Thursday

Zuhua suggested I go out for a walk and see the changes that have occurred since I was last here. I was not prepared for what I saw and came back more depressed than when I left. I checked the river for signs of how high it had gotten during the heavy rains they were having this past summer and realized they came close to having a flood here. I need to get several more pictures and then I will write an entry about it.

I next went over to the old breakfast street, where I usually eat many of my lunches, to see how the restoration was going. My excitement from last spring turned to sorrow because of what I saw. I left with a bad impression and wrote a negative report. Later I returned for some pictures and found things were not as I originally thought. As a result I just rewrote this paragraph. I will write more about this later.

I had lunch, a short nap and headed to the bus stop for a trip across the city to my favorite barber. She has cut my hair for the past four years and does a very nice job and for less than a dollar. I usually have to wait, but she always manages to work me in between some women whose hair she is working on.

After getting my hair cut I headed over to the coffee shop to see what was happening there. They were excited to see me and asked if I would stay for the evening. I told them I wanted to go to Gianos first to see Jane – the owner – and get a bite to eat. My conversation with Jane will be another blog entry. It was not all good news.

I went back to the coffee shop to see if I had any students to talk to. A young couple followed me in, placed their order, and went to a back table. I went back to them and asked their permission to join them. We had just started our conversation when others wanted to

join us; soon filling all the room around our table. Soon I had the chance to share the importance of Christian principles and their effect on people and even nations. I mentioned the importance of telling the truth, of not stealing, and being moral in our behavior. It was interesting to see how this conversation was dividing the group. One fellow was kind of neutral, while another was rather irritated by such control of behavior. Others, especial the young ladies, saw the importance very clearly.

The clock continued to tick the minutes by and soon it was time to leave. We had a good experience around the table and looked to another time when we could do it again. The only down side is that it takes me an hour each way on a very crowded bus to get to the coffee shop and back home. For me who goes to bed early, it means sacrificing several hours of sleep, but I believe it is worth it. It is a good way to prepare the soil of their hearts in which to plant seeds later.