Huh?

OK. So, today was the first time I have had to GO pay bills. At the old apartment, our English speaking neighbor did it for us. At this new apartment we paid a certain amount in advance and they've just been deducting from it. We hit a zero balance and they called every English speaking person in our apartment complex to see if they new the "foreigners" in our apartment. Fortunately for us, we've made some friends. Our friends called and said, "You need to go pay your bills." I took the bills printed in a foreign language and my landlord's bankbook(yes, you read that right)also printed in a foreign language and made my way to said bank. When I walked in with all the correct stuff...they assumed I knew what I was doing...I didn't. They fire off in this new language that I know so little of and I immediately asked them, in their language, if they speak mine...of course not. :) It's a bit confusing for them when you tell them you don't speak their language in THEIR LANGUAGE. Anyway. I digress from the reason for this post. I handed the general manager the equivalent of three bills along with the bankbook and he pulled out....not a calculator to add them up, but....wait for it....an ABACUS (Sp?)!!!! I am not kidding people! I did a double take. I didn't know they had those things anymore. I've only read about them in history books. AND his fingers flew across it like it was second nature to him. I was MOST impressed and quite dumbfounded. He checked and double checked himself...how would I know if it was right? Anyway. I paid our bills with little fanfare and moved on. But I was already thinking that I couldn't wait to post about it. I felt like I stepped back in time for a second.

On a side note...a few days ago...I saw another foreigner as she was walking away. I didn't even get to make eye contact. Then today, I saw her again...with a baby. AGAIN, we weren't crossing paths where I could speak to her. Please pray that I get an opportunity. She might not be an English speaker because there are a few German folks in the area. But I can hope. We'll see. It would be a nice ministry opportunity, I think.