Faces

I dropped in on our local English training center for newcomers to Canada today. It wasn’t a planned visit, but I was having a conversation at a downtown coffee shop about how the Syrian families we sponsored are doing, and I said something to the effect of, “Well, they’re across the street right now in English classes. Wanna wander over there and see?” Off we went.

We arrived around lunchtime and were graciously treated to an impromptu tour of the facility by the director. All around there was a buzz of activity and the delightful strains of a multiplicity of languages as the students finished their morning’s work and began to prepare their lunches. The smells were incredible. I thought about the sandwich and yogurt awaiting me back at the office and scowled internally.

I saw a few familiar faces waving eagerly at me. It was so neat to see these dear people who stepped off a plane in this strange land only one short month ago, now with notebooks in hand, smiling, showing me what they were learning, talking about their kids, smiling some more. “Coffee?” they asked. It doesn’t matter where or when or under what circumstances we get together; I am always offered coffee by my Syrian friends. And I’ve learned that the only answer to this questions is, “Yes, of course.”