Encouraging Times

It has been a while since I have had an “old friend”. The kind where you haven’t seen each other in a while and you finally find time to sit down over coffee and it is though no time has passed; you connect right away. It has been rare for me to have that kind of experience here where I am reminded every time I walk out my front door that I am a foreigner.   Today I saw an old friend.

Ruth is a very unassuming young woman. Perhaps much like her biblical namesake; she is a hard worker whose stable presence at the bookstore kept things running smoothly (she was on staff for several years).  She was a good friend and though her English is limited she always seemed to understand what I was talking about.  Ruth comes from a small town a bus ride away and continues to support her younger brother and family.  Though she has had many challenges in her live I have rarely heard her complain.

While in the states, I often thought of Ruth and hoped that she would still be working when I came back.  However, she has had some big changes in her life.  This past summer she got married and is now expecting a child.  She worked until June and we arrived in late July. So I wasn’t sure if I would get a chance to see her much now that she is busy preparing for the new little one.  However this past weekend she called my cell.

I was having a rather crummy day.  Devin and I were both feeling under the weather and I lacked motivation to do much of anything.  Then as soon as I talked to Ruth, I started humming to myself and smiling.  I was excited that my friend wanted to get together.  Not only that, but after a year of not speaking, we communicated in Chinese on the phone and everything was understood! 

We met this afternoon over hot water and fruit :) It was so fun to connect with her again and to hear about her husband and child to be.  We were friends, not language partners or co workers, but friends.  It was like a breath of fresh air amid the many new relationships here.  Like the children’s song says: make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.  It was so fun to relax with a friend, and catch up on the last year. 

Also today was the seventh anniversary of the bookstore so we shared a meal with the staff.  And as is also tradition it was a strange mix of western and Chinese food.  A pan of chicken enchiladas, Chinese dumplings, fruit and cake.   

Today is one of those rare days where I belonged.  It felt good.