Kindness of strangers

For the past week, I've been in unfamiliar surroundings, staying in an unfamiliar place and meeting, with the exception of of training group, people previously unknown to me. Despite the newness of it all, I've found myself surprisingly comfortable in my new environs. I can't but feel that this is due to the people I've encountered out here in California. In particular, my homestay Richard has treated me with exceptional warmth and openness. Going into a homestay situation, both parties approach the encounter with some trepidation. After all, you agree to open your home to a perfect stranger and, as the guest, you agree to live with someone who is and whose home is utterly unknown to you. Somehow, both parties are willing to put faith in the other that everything will work out. It is, quite frankly, a gamble that we take and that sometimes goes awry. While I have had the good luck to never have a nightmare homestay experience, some of my friends have had less-than-pleasant experiences.
In addition to the generosity and kindness that Richard has shown, I've only encountered people in Santa Monica who are helpful. From the other cyclists I've encountered to my new neighbors, the people I've met have completely destroyed the self-centered SoCal stereotype (sorry- it is true!). In what I do for a living, I so frequently count on people I've never met to help me with sponsorship, advice or housing. It certainly brings to mind Blanche DuBois in a Streetcar Named Desire when she says "Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." In my experience out in Santa Monica, the kindness of strangers has thus far been genuine and extensive.