A few of my favorite things

So this past week I was in Pune for some pre-testing of our condom-related activities. I can help on designing and training people in the research and help them analyze the results but I can't actually participate in the research because having a white woman around changes the answers. So I spent eight hours sitting in the hot Pune sun near our activities with nothing specific to do except contemplate India. Here's what I came up with as my favorite things:

*Elephants- one went by down the narrow brothel lane I was sitting in (see our franchise clinics, Key Clinics, advertised next to the elephant)

*Camels - two went by used as advertising for some mela coming up

*Young wanna-be gangs in bad jeans - they spent the morning playing cricket and then came back to the temple I was sitting at to chill and have Popsicles! I think they lose their cool factor when they have popsicles!

*This guy - he typifies the Indian male I spend time watching, obsessed with WWF, horrible jeans, wonderfully geeky.

*My current favorite sign is this one below in the parking lot of what I call the "white people's market" - it's not really commenting on how we're all crackers, it's referring to the fact that we shouldn't use fireworks (I don't know if that's actually a problem in this parking lot).

*Not quite a favorite thing but I did find myself wondering why it's so hard to reach out to people sometimes. I see a starving dog and my heart goes out to it and then a beggar child comes up to ask for money and I don't give it. I know my theory about that not being the most effective way of solving the problem and I also know that when you give to one kid, 12 more appear but here's this family that is clearly starving and I'm contemplating giving them my bottle of water and don't know how!