Life´s Little Surprises

           Last Wednesday started out as a pretty normal day of work. I walked around greeting all of the patients in the morning stopping and talking to those who seemed like they wantd to talk or just wanted someone to listen. Then I walked over to greet Manuel (also known as Abuleo as I think he is the oldest resident here). I have a very hard time understanding his Spanish at times and have struggled to understand more than a word or two of what he is saying. This has made it difficult for me to get to know him or feel like I could be good company for him.
            But last week I decided I would just sit with him for awhile and listen to his radio together. Soon one of the nurses came over and asked if I knew how to play Dominoes and I said yes of course (I think knowing how to play Dominoes is almost an required skill for being a Damien House Volunteer since all the men love dominoes so much). But anyways so then we decided to play some Dominoes! So Manuel got out his Dominoes and the three of us started to play. I did not even know that he owned Dominoes, let alone that he could play. Usually he is just sitting in his chair listening to his radio. Honestly I had underestimated him. We ended up playing Dominoes together for probably close to an hour and it was a great experience!
            We might not always be able to share conversations toegther but playing Dominoes is something we can do together and a way we can get to know eachother a little bit. I have found because of the language barrier here, I have had to change the way I form realtionships with the people here in Ecaudor at times. This has been challenging and frustrating at times but has also opened up doors to have many new and different experiences and to chgallenge myslef to find creative ways to relate to people.

Abuleo