Watch the Walk

Just like Americans, islanders vary when it comes to their experience with other cultures and understanding the differences between places in the world. During a class on "hospitality and hosting" recently, we were talking about what it means to be a good host in local culture and what it means to be a good guest. I asked what a good host should do, and they were a little quiet, so I primed the discussion with some questions... Should the host say hello? YES!!! Should the host give their guest something to drink? YES!!! Of course! Should the host wash the guest's feet? NO!!! (with looks of confusion-- who in their right mind would do that?) We discussed some more of what it meant to host well, then moved on to being a good guest. Should the guest bring a gift? Maybe... sometimes? If there's a new baby, you should bring a gift. What sort of gift should you bring? "A live chicken!" said Sia, as the classroom burst into laughter. Sia was surp...

Sometimes figuring out new words is easy. You point, you ask for the word, they give it to you. But sometimes it's more confusing than you think it should be. Here's a sample conversation: "What's this?" (motioning to an apple in a box) "This is _________." Ok, great. You just learned the word for apple! But wait, are you sure that's what they said? Did they give you the word for apple? You asked, wanting a word for apple, but here are some other things they might have said, based on the contextual clues you gave them: "This is a fruit." "This is food." "This is something I'm eating." "This is the apple peel." "This is a box of apples." "This is something I'm selling." At the beginning of language learning, you can end up with all sorts of vocabulary that you know how to use it in its original context, but you have no idea whether it works in other situations. Is this...

It may surprise some of you to learn this, but here on Clove Island I don't have a garbage service to conveniently carry away my trash. Instead, I sort the trash into things that can decompose/compost, things that can be reused in creative ways, and burnables. So recently I decided it was time to burn trash. Now, I kinda figure that I do a decent job of using things up and repurposing items. So there's not a lot that gets burned which I would consider salvageable. Any containers have already been gifted to someone who will use them. Notebooks have been written in on every page. But somehow my burning stuff quickly became an attraction. Three kids saw the smoke and came running over. They started rummaging through the basket of burnables, grabbing and fighting over random items. Oh dear! I quickly informed them that they had to ask permission before running off with anything, and tried to assist with equitable distribution. What things did they salvage from the burning? -...

Island living tip: if you're taking a taxi and you want to get where you're going without extreme delays, get in a car that's already full of people who are going farther than you, but in the same direction. Since taxis are shared, they often require flexibility in planning. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes 45. Let's take a look at some reasons why it might take longer: The Errand Runner: She's got a list of places to go, but she can't be bothered to walk there. It's all on the way, so why not make the driver stop at the shop for phone credit, the vegetables sellers for salad fixings, and at her husband's work so she can deliver his snack? The One Who Lives Far From the Main Road: Everyone in the taxi is going the same direction... sort of. But this one lives at the far end of a dead-end road, and wants to be delivered to his door. Maybe he's old, maybe he's got lots of bags, and maybe he is just lazy, but everyone else goes along...

[This is the story of a dear friend of mine, about one time she went to visit her son and grandchildren.] You know my son, who lives over on the French island? I've gone to visit him many times, you know. The first three times I went through the consulate and got a visa to visit him. But then the fourth time they didn't give me a visa. So I had to go by illegal fishing boat. We left my town in the morning. And you know it only takes a little time to cross the ocean to the French island. But we stayed on the ocean all day... many hours... until after sunset, because the boat captain was worried about the police.  Finally we were put ashore. I was old then (I'm even older now, and my legs don't work properly). But back then I was old, I couldn't run fast. But I thought maybe someone would take care of the grandmother. They all ran away, except for maybe two people. I asked them the name of the town we were next to and they told me. I told them that I didn...

Here on Clove Island we seek to be friendly and to make connections wherever we go. Sometimes you meet someone and immediately recognize a kindred spirit, one with whom we share that "invisible thread" of connection. But more often a potential friend turns into one of the following: The phone caller-- They have your phone number and they use it. Every day. Multiple times a day. Whether or not they actually want to talk, they want to be sure that they're not forgotten. And forgotten they're not. When you see their name on the caller ID you sigh with remembrance. The hanger outer-- They know where you live and have discovered that your house is a nice place to hang. So they come over to hang out. Not necessarily to even visit with you. This type of friend will often hang out in your living room, playing games on their phone, calling other people, or just kind of staring at you until you say something. Sometimes they want to chat, but almost always they show up too o...

This week has been a rough one for dinner time. We have a particular neighbor who likes to drop by on her way to or from her house, or both, depending on the day. Often she just stops in for a few minutes, but sometimes she settles in for the long haul. She sits down, tells graphic stories about the misdeeds of neighbors and acquaintances, scrolls Facebook on her phone, calls friends, and generally just hangs out. One of the dinners that waited And this week her settling in has conveniently collided with our dinner time on multiple occasions. No matter what time we are finishing up dinner prep, she arrives just as the end is in sight. I'd say that it's intentional, but she couldn't have timed it better if she tried. It's not like we eat at the same time every night. I'd like to say that it's easy to just add another plate and go with it, but it's often not as easy as that. We don't often cook islander-style food at home. And sometimes... we e...