November 9, Catch-Up

Whoa! Was my last journal entry in August???  Busy-ness is no excuse…but, yes, I’ve been busy!

But Table Talks has continued.

We’ve been meeting for the past few months at Starbucks in Bethel, CT. Starbucks couldn’t have been more hospitable. But I’m not sure it’s the right location for us.

We occupied tables inside and out. High tops and small tables. We positioned ourselves near the Order Here and Pick Up lines. And each week, we placed signs, balloons, and a Qu’ran and Torah on the wooden tables.

But I think the Starbucks demographic doesn’t match our Table Talks demographic.

But still, over the past weeks, we had many fascinating conversations. There were a couple of visits with Nigel from the UK talking about Catholicism. Mona and Deb invited us to explore “what is friendship.” Patty, the Master Gardener, gave us an encouraging thumbs up. Rabbi Nelly made an appearance. And a couple of times, Zina dropped by with the new baby. One afternoon, Eman gave an abbreviated Arabic lesson. And I learned a lot from Tahira who has a son named Danyal, and with whom I shared a conversation about Jewish and Arabic naming customs, because my son is also Daniel. It turns out that Danyal is part of Islamic tradition but not mentioned in the Qu’ran. Who knew? And finally there was Sheryl who walked by our table one morning with a laugh, saying, “I thought I was the only Jewish woman in Bethel!”

I expect we’ll head to a new location next week. Starbucks has been great to us. Thanks for the lattes and egg cups! We may return another time. But for now, it’s time to move on…

See you next week. As always, follow us on FACEBOOK to find out where we’ll be.

Muslim sisters dropping by Table Talks

Eman, Yehezkel and Laura enjoying a chat and coffee in Danbury

Table Talks at Starbucks, Bethel, CT