ok, so this is an actual conversation that took place today by phone with one of our translators, Olga. rob is still sitting here laughing about it!
so, our hotel room phone rings. rob picks it up.
rob: "hello? ...what? ah... who is this?...oh, it's Olga! (laughter)....ok, so we're supposed to get twelve kazakh tops...ah, what do you mean, 'tops'? what are kazakh tops?...oh, caps? ok, caps...without handles? ...handles, you mean the brim?" he leans away from the phone and says to me "they want twelve caps, without brims". back to Olga "OK, so twelve caps, without handles...um, well, here, let me give you to Sandy, just so she understands in case i didn't,"...
so he gives me the phone.
sandy: "hi olga. ok, so you want twelve caps? kazakh caps...now, do you mean for children. or adults?"
Olga: "yes, ah, i think it doesn't matter; they can be for children or adults, it doesn't matter, they are the same size."
hmmm, i think to myself.
sandy: "ooo-kaaay...so, caps, well, um, now, what should they be made of? i mean, should they be paper hats?" (I'm thinking like little disposable cooks hats or something, trying to think of anything i've seen them wear at the baby home) "or knitted, like yarn? or, fabric?"
olga: "i think maybe glass is good. you know, with some type of kazakh scene on them."
grass? i think to myself.
sandy: "grass? you mean wool or paper or something? um, Olga...i just don't really know what you mean. you mean little hats?"
olga: "cups! kazakh cups"
sandy: "caps? you mean little caps for wearing on your head?"
olga: "no, i think you're not understanding what i'm saying: cups! little cups!!"
sandy "oohhh!!!! C-U-P-S?! for drinking?"
olga: "YES!!! CUPS!"
and we wonder why wars are fought. :-]
Hahahaha Sandy I can hear Olga's voice in my head!!! That is hilarious! Congratulations, by the way on passing the 14-day mark!
ReplyDelete~Kim
I had fun catching up on your many entries. You left me hanging there for a while. I'm so glad that the bonding is going so well. When will your court date be? I remember the boredom that set in for us, as well as we were overseas for about five weeks. It was so nice to come home, but, quite scary for Penny. That was when the challenges began. But, now we're all feeling happy and bonded. What an adventure! She and I had a big misunderstanding soon after coming home. She said, "Can I eat Mama?" I thought she was joking. So, I answered, "No, you can't eat Mama." She got really mad and I wondered why until I remembered that the Thai brand name for their favorite ramen noodles is, "Mama". Afterwards, we both laughed!
ReplyDeletei LOVE LOVE LOVE this story!! i can totally picture the entire thing going down. hilarious!
ReplyDelete