Imagine for a moment that you are spending a month in the most beautiful place ever, with some of the most amazing sacrificial people ever, getting to play with and teach English to a group of the cutest tiny humans, but there’s just one problem. You can’t understand much of what they say.
Language barrier is a real thing. It’s a hard thing to overcome. It feels like a mountain that can’t be climbed or dealt with and you’re just stuck.
But I have some really great news for ya, my dude.
Love transcends language barriers.
That sounds ridiculous and a little cliche. But it’s super true.
Young kids don’t care what language you speak, they just want you to play with them and show them you care. Let a kid crawl on you like a jungle gym, play a basketball game you don’t understand, gallop around like a horse with a child on your shoulders, or “eat” copious amounts of “soup” and they willunderstand that means you love them. They get it. Even if all you can say is “what’s your name?”, “how old are you?”, and an occasional “very good!!” they get it.
Love transcends language barriers.
Teachers at the after school program here don’t care that I struggle to understand them. They love that I’m trying tolearn their language and they love when charades and wild hand motions happen while I’m trying to convey a point. And when we have to ask them to slow down cause we are just all lost, they laugh and start over. They understand that sometimes my teams way of saying “I love you” is by playing with the kids so they can have a meeting, setting up an obstacle course so they can focus on the kids, or staying up late playing spoons (or burros as it’s called here) with them. Speaking the same language isn’t necessary to convey that I love them.
Love transcends language barriers.
Our hosts think it’s fabulous that we spend hours upon hours peeling potatoes and washing dishes. They aren’t mad that when they give me a sentence in Spanish I either look at them totally confused, say “que?”, or shrug and smile. With the patience of Job they do a game of charades with our team so we can correctly dice green beans super small and put the correct number of tables out for kids.
Love transcends language barriers.
It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the fact that I can’t use my words the way I would like to. I depend on speaking to make friends and do good things most of the time. But I’m learning that giving my time, presence, and willingness to do the not glamorous things speaks louder than words ever could.
I’m literally living the dream here in Colombia. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its challenges, but gravy it means it’s worth it. So so worth it.
So this week I’m so very grateful that
Love transcends language barriers
