Gifts can be a language of love and appreciation, but beware of this love language when you live in a Hungarian village. Two years ago our neighbors tried to give us a molting pigeon as a gift. We managed to finess our way out of that one. Last year they tried to give us rabbits for the girls. Again we managed to graciously pass them up. But a few weeks ago, this delightful "horse whisperer" of Mikepercs did not give us a chance to say no as he handed Russ an old birdcage over the fence. Then cage contained three rodents of undetermined origin. Our neighbor watched as Russ called me (Trudy) outside keeping a fake smile pasted over his worried countenance. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Tell me they are not rats."
The good news is they are not rats. Our neighbor insisted they are American squirrels, but they were like no other squirrels I had ever seen. They resemble a squirrel in color and size, but are built more like chincillas.
At first we were not sure if the neighbors were trying to give us a pet or if they thought, "We should give the American Squirrels to the Americans. It has probably been a long time since they had squirrel stew."
After much research, we managed to identify them as Degu -- a rodent from the Chilean Andees. How they made their way to our village in Hungary I will never know. Of the three given to us, one is female, one is male and one we are not sure about. It may well prove to be the gift that keeps on giving. Anyone want a Degu?
2 comments:
this is one of the most hysterical blogs i have read. Trudy, i can picture you and I talking about this over forro csoki in the beloved coffee shop :) miss you all. can't wait for the baseball team to arrive!
Hey Trudy,
Just got pointed here (your blog) two days ago when Saint Doddl stopped by our house for the evening. I can only sign up to Julie's words - your post had both Christine and me in stitches! We continue to admire your resilience and willingness to serve God as a family and are looking forward to our next visit with you, whenever that may be. Yes, we know Andy has probably long forgotten who we are... ;-)
Okay, I ought to go - talk to you guys soon, God bless! Will be coming here more often now...
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