we’re moving!, part four.

“What about Anju?”

I went to Colleen’s house this week, and together we sat down to tell Anju that the Gentino’s are “shifting.”  Colleen speaks one of Anju’s languages, so she helped translate for me.

At first Anju was silent, then . . . she started crying.  I was shocked.  Then I started crying.  Then Colleen started crying.  It was so awful.

So all that to say, no, we can’t take Anju with us.  She also works for our friends and wouldn’t be able to commute downtown and back in time for her other jobs.  This is one of the very sad things about our move.  She said it is not about the money; she just enjoys working for us.  And of course we have grown so attached to her too, even with the language barrier.  I am praying that God will provide another family for her who will recognize how amazing she is.

“Will you hire another maid?”

Yes! We met our new next-door neighbors, Thomas and Mary, a sweet retired couple who have already offered their own rooftop terrace for Judah and Amie to play on.  Their maid has worked for them fifteen years (she calls Mary “Amma” which means “mother”), and she came by to meet me today while I was checking on the painters.  Her name is Lily and she has seven children.  She told me that she worked for the last two families who lived in our flat, and wants to work for us.  She will start on Tuesday, when we move in.  So there you have it.  God provided more quickly than I thought possible.

“Are you learning a language?”

Good question.  Part of our back-and-forth year has been trying to figure out what language to learn.  There are so many.  But we have settled on our country’s national language.  It is the most versatile across the country; most people know it to some extent.  We will be able to use it to communicate with auto drivers, tailors and shop owners whose English is very limited.

Though we can get by perfectly well with English here, we have been told that taking time to learn one of the languages is an honor to South Asians, and will help us to learn more about their culture as well.  David and I are both excited about beginning as soon as we get settled.  Language will probably take up half of his work day, and I will try to hire a tutor for once or twice a week.

As you may know, South Asians have an incredible ability to learn languages.  Most people we know speak a minimum of three languages; many speak five.  So when we tell them what language we want to learn, they say, “Oh you don’t need a tutor; just watch TV.  You will pick it up in two to three months, no problem.”  Ummm . . .  Then we have to explain Americans don’t quite work that way.