In my pocket I have a stone collection from my journey. Each rock is a bit of the culture that I have attained. Some of these bits have been searched out with great care and paid for at a high price. Others I have stumbled upon and have surprised me with their beauty. The one I am going to show to you today was tossed at me with a carefree holler of, “Think fast!” Good thing I had my wits about me to catch it before it flew right over my head.
The list glared at me. Talking on the phone is ranked right up there with shopping on my list of things to avoid at all costs. I’ll do it if I have to and this was an obligation I couldn’t delegate. I had decided to do a tea at my house for the gals wanting to help with womens ministry. I had planned to make cheesecake. It was going to be so fun.
But I had to call to let them know about the meeting. It was the day before the tea. I trudged down the list. Everyone was called and I breathed a sigh of relief. I wondered how many would come.
The next evening as I set the teapot on the table there was a knock. On time? I could hardly believe it. Only two were not able to come, but they had told me that on the phone. Everyone else showed up! So why was this time different? In the past only a few would come. The only difference I could tell was that the time lapse between the calls and the actual event. In the past I would make the calls with one to two weeks of anticipation. And this time with only a day. Ah ha! That was it! They only had a day to not forget about the tea! The key was the urgency.
Bolivian people operate well under the pressure of the urgency of the moment. Countless times I have received a call from the people in the office on the first floor under our home telling me that there is someone downstairs who wants to see me. Unless they are friends of mine I tell the receptionist to please make an appointment. The appointment is made but rarely kept by the individual. Spontaneity is often transmitted as urgency when in all truth the matter could wait until I am finished with what I have going on already. The promised meeting length of “two little minutes” usually turns into about 45 minutes of talking.
At times I can use this tendency towards urgency to my advantage. But most of the time I try not to get sucked into the anxiety of tending to every perceived emergency presented.
(You can type ‘culture collection’ in the yellow search box on the nagivation bar of my blog to read other posts about the Bolivian culture.)
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I too do well with an urgent deadline…and operate well in stressfull situations while remaining calm.
How cool that you’ve figured out a neat trick to help the ladies remember the gathering! I hope you had a lovely gathering and REALLY good cheesecake.
P.S. Give Tyler a birthday cuddle for me!! Is it odd to have your youngest out of the “baby” stage???
Funny. I would think it would be the opposite…picturing a laid back culture.
You don’t like the phone? All these blog gals don’t…hmm. I think we discussed this before.
hmmm…. I’m like this too. Ok … on both sides. Strongly dislike the phone, and do much better with last minute things. I’m glad you had a great turn-out!
That is so true that Bolivian people work well at the last minute. That is why I try not to get stressed out if a detail is left out until the last minute. I know they can handle it. Interesting how the differences in culture are.
That must be a South American thing, acting at the spur of the moment, being late, etc.
When you talk about Bolivia and their culture, I see so many similarities to Chile.
Have a great day, Angie!
@Libby – He still feels like my baby.
@Danielle – I think we did talk about the whole phone thing.
@Anita – Interesting that you do good with last minute stuff.
@DaRonn – They really can handle it – it amazes me sometimes.
@Brandy – Yes, I do think it is a South America thing. You have a good day too.
i understand completely; the Basotho people are exactly the same.
they are not very plan-ahead people, so anything with too much advance notice can easily get disregarded. but they’re always free “just now” to join you!
@Alece – I have been meaning to tell you, and your comment reminded me, that there is a South African man who feels called as a missionary to Bolivia who contacted us. Interesting.
oh wow. that’s really interesting! keep me posted on that…
will do…