Over the last
2 days, Josiah and I have 2 very kind invites to meals at Bengali homes. The first gentleman, Bemal, works with Josiah
as a day laborer. He is a skilled
decorative welder who had owned his own successful business. But now, as he repeated multiple times during
dinner, he is poor. His fortune stolen
and his business pushed out by his neighbors who didn’t want a Hindu to be
successful. His is a sad story but a generous spirit.
I watched him
borrow the money for our dinner from another co-worker. He led us to the edge of the market where he
lives with his wife and 2 daughters. The floor was dirt. One electric wire…that didn’t work the whole
time we were there. The roof was corrugated
tin (which basically all roofs are in this area -- so much rain). No
windows beyond the holes in the wall and ceiling. Dinner was by the light of a camping lantern,
mango, grapes, and a Ramadan mix of specialty foods. Gratefully, we did not get sick…though I fear
we may have offended him trying to explain that we would get sick if we drank
the water.
Our second invitation was from a medic I work with. His family was well established here until his three brothers emigrated to Michigan with his mother. Now, the only family left in this country, he, his wife, and their 2 boys care for her father (which is a very important responsibility here). She is an English teacher and we had a very nice visit over noodles, snack mix, cookies and coke. Since he had just gotten off of an overnight shift, I thought we should cut out visit short (only 2 1/2 hours).
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