First Tea!

I've heard so much about the tea here. When you go out with friends, many times you will go have tea with them. Well yesterday (Saturday) I was able to go have tea with some friends. On Wednesday, my team of girls was out meeting people and we were actually about to turn around to go another way when we met Jane*. She and her friend were on their way back to the university where they are both business majors. We talked to them for about an hour. Then we asked her if she wanted to meet up and do something and she said sure. (Where else can you meet someone for an hour and then go hang out again and it not be weird - certainly not in America) So we said we'd meet on Saturday at 10am. So she came and she brought 2 other friends. One of whom was a guy - we were a little nervous about that, but it turned out ok. We had a great time walking around town, and they took us to have our first tea. Wow! It's strong stuff - it's very very minty. Not bad though. I tried to talk to the girls about spiritual things, but they would change the subject fairly quickly. We talked to the guy about religion and he would talk about it for a long time.

We learned several things from them. One thing is that they have watched a lot of American television and movies. I think he's watched more movies than I have! The girls know of many different actors and actresses and told us who they like and dislike. We had a great time getting to know them and the city. We're going to do something again this Saturday - maybe see some caves that are nearby. Pray that we'll have the opportunity to talk about more spiritual things and maybe plant a seed of doubt about Islam. I'm so excited to see how very friendly the people are here and willing to spend time with you even though you're a stranger - a foreigner at that.

One thing is were are making time every day to just go out and meet people. Then we go do stuff, and for hours, not just a few minutes. I think I need to make it a bigger priority when I get back to just work at getting to know people and spending time with them. One of the leaders here mentioned that it seems that only in America do we have compartmentalized relationships: work, church, family, friends, etc. Other countries have friends and you do anything and everything together. They really develop relationships. This is one lesson I think we should definitely learn from the rest of the world.


*names have been changed to protect the innocent - well...they really have been changed just to be careful