The Joy in Being

My time in Paris is drawing to a close, but I think we did as much as we could in 72 hours as we could. Jet lag has been awful so far, but between yesterday and today we saw many of the typical Paris sights. While the Louvre was downright mesmerizing, the true glee of travel for me comes from what many would call the mundane. 

Each morning on the way to the Metro, we made a stop at this grocery store on the corner. What's unique about this is that, at home, I loathe going into a store due to the chance of a random social interaction. It's different abroad though. Perhaps it goes to what I've discussed with the language barrier and not being able to respond. Because of this the amount of processing I have to use to get by decreases greatly.

At home, I have to worry about the verbal chess match. If a worker asks, "Can I help you?" I have to come up with a response while preparing for their counter move. There are so many possibilities and I'm trying to calculate them all. It's impossible, and it jams my ability to respond in a matter of time that makes me seem coherent. However, abroad, we are taking the processing element of language out of the equation because as soon as I speak perfect English, they know I don't speak the language of the land. After this, all I have to do is to focus on having a positive looking face with a smile.

It's difficult to truly describe to you how freeing of a sensation this is. Imagine, in your daily life, having to constantly worry about the next move, and the one after that, and the next two hundred thereafter. A great fear is natural with this because, and I'm trying to give you something to relate to, have you ever been tongue tied and the person you're talking to gives you a prompt to hurry up, or think faster? This is what every conversation feels like to me, so there should be little wonder as to why it is such a sense of freedom.

Tonight, we fly to the island of Reunion. English did get me places in Paris as many, well, almost all in a service environment do speak some, but from my experience on the island in 2016, English will get a person nowhere. Is it still that way? Will I experience the same sense of freeing disconnection I had in 2016? I don't know the answer, but I can't wait to find out.