Yesterday, on our drive across eastern Oregon and Washington, we stopped for an afternoon treat at Helados La Michoacana, a Mexican Ice Cream restaurant in Pasco. Susan got an ice cream bar with fruit. My sister got a frozen fruit juice bar. I attempted to order mango ice cream, but instead got a dish or cut-up mango. It was no problem. I joked that I got a snack that was much better for me than the one I thought I was getting. I know a few words of Spanish, but I do not speak the language. I suspect that the clerk who waited on me speaks English fluently, but part of the ambiance of the place was the Spanish language spoken by the workers.

It isn’t the first time my language skills have been found to be lacking. I love to travel and have had the good fortune of going to other countries where other languages are spoken. Since I don’t speak any other language clearly, I have to rely on translators and when a translator is not available, I employ a combination of sign language, gestures, and a few words, probably mispronounced. We get by and we’ve had a lot of fun experiencing different cultures and seeing different places. We’ve not gone hungry, but, as I mentioned, I have received food that was different from what I thought I ordered.

To complete yesterday’s adventures, we stopped at a fruit stand a little later to pick up a box of Washington apples to take as a gift to family in Montana. The fruit stand had ice cream. I got a dish while my sister and wife picked up apples and a few peaches for snacking. My sister asked me if I got what I ordered. I replied in the affirmative and we had a good laugh.

In our travels we have found that there are a lot of people in the world who speak English. Many of them have studied it as a second language and are eager to try out their skills. In Japan, school children would come up to us and talk to us in English. They enjoyed the opportunity to use a subject they had studied in school and we enjoyed learning a bit more about their studies and lives.

Once, in Germany, we were visiting a family with bilingual parents. The children spoke only German. The parents reported to us that when they were putting the children to bed, they asked, “What’s wrong with the Americans? They can’t talk.” It was an accurate description of our language skills. We got a laugh out of their perception.

One of the stories that we tell over and over agin is from a trip we took to Europe the summer we graduated from seminary. I locked the keys in a rental car while we were in Holland. None of us spoke Dutch. Susan knows a fair amount of German, but it wasn’t helping much in the situation. Eventually, through gestures, pointing, and a bit of laughing we managed to make one of the locals aware of our problem. That person called a locksmith and our problem was soon solved.

The stories and experiences of our lives point out the limitations of our language skills. There are a lot of people in the world who are fluent in multiple languages. Even though we studied languages as part of our higher education, we have not gained fluency in any language other than English. Compared to many people around the world, we lack communication skills.

Eastern Oregon, Washington, and much of Idaho have had Spanish-speaking workers for over a hundred years. Some of those people have been traveling workers, coming up from Mexico in the summer and autumn to work on farms and orchards and returning to Mexico in the winters Some of them are people whose families have lived in the region since long before statehood. Many of them speak Spanish in their homes and among their friends, but also are able to speak English in order to transact business and go to school. There are generations of multi-lingual members in many families. When we are visiting in their neighborhoods, we have the opportunity to experience a bit of their culture and when we find he right places to eat a bit of their food. Frozen treats and fruit are enough to attract curious visitors and we weren’t the only English speakers in the restaurant yesterday.

One of the joys of travel is stepping outside of our comfort zones and experiencing something new. There are plenty of Spanish speaking people in the part of Washington where we live. We rented a home for the first year of our retirement. Although our landlords spoke English fluently, they both had learned Spanish as the primary language in their childhood homes. Many of our neighbors spoke Spanish as a primary language. Our son is librarian in that town and the library needs employees who are fluent in Spanish and has a growing collection of Spanish language books for children and adults.

Spanish and English aren’t the only languages we hear on the streets of our town. There are people who have migrated from Ukraine, Pakistan, and India among other places. Their languages are like music as we walk down the streets and shop in local businesses. They bring not only languages, but also culture to enhance our community.

Educators tell us that it is much easier for children to learn multiple languages than adults. Their brains are more adept at retaining sounds and meanings than is the case as we grow older. However, there are plenty of cases of older adults learning new languages. It isn’t too late for me to add to my language skills. It will, however, require a bit of discipline and an openness to learning from me. Once again I am resolved to do a bit more studying and learning. I’ll need to practice as well. Even when I am surprised by the food I receive, I am grateful for the opportunity to try.