Hospitality

Today was a great day. I spent most of the day with people from Afghanistan and Burma. Crazy that I live in Denver, Colorado and I can hang out with people from two different countries that I had rarely if ever thought of before living in Denver.

Working with Luthern Family Services, we are cultural mentors for an Afhgani family. This family speaks English which helps so much with communication. We went over with the intention of taking the family to the zoo or to a park and ended up spending time with them while they cooked the most amazing meal. I was blown away by their hospitality. They gave us the best seats, made sure that we were comfortable, spent so much time preparing food for us. I felt very honored by their openness to us and welcoming us into their home so warmly. They are a neat family and it is going to be fun getting to know them.

I then rushed over to Mu Leh's house (I was running 30 minutes late, but I love that I don't have to be on time with these friends!) to meet her and a friend because some of her friends from Burma invited me over to their house to eat lunch. I didn't even know this family and they invited me into their home and welcomed me like I was part of the family. There was about 20-25 people that were over at the house and only a few of them spoke a little English. We had lots of attempts at conversation and we all laughed a lot. Once again, they made sure that I had the best seat, they served me first, and gave me the best portions.

We have a lot to learn from other cultures in the way of hospitality. I feel so blessed that I have a chance to interact with people from all over the world. When I was at the Burmese families house, I could help but smile because I never would have imagined that I would be sitting around a tablecloth on the floor with Burmese men and women enjoying their company while eating a yummy lunch.

By the way, I was very full at the end of the afternoon. Both cultures love to feed you and if you don't eat then it is rude, and they just keep offering you more food that you have to eat. But how cool that I got to eat Afghani and Burmese food for lunch today!