kindness.

Last night while having dinner at our neighborhood middle eastern restaurant, we were having a discussion with the host Hossein. He asked where we were from and that lead to a discussion about the hospitalty of Mexican families. He very proudly said that Bangladeshi families were the same and told us that if we came back he would cook for us. We told him we were leaving but he insisted we come back tonight. Well.
We went back, not really knowing what to expect. This is not a small mom and pop restaurant, it probably has 15 outside tables, 10 inside and it was packed.
His wife Fatima, who seemed to run the back of the house started to bring out dish after dish after dish of Bangladeshi food that they had prepared for us. This was food not on the menu and prepared with pride, kindness and generosity. We were subdued by joy and gratitude. They both were so happy that we were able to accept their act of community generosity and appreciated it.

This is the second amazing gift of kindness that was bestowed upon us here. We heard so much about the backlash against tourists, we were prepared to have to prove ourselves everywhere we went, but we have been seen in a real way by more people than we could have hoped for. The world is in tough shape right now and I think people are just looking for a good reason to rise above the mire. We have been so happy to participate. And we look forward to meeting many more kind people.

-jimRead more