Not right or wrong - just different

This weekend was the long-anticipated Stake High Priest dinner dance for which we (through our assignment on the High Council ) were responsible. It highlighted some of the cultural differences that I have discovered since moving here.

Some of the highlights:

• When I stopped at Costco to pick up my cakes that I had ordered, they were not decorated. I had written instructions on the form to write "Feliz Navidad" in green and red, which I thought was pretty simple (and I wrote it in spanish) They explained that I had to pick a number of an example they had in their book and write the number in the little box. Apparently, they don't think outside that little box.
• No refrigerator in the kitchen at the Stake Center - making it a little tricky to prepare dinner for 200 people.
• We were told to expect 200 people - approximately 50-60 showed up.
• The event was scheduled to start at 7pm, with a short fireside by the Stake Presidency, then dinner at 8pm.
• Since the Stake President didn't arrive until 9pm, and we were the only ones there at 7, we finally started at about 8:30 and dad-the-bad conducted, gave an impromptu talk, and led the music.
• The tacos we ordered (700 of them) arrived 2 hours late.
• Trying to track down the tacos, dad-the-bad called probably twenty times and was always told they were "very close" and had left more than an hour or two ago. Apparently they came by way of Acapulco.
• In spite of the chaos, everyone had a GREAT time!
• They taught me some line dances, and I actually can do them.
• When it was over (midnight) everyone stayed to clean up - they mopped, boxed, swept, and even insisted on following me home to help me unload.
• And nobody complained. (not even me - well maybe a little about the tacos not showing up on time)