Colliding Cultures

I was walking home from the grocery store today and saw something that made me chuckle and feel a little sad at the same time. There was a woman getting into a car. She had a huge thing of paper towels and as I carried my thing of 4 rolls, I wondered where she bought all those. She even had 10% more...she got a deal! Anyway, she was in full on West African dress. Her head had the wrap, she had on sandals and the bottoms of her feet were painted black. The rest of the walk home I couldn't help but think what her life must be like. Her home is a village somewhere far away and she was getting into a CAR with PAPER TOWELS. I was reminded of just the other day when I was at a bus stop. I looked across the street to see a women, also in West African dress, carrying a box of baked goodies ON HER HEAD. No hands! Can you imagine experiencing SO much change and knowing that you're probably never going back. They've come here for that "better" life. I wonder if they've found it. I wonder if there are days when they watch the modern world around them and just long for the things of their home. The diversity of this place is one of my favorite things. On any given day I can observe at least 3 different cultures.