I live in a strange city

There are some odd things lurking around the neighborhood I'm living in this summer. Don't get me wrong, they're mostly odd in a good, entertaining kind of way, but they're odd, nonetheless. Let's look at a few, shall we?

1. The woman who walks a goat
You might picture this an an eccentric old lady with a strange penchant for farm animals, but it's actually a woman my age or not much older. And yes, it's actually a goat that she's walking. The first time I saw her I did a triple take and then didn't even bother to pretend I wasn't staring.

2. The crazy homeless guy and the locals who seem to know him
There are lots of homeless people in this area, most of whom are surprisingly friendly and cordial. A few years ago when I worked a part-time job in this same neighborhood, the panhandlers were known for their bitter retorts when you didn't give them any money. They all seem to be gone and have been replaced with a new crop of much more amiable panhandlers. One in particular is just crazy. I don't know what his official diagnosis would be, but it would probably be something like paranoid schizophrenia. Most of the time I've seen him he's been pretty tame--calling the imaginary woman beside him a bitch, but still tame. Every once in a while though, you can hear him screaming from down the street. I learned yesterday that he is prone to do this when some kindly tourist gives him coffee, which is usually a good alternative to giving money (because many will spend it on booze), but not for this particular guy. How did I learn this? From the locals who were trying to calm him down and muttering about who the hell gave him the damn coffee. Maybe you had to be there, but it was quite the spectacle to see.

3. The 'Ride the Duck' tours
Have you ever seen a boat on wheels? If you stop by my temporary home, you're sure to see it--several times a day. The Ride the Duck tours start at the inner harbor and travel by land and water, taking passengers on the most thorough tour of Baltimore I've ever seen. You know the tour is nearby when you hear the quacking from down the street. Yes, everybody on the boat gets quacking noisemakers--and they actually use them. Where else can a tourist go and quack like a duck without fear of ridicule (at least from other tourists, anyway)? One of my friends is dying to ride the Duck, and swears we're all going to do it before she moves next week. Secretly, I'm kind of hoping we do. I want to watch that thing drive into the water!

4. The questions tourists will ask
I've lived in 4, now 5, different places in Baltimore and never have I had so many people ask me for directions. I'm assuming it's because a.) it's a touristy neighborhood and b.) I'm usually walking a dog so that must mean I know the area. I just find this odd. Even stranger is the level of intelligence displayed in some of these questions:

"Excuse me, we're looking for that tv show"
(They were referring to the building where the show "Homicide" used to be filmed).
"Hi, which direction is the water?"
(I was standing right next to the water taxi, which is IN the water, when I was asked this quesion)
"Can you tell me where that bar is?"
(which bar?)
"You know, the famous one"
(ummm....I don't know the answer to this one)
"Are you walking a wolf?"
(I laughed my ass off at this one. And it might not have been a tourist that asked, but still. The dog is a husky mix--I think--E, please correct me if I'm wrong. So, she has a resemblance to the wolf family, but she is, very obviously, a dog. Not a wolf. Not. A. Wolf.)

Keep in mind that I've only been living here two short weeks with I think 7 or so to go--I haven't really counted. I wonder if my friend gets these kinds of questions on a regular basis?

I'll say this, living here has been nothing short of an adventure. I love it.