In the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul The Rug merchant beckoned Us into his shop. When we declined He smiled and gestured with his arm. "Please" He said before adding. "Its a slow morning and my quality rugs are not cheap. But If You come sit my son will serve US sweet apple tea." "You dont have to buy anything I will pretend I am showing you carpets and You will pretend to be happy and interested. Then others will see Us haggle over my quality merchandise and THEY will come in and buy. You help me and have a respite and tea as offered and I will sell a carpet to someone who saw You were interested." And so We had Our first Apple tea.
In the Egyptian Spice market overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and the marvelous sights colors sounds spices fish dry goods abounding the Tea vender bade Us come sit and try some of his teas. Peach tea apple tea pomegranate tea. While we sipped at the different brews He send his children to make more and told Us try this one from India this one from China another from Libya. Each time his daughter brought a new pot of tea He would lift the lid and swish it to send the aromatic fragrances into out faces. And so we purchased Our first Sweet teas.
In a Berger village made of mud and stone we wandered to the guides Aunts house. With oxen and cows under the shade of Her house to escape the heat of the encroaching Sahara. Above them we sat as she handed out small platters of unleavened bread made with flours she ground Herself from her garden. She brought pots of steaming teas brewed with honey from a hive not 20 feet away where she had encouraged the bees to build by making a hole in the wall and laying in a garden of flowers for them to pollinate. A spigot tapped the hive and dripped sweet fresh honey. I ate the bread and took my tea to sip at as i walked about Her rooftop garden. To the east was the Sahara to the west the cities of Morocco sprawled out along the foothills of the Atlas mountains. We were everywhere and nowhere as time swept around Us. Ancients under the Sun I felt whole in myself as a Human being. It nourished my soul and I smiled at myself to feel full with as little as sand wind sun and tea.
When you share sweet tea in those little delicate glasses, you cross a boundary of time and geography. You pass limits of society and culture. Into a settled realm of humanity and remembrance of what it is like to feel at peace, in harmony with nature, time, community...self. Because taking tea just does that, it expands boundaries and encompasses realities. Small things make us whole and human. Im not even a huge tea fan but Ive never said no to sweet tea in those glasses. Whether in Istanbul or Marrakesh Rome Greece or Spain the offering of tea is a humble attitude towards safety and community. It makes me more than I am as myself. It invites us into a place shared by antiquity and peace. In a building sculpted of mud between the sea and the desert or upon a mountain between the river and the sky. The gentle wind blew to call Us. And We were strangers in the abodes of strangers We are all strangers even unto Ourselves. We took tea and unleavened bread with honey. And Time itself blew like a soft wind upon us in our respite. We forgot the heat. We forgot the world ,we forgot ourselves and became ourselves again.
