( a belated blog from last month…note: names have been altered)
it started out just like any other WR day…the air was crisp…and late winter chills were upon us. Clad in every layer of warm clothing we owned, our team disbursed for various activities. Shawndell and I ended up agreeing to go with our friend Aaron…and that’s when the adventure began. You see, any time Shawndell and I are paired up for anything in a foreign country – there’s bound to be a tale to tell of it afterward.
Shuffling down the dirty sidewalks, the icy wind nipped our faces, and we shivered at the thought of having to spend any additional time outside today. We were on a mission, to visit a couple Aaron knew in the city -they didn’t know we were coming, and he didn’t know the code to their building. Naturally!
A couple arrived at the exact moment we did, and allowed us access into the building.
Step one of the mission: enter the building before frostbite sets in, check!
We were greeted with giant smiles, curious eyes, welcoming gestures, and many many phrases in a language I have no current ability to speak or understand. Shawndell and I opted for the polite visitor stance, smiling, nodding, and repeatedly asking our friend Aaron (a.k.a- Translator man) “what did they say? Ooh can you say this?…etc.” As if thinking two languages simultaneously wasn’t enough, he now had two women inquiring about the conversation!
Reports of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan plastered to the television screen (again in a language we didn’t understand)…and the woman gave us piles of delicious fresh walnuts and apples. We couldn’t finish our glass of tea because our glasses were continually topped off with piping hot water. The man insisted we wear house slippers…mine were pretty much the most amazing thing I’ve ever worn on my feet…hot pink with flowers…and did I mention they were high-heels? Yes…high-heel slippers…they exist in Asia…and 1/4 of my foot hung off the back.
Our time seemed to be winding down when we received a dinner invitation. We agreed…why not enjoy an experience like this with such a sweet couple who meant so much to our friend Aaron? We agreed to go, and wandered to the window to look at the city view as the man gestured various buildings of importance to us…before we knew what was happening – we were at the door, suiting up in our cold layers again…and heading across town to…you guessed it:
FLY A KITE!!!!
It made me chuckle to watch all the grown men at the park flying their kites, competing to see whose could go the highest. Wives and children stood by watching this lighthearted sport. It was absurdly cold…and after noticing the layer of frost that clung to the lower portion of the horizon, my insides shuddered…
Step 2 of the mission: get as close to frostbite as possible without quite hopping over the line.
Bonus points earned for flying a kite…
At some point during this adventure…some time after the husband added his second spindle of mile-long rope to his kite contraption, the wife decided that Shawndell, Aaron, and I each needed our own kites. She escorted us over to the kite-man, and made us choose. I chose a little kite that looked like a dancing man.
All was going well as we launched our kites into the frozen air…I began to sing an entertaining tune as my kite-man danced his wild feet back and forth. Shawndell and I laughed. “Look at him go…he’s dancing himself right away!” I exclaimed looking at Shawndell. I felt a sudden emptiness and lightness on my spindle. I turned toward my kite to see the final end of string fluttered up, up, up, and AWAY!!! Aaron, witnessing the loss of my kite turned to watch, and in the process lost his as well. Shawndell turned to check her kite, just in time to see the wife swoop in and grab the end of her string. Leave it to three foreigners to lose their kites on the first run of the day.
Aaron eventually found his kite…mine is somewhere in construction land…and mission 3 was completed:
Fly a kite in a foreign country…and lose it!
That evening our toes and fingers unthawed at a fancy local restaurant…
We were treated to some of the most elegant and kind hospitality I have experienced on the race.
We shared stories, through Aaron (our handy-dandy-translator).
Though they were Muslims, they invited me to sing a worship song at dinner.
We dined on native dishes, and laughed a lot.
It was a day that reminded me…you never know what will happen when you leave home for a day without expectations. In reality, we’d simply agreed to visit some old friends. We never knew it was a package deal of kite-flying, and amazing dinner…I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.
To read a more thorough account of this adventure, visit Shawndell’s blog.
