Zous at the zoo

“This is an art project; we are not taking our stuffed animals on an outing to the zoo,” Tod & I agreed as we left our building with the Zous in hand.
It really did feel like performance art.
It’s pretty amazing the reactions you get with a stroller full of stuffed elephants. Adults were generally enchanted. They smiled and pointed. “Kawaiiiiii!” Older men and women were more likely to talk to us. Security guards cracked smiles. Middle-aged matrons laughed aloud. The whisper of a trendy young woman to her friends got them all to turn their heads subtly to peek. Mothers with children sometimes saw us before the kids did, and directed their kids to look. One very brave, stylishly dressed college boy petted Zousama even though his girlfriend disapproved.
Little kids had mixed reactions. Some were a little scared and clutched at their parents’ legs; some warmed up to the idea after a few seconds and snuck another look and a smile. Others came toddling over to play with the Zous right away. Sometimes the Zous were a more interesting attraction than the animals in the cages.
Some people saw the Zous, but not us, then glanced up to see who was holding the stroller. Whether they stopped smiling because we were watching them watch us, or because we were foreigners and they were surprised by that, I don’t know.
Tod estimated that the bemused to amused ratio was about 30:70.
The Zous have their own version of the day at the zoo on their blog and in pictures.