I’ve asked God on several occasions over the past few months to please just bless me with the gift of understanding Spanish! I know He can! Haha Apparently, it’s not a part of His plan for my time here. I’ve experienced language barriers for the past ten months, but this one is the most bothersome to me. Is it because we’re so close to America and we truly have felt a strange feeling of comfort and familiarity being in Latin cultures, or maybe because so many Americans do know Spanish and can communicate well? I don’t know what the official diagnosis is. I do know I’ve been frustrated with myself, until I met Connie.
Connie is a firecracker. She is full of life in every sense of the word. She’s been volunteering at the clinic here for 8 years. She assists Dr. Michael in his work and more importantly spends time with the patients as they wait to be seen. She makes each person who walks in the door feel like his or her ailment is the most important issue in the world that day.
To say I want to be like her is an understatement. She understands very little English so we speak back and forth in her extremely slowed Spanish and my 3-year-old Spanish. Somehow, we have entire conversations about our families, what we like, what we want to do in life and so much more. It’s guaranteed that a lot of what is spoken is lost in translation, but the connection I feel to her is unmatched. Do you have the kind of friend that you felt a connection to instantly… a connection that is so strong and natural and has to come only from the Lord? That’s how I feel about Connie. It really doesn’t make sense, our friendship. She’s in her early 40's and I’m 24. She speaks Spanish and I speak English. In her words, our skin colors are cafe con leche (coffee with milk, haha). We don’t go together, but spending time with her has been one of the highlights of my race. I love her so dearly and she tells me that she’s my Nicaraguan mother and that I have a piece of her heart.
