Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Common Ground


"no habla español"
aware of the language barrier
broken by sharing food

I spent last week in Baja, enjoying a very mellow holiday. I met some Mexican folks who invited me to their camp. It naturally was hard to communicate, since I speak very little Spanish and their English was just as poor. However, we ate mussels they had gathered from the ocean, smoked on the fire, and that indeed was an intimate moment, shared by all, despite the language barrier.

This is in gracious response to
One Deep Breath
. This week's topic is "Common Ground".

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Food is indeed a universal common ground. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. :)

Rose

xo

Plain Foolish said...

Wow. Powerful image and words.

Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

Anonymous said...

Your haiku says so much; we could learn deeply from this idea. Wonderful.

Unknown said...

"Common ground" also got me thinking about what we share when we don't have language. We take it for granted, don't we?

Crafty Green Poet said...

Food can break down so many barriers.

Anonymous said...

It is all about sharing. You represented our country well, with your gracious acceptance of their offering.
Thanks

Tammy Brierly said...

What a treat for you all! Breaking bread is a very special common ground. Welcome home.

Clockworkchris said...

awesome sharing of a personal experience. Glad you visited this week. I am adding you to my link list.

Clare said...

Your photo and haiku create such a wonderful moment of connection -- how cool that you got to have such a nice meal with new friends and rise above the language barrier.

megan said...

love the simple "stove" and you're right about the international language of food. what is about "breaking bread" together that builds a connection? Sounds like a good trip.

Becca said...

How true - breaking bread together is one of the oldest forms of meeting on common ground.

Lovely!

JP (mom) said...

wonderful! xx, JP

Mandy said...

yes indeed I like this -- adding you to my links -- will come back soon.

Anonymous said...

hmmn, made me think of the word 'companion'. Sharing food is great common ground; clever idea of breaking down the language barrier.

Dan said...

Very cool. An experience that transcended language. And language is, after all, just human-made.

gautami tripathy said...

Best common ground..food! Great haiku and photo.

Hope you had a great time!

Anonymous said...

Lovely haiku and moment shared. :)

It's great to think of these common grounds.

Mexico is a lovely place to be.

(btw, typo on muscles - mussels)

Pod said...

what agreat experience. enjoy the rest of your week! ;0)

Brotha Buck said...

Sounds like a fantastic week!

Steve Reed said...

Food is about the best cross-cultural translator there is! (However I'm a little neurotic about eating mussels...so I admire your ability to slide right into that cross-cultural experience!)

Mauricio said...

So easy:

Hey, mi nombre es Zapped, Get Zapped! ¿como andas?

yeah? Don´t worry, I don´t write english very weel too but I try...

Hugs

get zapped said...

Gracias! I so enjoyed your comments about the common ground of sharing la comida (a meal) presents, regardless, of other cultural barriers.

pearl- oh, thank you for pointing that out, I kept thinking something was wrong with that word ;-)

Steve, I grew up on the Chesapeake, thus, eating mussels was not big deal; these were even cooked :p

Peace.

Anonymous said...

That which transcends barriers, boundaries, unites us all in our utter humanness. What is more human than food?

Cergie said...

This is a great compo
We can cook there on this fire a fish soup called "bouillabaisse"
Fishermen put their pieces of fish in sea water and then it is delicious when they have finish their job

Kathleen Rietz said...

Beautiful moment.