""I'm not from around here, sorry", I said with an
apologetic shrug. He in turn made a silent 'O' shape with
his mouth and simply drove off. I shrugged against myself,
making my long hair fall from my shoulders to my back. I
liked it long, unlike the modern trend. Perhaps I should
have told him that from the beginning, it was a lengthy talk
for him just to ask for directions. Then again perhaps he
wasn't really interested in directions; who knows.

"Hi!" He sure seemed glad to see me. He had brown eyes,
brown short hair and was talking loudly at me from behind
his half screened down car window. "Hey man." "You know you
look really familiar", he made a pointing motion with his
hand, as if just recalled something. I gave an unfathomable
half smile. "Not many people around here this time of
night." My watch showed somewhere between two and three AM.
He gave a chuckle while trying to look for another opener.
"Well, you do. Maybe it's the color of your hair, it's
unusual." I gave that half-smile again without answering.
"Yeah, I think I saw you with that old dude, the one who
likes walking with those old style detective hats?" He
formed it as a question but his facial expressions showed he
thought it was funny. My mouth remained an expressionless
thin line. "Well, anyway", he seemed at a loss but not as if
about to give up, "Know any good drinking places around
here?" "Yeah. The Groom's not too far up the main road.
There's plenty of parking space." "Unlike most of this town,
eh?" He was trying to be funny again, I just nodded. "Wanna
join?" I shook my head. "Alright, anyway, do you know
where's the registration office?" "I'm not from around here,
sorry."

I probably should have, his last question showed he had lost
interest, but it was my fault he thought I was from around
here, I did know of a small Irish pub in a moderately big
city. The place is close to my apartment, but I'll elaborate
another time. My point is I'm new in this city. I failed to
mention it before, but I've come here after graduation and
rented a place I liked; second floor, not off mainstreet, by
a small park and far from my former work place. In fact, I'm
not even from this state. Do you know the feeling of being
in a complete strange place, which isn't even faintly
similar to your home town? The different culture makes you
at a loss at where to go, while differences in construction
and small changes in basic traffic signs make it hard to
navigate. But at least everyone drives at the right lane.

When I first landed, I was shocked; I didn't know what a
taxi looks like. The first few days have been spent in a
hotel which had a relative equal look as my home state.
Searching for an apartment was hazardous as I didn't know
whether the salesmen were trying to trick me. My looks
didn't help either - short, thin and with longer hair. Then
I moved in, and began exploring my surroundings. At first, I
barely knew the way from the grocery store to my house and
to the hotel I first stayed in. However, I'm a person who
can live without knowing the whole map which I am a part of,
or at least most of it. Albeit the oddities I've mentioned
before, I've learned the layout, but that wasn't enough. The
streets and roads were laid easily, but at every corner I
took I was afraid I will stumble into a place I will not
recognize and lose my way forever. Almost like walking into
a fantasy gateway which doesn't lead back. But by now, I'm
fairly familiar with it all.

What I'm getting at is one of the interesting discoveries I
had while first exploring the places. It was a bit before
midnight and I just got back from work (a rare evening
shift). I laid my coat and bag aside, took a quick shower,
bundled my hair in a ponytail as it was a hot night and went
out. There were some teenagers smoking weed near the
entrance to my building. As I've already met them once and
proved to them I'm stronger than them albeit my stature, I
shooed them off. I decided to take a right turn and head
towards mainstreet, then head north at one of the pedestrian
malls. You must understand the layout before I'll explain
further: Mainstreet is a long road, from east to west, at
both exits from the city to the highway. There are neither
northern nor southward exits; however, all the north and
south exits from mainstreet are smaller roads, bicycle
roads, subway stations and more pedestrian malls than most
cities in the state. They are all oblong shaped and parallel
to each other. This certain walk was one of the westernmost
streets, Hare street.

At first entering the place, what I expected did not meet my
eye. There were no shops or booths in which people sold
market merchandise, but homes, coffee-shops, one high-school
and a private doctor's office. It was amusing, really,
because the walk seemed the regular type; not too fancy, not
too poor, very bourgeois, yet I knew from experience these
places were not cheap, quite a catch if you got one on
time.

One of the coffee-shops was open, and I was delighted. It
had a small restaurant-style hall inside and a porch with
some tables and chairs for couples. I sat down on the porch
immediately and ordered something to keep me going after the
long evening shift. The waitress was cute and smiled at me
like she cared, brought me my drink and forgot all about me.
I sat cross-legged, staring at the empty and dark street.
There were almost no trees, which I thought wasn't so good,
but the air was clean, other than the coffee smell. I could
hear no sirens or breaking glass; it felt like a suburb in
the middle of town. I was feeling like an observer at a
French street somewhere in Paris; it was such a picturesque
scene. Then, like thunder in cloudless skies, although it
was as loud as I make it out to be, the street filled with
action. A group of people came through from the way I came
from, chanting quietly with soothing voices. They were all
dressed in white robes, which reflected against the dark
brown aura of the street so wildly, and had all shaven
heads. On their feet they wore simple brown sandals, all of
which made them look like weird monks. I gave half a smile
and enjoyed my coffee again. The shop's crew didn't seem to
be bothered by them at all.

After about thirty minutes of watching them, they began
scattering around the street in front of the shop, one of
them coming strait towards the shop. He entered the shop,
smiling at the bartender and ordering his usual by the look
of it. The bartender gave it to him, he paid and the bright
monk came outside. I could now see that his face was
pleasant and his lips formed in a constant smile, faint and
simple. His light blue, almost grey, eyes met mine as I was
the only one outside. He approached and asked whether he can
sit. I shrugged a little. Once he sat I couldn't help but
ask "So, what exactly is it you do?" He broadened his smile,
apprehending I'm a newcomer. "Ah, that is a very good
question." He didn't add to it and sipped from his own glass
of what seemed to be a cold drink. "What, you don't know?"
"Oh I do, I do. How come I do not if I'm doing it?" I
crooked my eyebrows at that and he laughed lightly. "Don't
worry, I'm not going to be cryptic. We are church-men."
"Church-men? You mean priests? Should I call you father,
or..." he smiled again at my loss. "No, just church-men. We
volunteer to patrol the streets and keep off hassles." "How
do you do that?" "By looking like we do. By singing softly,
so we don't wake anyone. People say it is soothing and we
got no complaints so far, so I guess no one has any trouble
with it." I nodded slowly, and then negated it by asking
"And that... helps?" I couldn't stop the skepticism from
flowing into the question. He laughed, quite amused.
"Apparently it does", he said with a tone of finality, as if
not wanting to divulge into that. We both finished our
drinks quietly and said good-bye later.

I nodded slowly, trying to apprehend, but I don't think I
did. I think I should try moving there, although my
land-lord will be angered. Those church-men seemed to have
brought peace to that neighborhood, which was a picture of
serenity anyhow, quiet, interesting and efficient
altogether.

I'll let you know if I do.