Wherever You Go, You'll Come to Know, People are One and the Same

In some ways, Sevilla feels a lot like Hyderabad to me, but then again, that’s the only city I’ve ever spent a significant amount of time in, so maybe this feel is common to all cities? Anyway, it’s similar to Hyderabad in that lots of people ride mopeds; small shops line the streets; there are sweet shops with tantalizing pastries in display windows everywhere; there are lots of dogs; there are very narrow streets where one car has to honk its way through a crowd of standing people to pass; lots of people live in apartments or “flats,” there are McDonalds and KFCs; clothing is dried by hanging it outside; public restrooms cannot be counted on to have toilet paper or even functioning lights for that matter; advertisements on TV look funny and have weird jingles; most cars are those small rounded things (no SUVs or vans or giant cars).

It’s different in that cars don’t honk their horns nearly as much; people aren’t packed shoulder to shoulder everywhere you go; the dogs here are almost all pets, not street dogs; people actually stare at me less (even though, based on appearances, I would expect to stand out more); although I’ve seen a couple beggars, they simply sit on the sidewalk holding a jar rather than personally pestering passerby; drivers actually follow traffic signals; there are sidewalks and crosswalks for pedestrians; I see PDA (public displays of affection, such as kissing and more) and lots of it; I multiply prices in my head (and shudder at how expensive everything is) instead of dividing them.

But cliche as it may be, the people- their warmth and generosity, their curiosity, their pride for their country, their diversity- are fundamentally the same everywhere. And that's a reassuring realization.