“En tú Sangre,” said Illeana, a member of the kitchen team at Casa Tucan, to me one night while I was dancing with her granddaughter Oriana. I took French since the sixth grade and did not know Spanish except for the basic words like “Hola,” “Buenos Dias” and a few others that Andrey, our program manager, taught us during our first day onsite. So, naturally, I looked at Illeana with a furrowed brow, trying to rack my brain for anything that sounded familiar. I threw my hands up in defeat, and even Oriana looked at me with a humorous smile because she knew I didn’t understand. Illeana pointed to the crease of her arm and ran her finger along her vein as she repeated, “En tu sangre.” It clicked. Engrained in me. In my blood.
Now, Illeana was talking about my dance moves when she said that (and I’m beyond flattered), but this interaction holds more meaning to me than just a compliment. It has so many lessons and wisdom that I could not have imagined learning before this trip, and I want to highlight a few messages I learned along the way.
- Language is more than words. When Illeana first spoke while I danced with her granddaughter, I felt frustrated and guilty for not understanding a woman who had done so much for me and the others. I felt even more frustrated for not being able to respond with more than “lo siento.” However, Illeana was patient with me and “spoke” a different language to me… body language. She helped me understand by demonstrating, and for that, I’m grateful. So much can be said or perceived through our actions, from Illeana’s simple gesture to my confused and furrowed brow to my group’s work on the cacao farms. It all means something, and it took me a little while to find that meaning through my frustration and guilt.
- Fun transcends language. Fun is a language in and of itself. I believe it is “en nuestra sangre” (in our blood). Even though I could not understand most Spanish during my time in Gandoca, it did not stop me from having fun! It was not a requirement to know Spanish to have fun. Being the best at soccer was not required to have fun, and most importantly, homework did not need to be completed to have fun. Fun holds no requirements, and I’m grateful that Gandoca taught me this. The music, the dancing, the soccer, and the wild card games were just a start to it. However, I found that the connections with my fellow ACE teammates and the community members fostered that fun. We found ways to enjoy our time during the most challenging and straightforward tasks. We sang on the cacao farms and drank fresh coconut water provided to us by our program leaders. We sang along to Bob Marley as we made tamales and chocolate. We even watched Rio and Rio 2! So, I hope you learned (quicker than I did) that fun has no bounds. That’s what makes it so human. It runs in all of us.