I babysat today Jonathan's and Jubi's girls. Jonathan is a white guy. Jubi's family is from South India.
After my babysitting gig, I stopped by my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group to pick up my weekly delivery of produce. Sweet potatoes. Acorn squash. Butternut squash. I question my choice about carrying around these large vegetables for the rest of the night.
Twenty-seven years ago I met a great group of friends in Cincinnati which included Amy (Brane) Noyola who is now a missionary in Mexico.
Twenty years ago I met Brad Canning in Cincinnati. Brad now lives in Brooklyn where he and his wife, Joy, started a new church (Church!).
Tommy Brane, who happens to be Amy (Brane) Noyola's younger brother, is a white guy (and Amy's younger brother) married to Suja. Suja is from South India.
Tommy and his family are going as missionaries to Burkina Faso.
After I collected my produce, I met Brad and Tommy, who is visiting from Cincinnati, in Alphabet City where they had heard a singer from Brad's church perform. Tommy and I went for tea and hot chocolate at a diner while Brad went to visit a church member with a newborn at Beth Israel Medical Center.
After Brad's visit to the hospital, we were looking for something to eat. I wanted Korean. Tommy didn't really want Asian food as he'd already had Japanese earlier. You know, all the people in Asia are saying the same thing, "Oh, I don't want Asian food again, I had that already five times this week."
Tommy had never eaten falafel and we passed by this hole in the wall which appeared to be patronized solely by Middle Eastern cabbies. There was an Arabic film blaring on the tv. We were definitely out of place but we loved that. We ordered too much food which seemed to be too cheap for Manhattan and we ate family style, or maybe it was animal style, just food spread all over the table, each of us stabbing at food willy-nilly. Grilled chicken, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, some kind of beef and rice (so delicious).
Then on to Veniero's, just the best Italian pastry shop I know of. I mean, the case with the pastries is more beautiful that my words can describe. I usually go for the lobster tails but the millefoglia seems to be the same thing only easier to eat. They now have what they call a French cannoli, which is filled with Bavarian cream instead of the heavier ricotta filling. But they only have that on weekends so I went for the millefoglia. Brad is now mad at me since he's lived in NYC about a decade and this is the first time I've taken him to Veniero's. Well, I don't take everyone there. Actually, I do. When Joy finds out what she missed, Brad is going to be in big trouble but I'll not tell.
Then off to the subway to take them to bed in Park Slope and to me at work downtown. My subway never came.
Great guys. Great conversation. A great night.
I've only slept about two and a half hours today and it is going to be a long night. But it was so worth it.
