The first feelings...

I arrived to Y in the morning. As I was landing I saw many little sheds cramped around the airport. It was very likely one of the poor areas of the city. To my surprise though, the drive from the airport to the city was going through streets that were green and very clean. The grass was cut, many times flower beds were arranged in the middle or around the streets. Another interesting part was that few meters away from the street there were wall or fences that divided the street from the living areas. The people that were passing by were dressed either traditionally (something like lungi – long skirts) or in western clothes and there were no beggars to be seen. Somehow this city breathed of “positive poverty” - the green, the tidiness, no extreme poverty to be seen – the city was really giving some hope. I did not expect this.