“Neighbor. N-E-I-G-H-B-O-R. Neighbor.”
We were working on teaching spelling. I could tell that the two Thai boys, Sam and Wy, were tired. We had been going at it for a long 45 minutes and they were beginning to get restless.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to learn. They did. In fact, they had a very strong desire to learn English. But spelling wasn’t exactly fun. And it was hard. A lot of the previous English teachers had emphasized reading and speaking in English instead of writing and spelling. Both boys had requested that we work on their spelling. So we dived right in.
Just as the boys were finishing their last word, we heard the splash of tiny raindrops on the open window. A slow trickle from the darkening skies above.
Jokingly, Andie, my fellow teammate, said, “When we finish, we should go outside in the rain!”
Both her and I are rain lovers. The melody of sprinkles outside called to us. We considered it fun to go outside and run through puddles and get completely soaked in a downpour. The thought of a good downpour had us almost as restless as the boys were.
But not many people share our enthusiasm for rain, so we were both pleasantly shocked when the boys agreed.
At first, I thought they were teasing us. “Really? You want to go outside in the rain?”
“Yes! Take a break from English, go outside in the rain!” said Wy, looking up from his spelling and nodding his head matter of factly. Sam, still writing, nodded. A small smile broke through his frown of concentration.
Glancing excitedly at each other from across the table, Andie and I double checked their last word.
“Okay, great, awesome job! Let’s go!” I said, ready to bolt outside. The rain had begun to get heavier and heavier. “Time for a break!”
Without hesitation, we ran barefoot outside, just as the downpour piqued. Arms spread wide, the cold rain pelted me and I let out a thrilled laugh. It was a happy relief from the stifling humidity that usually encompassed our afternoons in Thailand.
Curious, I looked over at the boys, wondering how they were enjoying the rain. I quickly noticed that we were missing Sam. Looking back towards the classroom, I saw him hanging back by the doorway, standing strategically under the eaves so he didn’t get wet. A large grin was plastered across his face.
I ran over towards him.
“Didn’t you want to come outside?” I yelled across the yard at him. His grin became wider. As I approached, he disappeared back inside the classroom. “Saaaaaaaaaaaam!” I yelled, just as I saw him closing the door.
“Hey!” I said laughing, running up to the window. It was still open, but not for long.
“Can’t come inside, haha!” he said. Then I heard a laugh as the window slid shut. A smiling face appeared in the window. Sam waved at me. He hadn’t locked it, so I easily slid it back open.
“Ha. Ha. Very funny. Don’t you want to come outside? I thought you liked being in the rain. Will you come outside with us? Pleeeeeeeeeeease?” I felt like he would, I could tell that he had been excited when we asked him earlier in the classroom. For a moment, he pretended to resist but then he finally left the protection of the building, laughing at his practical joke and running off into the rain.
It began to pour harder and harder. As a group, we stood near a little pond, watching the rain jostle the surface. Then suddenly, the rain let up into a calm drizzle. That’s when the boys decided to jump into the pond.
I thought the pond was for decoration. A couple of plants poked out of it and a nice garden surrounded its edges. As far as taking a swim, the pond didn’t look that inviting. The pond itself was a weird green color. It was completely opaque and the water was stagnant. We’d never seen anyone swimming inside of it. We’d assumed it was a rule not to.
You should have seen our reactions when the boys jumped in.
Wy, without any hesitations or reservations, dived in. Mouths hanging open and eyes wide, Andie and I watched as he disappeared under the murky surface.
“Is he allowed to do that? Can he do that? Are you allowed to do that?” The questions flew out of my mouth as I looked at Sam, who was still standing with us on the edge of the pond. He didn’t answer but stared at the pond instead. “Are you allowed to do that?” I repeated as Wy surfaced from his dive. “Can he do that?” I said looking at Andie, seeing the same look of impending doom in her eyes that must have been in mine too.
We are going to get into so much trouble. That’s what I was thinking. I scanned the nearby buildings to see if anyone was watching.
Sam laughed at our concern.
If I had been him, I probably would have too.
Then, still not answering us, he did a flip into the pond.
Oh no… no no no no no no.
“Are you allowed to swim in the pond? Can you be in there?” I think I was still in shock and I’m sure there were huge overtones of desperation in my voice. How the heck were we going to get the boys to come out of the pond?
Why couldn’t we have just stayed in the classroom and played a game instead?
Wy, who was now swimming contentedly near the back of the pond, yelled for us to jump in.
Andie and I stood hesitantly at the edge of the pond. Part of me wanted to say to heck with it, and jump in with them. The pond kinda reminded me of the lakes back home (except a little dirtier and smaller) and I was sure that the water felt amazing. The small, adventurous child in me didn’t want to have to worry about the consequences of jumping in. Now that the rain was letting off, the humidity was coming back…. jumping in the pond would probably feel so good.
I think the boys wanted us to go into the pond as badly as we had wanted them to go out with us into the rain. But I was torn… I was still pretty sure that no one was supposed to swim in the pond. I wasn’t sure whether to tell them they needed to get out or jump in with them.
And I was starting to regret our decision to go outside even more.
The boys continued to yell at us as we stood motionless at the end. A new voice broke me from the thoughts that were doing circles in my head.
“Go on! Go in!” The voice came from Robin, one of the missionary interns. Stunned, I looked up to see her standing in the doorway of a building. She waved at us, smiling broadly. She yelled again, “Go in!”
I didn’t need anymore encouragement. If Robin said that it was okay to swim in the pool, then it was okay to swim in the pond. In I jumped.
The pond was not cool.
It was not refreshing.
It was the opposite.
It was warm.
The slimy muck in the bottom of the pond came past my ankles. The pool itself only came up a little past my knees.
I tried to keep these not so appealing details to myself as I tried to convince Andie, who was still standing on the edge, to get into the pond.
It took awhile (after all, the pond wasn’t exactly what you would call enticing) and a lot of begging from me and the boys. But in the end, she did it.
And from that jump into the pond, we entered a whole new level of comradery and friendship with the boys. We now had a shared memory that connected us and united us. A memory that showed us who each other were beyond languages and cultural differences… Beyond our ages and life experiences.
It opened a door for us to exchange other memories and experiences with each other and also to share our dreams and futures. To talk about God and where He was in each of our lives.
And that’s how true friendship should be.
Also, fun fact: The boys taught me how to fish with my bare hands! I don’t exactly recommend it, as the fins can cut your hands and the fish like to jump out of your hands. One jumped from my hands and slapped me in the neck.
Also, you never know if you’ll actually catch a fish or find a snake instead. Yuck.
