Local Hospitality
To know what it's like to live here, you have to know about the hospitality. These ungodly, heathen people are some of the most friendly and hospitable you will ever meet. I saw this a couple of times this past week.
A few nights ago I was minding my own business, eating some cereal in the apartment and catching up on the NBA playoffs from yahoo sports when I heard a knock. I opened the door to find one of my neighbors standing there with a plate of food in her hand. She said she knew I was single and probably not eating too well (though the cereal I was eating does have vitamins and minerals) and that I'd probably enjoy this. I said thanks and proceeded to eat some scrumptious meat, beans, and tomatoes.
A little while later I cleaned up the plate and went down to return it. But in this country, you don't show up at someone's door and not come in. So, she invited me in and I ended up spending the evening with her, her husband, and her 2 (my age) kids. They taught me how to cook what they brought me, and then gave me the rest of the pot.
Yesterday I was out at a place called "Little Park" after school. It's not really a park, it's more just a little street with a bunch of cafes on either side where all the students hang out. I did see a couple of trees, though...
Wanting to meet some new people, I got out some homework and walked up to a couple of guys sitting at a table and asked for some help. They immediately invited me to sit down and bought me some tea. (Guests here don't pay. And when you're a foreigner, you're always a guest.) After a couple hours of sitting around and talking, they invited me to their apartment and we watched some football and played some backgammon.
Can you imagine walking up to people you don't know in the States and seeing that kind of response? These people are the friendliest, most hospitable people I have ever met in my life.
