An Old Man Helped Me Cross the Street

As is often the case on my adventures the traffic and patterns, and signals which dictate them, do not follow the exact conventions of those in the United States. I am accustomed to requiring an adjustment period including keen observation of the local habits in order to learn the safest manner in which to traverse the town by foot. My day to day habits in Xela included ample walking because my home stay is in zona 3 (the area just north of the main part of town), but many of the restaurants, shops, and attractions that interest me reside in zona 1 (downtown). The walk between zona 3 and zona 1 is about 20 minutes and I find myself making the trek almost daily. On one of these strolls, I timorously teetered on the curb as I evaluated to present risk of crossing the street. An aged gentleman with a shared objective noticed my hesitation, and with a toothy grin, nod of the head, and a thrust of his cane toward the other side of the street, he indicated to me that it was, indeed, the time for me to cross.