Half a world away from my home with 3 and ½ weeks of warm days, fresh ocean breezes, torrential rains at any moment, and I learn that the human heart is open, generous, and loving regardless of location and culture. I am not suggesting that I thought my previous ‘home’ had a corner on the humanity market; far from it. Rather I am confronted with goodness each day. . . in the commerce of eye contact, head nods, and ready smiles.
My host family is delightful. I am thrilled that my butchery of phrases in Pohnpean entertains my teenage ‘sister’. My host mother patiently repeats sounds which I mutilate into unrecognizable combinations. Even the 2 dogs have difficulty with my communication. Luckily, they have been quick to comprehend that I am ‘Best Momma #2’ for scraps.
We volunteer teachers (there are 9 of us*) have language lessons during orientation. My auditor y skills are stretched beyond their comfort zones, which, in turn, highlights my lingual ineptness. This leads to my first observation about open hearts -- and open laughter. Thanks to the universe and the powers that be, I am familiar with laughter and am comforted that my mangling efforts at communicate so easily elicits it from my family. There is a warm, gentle acceptance in laughter.
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