Cultural Mix

The islands are pretty homogeneous. We’ve actually heard it said that the islands are one of the most homogeneous countries on the planet. That means there isn’t cultural diversity. Almost everyone is the same people group, same language, same culture. (This might help you understand how and why we stand out.)

Our family in Europe

Other countries usually have multiple people groups and languages (and not just because of the presence of foreign expats and immigrants), even people that started the same tend to diversify with time. We remember being surprised when we lived in France that among purely “French” people there was still a lot of local culture and even different dialects that still existed. It was fascinating. Even the islands (to be fair) are not as homogeneous as they may seem at first glance. Each island has a distinct dialect of the local language and a lot of unique cultural practices and rituals. Even different villages on a single island have been known to have some unique expressions and customs. Still, the fact remains that the islands are not very diverse.

This past week we have been on vacation with Tom’s family in Europe, seeing the diversity of different European cities while at the same time experiencing the unique diversity of the people group known as “tourists”. We sat through a security briefing that was repeated in 8 different languages and regularly saw tour guides flip through several languages with ease. We passed by people in impossibly short mini-skirts followed by people in full head coverings.

I’ll admit that the diversity has been refreshing. Maybe it has just been nice to not stand out as much. But then there was still the problem of where did we fit in the mix? We may be Americans but for the past decade we’ve lived in Africa. We both studied Spanish in school and learned French as adults, so most of the time we could follow to some degree the romance languages being spoken. Having lived on the islands we are generally more modestly dressed than many Europeans or even Americans, though our clothing choices do change when we’re not immersed in island culture and climate.

It was funny to see people try to size us up and guess where we fit and specifically what language we would speak. Most of the time if they saw us as a whole family they would try English, but we did end up having several conversations in French when that seemed easier. The funniest was when they saw Tom by himself. People often have a hard time placing Tom at a glance. Tom actually loves to play “Guess my ethnic background” with people because he has heard almost everything… Arab, Indian, Filipino, North African, Native American, Latin American, various Southern European countries and more. On the islands people usually think he is Arab and those that don’t know him will often greet him in Arabic. But on this European vacation, when he stepped out in front of us and was mobbed by the tour guides and taxi men, they tried several languages trying to see which one would get Tom to respond. They started with Italian, then Spanish, then Portuguese, then English, then French, then German…For fun, Tom finally expressed his disinterest in the local island language!  The blank stares were pretty funny and it turned out to be an effective way to be left alone. 

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PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve had a great time with family on our vacation.  Everyone’s travels have gone smoothly so far.   We’re also glad that those who were sick did not have severe symptoms and recovered within 24 hours and that everyone seemed to have a good time.  We’re thankful for lots of great moments with parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, brothers and sister and cousins.  We were ale to spend a day with one of our colleagues who lives and works among islanders in France.  It was a blessing to spend the day with her.  Our vacation was both fun and relaxing.  We are thankful for times of refreshment and beautiful scenery.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our good friend and boss just busted his knee playing soccer on the big island.  We’re praying for a quick recovery and that there would no need for surgery.  Pray for the rest of our travels as we make our way back to the islands this week.  Pray for our kids and our nieces and nephews as they transition from vacation mode back to school.  Pray for one of our island colleagues who had a traumatic experience while off island— pray that they would have the space to process and recover. We are looking for people to join our team in the immediate future as well as down the road in 2020.  Pray that the Lord would send wonderful teammates  our way.