Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | April 6, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Coconut vendor. | 06 April 2011 | Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Posted in Bangladesh, Wordless Wednesday

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Responses

  1. Mary Kay Rowe's avatar

    Love this picture. I’m pretty sure that taking a coconut off of that table would make the whole pile tumble to the ground. I’d love to see how he does it. Pick up sticks times a thousand.

    By: Mary Kay Rowe on April 6, 2011
    at 8:41 AM

    Reply

  2. Paul & Sarah Beniston's avatar

    Great picture. The juice of a green cocnut is surely the best re-hydration cure on a hot day in South Asia. It sure did the trick when we were in Kolkata or Dhaka.

    All the best for your time in Bangladesh. The nation as a whole needs those while sharing God’s Mercy also share the saving Grace of the Gospel of Christ.

    Paul

    By: Paul & Sarah Beniston on April 6, 2011
    at 3:05 PM

    Reply

  3. Dacques Nini's avatar

    Once on an island in the Pacific I went on an adventure hike to see what was on the other side of high point of the island. As I walked down into a small humble community I observed a Dad playing with his two little girls in the lagoon. As I smiled at him and waved, I expressed myself without words in a manner like “let your fingers do the walking” from the old yellow pages adds. He smilled back and made a gesture as to say “Sure, keep going.”

    As I continued along the shoreline I noticed a serious looking older man wearing only shorts and carrying a machete in his hands. When he saw me he took a 45 degree turn and proceeded directly to intersect my path. For a moment I thought I may have made a grave mistake, perhaps I was truly trespassing. I thought it wise to simply stop walking and turn towards him with a smile. He continued to walk directly toward me, machete in hand. As he reached a within striking distance he raised his machete and his other hand too. For a brief moment it was an intense emotion and burst of adrenaline that charged my central nervous system.

    However, just as quickly as he raised his hands he smiled and then took a large step and placed his arms around me. I still remember his nearly toothless smile. Beautiful man. He spoke no english and I was not familiar with his language. Although, we didn’t let that stop us from becoming friends.

    I was indeed on his property and he wanted to share his hospitality with me. We looked over all of his fruit trees, vegatable garden and animals too. But most importantly to him was to show me the various stages of the coconut. We started in order of unripened to overly ripened in what were about 5 stages of growth. I was so happy to see how handy he was with his machete on the coconuts instead of me.

    First a young coconut…it had no sweetness, more like water. The next three stages evolved all the way to delicous sweet coconut milk. And finally, which was really bizarre to me, the last coconut had a somewhat solidified interior which was of the texture and taste of cotton candy. It was surreal.

    His wife and son spoke some English and arrived home just before I started the hike back to the other side from where I began. I invited them to come and have dinner with us that evening at the place we were staying. They accepted and we had a wonderful time reciprocating the hospitality which was extended.

    Additionally, I was invited to work with them the following day which thrilled me. This man was a fisherman and a shallow water diver. So the following day, I found myself fulfilling one of the desires of my heart…spear fishing, collecting large clams, and spearing octopuses with native friends! It was a very cool experience. Not to mention a brief stop in a particular area where I was surrounded by the largest stingrays I have ever seen. Their mouths were on their under belly. As I was taught, I would rub a fish between their eyes and they would then swim up against my body and literally open up to eat the fish. What an experience.

    At the conclusion, I gave the older gentleman some new shoes made for walking in the water, to his son a cool hat that I would call a “lid” (which is like a favorite hat) and to his wife we gave perfume I think. In return, his wife had made a fresh flower garland necklace for my bride and to me he gave seven beautiful unique shells. We had already met another couple from China and had given them our Bible, and we shared two of the shells with them before we left that beautiful place.

    All this because of a warm smile and being wild at heart.

    By: Dacques Nini on April 7, 2011
    at 2:24 PM

    Reply

    • Omar C. Garcia's avatar

      Great story, Dacques. Love it. Thanks for sharing.

      By: Omar C. Garcia on April 7, 2011
      at 3:17 PM

      Reply


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