Good morning, good afternoon and good evening readers,

This morning I awoke with a light bulb moment. PING.

So, last night we spent time with the volunteers. It was really lovely, but then they started to dance in this room. I tried to explain that unless i’ve had a bevvie, I won’t be whipping any dance moves out. They didn’t really understand this, I think we may have found a cultural difference. In reality, I have had such a full on week I just wasn’t in the mood for it. Being in a new environment has caused me to reinforce my protective shell. I spoke to my good friend about it and she helped me to see the dancing episode in a whole new light.

…..

Music may be the way to connect with people where we are experiencing a language barrier.

*Enter classic British music tunes*

Also, I listen to a band who turns Robert Burn’s poetry into songs. What a crackin’ way to teach these folks some English. They are very eager to learn.

Now, on to the rest of the day. Amy and I decided to have a day just us two Brits. Being around another language a lot can be all consuming. But, this is their home. So we decided to take ourselves out of the language rat race. We went to both Lover’s Park and Painter’s Square, both of which are B-E-A-UTIFUL!

For me, it was a definite day of realisations. Communicating without words or a common language is possible! In the café several people asked for the chairs at our table, at least I think they did. They could have asked “Hello, can I eat your lunch please?”. We smiled, said yes and waved our arms a bit anyhow. A woman on the bus also started speaking to me in Armenian. Instead of freaking out and just staring at her face, I said “I’m sorry, I don’t understand”. Well who’d have thought that response works!? .. For the rest of the journey we kept smiling at each other and putting our thumbs up. Magic FM.

Today’s lesson: There are other significant ways in which we can communicate kindness, love and compassion.

❤😊
C x