Just to show how little I know…and so you can get a really good laugh!

I recently spent the weekend in the village with my coworker and friend Moldir and learned quite a lot!

LESSON ONE: Never go to the village and expect to return in a day! They assumed I was coming for 3 days….I thought I’d be there a few hours! I compromised and stayed for two and left assuring them I would bring my toothbrush and a change of clothes next time.

LESSON TWO: Bring work clothes. In preparation of meeting a lot of new people I wore one of my best outfits. Playing with calves, sheep, cows, and village children isn’t all that it can be when one has to worry about fancy trousers and delicate shoes! Oy!

LESSON THREE: LAUGH AT YOURSELF, heartily!!! After offering to help the family with their daily chors for the 10th time, Moldir’s mother finally said perhaps I’d want to churn some milk. She was surprised when I accepted her offer, but I was thrilled to finally be of some use instead of standing around. And though I’d spend some childhood days at a relative’s dairy farm, I’d never made butter before and was excited. As I churned the family came through, smiling but saying that I didn’t really need to churn anymore. But I was so excited to help I kept at it for a good half hour. Finally, bewildered at the failure of butter to appear, I asked Moldir when I could expect it. Her response? “My mother already churned the milk and has taken out the butter. That’s why we kept telling you that you didn’t need to churn it anymore.” The realization took about all of 3 seconds to sink in. For half an hour I had smiled and churned away under the eyes of my new friend and her family…at a milky substance that would never be butter. Never ever be butter. Embarrassed for being the foolish “city girl” for the first time in my life… I started laughing. And we laughed all weekend as we retold the story to neighbors and friends. Imagine me…enthusiastically churning, so happy to help, smiling brightly, eager to make butter. Then imagine the family (and their neighbors), coming in and out as they do their normal chores, wondering at this strange American girl who won’t stop churning in her fancy clothes…and laugh!