It's not THAT big of a city

I'm in a city with some 19 million other people. Wikipedia will tell you it's the second largest city in world. In many ways, the city is very alive. Many sidewalks can be found bustling with activity. There are taco and magazine stands, merchants, and other street vendors everywhere. They all want to sell you stuff. Business people in suits can be found making their way to and from work, while others head to their own destinations. Children can be found being dragged along by their parents and teens are often wandering aimlessly with their friends or hanging our in central public spaces. I've walked an hour in some directions and have found no drop in activity.

Many streets are packed with all types of automobiles--buses, cabs, cars and trucks alike--though there are very few SUVs. During peak hours, police officers will join their ranks theoretically helping direct the chaos. At one point today, an officer stopped a lane of cars that had a green light to allow some pedestrians to cross. Four or five cars immediately laid down their horns in unison. There are sounds everywhere. Construction workers can be heard helping build the city closer to the sky. There are sirens and horns, shouts and whispers and everything you can think of in between.

I have spent the past few days wandering around the city in search of subjects to photograph. In that time, I have seen very few tourists and barely any of the other 140 photographers that are participating in this workshop. Earlier today I was a twenty-five minute walk from both my hotel and the school where we have been taking class. It was a huge surprise to me when someone behind me suddenly asked me, "So you're just going to walk by me like that?" I turned around to find another gringo, also sporting a camera bag around his shoulder. He was taller than me, had plastic glasses and a slightly red-tinted beard. He dressed like he was from the Pacific Northwest, but clearly had an East Coast accent. I invited him to join me at a nearby market that I was about to shoot and we exchanged stories about our days and what we'd been up to. As we parted ways, I pestered him for his name and promptly forgot it, though I'm pretty sure it was "Andrew." Hopefully I'll see him again, he seemed like a great guy.

Here are some photos from wandering around today: