A tea party in PNG?

My friend Melissa wanted a tea party for her birthday and I told her I would help organize it. I decided I wanted it to look like this cute little tea room I went to in South Carolina a few times. This little tea room was so precious. When you first walk in you get to choose a fancy hat! We could even try them on and look in the mirror! Very fun! Then we could choose a tea cup and saucer for the day.

With this kind of tea party in mind, I knew I had a lot of work to do! Thankfully I had already been to a fancy tea party. Some ladies had put it on right when I got here so I knew there were MANY fancy tea sets around...even in PNG!

I wrote on the group board asking for items for the tea party. The list was pretty ridiculous seeing as I had NOTHING but food to contribute to it. I wanted to make this day special for my friend, especially how crazy her week had been already! After a few days I began to hear from people so Melissa and I went on a "little" trip all around center.

We visited 12 different houses and borrowed items from tea pots, tea cups and saucers, to freshly squeezed lemon juice and 16 hats from the high school prop room (ones from past plays)! I was ecstatic but knew my neck was on the line if anything was broken! (Not a good situation when you live on a small center.) We even managed to convince two high school girls to help serve so Melissa and I can enjoy being at the party...which was a great idea!

The day of, I woke up to rain! Being a new driver, and a driver of a "questionable van", and also knowing I would have to make a few trips to take all the tea pots and so forth to where I was hosting it, I was a little nervous! But all worked out perfectly. The rain stopped and we only needed one trip!

The 9 other ladies and us enjoyed trying on hats, drinking strawberry lemonade, and choosing a tea cup (one lady even brought a mug because tea cups don't hold enough! haha). Our first course was cranberry scones with cream served with the first round of hot teas. The second course got many OOWWW's and AAAAWWWW's as the trays were filled with: fruit kabobs, chocolate covered pretzels, cheese and crackers, and cucumber sandwiches (my favorite). It is always nice to watch a missionary relax and savor the moment. There is nothing better than providing a memory like this (like I felt at training when I received a chocolate Hershey's candy....I don't think I have ever eaten anything and liked it that much!). The last course was cake and ice cream followed by a Happy Birthday song to my friend.

It was a nice morning...and yes, nothing has broken. Hopefully the last two deliveries tomorrow will keep my record clean!

Even though I am far away from America, I believe I can still host fun events and pamper my friends. I am glad that God continues to show me how I can do this.