Yesterday we had twenty-five of Dad's international students over for lunch. We've done this many times before, so we have the routine down pretty good- cleaning and cooking takes up pretty much half the day before and all the next morning, along with the cooking. This group was special, though, because they were all from Europe, not Asia, and they were almost all Muslim. These students were from Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. Quite a few of the students were actually Muslim immigrants from other countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, and Africa. Mom ended up discussing the war and religion with some of them while I ended up listening, which is fine- I probably would have said something a little too heated. I did talk to one seventeen year old girl from Denmark- actually, she was from Turkey, but her family immigrated to Denmark. She was much more serious than our silly American teenagers.
It was an interesting experience. The discussion did get my blood going. It was like talking to a member of our media. They were total political opposites of us. Mainly what was discussed was the Iraq war(they didn't mention Afghanistan), which they were heartily against. Then Islam was discussed- we heard the history of Islam, which I have heard before, and how alike Christianity and Islam are alike(I disagree!) and I left when one fellow started talking about how wonderful Islam is. So that was our first heart pounding excitement for the weekend.
Then today, the boys were loading wood onto the truck to bring up to the house for the winter. All of a sudden, Jeremy starts crying- no big deal, he probably got a sliver. Not so. Next thing we know, all four of the boys, followed by Dad, tumbled into the house. The three younger ones were crying hysterically, Caleb was shouting "Dad! there's another one! Dad!". Dad was swatting the air. It turns out that they had disturbed a wasp's nest that was in the wood pile. They each had been stung several times and the tears flowed freely for the next few minutes as we tended their wounds. Poor boys! They still have various swollen limbs but after we sat down to lunch, the pain seemed to disappear. Food- works every time. And that was our second heart pounding experience of the weekend.
5 comments:
Wow, Emily, you're not isolated at all - having Asians and Europeans in your home! How can you do that and be a homeschooler too??!!
don't you think that if you were telling the story of christianity and sharing your beliefs about the war, you would have been equally upsetting to your guests as they were to you? it doesn't make either one of your opinions "right"
No, I don't. It would not have offended me if if we would have been able to actually to discuss it, instead of having to listen to a monolouge. More what upset me was the arrogance of the telling and the inability to respond and question.
Hi Emily,
I finally had a chance to check out you blog! I am amazed by the way you know how to express yourself. The other day I was thinking of our visit to your home and I looked for the little piece of paper where your, and your sister Jennifer's blog address were written on. I wrote some of your stories and I am honoured to find a couple of words about our visit to your home. For me the conversation I had with your mom and some other fellow students was very interesting and instructive as well. I've really learned a lot about the other point of views people have in other parts of our dear world. Although I did not feel that you thought in this certain way about the conversation we all had about world politics and religion. I wish you had entered the conversation and shared your oppinion with us on this enjoyable afternoon. Actually Faizan, the boy who was telling a little somethin about Islam, was not trying to stress the fact that Islam is ''better'' than other religions. He was telling a little something about the religion in general, sharing certain information just to take possible questionmarks away. I am sorry if it came over to you differently, although I got another impression from your mother, who seemed to find the discussed issues quite interesting. Say Hi to your mom and dad, all your biblings and I'll defenitely keep visiting your blog. Keep on the good writing work!
Kind regards,
Ahlam (20 yr)
The Netherlands
I'm glad you got my email and came to read our blogs!
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