Date Night...Grillz and a Lesson in Hospitality

We really like date night (um...who doesn't?) and we highly recommend it to all married couples.

Date night has been an important part of our marriage from the beginning.  When we first started working for Teen Advisors, we realized that every night of the week had the potential to get filled up with something - a meeting with a student or growth group...an activity or bible study....hanging out with friends...etc.  So we intentionally set aside one night of the week (Wednesday!) as date night -- we didn't make plans with anyone except each other!

Date night has continued throughout every stage of our marriage.  Once children came along, Yaya (grandmother)(though it's hard to say grandmother because she doesn't "seem"/act/look like a grandmother!!!) made date night possible for us (how can you go wrong when someone who you're crazy about and who is CRAZY about your children is willing to keep them for FREE?). 

Now that we've been here on the Africa Mercy, we have Miss Catharine Fulmer to thank for helping us keep the tradition of date night alive.    There for a while we were doing date night on Tuesdays...but lately we've switched back to our old faithful Wednesdays (Nick gets to play Deck 7 soccer with some guys on Tuesdays!). 

Date night in Guinea doesn't look entirely different than date night in Georgia ever did.  Sometimes we exercise -- though running in the streets of Conakry isn't quite as peaceful as running at Lakebottom, Cooper Creek or Britt David Park....but it's still exercise and it's fun exercising together. 

Sometimes we just stay on the ship and find a quiet place to sit and talk or play a game (scattergories is a favorite).  The past couple of weeks we've managed to watch the Chelsea game (da blues! da blues! da blues!).  Sometimes we go eat  -- and, as much as we would LOVE to eat at Carabba's or Deorios, Guinea has had some nice offerings as far as date night venues go. 

A few Wednesdays ago we had a super special outing...definitely worth sharing. 

We had been hearing about a place called "Grillz" with great hamburgers and fries.  Being the hamburger and fries loving people that we are, we decided to try it.  Another pro for this place is that it's within walking distance...and walking to dinner sounded appealing to us.  So we got directions from Gretchen and Mark -- the very official directions went something like this "walk out of the port...go down the "dental clinic road"...you'll want to walk on the left instead of on the right like we usually do....look for a sign that says "grillz", turn left.  If you get to the building with the lions, you've gone too far.  The restaurant will be a few blocks down the street on the left."

A very official map.

Gretchen was also kind enough to share that when they went, they got to the restaurant and it was locked and looked closed...but within a few moments, someone came out into the street and let them in.  We're glad she said that because, sure enough, when we got there, the door was locked and we thought it was closed - and had Gretchen not shared her expertise, we would have walked away.  But, after we had stood there for a few seconds, a fella came out and welcomed us in.

We sat down...the only ones in the restaurant - music was playing (something unfamiliar...but fine); the tv was on (we decided it was Guinea's version of "The People's Court" - except more than just the judge had on black robes....); it was kind of hot (but that's ok...we weren't expecting anything else)...

Within minutes, the music had been changed to something in English.  The TV had been changed to the Chelsea game (how did they know?!) and the air conditioning unit had been turned on.  We were SO IMPRESSED by the measures taken to make us feel welcome.  None of those things were necessary...but they were done out of a spirit of hospitality and kindness. 

The man who let us in was our waiter (and may have been our cook, too).  We weren't sure he completely understood what we were ordering - we asked for cheeseburgers with just bread, meat and cheese and everything else on the side (cause sometimes burgers here come with "extra" things...like cucumbers...or a "special sauce"...or  something completely unfamiliar)...and we ordered 2 cokes and some ice.  His response?  "It is possible."  (with a slight head nod and very serious expression).

Turns out it was possible!  Our order was perfect (the only unfortunate part of the evening was finding out that frites (fries!) weren't possible...but the fried plantains they served were fantastic!).

He was so kind to open our straws and pour our drinks...he was making every effort to give us the best dining experience possible.

Side note: We want to be hospitable like that.  Taking intentional measures to help others feel welcome and thought of.  Serving in the details. 

So the burgers came and were DELICIOUS (our favorite burgers in Guinea...and there IS some competition).  And the music playing was wonderful -- through the course of our evening we found out that our server's name was (get this!) Yaya...and the music playing was Adele (we weren't familiar with her...but really enjoyed some live versions or her songs as well as some of her versions of familiar songs).  Nick offered to buy the CD from Yaya...instead of letting us buy it then, he invited us to come back to dinner on Saturday night.  He said he would 1)give us 50% off of our meal 2) join us for dinner and 3)give us the CD.  So we went back on Saturday night.  We took our kids and some friends...had some more great burgers...got to hear some of Yaya's story.  He and Nick are even facebook friends now.  AND we came home with a great CD.

So...date night turned out to feed our marriage, our friendship, our bellies & our music collection...as well as give us a tangible example of excellent hospitality, kindness & thoughtfulness.  What gifts! 

Surely there will be more to come.