Adaptation

As one begins to adapt to any new environment they are at first highly sensitive to the sights, smells and sounds around them. Things are still new, fresh and sometimes funky (in both that cool trendy outfit hairdo combo and foul odor sort of way). 

Kind of like this guy...

Just as we experienced with adjusting to Kenya, Ghana, Morocco and India we are taking in all that San Francisco has to offer and adjusting as best we can. 

Here are just a few of the new, fresh and funky things witnessed over the past couple of weeks: 

• 'So according to his Facebook status he's in a relationship....' a young twenty something rambles to her girlfriend at a bus stop on Market St. 
• 'Spare some change!?' random homeless people shout to passersby on Haight St. 
• 'So it like takes something like 650 gallons of water to make one cotton t-shirt' girl behind counter at the Buffalo Exchange clothing store bellows. 'No way, for real!?' customer responds. 
• Everyone has a dog in the city and they are seen everywhere shopping with their owners: grocery stores, clothing stores, pharmacies, you name it
• Crazy homeless lady laughing from the pit of her stomach at nothing and nobody as she happily meanders down the sidewalk; her laugh can be heard from yards away
• You know a group of tourists when you see a family of four all wearing shorts and newly purchased San Francisco sweatshirts - this isn't LA people, it's cold here!
• Most people carry around their own green grocery bag 
• People seem to be constantly hyped up on caffeine, everywhere you look someone is holding a coffee cup at all times of day (sure do miss those tea breaks in Kenya!)
• Cars will stop even if they see you on the side of the road just considering the thought of crossing the street. I actually forgot about this and was waiting at a crosswalk and a whole group of cars came to a halt and I quickly realized 'oh yeah this is San Francisco - cool!'
• Today I saw blue hair, purple hair, yellow hair and orange hair and that was all in the same neighborhood
• The fresh floral and fauna scents throughout Golden Gate Park can really calm your senses but a quick whiff of the homeless guy peeing in the bush throws everything off 
• I've heard several different languages spoken over the past week: Mandarin, Italian, French and Spanish
• The clothing style is really tight skinny jeans of which not everyone should participate in wearing; for what appears to be a lack of comfort mostly
• Everything is organic, green, local and/or made from hemp
• And finally people can been seen all over the place picking up the feces of their beloved dog. I still find this hilarious and know that folks back in Kenya are just floored by this concept as pets aren't even a part of the culture in any way, let alone cleaning up after them

Adapting to San Francisco is like adapting to any other place one decides to hang their hat for a while. It's definitely a bit easier because we are coming back to familiar grounds but the conversations, the sights, smells and sounds are certainly different from the ones we experienced in Africa and quite honestly the Midwest, our birthplace, for that matter :-P