So it's been a crazy summer, and I don't know about you but I'm sad it's over (although glad that school has started yay!). I've been so busy that I haven't posted in a while. Instead of continuing to Suffer from LOAD withdrawal (ever since May), I've been taking the MotherLOAD at
Big Picture classes-(Lain has never let me down yet) and yesterday being the first of September it was the first day of the LOAD portion.
ScrapHappy is doing an informal LOAD in October (If you don't know about ScrapHappy, you really should check it out), so I am going to get a whole lot of Scrapbooking done in the next 2 months. Here is my Layout for today (Click on it for a bigger image):
I thought I'd share the journaling on here since it's the only way anyone will be able to read it:
So here's the story:
Since we have been learning Nepali for a few years now we decided while we were in New Jersey to visit the Hindi congregation in Edison. (Hindi & Nepali being very similar so the Nepalese can often understand Hindi. And we got to wear our Sarees-Bonus!). So we went to the English meeting in Middletown in the morning and Dad came with Rebecca Lynn & I to the Hindi meeting in the Afternoon. (Ryan stayed with Grandma & Aunt Linda to can tomatoes). After the meeting we met so many warm, loving brothers and sisters. They even put us in touch with some who were at Bethel, & in the Hindi Congregation in Brooklyn. We also asked some sisters where the best places were to do some shopping. I wanted a Kurta Sunwal- (aka Salwar Kameez) because, not being built like a woman from India, I never can find one in Colorado that fits me, And Rebecca Lynn was hoping to find a new one as well. We also mentioned this to a very helpful brother named Jay.
Apparently after we left Jay told his wife Olive. So while we were standing looking at a menu in a restaurant, Olive called Rebecca Lynn. When she found out where we were and that we had not ordered yet she said “come outside and wait there…we will come get you.” When they got there they told me to leave my car where it was. Olive said that if we went shopping by ourselves “You are foreigners here, they will rip you off.” They first took us to a different restaurant. After speaking in Hindi to the woman behind the counter he told us-“Two meat entrees with rice are $10 and 2 vegetables with rice are $7. Drinks are in a cooler over there.” After a few conversations with other customers, Olive found us a nice table. Once we had our food & beverages & were sitting, Jay said “We are going to a return visit and will be back for you soon. If there is anything else you need they will take good care of you here.” And boy did they! For one thing they refused to take our money! Several times we tried to pay and they would not let us. We wondered if Jay had sneakily paid for us, but we found out that he had not. The entire staff came out to talk to us at some point or other. They brought us dessert too. I felt like a celebrity. I suppose they all wanted to know what these two white women were doing there, and in sarees no less. Near the end of our visit a man from Nepal, who it turns out cooks the Chinese food (Wish we’d known about that sooner, sorry Dad), came out and talked to us. So we were able to practice our Nepali, and we went back later and gave him the What Does The Bible Really Teach Book and an invite to the Hindi Convention. He gave us his number & address, and we gave it to Jay & Olive. Oh and the food was delicious, but too spicy for Dad so he couldn’t eat very much.
Olive came back without Jay (Their call had turned into a study & she left him & another sister there). She took us to several shops. In, walk around, look a bit “You don’t see anything you like-lets go” On to the next one…The last place she took us was a little shopping center that had 3 different shops, so she dropped us there & went back for Jay. When they came back We found what we wanted. Rebecca Lynn’s was marked $130 and the 2 I liked had no price at all on the tags. Olive told us to let Jay negotiate the price. So Jay starts the negotiation. He asks her to give them to us for $50 each. The lady shakes her head no vigorously & says “I honest lady, give you bottom price see (pointing to a sign advertising a 14th anniversary sale) my shop here 14 years” She shows us how good the material is and talks about that it is quality work, and the embroidery & pattern woven in make us agree. But she would not go low enough for Jay. They start talking (sometimes almost shouting) in Hindi. (Rebecca Lynn understands a bit because it is similar to Nepali) This is approximately what was said:
He says “Don’t rip them off”
She tells him “They are Americans they have lots of money”
“They are servants of God, they don’t have any money”
“They can’t afford that they have no money”
“God will bless you if you give them a good deal”
We are starting to think it’s too much & she won’t go low enough, not to mention being somewhat embarrassed, okay mortified, by what he is saying about us, so Olive & I start to walk out the door. She calls us back and shows a price on her calculator (so her other customers can’t see what a good price she’s giving us I suppose) of $75 each. Now that we could manage, since we really did like the outfits very much.
After all of that Jay gave her an invitation to the Hindi District Convention in Brooklyn and she says she might come.So I guess it was friendly after all.
When we got home and told this story to Mom & Aunt Linda we were laughing so hard by the end we could hardly stand up. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I hope we can go back next summer.
And here is yesterday's page:
And a Closeup:
Hope You enjoy. More soon Including a new Challenge at Clear It Out on Tuesday.
