I can be very, very stubborn and sometimes my perception of reality is just a tad askew. Case, in point, this classic Sue tale (sadly a true story actually) which I am about to share with all of you. It’s hilarious, but, well, honestly, it IS a bit scary too.
For Thanksgiving, our family drove to Tuscon, Arizona. Our friend Sokoun (pictured above with me - she likes doing cactus people poses!) invited us to stay with her Uncle Lee and his lovely wife. Sokoun and her family, as some of you may remember from earlier posts, are from Cambodia. Uncle Lee has done very well for himself since arriving over 25 years ago. He owns a mini - supermarket and has invested in real estate. He is living proof that, with a lot of hard work and sacrifice, the American Dream can indeed come true for anyone. He and his wife have a gorgeous home, it is almost palatial you could say. (Pictures to follow!).
Uncle Lee and his wife were SO hospitable – just lovely folks. (I could never pronounce Uncle Lee's wife's name – bad Sue, I know. I promise to get it from Sokoun!) We felt welcomed and very comfortable during our stay.
On Thanksgiving morning, I went for about a two mile jog at a park which was located across the street from their house. It had a beautiful trail, filled with huge Saguaro cacti and other varieties of cacti.
This is what the trail looked like:
I had never run in the desert before. I ran hard, because I knew I’d be feasting later on (and did I ever!). As you may imagine, it is was pretty warm and very dry, so I couldn’t WAIT to jump in the shower. My mantra at the time was: “MUST TAKE SHOWER…GET ME TO THE SHOWER….MUST TAKE SHOWER…”
SO! I walked from the trail across the street, and, well, this is what I saw:
For some reason, I looked at my car (the black Forrester in the pic) and I thought my husband had moved it. Don’t ask me why – as I said, I tend to see things not exactly as they really are. I thought I had parked in front of Uncle Lee’s house…so I walked up the walkway to his house. As I was walking, this boy from across the street ran over to me, and asked me, “Oh, are you looking for them?”
So I said, “Oh no, I am here visiting from California.”
“Oh, he said, “Well, have you seen Luke?”
“Ah no…who’s Luke?”
“Oh he’s a boy - he’s my friend.”
Well, I was thinking, THAT’S really odd because all of Uncle Lee’s kids are teenagers.
“How old is Luke?” I asked.
“He’s seven.”
Oh, I thought, he must be VISITING his Uncle for Thanksgiving.
So I walked into the house, and this Cambodian woman looks at me.
“Are you looking for Lee? He’s next door.”
“No, he’s not,” I replied. ‘”He’s working at the store.”
“Ah, no,” said the woman, “I don’t think so, because he has visitors.”
“Well,” I said, “I SAW him leave the house this morning. He’s a very hard worker isn’t he?”
Then I saw this very old woman mopping the floor, so, being the polite person that I am, I promptly took off my shoes.
I looked around and thought to myself, “Whoa – they really cleared the place out and they moved the furniture around too! (Uncle Lee was hosting a HUGE party that evening – over 100 people were invited).
“Ok ,” I told the woman, “ I REALLY need to take a SHOWER. Let me get my towel.” (It is good manners to bring your own towel when you stay at a Cambodian household).
I entered the downstairs bathroom, but I didn’t see my towel.
So I walked UPSTAIRS to see if I left it in the bedroom where we were sleeping.
At the top of the stairs is a tv room – and I saw 2 of Sokoun’s cousins whom I had met earlier that morning. The woman followed me upstairs (I assumed she was visiting Uncle Lee also, as lots of family were coming in from out of town).
“Oh hi! “ I said to her cousins.
The lady sat on the couch, introduced me to her husband, then patted the seat next to her, hinting that I should sit down and chat!
“Oh no,” I told her, “ I REALLY need to take a shower!! Then we can chat!”
“I just need to grab my towel from the bedroom.”
As I was walking down the hall, I heard her cousin say, well what I THOUGHT he said was, “You can USE the house.”
I have tinnitus and I have a hard enough time understanding those who speak English, let alone new friends with very thick foreign accents!
I think I said, “aw you are SO nice.THANK YOU!” I was just so appreciative of the “mi casa es su casa” vibe, ya know?
So, I kept walking and when I reached the room, it was EMPTY.
“OOOOOOOOOh!!!! I CONFUSED the house!!!”
Yup. I was in the wrong freaking house!!!
As I bolted down the stairs, I asked the woman who first greeted me in her foyer:
“Um, well, are you at least RELATED to Uncle Lee?”
She nodded her head.
Phew.
Yes, I was the hit of the party with THAT story! I honestly have never laughed so hard.
It’s good that I can laugh at myself though, dontcha think?
Yeah yeah I know…if I couldn’t laugh then I ‘d be crying all the time!
Anjoli atop one of two wooden elephants that adorn both sides of Uncle Lee's staircase. These elephants, each weighing roughly 500 pounds, were conspicuously missing from the OTHER house.
But, again, I thought they were cleared out for the party! OMG how thick can you get Sue??? Not only that, the staircase next door was WHITE!!
