This is how my day went

I spent all morning getting ready for lunch with the Chinese family. [Ed. note: We invited Ken and Winnie Chi and their two boys over to our place for lunch at noon.] I was cooking a rice dish, and heating up a chicken dish that I had made the day before, and I had made two kinds of cookies for dessert, snickerdoodles and raspberry oatmeal bars. I had assigned David the table set up, Sam the salad, and Samson the watermelon. That meant purchasing the watermelon and salad. So 10:30 comes and only David and I are here. 

He has set up the table earlier. I asked where Sam was. He went up to the mountains with Caleb. (Caleb is the one at life center that keeps us informed of alerts.) Caleb had called earlier and asked us if we would like to go up the mountain with him and I said no, we are prepping for lunch with this family. Evidently Sam thought he had time so he went then called us at 10:30 saying they had a flat tire and could we pick up salad ingredients for him, and Samson had gone to the gym to work out and wasn’t back yet, so we asked Sam to pick up watermelon on his way home.

Then at 11:00 the electricity went off. So I am really getting rattled, thinking ok, I will heat the rice dish and chicken dish up in the oven, but I have never started the propane oven with a hand lighter before… can’t use the microwave… about 11:30 the boys returned, I had the veggies soaking in vinegar water, Sam lit the oven for me, Samson turned up and cut up the watermelon and at noon the family called us from the front door to let them in, and then the electricity came on!

I finished heating rice and chicken in the microwave and the family came in bearing a bowl of watermelon and a tin of “American made” butter cookies. Wow!

We had a good meal, Samson made hot tea for everyone who wanted it, we had great conversations. They are actually missionaries from Taiwan. I heard lots of stories. We never touched the watermelon. In this culture the fruit dish is served last and it is a signal that it is time to go. They were the ones with a schedule where they had to be someplace else.  So they left without eating any watermelon! Now the men of the house are doing dishes. I am having a little lay down! And we have a lot of watermelon and cookies!