Last weekend I moved seven miles south to a part of the city where a lot of immigrants and refugees have settled. This is very exciting for me! Just this morning I had my window open and I heard the chatter of Vietnamese out on the street! Tonight I met a young man and his female relative from the Congo who live in my neighborhood.
Before breakfast I stood out on our front balcony to watch the Blue Angels, who were giving us our own air show right above the house. My downstairs Chinese-Vietnamese neighbor was also telling me about the trash and recycling situation at the house. Between the deafening rumbles of the Blue Angels flying really close, she told me that the neighbors to the right of us are Filipino and those behind us are Chinese. Then she told me the story about a Filipino man who lived across the street in a house with a long dirt driveway. She said he won the lottery and moved his family back to the Philippines. "You might win!" she said to me. I laughed and said, "I guess I live on a lucky street!"
When I say "my downstairs neighbors" I mean just that. For the time being, we have a family of three (a young couple and their two year old daughter) living in the basement. We share the kitchen, which has been working quite well. Their daughter is the cutest thing EVER!!! Because this family is Chinese-Vietnamese, they speak Cantonese and Mandarin), her mom encourages her to call me "Jie Jie" which means "Big Sister" in Mandarin. Apparently, when she wakes up in the morning she asks where her dad is and then now asks where Jie Jie is. In the morning I hear her pattering feet coming down the hallway to check if my door is open because she can't wait to see me. As soon as I come out, though, she gets SUPER shy. So cute! This morning, though, she let me hold her for the first time. I liked that... even if she had a stinky diaper on! =)
The downstairs neighbors are very friendly. The mom stays home with the daughter so she is around quite a bit. It is fun talking to her.
No comments:
Post a Comment