Paul

My dad requested pictures, so while having tea in the shop around the corner, I took some. I even asked my Indian friend if I could take a picture of him in his shop, to which he replied that it wasn't "his" shop, it was "my" shop.  We had a nice long talk today, and I met another customer, an older austrian woman, who happens to be the vice president of the Moroccan Culture Society in Vienna. She invited me to their weekly yoga and meditation night, afterwhich they always share tea and snacks. I'm pumped.

Paul and "my" shop

Before today I wasn't entirely sure what my Indian friend's name was, but the other customer, Edith, kept calling him Paul so then I asked him straight out about it. I love it, Paul is absolutely the perfect name for him, in the Biblical sense. He seems very much like Paul the apostle, just in the way he says things and perfectly makes sense of life and the way we should love the world.

my tea, and a pastry that Paul made me finish. We were *supposed* to split it.

Paul told me a lot about the art of embroidery and needlework today. He actually is a professional. He was trained in the Northern part of India where he comes from, and he showed me a lot of beadwork on beautiful silk shirts and saris that is all hand made, it is not possible to do it with machines. He said they've tried to make machines for it in China, but they haven't got it right yet. He chuckled at that. 

 My favorite Paul quotes of the day are as follows:
"When the heart is open, the soul flies free"
"My heart is sometimes saying, I want to just kick the whole world" (he muttered it in an Indian tongue and then translated himself to me)
"The world will never understand us. But I understand you."

where I sit and drink tea and just soak in the colors and calm of this little shop

 Today I think I drank 3 or 4 cups of tea and 2 cups of coffee. Everytime I leave my cup to look at something, I come back to it filled again. I don't know how he does it.

Tomorrow we are having a "fashion show". He picked a special outfit for me to try, a black top and black pants, the kind that my Singaporean roommate Nandita would wear for Indian holidays and dinners with family friends. The beading and embroidery on it is bright blue, and gorgeous. The kind of garment where he held it up and I stopped breathing for a few seconds, feasting my eyes on it. Tonight I am going to bake blueberry scones to welcome my mom here, and Clara home, as she has been in Linz all week for an amazing film festival, and I will bring some to my friend tomorrow morning as well.

peace and love,
luce