October 28th, 2016:
7:10am - A man with baggy, ripped jeans approached me and said something to me I couldn't make out. I assumed he was going to ask me for bus money, but when he repeated his mumbled, slurred phrase, I was able to grasp just a part of it: "...beautiful blue eyes." I said, "Thank you," and he smiled a large toothless smile and continued to mumble something else incomprehensible to my ears. After asking him to repeat three times, he said, "You don't speak French?" "No," I said shaking my head as my nose grew. After that, he instantly turned around and walked away. Needless to say, the next day I didn't forget my sunglasses.
12:05pm - On any other Friday afternoon I would be waiting at the bus stop to take the bus home, but this Friday the bus stop was a meeting place where I was to meet a friend after work. When I saw the bus coming in the distance, I started to walk down the street away from the bus stop, so the driver wouldn't think he needed to stop for me. I was looking down at my phone when I noticed the bus had pulled up and stopped by me anyways. The doors opened and the bus driver said to me, "You're not going to Chanzy Street today?" I explained to him I was waiting for a friend, so he continued on his way. Surprised that he remembered me and where I get off, it was in that moment I remembered I was living on an island. Everyone knows everyone here it seems.
November 10th, 2016:
7:05am - Waiting at the bus stop amongst a group of Guadeloupians, a man approached me and asked me something in creole. Seeing that I didn't understand his question, he repeated it while pointing to his eyes then to the ATM behind him. I inferred that he wanted me to watch his back while he withdrew money, so I nodded in agreement. He approached the ATM and I kept my distance, but watched him as he had asked me to do. He reached into his pocket searching for his wallet, but when his hand came out empty, he frantically emptied all his pockets. With a look of disbelief, he rechecked all his pockets three more times before he grumbled and walked away. Well, I guess my job was done.
November 11th, 2016:
7:15am - Again at the bus stop among maybe 15 Guadeloupians, a woman in her 70's came up to me and asked me something in creole while pointing at the ATM. It was like déjà vu from the day before, so I assumed she was asking for the same thing. I said, "Yes, of course!" and kept my distance again, but was ready to watch her back.
But just as I thought my job was done, she handed the ticket back to me, running her finger across it several times. I thought to myself, "Does she want me to read it to her?" Yes. I read it back to her: "Balance: 92 euros." She looked at me and asked in a mix of French and creole if 92 euros was a lot. I hesitated and quite honestly wasn't sure how to respond. Then she asked me something else, but all I made out was "20 euros." I said, "Yes, it's more than 20 euros." She then pointed at the ATM again, so I asked if she wanted me to withdraw 20 euros. She nodded and handed me back her card and code. Meanwhile, I kept checking down the street, hoping my bus wouldn't come.
Once I gave her the money, she asked, "Now how much do I have left?" Doing the simple mental math, I responded, "72 euros." The follow-up question was then, "Is that a lot?" Was I saying my numbers correctly? After briefly questioning myself on my ability to count in French, I quickly tried to think of a way to explain the quantity of 72. "You can withdraw 20 euros about three more times," I explained. Her face lit up and she nodded in comprehension. She continued to say some other things to me, but I just nodded and smiled, pretending I understood. Then she thanked me and walked away with her 20 euros. As for me, I walked away with a good feeling, and luckily, I didn't miss my bus.
These stories are a reminder that two people don't always need to speak the same language to understand each other.
