Saturday, June 15, 2013

Josseline

The little girl on the plane next to me this morning was named Josselin. She is six years old, traveling with her grandpa back to Guatemala, one of her homes.

As I took a short cat nap, I heard whisperings, little giggles and felt tiny fingers giving my back a lovely but unintentinal (I think!) massage. When I woke up a little more, I found Josselin and Becca had made quick friends of each other-- but then again, it was hard not to take a quick liking to the smiley, dark-skinned Josselin who fires out both English and Spanish phrases flowingly.

Josselin had no toys to play with on our five hour flight, no iPad, books or gadgets to keep her entertained. Instead she inquired as to if I am Becca's mom and whenBecca answered in the negative, she wanted to know where Becca's mom and dad were. Later in the trip she asked if we were twins, so her little mind was all over the place. :-)

As Becca and I pulled out Phase 10, she seemed interested in learning how to play, so she joined our game spread out on airplane trays, giggling whenever a wild or skip card came into play. She was intrigued and was my teammate for quite a few rounds before asking if I had any other games with me. She organized the cards in Racko, entertaining me with stories of her brother Stephen and sister Tatiana, uncles and other family members. She told stories of their animals, cows, sheep, goats and chickens. I'm sure the part of the trip most fun for her was when she quizzed me on Spanish colors and phrases, giggling at my horrible mispronunciations!

Every once in a while, Josselin would have a chat in Spanish with her Grandpa, who checked up on her, smiling at me at nodding that it was okay we continue to chat and play. Eventually she played games on my phone, loving the same ones my American kiddos choose to play frequently.

As our flight ended, Jossline bid Becca and I goodbye, telling us "adios, amigos!" and that she was off to board a bus to her grandfather's farm. Her grandfather told me "thank you for watching her" in halted English and she was off, beaming from ear to ear with her new wing pin I had pinned to her shirt, happy to be home again. It seemed the right way to begin the trip, humbled by conversation and a fun, interactive trip with an adorable, simple, happy little Guatemalan girl named Josselin.

Bethany

PS. If this happens to be incredibly jumbled, I'm sorry. I pounded it out in under 15 minutes and with less than two hours of sleep over the last couple of days. :-)

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