Playing cards at 2800m

Monjo (12 December 2017)

A deck of cards. Or 2 decks of cards. Some new friends. And a game called spoons.

We met the local lady who runs the camp tonight (Monjo is at 2800m). We’ll call her Dee. She walked in to the dining hall as we were eating. This lady had a presence. When she entered a room, she almost floated. And people turned to look.

She was grace, poise and serenity.

Our leader told us that Dee’s daughter had just been married. We all joined in the congratulations.

But he’s from 4400m she explained (translated by our leader).

One of our group asked the obvious question, “So how did they meet?”

And then the most glorious thing happened. She said something which required no translation.

Please tell us she just said Facebook.

Yes, our leader confirmed, Facebook.

After dinner, we were playing cards and we invited our leader and Dee to play. The game is called “Spoons.” The basic premise is that you have to form four of a kind or a straight out of five cards and then grab one of the spoons in the middle of the table. If you miss out on a spoon, you’re out.

One of my group and I were sitting at the table watching the action. Dee and our leader had picked up the rules at lightening speed. We had been beaten by skill. And reflex.

We were having a brilliant time. And then that moment of realisation. We all looked at each other.

The cards. My God, the cards.

The cards we’d bought at the airport had pictures of the Karma Sutra on them.

This woman of grace and poise was currently holding cards with sexual images on them.

Where do we look? What do we do?

We were mortified.

At the point the game was over, we declared immediate bed time.

And she stood in the door way. With all her grace and poise. And watched as we put the tables and chairs back where they belonged.

She maintained her composure throughout. An unforgettable woman of grace and poise.

Get Lost. Stay curious.