Day 4

Hi everyone!

I hope that coming back to read my next post means that you're enjoying my blog! I certainly hope so!

Wow! Day 4 is over! Time sure passes quickly; we're already halfway done our trip!

Today was church day. I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what? It's Friday! Why are you at church service? Well, in the UAE, the weekend is Friday and Saturday, based on the Muslim religious days. So we follow their system too.

First off, English service at the ECC, where J and I performed the 2nd mvt. of Bach's Concerto for 2 Violins. We also performed at the table before and after the service and I personally counted this morning a success because many people approached us saying that they would be attending the art show, as well as bringing children, grandchildren, friends, etc. There were actually quite a few parents who came and talked to us with their young children in tow, asking us about when we first started our instruments, and expressing their children's interest in certain instruments. It's really amazing how much a little bit of music and art can do on the other side of the world.

For lunch, we had Chinese food! I know right? Chinese food in the middle of the Middle East. We ate with a quartet of ladies who work at the garment factory. In typical Chinese fashion, they kept insisting that we didn't have enough to eat and that we needed to order more, although everyone was stuffed to the brim at the end anyways. And surprisingly, the food was actually pretty realistic!

In the afternoon, we had to run more errands in preparation for the show tomorrow, so nothing really interesting.

Dinner was a blessing. A sister, L, invited us into her home, where she served a Lebanese version of grilled cheese, homemade applesauce, homemade banana bread, and more. It was a breath of fresh air to have a homemade meal and a delight to us. As we like to say, God has once again provided more than we probably deserve.

After dinner, we attended the Chinese church service. It is much smaller than our Mandarin congregation back home, but quickly developing. I performed parts of the Butterfly Lovers Concerto at the service and it was extremely well-received. A benefit of such a close-knit congregation is that everyone knows everyone and the group as a whole was extremely warm and welcoming. They even had sandwiches and tongshui after the service, which ended at 10 pm, not exactly what we're used to, with most of our services being in the morning. 

Although today was an eye-opening day, it really took its toll on us. It was utterly exhausting, we were out and about from 9 AM right through to 10:30 PM. I must say though, it was so much fun and I'm so happy that all these people are coming to the show tomorrow afternoon.

Wish us luck with the show tomorrow! Keep us in your prayers!

-Lydia :)