This could be life changing

Please bear with me, the following is a bit long winded
One of the people here on NYE is called Mark. He had previously told us that his step son was coming for Christmas with his new girl friend, a lady from Uzbekistan.
I should point out that Mark has a very strange sense of humour, almost a mirror of my own. This might or might not be relevant.
On New Years Eve we asked him how it went and this is what he told us.
The lady was pretty but very quiet and shy. She seemed to know a lot about the traditions of Uzbek lifestyle and behaviours and wore some traditional dress. Mark was driving her down our lane (we are at one end, he is the other) saying who lived where, mostly with out any comments being made. When he got to our house the young lady became animated and wanted to know who lived there. Mark explained but it was not our house that interested her, it was the summer house. She was very impressed I owned a house, surrounded with grass, and no one lived in it. She thought we must be very rich and have many goats. Mark played along with this but was stuck when she asked to see all the goats. He prevaricated and the conversation moved on.
That evening after dinner the young lady started to talk. She said her father, on hearing of her trip to England asked her to do something on his behalf. If she should meet an English tribal chief she was to give them his complements and present them with a symbol of friendship between the two chieftains. She asked Mark to take the symbol, as she was flying back home, and give it to me at New Year. This he did , in front of many neighbours, as he hung the ceremonial shell around my neck, to great applause.

I am extremely honored and proud of my new status as an ex-pat Uzbek leader but still have a few misgivings. 

My garden is large but not big enough for a large heard of goats. I would hope the plants do not look as if they have been feeding goats.
The summer house is nice but does not look like a clan chief castle.
Uzbekistan is a beautiful looking country, very mountainous and totally land locked. Not ideal for growing the large oysters that produce the ceremonial shell
Finally shells very much like this, with leather thongs, can be bought in virtually any seaside town in the UK.
And Mark does have a very interesting sense of humour.

Never mind, until proved otherwise I intend to believe the story and will wear my shell with pride.