Ruminating

About a week ago I was having a conversation with a guy who, just as we were parting, said “Insha’Allah” in response to something I said, and I said it back like it was lighter than air.

That memory reminds me of the last day I spent in Madrid last year. I was at the airport and, confused about what the overhead speaker said about boarding times, went up to a woman worker and she told me in Spanish that flights to Philadelphia weren’t boarding yet, this one was to DC, and I nodded and said thank you and turned away before I realized that I understood everything just like that, even without catching every word she said.

Learning a new language turns out to be a wonderful thing when it just — clicks — even before you realize what’s happened.