So it’s Day 271, which in the system of things is not a particularly noteworthy day. And I made a big post yesterday about Day 270, the ¾ mark of the year.
But I am going through a certification of a type right now in my language lessons. I was presented with a lengthy essay to summarize in English; then, I had to write a personal essay in Haitian Creole. The latest part of the examination (it is multiple parts) was to listen to a twelve-minute-long educational video in Haitian Creole by Wilky Toussaint, a fairly well-known figure on Haitian YouTube and Facebook who presents these short videos to explain history and current events.
Now keep in mind I’ve already listened to Wilky because I find him witty and fascinating, but my lord he speaks so rapidly that I typically listen at 50% speed or sometimes 75% when I’m well-rested. But for the test, I had to listen at full speed, think along with him in his rapid-fire Creole, and then summarize his presentation. Thank goodness I was able to listen three times because at least I could fill in some of the blanks. There were still things I missed, but I got about 80% of, and was able to write something presentable to the instructor.
The video was on the significance of Taiwan in the scheme of world powers grappling with each other, and even included a tidbit of what this means to Haiti itself. (In exchange for support from Taiwan to Haiti in things such as rice and COVID medical supplies, Haiti recognizes Taiwan as “The Republic of China,” a valid, sovereign nation.)
So I wrote the summary and turned it in, with both eyes and fingers crossed.
But later that night as I considered what Wilky had said and what I had written, I realized that his political views on world powers and history and the significance of events was not a US-centric one—that is, not one that I would have been able to construct. He had created an opinion piece that represented more fully the people of the displaced and colonized nations—which Taiwan was and Haiti still is—and that view was literally foreign to me.
It was yet another reminder that there is a glass bubble around white people in America and elsewhere, a bubble that lets us see through to the lives of others, but that protects us from questioning the wisdom laid down in our schoolrooms and homes and churches about what events “really mean.”
It’s amazing to me, yet again, that the work to understand the language spoken by the people of this island nation is opening so much of the world to me. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and hope that my Haitian Creole improves enough so that I can listen to Wilky at top speed and learn along with him.