Life is Short and the World is Wide

I had a pretty cool experience on Saturday. Becky invited me to a South Philly Group gathering.  An Indonesian family from the church that most of them attend, the Philadelphia Praise Center, recently opened up a new restaurant in Center City.  They invited us to come for an opening party.  So, as I said, they are an Indonesian family, and they make Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and American food.  There were nine of us there, and we represented at least four different countries.  First, there was the professor and his wife who head up the group.  They spent years as missionaries in Indonesia.  There are also two women from Peru; Becky, who grew up as a missionary kid in Egypt; a girl who spent five or six years as a missionary in Ethiopia, and her Ethiopian friend who just happened to be visiting the US for the first time.  It was really interesting to hear his take on Philadelphia.  He wondered where all the people were!  I guess in Ethiopia, there are more people who spend time outside.  He thought there was something wrong because everyone was in their houses.  He asked if there was a war!

We ate cole slaw, ginger cookies, tuna salad sandwiches, tofu, and lemon grass soup.  Near the end of the party, our jovial host broke out his guitar and sang an original song.  We did our best to sing along with the chorus.

There probably isn't enough time to go everywhere in the world in a lifetime (although it seems some people get close.)  If you spend time in a city, though, a lot of the world comes to you.  And you are a part of it. :)