Numbers & Words

The fourteenth of January, two thousand and fifteen

Today was the two hundred and sixty first greatest day of my life. It could have been number two hundred and fifty three had I not had a headache earlier. I suppose this is the way life goes. Now, why am I writing out every single number you may wonder? Well, that is because today I taught English (numbers specifically as you may have guessed) to the good people of Desarmes. What better way to recall the day than to reinforce the topics that I taught? Quite frankly, today did not go exactly as expected. English is not my first language despite my apparent mastery of it in the following discourse.

I related to the students’ experience today; the questions presented by the students reminded me of the same questions I asked while learning English those precious years ago. Ah, the halcyon days of yesteryear. I reminisce upon my days as a brash jovial young-in, frequenting the taverns and engaging in the associated vices. I hoisted my sails and let the wind carry me where it may, traversing the vast sprawling country. Although I was at the time naïve and lacking better judgment, I regret nothing from my past. I digress.   

It’s not my first time to be proud of being a Chinese in Haiti, but it was the first time I felt lucky as being a non-English native speaker. We tried to make our classes as free and customized as possible, which resulted in that they just came up with random questions about English words and grammar. As I tried to answer their questions and confusions, I just felt so connected to my high school life – when I was learning exactly the same thing and sitting in the classroom as they did. I attempted to explain the grammar and logic behind the transformations of English words and tenses, as a non-English native speaker may feel cautious and confused learning and remembering.

Now I am but a shell of my former self. This life has devoured me and left behind a faint shell of what I once was. Today I took a brief stroll to the oxbow in the river, staring intently at the reflection of the naked mountainside on the flowing azure waters. The sunset we were lucky enough to catch by the riverside, and all the pleasant scenery we have seen all the way there and back, were just like all the other halcyon moments we have experienced in Haiti – made us unconditionally grateful for the lives in which we have ever done anything to achieve. I cannot quite lay my finer on precisely what it was, but a sudden wave of raw emotion swept over my being. I felt a hot trickle down my cheek. Sweat? Lo, a single tear I shed! This hardened shell of a human still had some surprises left.

Sincerely, from two voices of a generation,

Xinyi and Brian