My Sister

If there’s one thing that everybody on the face of the earth understands well… it’ll be a smile. No matter what language that you speak, or you don’t speak for that matter, a smile will be well understood by anyone. It’s an act of courtesy and it’s free… Unfortunately, a smile is a rare thing these days. Very unfortunate….

Greeting is another thing… Though I may not understand the languange well, I always try to ensure that I know how to greet in that particular language. Or sometimes when I am completely lost (like when I was in Cambodia or Laos), a simple English greeting is well understood…

Luckily I know how to greet in Portuguese…
Yesterday, as I was walking, on the way to a friend’s house, there was this small nun walking in front of me. Naturally, I took bigger steps than her that I walked passed by her. As I passed, I greeted her “Bom dia” (Good morning) and she looked at me and smiled and replied “Bom dia a minha irma” (Good morning, my sister)… BAM… she just made my day…

That very act of her, to me it was priceless. Being called “my sister” in Africa is a big thing, as that’s actually how they consider other Africans, as brothers and sisters. And greeted as “my sister” is a very polite way to greet someone.

I will never forget that morning, when someone greeted me “Bom dia, a minha irma”.