Celebrations
So wanted to keep getting caught up on some of my blog topics from around the time the computer was stolen. One of them was getting to participate in a couple of celebrations.
The first one was a May Day Party held the second week of September. Apparently it is common to have a May Day party but we didn't have one. I guess hearing about Labor Day triggered something and everyone wanted to do a makeup party at the site. So we set one up. I had done the birthday party for the Doctor's son that I shared with you in a previous blog and this really was not much different than that. A goat was purchased and butchered for the big event. From what I saw it must have been a small goat. So they roasted the goat meat early but seemed to forget to tell me about that part so I arrived on site after they had finished with that part. Apparently only men (according to William) eat the roasted meat so the women don't eat any until it is cooked with a stew. I think a lot of these things about what women do or eat or what people younger are supposed to do for older people are an attempt to keep them doing it for the older men who can convince them to do it. For example the other day William sent Charles to get a chair for him from another area. I asked about and William is like "I allow him to get me the chair because it makes him feel good to do it and I don't want to embarrass him" Yeah I am not getting it either.
So the meal basically consisted of the goat meat in a stew with rice. One big difference was that we had sodas for everyone (fortunately I had remembered to bring some Coke Zeros with me from town as there are no sugar free drinks in the valley other than water). I had also bought some cupcakes for everyone and one of those traditions that favor the ladies was that only women and children eat chocolate so I got all the ladies some chocolate bars.
There was a little bit of singing and dancing after, but everyone was supposed to give a speech about how great it is to work here. I think that might be left over from their days as a communist country because that is big with communist is to make everyone tell you how glad they are to work for you. Hopefully they really are glad to be here but hard to tell sometimes because of the hard life everyone leads in the valley. I got some video of Gifty and Anna singing. Fortunately for you and the internet I made sure no one got any videos of me singing "Amazing Grace" It was horrible like every other time I try to sing by myself.
The event lasted about an hour total and then everybody went back to work.
The other celebration I got to enjoy is with one of my South Korean friends who wanted to cook two of us a traditional Harvest Moon meal. Harvest Moon is celebrated in Korea and China and the meal was very good. We had Kimchee and a sweet and sour dish that had some fried meat and eggplants. I am always cautious about Kimchee having had some bad experiences from my days in the military with the kind that gets buried for years in jars but what she prepared was excellent as was the whole meal. We basically talked and enjoyed everyone's company. Did a little work on a squeaky door and Barnabas played with Farrah the lion (Farrah as in Farrah Fawcett of Charlies Angels because of the hair.
Lastly is my personal celebration as I have scheduled my trip home for renewing my visa, which just happens to fall on the Christmas holidays (go figure that one out). I will be returning home Dec 17 and while the return trip is not scheduled yet it will most likely be Jan 20 as I am scheduled to speak at churches through the 18th and the FDM USA board meeting is the Thursday before that as well. Currently I have booked all three Sundays in January but I have a lot of open dates in the middle of the week if you would like me to talk to your church, small group, book club whatever. Just get in touch with me and we will set something up. Because of the small window I will be home I would like to keep everything within a days trip (so Charleston, Atlanta, Charlotte you are in that range) and it is possible to do some talks in December.
On a prayer reminder note: Sarah our pre-school teacher who was victim of domestic violence will have her casts removed this weekend so please pray that she gets a good report and will be well on her way to getting back in the classroom but mainly getting back to her life with her kids. They have not found her husband yet but there is an arrest warrant for him.
The first one was a May Day Party held the second week of September. Apparently it is common to have a May Day party but we didn't have one. I guess hearing about Labor Day triggered something and everyone wanted to do a makeup party at the site. So we set one up. I had done the birthday party for the Doctor's son that I shared with you in a previous blog and this really was not much different than that. A goat was purchased and butchered for the big event. From what I saw it must have been a small goat. So they roasted the goat meat early but seemed to forget to tell me about that part so I arrived on site after they had finished with that part. Apparently only men (according to William) eat the roasted meat so the women don't eat any until it is cooked with a stew. I think a lot of these things about what women do or eat or what people younger are supposed to do for older people are an attempt to keep them doing it for the older men who can convince them to do it. For example the other day William sent Charles to get a chair for him from another area. I asked about and William is like "I allow him to get me the chair because it makes him feel good to do it and I don't want to embarrass him" Yeah I am not getting it either.
So the meal basically consisted of the goat meat in a stew with rice. One big difference was that we had sodas for everyone (fortunately I had remembered to bring some Coke Zeros with me from town as there are no sugar free drinks in the valley other than water). I had also bought some cupcakes for everyone and one of those traditions that favor the ladies was that only women and children eat chocolate so I got all the ladies some chocolate bars.
There was a little bit of singing and dancing after, but everyone was supposed to give a speech about how great it is to work here. I think that might be left over from their days as a communist country because that is big with communist is to make everyone tell you how glad they are to work for you. Hopefully they really are glad to be here but hard to tell sometimes because of the hard life everyone leads in the valley. I got some video of Gifty and Anna singing. Fortunately for you and the internet I made sure no one got any videos of me singing "Amazing Grace" It was horrible like every other time I try to sing by myself.
The event lasted about an hour total and then everybody went back to work.
The other celebration I got to enjoy is with one of my South Korean friends who wanted to cook two of us a traditional Harvest Moon meal. Harvest Moon is celebrated in Korea and China and the meal was very good. We had Kimchee and a sweet and sour dish that had some fried meat and eggplants. I am always cautious about Kimchee having had some bad experiences from my days in the military with the kind that gets buried for years in jars but what she prepared was excellent as was the whole meal. We basically talked and enjoyed everyone's company. Did a little work on a squeaky door and Barnabas played with Farrah the lion (Farrah as in Farrah Fawcett of Charlies Angels because of the hair.
Lastly is my personal celebration as I have scheduled my trip home for renewing my visa, which just happens to fall on the Christmas holidays (go figure that one out). I will be returning home Dec 17 and while the return trip is not scheduled yet it will most likely be Jan 20 as I am scheduled to speak at churches through the 18th and the FDM USA board meeting is the Thursday before that as well. Currently I have booked all three Sundays in January but I have a lot of open dates in the middle of the week if you would like me to talk to your church, small group, book club whatever. Just get in touch with me and we will set something up. Because of the small window I will be home I would like to keep everything within a days trip (so Charleston, Atlanta, Charlotte you are in that range) and it is possible to do some talks in December.
On a prayer reminder note: Sarah our pre-school teacher who was victim of domestic violence will have her casts removed this weekend so please pray that she gets a good report and will be well on her way to getting back in the classroom but mainly getting back to her life with her kids. They have not found her husband yet but there is an arrest warrant for him.
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