Each day at around 4pm the docents met with Phyllis to plan the next steps for the group. Phyllis and Paul had a number of questions they wanted input about but the docent group were also asked for input and on the first day the participants had also been asked to contribute to what issues they wanted to discuss. They had also been asked to indicate which of the topics we had already decided on they were most interested in.
Every docent meeting was interesting and involving. We had translation because over half the group were Russian speaking. We therefore sometimes had input from the interpreters as well. Every opinion was listened to and held as a valuable contribution to the whole - even when we didn't agree. Out of these discussions would come a decision about what to do next: what question to put to the group and how it would be discussed. Some questions were discussed by the whole group, some in small groups. Sometimes the results of these discussions were reported, sometimes we just asked the question 'so what did you learn?' and listened to the responses.
The docent group also decided about other aspects of the programme, such as whether to include singing, when to take some time off and how to open and close each day.
We were always made comfortable with snacks and tea, but it was clear we were there to 'work' not socialize! However through our discussions I felt a strong bond with everyone else.
In preparing the questions for the group to consider we often had far ranging discussions. One of the things I most appreciated was that in spite of our diverse backgrounds and cultures we shared common understanding about Reiki practice. Much of this came from the fact that we shared Usui Shiki Ryoho as our form of practice and in particular had all benefited from the teachings of the OGM - our lineage bearer Phyllis and head of discipline Paul.
One afternoon a chance comment led to the telling of a wonderful story. The background to it is this: on our first evening we had visited a market where there was a cheese stall. Looking for an easy to carry protein snack for the days ahead I had noticed some 'cheese balls' - small round pieces of cheese shaped like a marble - and had been given one to taste. It was nice, but very salty so I asked if she had any that were less salty. She showed me some larger cheese balls - about the size of a golf ball - which she told me had been carried by the Kazakh soldiers when traveling and were very good for bone strength! So I bought some.
When I came to try one a few days later I discovered they are so hard I could not bite them! No wonder they made people's bones strong!
So in one of the docent meetings I mentioned that they were too hard to eat and I didn't know what to do with them. Phyllis commented that that is why it's a good idea to try before you buy!
However one of the docents who is from Almaty then went on to tell this wonderful story:
During the second world war some German prisoners were held in camps near Almaty. They were not properly fed and were starving. One day some local people came to the camp and started throwing stones through the fence at them. Only they weren't stones: one of the prisoners discovered that they were in fact some of these cheese balls! Apparently there is a poem written bu one of the survivors thanking the local people for their kindness which saved the lives of several of the German prisoners - all thanks to the cheeses that look like stones (and are as hard!).
I still didn't know how to eat them as I was told that people would just put them in their mouth and let them dissolve slowly - but they were too big for my mouth! I decided to take them home, where perhaps I could grate them or find some way to re-hydrate them! But if I hadn't mentioned this problem I would never have heard the wonderful story about the kindness of the local people to the German prisoners.
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