Cultural Tour

Three tall, light-skinned, fair-haired young men popped up out of the subway station. They did not fit in with the short in stature, dark-haired Asian and Hispanic peoples of Elmhurst, and I easily spotted them. Rylan, Todd, and Zach came from the land of Oz (that’s all New Yorkers know about Kansas) to one of the most culturally diverse areas of the United States. We began with coffee in Elmhurst Rostery. Afterwards, I pointed out the church where the future King William IV of England once worshipped, and then we went on to the Asian market. It was fun to see these guys’ fascination for live crabs, eels, and frogs, and to watch the workers cleaning and cutting up fish. We went through the aisle of noodles, and I pointed out the great variety of teas for whatever ails you. The food court just up the block was mostly shut down except for the Burmese stall with the Chinese raman noodle take out place beside it.

We crossed into the Moore Playground. The action in there depends on the time of day. I’m guessing that yesterday morning, it was Korean women doing Tai Chi and retired Chinese couples dancing. The basketball courts are always busy, and some homeless will be holding down park benches.

The young men saw our apartment, and blessed it with some singing 😊 before we walked on to Elmhurst Hospital to say hello to Laurence. We crossed the border between Asia and South America. My favorite tamale 🫔 lady gave me a smile as we passed. She’d sold out and was pushing a grocery cart with her empty kettles towards home. The young men climbed into the overhead subway station at 82nd Street to take the train to the “Place of Tourism”: One World, 9/11 Museum, Trump Tower, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, etc. These places are not on my tour schedule, but if you want to see Queens, I’d love to show you around. (Especially if it includes a meal at a favorite ethnic restaurant.)

Berniece

P.s. Laurence said I could write a blog about the future of the Church being in good hands. We’ve been encouraged with the spiritual youth we’ve spent time with recently.