Communication is so easy to take for granted.  This is especially true when speaking a native language in a culture that is all too familiar.  Both verbal and nonverbal communication comes so naturally when at home.  When I arrived in Romania I became much more intentional with how I interacted with others.  This is particularly true with my host family.

When I first moved into my home for the first six weeks I was greeted warmly with my host mom and sister.  My host mom Elena, speaks only a few words of English, and my host sister, Iulia, speaks excellent English.  When Iulia is around talking is much simpler as she translates everything.  Iulia cannot always be around and translating constantly quickly becomes exhausting.  As a result, my host mom and I have had to figure out how to talk with one another.

It is hard to explain how we have been able to talk and get to know each other, but somehow it always just works.  I know very few words in Romanian and she knows quite a few words of English and that was our starting point.  We use actions, pointing, and a little bit of Google Translate.  

Our interactions sound like a lot of broken English and broken Romanian.  It is my mom pointing at objects and saying the Romanian name and me repeating it over and over.  It is holding up fingers to count to figure out when I will leave and when I will return home.  It is a lot of sighs, stuttering, smiles and laughter.

There was one afternoon I was having lunch and my host mom sat with me as I ate.  Iulia was asleep, but somehow we talked for an hour.  I showed her pictures of my family and she showed me pictures of hers.  We talked a little about her job and some time she spent working in Italy.

When Iulia woke up she joined us in the kitchen.  My host mom said to Iulia, “I don’t know if she understands everything I’m saying, and I don’t know if I understand everything she’s saying, but we get along great”.  Our hour of conversation took a lot of energy and creativity.  We probably did misunderstand what the other was saying, but it also brought a lot of joy and laughter with it.  It amazes me at the end of every day how much communication prevails no matter the obstacles.