a sip of home

the four of us guys have a time every week set aside to talk about how were doing, keep each other accountable, ask hard questions, etc.. jeff has been doing a great job of leading us in this time, making sure that its creative and doesnt become boring and routine.. so last night we decided to have our time out, and go to a restaurant none of us had been to yet.. there was some mild indifference regarding where we ate (my only stipulation was that they had good food, cause i was hungry..) so i suggested a taiwanese place called 168 that we had heard mentioned several times as the best asian food in the city.. so we decided to check it out..

the place was great, they serve family style platters that you all share around the table.. we didnt know how big the portions were, so we ended up ordering five plates of food! it was way too much, so we took it home and have lunch for a couple days now haha.. but it was so good! it definitely lived up to its reputation..

the whole reason i bring this story up is, well.. one, to just tell you about a cool experience with the boys.. but mostly, to talk about tea..

im serious..

now im not much of a tea drinker.. i actually might prefer coffee, for its ruthless efficiency.. for the last three years of being an architecture major at cal poly, coffee became a good friend of mine, keeping me company during the long nights hunched over projects trying to keep my eyes open.. but when i dont need to force my body to stay awake, i definitely prefer tea.. its smoother, and more sophisticated right? at least i cant help but feel slightly sophisticated when i drink tea.. anyways, of all teas my favorite is jasmine tea.. its chinese, and very clean and simple, and great.. well they sold it at this restaurant we went to last night! and its authentic stuff, the same kind they sell in asian markets or in chinatown.. its not loose tea, its just the regular bags.. convenient, but not as good as the kind that comes loose.. but still really good! ive had three cups of tea in the last twelve hours..

finding this little box of jasmine tea was good for my soul.. i think coming back from my trip to guatemala and honduras was strange, because the whole time i was looking forward to being 'home,' and realizing when i got there that i still wasnt home.. its really easy to start missing people and places and things back home: all my brothers, matt broseph, nolan, fick, t.hall.. my family.. my architecture studio, strangely enough; i dont miss the work so much as the atmosphere.. i miss discipleship with joe priola, and w8, and driving down the 101, and splash cafe in pismo.. i miss my loft bed.. i miss wii! i can go through most my days here not really thinking about these things, kinda blocking them out and focusing on the here and now.. which i think is healthy.. but realizing how much i missed all these things kinda snuck up on me as i rolled across the guatemala border back into el salvador and realized that it was good to be 'back' but also hard to swallow that it will be another four months until i am back to slo, back to the crusade library and calvary slo on sundays and my djembe.. finding this little box of jasmine tea was so great, cause it was just a little taste of home, a little reminder that i will be coming back, a little bit of the joy of home that i can experience here..

and its just dang good tea..