Niñia

My friendly greeting was met by a blank stare. I spoke anyway, but I was not sure if she understood.

"You teach Sara Bisaya!" My cousin suggested to Niñia, her 8 year old niece. I concured with an eager nod, but Niña did not budge. "She's shy" my cousin assured me.

When I first came to the Philippines, I wasn't sure how I would build relationships. I knew people understood English and most spoke it a little, but I figured without the ability to freely communicate, knowing a person would be difficult. I love kids and I'm not close to any of my young relatives, so I really wanted to talk to her, but Niñia was young and less experienced in speaking English.

In the days following, I waved and greeted her when she passed me in the house. She would smile but not respond. Sometimes I would stop and tell her a story about my day. I would ask her if she understands. She would smile but not respond. A few times I told her that I wish we could communicate.

About four days into my trip, I was still recovering from jet lag. My alarm woke me from a nap, but I wasn't done sleeping so I hit snooze. As I laid my head down to continue my nap, I heard the door creek open. Niñia and her brother, Lawrence's, heads were peaking into the room. It was funny to me so I laughed and gestured for them to come in.

They came sat on the bed. Niñia handed me a picture of my family from 2002. I smiled, pointed to my face, and told her that was me when I was her age. She took a big breath as if she was about to speak, but then turned to her brother and laughed. "Is this your picture?" I asked, She noded and took another big breath.

"You... hahve...ahn...uncle." She said very slowly. "yeah!" I responded, excited to hear her speak. She turned to her brother, whispered something and laughed again. Then she turned around, with her whole hand, wiped the hair from her face and took another deep breath. "You have ahn uncle... in.... the Canada," She said, pointing out the window.

I don't remember our whole conversation- but I do remember laughing a lot. After she taught me about my family and asked me questions about my family, she began teaching me Bisaya. I think maybe her and her brother had been practicing right before they came into my room-- practicing English so they could talk to me and teach me Bisaya like my cousin suggested the first day we met, when I was not sure if she understood.

Since that conversation, Niñia has visited my room so many times. She has taught me bisaya, tagalog songs, showed me videos on youtube, done my make up, and asked me so many questions. She's no longer hesitant to come and hug me--we are friends.

Sometimes I can't understand her and sometimes she can't understand me, but the language barrier has not stopped us from knowing each other. I know that Niñia really loves to sing. I can tell that she's adventurous and brave. She has a lot of ideas that she enjoys organizing them. She's assertive, likes structure, and she's curious about everything.

We have to play charades sometimes--we dance around the English words she does not know. She doesn't seem to mind though. Out of all the Filipinos I've met-- she had the least English skills. Even so, I think we know each other well. One day I hope I can explain how special her friendship is to me in Bisaya.