Table Manners

The housekeeper and cook here at the guest house prepares my meals.  She usually cooks three times the amount of food that I need.  (I am aware of adding on pounds while eating a carb loaded diet.)  I invite my young friends, who are always hungry, to sit at the table and share a meal with me.  Benjamy might show up for breakfast, Gastina always comes by at lunch time, and very often Estime is at the guest house at dinner time.  The children are always shy, quiet, and wait to be invited.  I treat them as a guest.  These three children live in the worst of conditions.  Their homes don't have a table where the family shares a meal.  They most often take a bowl of food, a spoon, sit on a rock and eat.  Mealtime isn't a family activity.  It isn't a social activity.  Much to my surprise, all three children have impeccable table manners.  Even six year old Benjamy handles a knife and fork like a pro.  Gastina could compete with the best of the finishing school set.  It seems that good manners, both at the table, and in a social setting, especially the way children greet and talk with adults, are part of the culture here in this poor country village.