4000 Catfish

This morning, Julie Bekah and Altynai headed off to the university, and left Emma and I to represent the family out at the seniors day celebration in Orlofka..or at least that is what we thought, but then things do get lost in the translation... In fact the first time we heard about this event was when  I got an email asking if we could help with the celebration by providing them with 4000 catfish...   I thought for a moment and realized that what they meant was 4000 som..about $100.  t was all that was in me not to show up with 4000 catfish for the celebrations... but then knowing how gracious they are, we would have likely had a grand fish fry..hahhaa... but I did figure it out and gave them the money when we were there last week.    So today we got to see what you get for $100.  When we got there , they began to pile into our van along with another car .... good thing I did not come by bus... We drove for about 15 minutes to what they called "Hash Village" maybe lost in the translation again, but apparently in Russian times, this village was so far off the beaten path that they made a lot of hash here.  As we drove down this tiny little road, we found a gathering of about 15 or 20 seniors waiting for us.  We went into a small school there, and set up a special lunch for them.  Vera and her friends had a concert for them with skits and singing as well as some poetry.  Then they were served tea and sandwiches and candies that they all stuffed into every pocket they could .  After lunch, they were each given a little present with soap and a face cloth and a big chocolate bar, and a few other treats... It was a really nice time we had with them... They shared with us that the government did a similar event, the day before, but they did not have enough money so they made an age restriction of 85 years old... that way they only had to feed 2 people in the village.   Great day ... well worth 4000 catfish.