It’s a Zoo Out Here
Welcome to my random musings about the world, on a weekly-to-occasional basis.
Where we are: We’re in Germany, where Lane has been visiting us again, and we’ve been hopping from one Christmas market to another. Today Lee and I are leaving Koln and heading to Dusseldorf, where we’ll drink some more hot chocolate and try to stay warm for a few more days.
It’s a Zoo Out Here
Lane and I went to the zoo while we were in Mexico City. I realize some people object to zoos, and I understand. I have some ambivalence about them myself. But the zoo in Mexico City is actually pretty good.
We went, and we had a great time. The animals were incredibly alert and active, and watching the most social primates engaging in their social behaviors was loads of fun. Lemurs! I will never tire of lemurs.
The people-watching was pretty good, too. The visitors were mostly very respectful of the animals. I’ve seen too much bad human behavior at places like zoos (even in highbrow art museums, which is even more shocking, for some reason). We saw a dad trying to get his toddler to pose for a picture, and when the toddler made it clear he didn’t want to, the dad said okay, and stopped trying. That was nice parenting to witness.
At one point, Lane was fumbling to find change for the restroom, and someone offered to pay the six pesos for them. That was very nice.
But the nicest thing of all was at the aviary, which I really wanted to see. There was a sign forbidding bags inside, and a guard at the entrance reminding people they couldn’t take in bags, even my purse and Lane’s small fanny pack. We were disappointed, but there was nowhere to leave our bags, so we turned to walk away. A couple with a child saw us, and the wife indicated that she was going to sit out front with their bags, and she’d keep ours too, if we wanted. I was so grateful. We quickly handed over our bags, and followed the husband and kid into the aviary. The birds were beautiful—there was even a nesting pair of black swans. Beautiful, but cranky.
When we left the aviary, the wife was there with our bags. We thanked her profusely, and walked away feeling like the world is a good place to be.
We saw the very best of humans, at the zoo.
Bonus, for those of you who’ve made it to the bottom of this email: Do you remember Mula, our guide in Ethiopia, about whom I worried during the violence in his region (if not, you can read about him here)? I got a message (with photos) from him a couple of weeks ago—he recently got married! I’m so relieved to know he’s doing well, whatever the current situation is in Aksum. Life does go on, even when it seems as if the world is one catastrophe after another.
Take care,
Lisa
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