Charades!

As we start our third week at this clinic in rural Germany, I continue to be amused at my daughter's ability to make new friends and to talk to anyone.  It does not matter if they speak English, she still tries.  I see a lot of hand and body movements much like a game of charades.

Here is a good example.  I had about a two hour break between treatments the other day and we decided to go for a walk.  In about a block or two of walking we were in a large field that was bordered by a row or two of apple trees.  There were two old men and an old woman picking apples.  Kristin and I walked over to them and asked if we could pay them to let us pick an apple.  They spoke almost no english, but they understood when we said, "America".  After a game of charades we figured out that they had flown on a big plane to Chicago and then on to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see their children.  They now know that this is our first trip to Germany and that we have orange trees.

I have another humorous observation.  When someone does not understand my daughter I hear her speaking English with some sort of accent.  It is as if they will understand her better if she talks like her native language is not English.  I laughed so hard when I first heard this.  She did not even realize what she was doing, but when I pointed it out to her she got a big laugh out of it too.