Foul language

No, this post isn't about swearing. It's about language. And how I think language itself is pretty foul. Don't get me wrong; I love to talk. I'll talk your ear off if you let me. And stories--ah, stories are the greatest. But some days language just stinks. And I'd like to clobber those idiots who decided a tower at Babel was a good idea.

For one thing, there is sometimes confusion in language. Especially when one doesn't know the language being spoken. *sheepishly raises hand* So the other day I was meeting a guy around my age for the first time, and instead of telling him "mucho gusto" (nice to meet you), I said "me gusta" (I like). *facepalm* So, yeah, now everyone here probably thinks I'm a creeper. And that poor guy is probably still running. But seriously, I'm so scared to try to speak Spanish because I'm sure to say something wrong or weird or even offensive. So I speak a different language...

On Monday another missionary here and I went with some kids to the beach. A little girl I had just met held my hand the whole way and chattered on and on about who-knows-what. I'm hoping she could tell by the perplexed look on my face that I had no idea what she was saying. I don't think she cared. I skipped when she skipped and ran when she ran. We made funny faces at her brother, and she laughed. No words necessary. Then we got to the beach where I followed her a few feet into the frigid water before running out yelling "frio, frio, frio!" (cold, cold, cold) She laughed some more. And a few gestures later I was covered in sand from trying to do somersaults, which I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to do. But the boys found it amusing. And who needs words to understand the game of tag? Seriously, if someone charges at you, you'll take off running soon enough. So we played and played. And they talked (probably about me), and I listened. Without understanding, but I listened. And I was grateful. I was grateful because beneath all the English and Spanish there was another language being spoken. The language of good, old-fashioned fun. And that's one language I'm fluent in.