush lawns, so lovely at a distance, on closer inspection reveal themselves rather full of weeds.
My initial immersion into this country has perhaps a lot in common with the greens phenomenon. From a distance, I could be living in any suburb in America – tidy houses, manicured lawns, nice cars parked round. Upon closer inspection…..
When in Mexico or China, walking down any street provided constant reminder of my foreignness. There is something strange about having to remind ones self on a regular basis that one is in fact inhabiting another country. I’d no idea until now how greatly my internal mindset relies on external visual cues.
Then again, it could simply be that, as in Manhattan, I find myself engaged in a near constant battle to keep my decorations stuck to the walls. 