Now that I’ve been here for a few weeks, the surroundings seem so normal, like I’ve always lived here. I’ll even stop and remind myself every now and then that I’m halfway around the world. And then there are times I cross something so blatantly different, there’s no mistaking I’m far from home. It’s like there’s an elephant in the room. And then there are times there’s actually an elephant in the room. That’s right, I was playing pool with some friends, caught something out of place in the ol’ peripheral vision, and turned around to see an elephant in the doorway. She looked to be performing a little jig for the tourists who paid money to feed her (I think it was a her because I’ve seen a male elephant before and there’s no mistaking that either). Maybe it was my imagination, but as her enormous hind leg moved back and forth, her eyes seemed really sad, like she knew everyone was staring and no one else looked quite the same. I thought if she’s bar hopping to entertain us, the least we could do was give her beer and quite gawking, maybe even let her in on the next game. But I guess her owner had other plans.