We've been in search of a restaurant that our family can claim as our own--and as of tonight, we've found it! There is a little place close to where Kevin has been going to get his back worked on. (Oh, this is a fun sidenote. Kevin has been going a few times each week to a blind massage parlor. There is one he was introduced to that is close to where we live. Evidently, when people here are blind they oftentimes are put into the profession of being a massage specialist, since there is so little else they could do for a job. He has enjoyed the benefits of being able to pay the equivalent of a few dollars for an hour-long massage that [usually!] really helps with his back problems.)
One of the restaurants he passes by regularly looked good, so he talked with the staff there this afternoon and set up for us to have a private room (which is not unusual in Chinese restaurants here) at 6! We walked the kids across our "Central Expressway" and made it alive, once again, to a fun dinner out. We loved the food, the staff, the atmosphere, and the prices--so we told them we'll be back! The pictures are of the kids being entertained by the array of live fish and sea food at the front of the restaurant and then again of the fam as we are dining in our private quarters.
On a separate note, we had a fun surprise blessing today. Kevin went to get the top put on the 3 wheeler that we'd ordered several days ago. When he was there, he met the owner's son, who happened to speak English pretty well! It turns out that he is about to head to the US to go study at MIT. (Which is amazing to me--kind of the equivalent of a Cinderella story of a kid going from the slums of Harlem to study at Harvard.) And not only that, but he is also like-minded with us on things of significance! He and Kevin exchanged numbers and we're going to have him over for dinner sometime soon. And we're also excited to get to connect him with friends who live in the Boston area specificially working with Harvard and MIT grad students and encouraging them in how to grow to be people of purpose and influence. Talk about a hand working behind the scenes. . .
