Day 5 - The Jodel...

While washing laundry before packing to go home, I ran into a familiar-looking woman in the laundry room: it was the woman who jodeled at the beginning of the week. We struck up a conversation, and since I had brought a tape recorder, I asked if I could record her jodel.

She gave me permission, and we went to a less noisy room to record. After she finished, the other people in the room gave loud applause which was also caught on tape. I also asked her to explain where jodeling came from, and recorded the story of the jodel:

In Switzerland, in the Alps, villages and communities send young men up the mountain slopes to tend to the flocks, make mountain cheese, and farm the land. In one of the villages, a problem arose. One year, when there were no other men available, a boy volunteered to go into the mountains to do the work.

His mother asked him if he was sure he wanted to do this: "You are only a child, and it's very hard work," she said, "and you could be hurt. How will we know you are safe if you are all alone?"

He said he could handle the hard work: "In the morning and in the evening, you will know I am safe because I will sing my prayers as loud as I can."

The villagers sent the boy into the mountains. At sunrise, everybody was awakened by the loud echoes of the boy's strong voice. They knew the boy was safe. And as the sun set in the evening, the boy's voice would echo through the valley again, and the villagers knew they could rest assured that their boy was safe.

As the farming season went on, one morning, the sun rose and no echoes came.

The villagers hurried up the mountain and found that the boy had fallen and been injured. His voice had reassured the villagers when he was safe, and his silence had warned them of the danger he was in!

Thanks to his jodeling, the boy was able to get help when he needed it, and after his injury healed, he returned to his work in the mountains.

After the interview was over, other people joined our conversation, and it changed to discussing mucking and gutting houses, to reconstruction, and other things in between. I have always enjoyed meeting new people while volunteering, and this evening was no different.