In the Neighbourhood.

Well I wrote about being the Reserve and living there - Sagkeeng so its a good to talk about the Winnipeg neighbourhood. I have lived in different parts of the City and have made some good neighbors.  Like in the North End of the city when we lived there. We moved to the suburbs and made some friends there as well. Now we live in the south end of the city and are meeting new people. Our street is quite diverse. What's weird is that  I know this. There is a Women couple who just recently married who live down  the street. There is a number of mixed-race couples; Blacks and Whites, German and Native, and a number of different ethnic make up, just on this little street. 

We are pretty fortunate about our home because we really don't have any arseholes living close to us. At least I haven't noticed. There are a couple of people who I am not going to be friendly with and that's cool. Some old guy always yelling at the kids but he's old and crazy.  And some old teacher, she lives alone and votes for the Right political party. So I don't converse with her.



My new neighbours, well relatively new, are Iranian. And they are Muslim to boot.  We like them. They are friendly and hospitable. Plus I am one of those really nosy people who ask lots of intrusive questions. Questions which border on being rude.

If I have offended them, they don't show it.
They are both educated and currently in the final stages of getting their doctorates.  Wow that is so cool.
The guy (I'll use an alias) "Ali" is quite interesting. He will take the time to learn something new by researching on the internet on how to fix something, like changing the timing belt of a car, or changing the values on a car. Once he has researched he then tackles the project. I have watched him fix major mechanical problems on his car. He fixed mechanical issues on his car and then went on to do some body work, fixing a rust issue, and to the painting the car. Recently he decided to re-shingle the roof of his house. Turns out it there are a number of things the could be done to increase the life of the roof. Ali researched what materials to use and how to shingle. I watched the process.

For me labour is an interesting phenomenon. People either like it or do it grudgingly. I am in the camp of its fun to do it, but if its a chore, well heck with that noise.

So the good thing about meeting new people is the chance to get them to hear about your heritage and the misconceptions there are out there.  The thing about meeting new people of different backgrounds is that we see them as a picture of ALL their people.  So if that's the case I try my best to be cool nice friendly to people. I want them to know "hey an Indian was kind to them".