God Is Everywhere

Today, I ate breakfast with a stranger.

Each week I make an effort to try a new restaurant and today I checked out Cafeteria Pop because Google reviews said they were top notch for breakfast and brunch. From my current Airbnb, this restaurant was only a 10 minute walk but the clouds looked like it would soon rain, so I decided to get an Uber.

I walked into the restaurant and followed a narrow hallway to the patio where every table was full with people smiling and talking in various languages. I came back to the front and asked, in my still very basic Spanish, if there was a table available for one. I asked, “Una mesa para mi por favor?”

When the waiter said no tables were open, I was about to see what other options Google had to offer. But the waiter asked if I would be ok sharing space with someone. He pointed to a corner table where a man sat drinking his coffee with an empty seat in front of him. The waiter assured me the gentleman had already consented to sharing his table, so now it was up to me.

If I were home in Texas, I don’t know if I would have said yes. I don’t have a problem talking to strangers so it’s possible I’d accept the offer but eating a meal with someone you don’t know feels like a recipe for an awkward moment. Nevertheless, I decided to choose the journey less traveled and eat my breakfast with a stranger.

His name was David, a 51 year old native Yucatecan. He had a desire to learn English and I told him I was  a student of Español. We then spent the next hour eating and him talking to me in Spanish while I taught him a few English cognates. I surprised myself with how much I was able to keep up with our conversation. What really helped was his overly exaggerated hand movements. When he wanted to tell me about his new bike, he turned his body so his legs would be in the aisle and gave a perfect charades motion with his hands and feet to make sure I understood his story. He showed me pictures of his neice and nephew and talked about how much he loves being an uncle.

He mentioned that he’s single, used to work a lot, but now has a sandwich shop he started out of his home. This allows him to spend more time with his family and friends.

He then told me about his church and how it’s considered a radical tribe. I asked him why and he said most people in his family are traditional Catholic and he considers himself Christian and more liberal. His church welcomes everyone from all walks of life. And then I tried my best to say “Todos gentes necesite Jesus Cristo,” but I doubt I conjugated my verbs correctly. But David understood and said, “Sí, sí todos los personas.”

 Then in Spanish he told me it was meant for me to sit in that empty seat. That how wonderful it was to meet another Christian from a new place. He said we were now friends and that one day I would have to come to his house to try one of his sandwiches or he would even make hot cakes instead (since that’s what I was eating at breakfast). And you know what, I think one day I will take him up on his offer. Something about being in Merida just makes me wanna dig more deeply into learning about people I otherwise would never had made the time to talk to or in this case, someone with whom I wouldn’t have shared a table.

Take time away from work is the best thing that ever happened to me. You can take your own adult gap year, too. Click here to download this resource that helps you plan out your sabbatical. Whether you choose to take a full year or a little less time, this resource will guide your planning.

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