Although I consider myself a person that knows quite a bit about culture and geography, there is much I don’t know. Like what language do they speak in Liberia? As I sat in a waiting room the other day, 2 women sat next to me. I offered my pen and some help filling out their application. I couldn’t really understand what they were saying and they seemed a bit confused. After getting to the part of the application about where the woman was from I assumed they spoke a different language there. I asked what language they needed requested from a translator since that was the next question. The woman I had been speaking with said they speak English in their country, it was a just different pronunciation. I couldn’t believe all this time they had been speaking English I couldn’t understand a thing. Neither of the women were literate and one women translated my English to the woman next to her.
I know many countries in Africa speak English, but many as a second language. I was suprised that there was such a language barrier between 2 people that spoke the same language. One woman had arrived a few years ago and her American English didn’t seem to develop much since then. The other woman told me she had been here for 12 years. After looking up the history of Liberia, I’m assuming she came in escape of the civil war that lasted until 1999. After researching the countries history and current situation, I thought it was awesome that they have a woman president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
I thought it was strange that neither women looked me in the eyes while speaking. Although, they both thanked me many times after filling out the long application.
There is so much diversity in every city. There is culture from every part of the world. There are stories to go a long with each person. I wish I could have learned more from the women, but I had to go after I filled out the application. I still appreciate what I did learn from the women. It helps me realize there how difficult the easiest things seem to be when living abroad and grateful I am for everything I have in my life.