Thursday, February 14, 2008

I'M ALMOST THREE YEARS OLD NOW!!

I have lived here in Kolda a little over six weeks now and I was thinking of all the things that I have learned. I have found a lot of new friends that are teaching me a things, but as you can tell by the title, I still have a lot that I need to learn. Everything that I’m learning can fit into two categories; language or culture. I was told when I first arrived that my only job here in Kolda for now is to learn the culture and the language.
When thinking about culture, the first thing that comes to mind is this whole thing about which hand to use. I can think of many times where someone hands me something and I reach out with my left hand to grab it and I realize what I’m doing and switch hands. When that happens, I always get that little half smile; don’t know what it means but at least they aren’t yelling at me!! There are also many things about the culture that I don’t understand but that I have to remember out of respect. My favorite was the other day - after sitting a while I was stretching and I left my hands to rest on top of my head. My friend calls out my name, puts his hands on his head and says “Moit yannie” (translation: not good). In this culture there are somethings that I know I won’t be able to understand completely but I just have to remember what I can and can’t do.
As I knew before I got here my biggest struggle is the language. I knew it would be hard, but I had no idea that it would be this hard! A lot of people speak some English. I love it when a random African sees me and they say the one thing they know in English, “Good Morning”, and its 3:00 in the afternoon!!! A small percentage of people speak enough English that I’m able to understand it, so right now when I communicate it consists of a lot of facial expressions and movements of the hands. My biggest prayer request right now is my language. Every night when I go to bed I’m exhausted, not from the sun, not from walking or playing soccer, but from my brain working so hard trying to communicate. I wish y’all could see my language classes. My teacher, Lamin, knows very little English and I know very little Pulaar. It’s a 2 hour class and I have to take a break after class just so I can continue with the day. To tell the truth I don’t know how we still like each other after class. Both of us get pretty frustrated when we still don’t get each other after trying to explain something for 14th time. Most of the time it doesn’t click until I’m able to talk to one my friends that speak English later that day or week. The Sheriff and Patrick have both been super big helps and I would probably still be a 2 year old without them. I keep telling myself that I just need to be patient and over time it will get easier and easier. I can’t wait for the day that I will be able to communicate with these people. Oh, I pray that day will come soon!!!

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