The mountain village on Cyprus we currently call home is charming, welcoming, and interesting. For the few months we’ve been here, we’ve made it a practice to eat in different restaurants and visit the different business found here in this tourist destination.
This week, I stopped by a tiny store front that’s just a few hundred feet from our home. I wouldn’t have even guessed it was a store except that on this day there was a table with various sized toy donkeys for sale.
I popped my head in and said, “Yassas! Kali spera!” (Hello! Good afternoon!) A woman, probably mid 70s, looked up and smiled. She motioned me in and began talking to me in Greek. She hadn’t realized that I had already used up my known vocabulary.
I smiled in response and looked down at the table where she had some of her work displayed. Before me lay beautifully handcrafted thread work. She pointed to a smaller one and said, “5 Euro.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t disagreeing with the price because it was too much, but because it was too little! If it took her one day to crochet, she charged 5 euro. Two days, 10 euro…and so on.
I pointed to a larger one and she apologized because she had to charge 30 Euro. I tried to tell her how much I loved her work and that her prices were more than fair, but she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Greek.
We both began trying the approach of SPEAKING LOUDER AND M O R E. S L O W L Y…but as predicted, it didn’t work.
I made my selections and offered her my credit card. She shook her head. No credit card machine. I shook my head. No cash.
I sighed and told her that I would need to go get some cash and come back. This was all done through the VOLUME method and a variety of hand gestures. She smiled and seemed to understand.
Returning home, I told John the story. He produced the cash I needed and I returned forthwith. We exchanged Euro for goods and I began to leave.
She motioned for me to sit and drink coffee with her. I smiled. I I don’t speak Greek and I don’t like coffee. However, I have committed that I’ll never let one of my preferences supersede a kind person’s generous offer of hospitality.
My new friend, Oh-im-bee-yatha, set out a small table between us. She left the storefront and came back with cookies and a pastry. She asked if I would like Cyprus coffee. I nodded. What difference does it make? Soon she came in with two cups of coffee and grapes picked fresh from the vineyard that morning.
I pulled out my phone and used Google Translate conversation mode. I spoke in English and a voice from my phone would repeat it in Greek. We passed the phone back and forth learning about one another. My new friend’s husband had passed away. Her only daughter and family lived in the city for their work. Oimbeeyatha was the only one in her family to remain in the village. She began to cry and I joined her. We hugged and then sat in companionable silence for a while.
Oimbeeyatha’s phone rang. She smiled and answered immediately. It was her daughter checking on her. After a couple of minutes, Oimbeeyatha passed the phone to me. I greeted her daughter in English. Thankfully, Marina, understood me!
We chatted for a few minutes before I handed the phone back to my host. Mother and daughter finished the conversation and said their goodbyes.
Oimbeeyatha asked for my phone. She spoke into it with the news. Her daughter was coming to see her in two days and I’m invited to join them. I smiled and told her I would be happy to meet Marina.
Our visit began to wind down. I had drunk a socially acceptable amount of the coffee which would allow me to begin my goodbyes. My host began to bag all of my purchases, along with a new handkerchief, a bunch of grapes, and tea cookies.
I waved goodbye and made the short walk back to our house. I immediately showed John my new friend’s work. He ooo’d and aaaah’d at the appropriate times. (He’s good like that.)
I’ll make some pumpkin bread for my visit to meet her daughter. I haven’t seen that at any of the bakeries in the village. Glad I took time to pause and visit. I’ve made a new friend and I’m grateful.
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