My New Friend
28 Jun 2011 3 Comments
in Kurdistan Tags: Iraq, Kurdistan, neighborhood
It has been difficult getting to know my neighbors, save one. Her name is Sameeya and she is seven. The good thing about having a seven-year-old friend is that she doesn’t notice how different I am and she doesn’t give up when I can’t understand what she is saying. The bad thing is that she does not come in as a guest, she thinks she owns my house. I am glad she feels comfortable here, but I have had to teach her how to wait outside and knock on the door. There isn’t a lot I can talk to a seven-year-old about, so I have had to resort to other things to do together like folding laundry and cleaning the front porch. One day I showed her how to make snickerdoodles. It was a lot of fun and really cute watching her get dough all over her hands, but now ‘today we make cookies?’ is all I hear when she comes over. I finally gave in again and we made another batch yesterday.
Once I put them in the oven I started to clean up. She tried to stop me and went on and on about how we should make another batch for my husband and then one for her family. I was lacking butter and eggs (and energy) so I told her we could make more after I went to the supermarket. She thought she knew better and went on to pull out the little bit of sugar and flour I had and spoon through it trying to show me there was plenty. Finally after much convincing and a little tickling, she gave in. It is nice to have someone to talk to in Kurdish, but she sure wears me out!
She invited me into her house and I sat with her grandma for a bit. I was so happy to finally be inside one of my neighbor’s houses but also so discouraged in how little I actually understood and could correctly respond to. It showed me how much I need to be doing just that, but also how daunting it can is. It is hard to sit with someone, just wanting to know their story and learn from them, but not have the words to ask or the understanding when they respond. Pray for us that our language will continue to grow as our love for our neighbors does.
