hike to language learn

(Danelle writing)
The other day I hiked over a hill where I could see the ocean. It was beautiful. The mountains were beautiful. I was going to visit a lady named Mislinda. I kind of knew where her house was, she described how to get there, and Michelle had been close to the village before. So I was off. The hike was beautiful. It really is amazing that this island is only 30 miles long and within that 30 miles the elevation goes from sea level to about 8,000 feet. So to look down to the lowlands and Brooks Point and the ocean from where I was, way up in the mountains, was very fun to see. And I was so happy because it has been a dry stretch here, over 2 weeks of very minimal rain so the trails were nice and dry. But man, to hike that trail in the mud and rain, wow. It would have been a different story.

Eventually I got to a little village. “Embe Benwe ni Mislinda?” (Where’s Mislinda’s house) I asked the mom and little girl that I came to. “Duntin Dia” (up that mountain over there) they replied. Oh man. I guess kind of close means that I can see her village from where I was at, but I still had to go down and then up. The girl was going to take me.

So off she went down the skinny trail overgrown with brush (like all the trails around here). Man these people are fast. And they are barefoot. This little girl especially. She zipped around and I really had to move to keep up. I was doing ok until we started going up hill. WHEW! What a work out. “Mependay ke!” (you are skilled) I yelled at her. She just glanced back at me and giggled said “Kaya” (no, it’s nothing) which is the response to any compliment. They value the humbleness. So she giggled and took off again.

I wish that I had a camera stuck to my head to see her zip through the trails. There is no way I could look through a camera and walk at the same time on the trail. It’s so fun to interact with these people. Little moments like that are so cute.