Please sir can I have some more?

This past weekend we hosted our first international dinner party. I (Norma) thought it would be great to have Brian's English class over for dinner. After having to reschedule once already we decided that last Friday would be the night. It's very interesting to stumble through our cultural differences as we went through the night. We thought "pot-luck" would be a good idea, only we realized, after the food arrived or perhaps didn't arrive, that this perhaps we made a large assumption about North American customs. Only a few people actually brought items but not to worry I had made plenty just to be sure. Brian was able to dash next door and buy a cake for desert as well, without anyone noticing he was gone. The party was set for 7 pm. We expected everyone to be around 15 min late since this is Bolivia. The first guest came at 7:40 and the rest between then and 8:00. It was a little awkward at first but as time went on and everyone relaxed and tried to communicate in either Spanish or English, there were many giggles and laughs along the way. We were even able to sing a few songs in English and in Spanish and we even sang at least one song in two languages at the same time. We firmly believe heaven will be multilingual so we might as well get used to it now. Overall, i was an important lesson for us. A tour of Stats Canada web site revealed that in Canada 63% of new immigrants to Canada reported having friends only from the same ethnic group. Sobering number. Many reported difficulties making friends from outside their ethnic group. This is sad considering we, as Christians, have the opportunity to love people from around the world without leaving our neighborhood. Was the evening difficult at times, absolutely. Was it rewarding, most definitely.