Beautiful Surprises


This country continues to thrill and surprise me each and every day. I went to Satoru's opening last night with one of my professors here. It was a great show, although I wasn't able to spend as much time there as I would have liked. My professor drove me tot he show with his wife and son. I think that riding in that car was one of the more humbling experiences in my life. I was sitting in the back seat with my professor's son (who did not speak english) and when he started rambling on to his parents about school and such. I was in complete awe and shock that this tiny child (maybe around 7 years old...) was able to speak such good spanish and I was still struggling. It seems normal since Spanish is his native language and not mine, but sitting next to him and not being able to participate in the conversation was a very weird experience. I really don't think I've ever felt so misplaced and humbled. And then the boy did something that was even more surprising. We were driving through a "not so nice" area of the town and he reached over and locked my door, saying "It's not safe here..." That one small gesture from a child was so touching... we didn't speak at all, and yet he still made sure to lock my door for me.

I was so mesmorized by that child. It was fascinating to sit and watch him, unable to understand what he was saying, having to rely simply on his actions and facial expressions to decipher what he was saying. Not being able to ocmmunicate normally with others has given me such a different view on things. I'm left to rely on inflexion and volume and gestures to determine what is being said to me. I don't think i've ever paid such close attention to such simple details...