sent from: Bombay, India. destination: San Diego, California, USA

Listening and watching the discussion over directions home between the driver and someone on the street, conducted in a language I do not speak and barely comprehend, I wasn’t entirely convinced *they* spoke the same language either. Hand gestures were exchanged this way and that, English words studding the flow like recognisable pieces of flotsam in a river that just washed away a village.
Sometimes when making an inquiry on the street the person will wordlessly gesture past themselves in a general direction which could either mean “I don’t know, I don’t care, move along, move along.” Or, “the place you want is just down there I know this to be true and no one will give you better information.” Sometimes ill ask Maria – “so what did he say?” and she’ll say she has no clue, but we’ll find it eventually. We always do.