laughter.

i was walking home from school yesterday afternoon when a group of seven Tanzanian children ran up behind me and huddled around. they were so hovering i couldn't walk any farther. dressed in hand sewn purple uniforms, all seven of these children were shouting at me in swahili while staring at me with their big brown eyes and gigantic smiles. they began tugging on my arms. all of them repeating the same phrase which seemed to ring as a question.

if only i could have understood what they were saying.

in an unexpected moment, all of my learned swahili seemed to be far off. i managed to spill out a phrase in swahili translating to, 'i don't speak swahili". at that exact moment all of the children stopped and simultaneously errupted in laughter. they pointed at me and made comments to one another. i began laughing with them. having no idea what was being said, and most likely aimed at my unknowing American self, but apparently it was funny.

and so we laughed.

they walked me to my gate. i nearly thought they were going to follow me inside. we said goodbye and off they went. bookbags dragging on the ground and laughter still being shared.

_________________________________________

today was a rather long day of school. i was ready to breathe when the bell rang at 1:05. i rushed to the bathroom shortly after before heading to lunch.

on my way to the duka where i buy my lunch, one of my students approached me in search of her mother. while walking with her, a woman ran up to me. she sputtered off a few sentences to me in German, speaking in a rather frantic state. i was unsure if she thought i was kidnapping the child or what she perceived. thank heavens for hand motions and sign language. after several moments of misunderstanding, i finally gathered from this woman that my skirt was all sorts of tucked into my underoos.

across language barriers we laughed while i secured my skirt and i'm sure turned red in the midst of a courtyard filled with students and adults.

laughter.
it's good for the soul.