Last night, I had the privilege of dining with a family of National Believers here. It was a great experience and so much fun!
Prior to going, I knew that I needed to eat whatever was put before me, even if the spiciness of it made tears stream down my face. There was a saying I heard once at training, "Father, where you lead me I will follow; what you feed me I will swallow." That was basically my only concern, but I was so excited to spend time in a Bengali home that I decided I could swallow about anything…which is actually quite true…I don't think there has ever been anything in my life I didn't at least taste.
So, last night about 6:30, Julie and I were off to the National's home. We stopped on the way for some sweets. It is customary and polite to bring a gift to the host family when eating in their home. Bringing sweets is common, as in flowers, fruit, and soda. On a side note, the sweet shop was very interesting. Bengalis don't really eat the same type of sweets as we do. They are usually very sweet and soaked in syrup. They also generally have cardamom in them. Chocolate really isn't traditional in the sweets. I am not the hugest fan of them, but again, I will try anything.
We arrived at the Bengali home a bit after 7. It was a lovely little home. The husband, his wife, a 4 month old baby, the husband's mother (to help care for the baby), and house help was there. We sat on couches and visited about our lives. The husband and wife were very fluent in English, so conversing was quite easy. After a bit, it was time to eat. We had rice, fish daal (lentils), chicken curry, cooked vegetables, cucumber salad, fried eggplant, fried cauliflower, and ice cream for dessert. It was so tasty! The host family admittedly said they made it less spicy for us, and I was so thankful for their graciousness in doing that for us! In Bengali culture, it is customary to eat a lot! In fact, in most homes (but not this one) they will fill your plate for you about 3 times. They said that it tells the cook that the food is good. Again, those who know me know that I love to eat and can really put away the food! However, I don't think I ate as much as our host family! They would have a huge plate of rice and then get one serving of one of the dishes. They would eat that with the rice and then go get a different serving of curry or daal. It was quite interesting how they did it. They said that they do not like to mix their curries. It makes perfect sense because when I put things on my plate, it has a tendency to all run together.
We ate with our hands. Some people find it hard to eat with their hands, but I rather enjoy it. Being left handed, it is super hard to eat rice using a fork with my right hand (the culturally appropriate hand). I watched how they did it and they form their rice and sauce into a little ball. Then they scoop up the food with their three fingers and then push it into their mouth using their thumb. I am not yet too proficient at it, but I got the food to my mouth without spewing rice all over me. The food was so good. I have discovered I really like daal a lot! It doesn't look the best…very yellow with lentil lumps in it, but it tastes so good.
Visiting with the family was such a blessing. They have both been Believers for a long time. The husband has a country-wide radio ministry that tells the Father's stories and gives teaching from these stories. He knows several of the workers that I know and has worked with our company in the past. It was great to hear about what the Father is doing through him and his family. I hope that we can continue to keep in contact with this family while we are in language school.
Thank you, Father for such a great evening and for having the opportunity to build relationships with Your people!
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