In all honesty, I’ve really missed being able to sign in the short time I’ve been down here. I mean sure I could still sign ,but I thought it was best to not confuse people anymore than I already do, so to say I was elated to see what my first LSN (Nicaraguan Sign Language) meeting would be like would be a understatement. I met a sister who helps out with the group a few days ago and through signing a little and her talking to Christy in Spanish we found out the meetings are in Spanish and interpreted into LSN on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Well here it is approx. 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday and we are nearing where the sister works and lives when Christy says , “Tonight, Sean and I are doing the cart from 3-6 ,so if you wanted to go to the meeting we can ask the sister if you can go with her.” Initially, the idea of going to a meeting without someone to help translate is a tad intimidating ,but I say “Sure” and so we make arrangements for me to meet the sister at her house at 5:30. I totally forget to ask what I need to study to be prepared for the meeting ,so I study like I normally would and hope for the best. I leave a few minutes early so I have time to walk to her place, struggle with locking the gates but kinda figure it out, and then make my way down the sidewalk. It only takes about 4 minutes but it easily feels like an hour. I step inside the the little shop and look to the back where I see a brother (I assume since he’s wearing a suit), he waves and then goes and gets the sister. While we are waiting on her he introduces himself (I only remember everyone’s sign names) half in sign and then in what English he knows. I say my name and make hasty apologies for knowing very little Spanish. The sister comes out and then we all start walking towards the hall. The location for the Kingdom Hall could hardly be any better ,out of the 3 KH’s here it’s the one that has the LSN group and it’s only a few blocks away. Along the way they tell me that they are married and we discuss my sign name, turns out this wouldn’t be the first time I tell someone what it is and they sign “why??”. Then I finger spell my name out and they are like “ahhhhh okay”. Before, we could get anymore conversation in though we had made it to the hall. As soon as we walked in the sister started to go up to people and say hello. I understood enough to know she was telling them I spoke English. Then, there would be one of two reactions: 1.) 😄- says a phrase in English or 2.) 😬- laughs and then shakes my hand. The little bit of time we had before the meeting we spent comparing signs and when one of us would sign something and the other got confused we would stop, try to figure it out between Spanish and English and if that didn’t work ,we’d refer to a older sister a few rows back who knew some English.
There are two deaf in their group of about 8 people. When I met the deaf sister the first thing she asked was if I was cold (apparently 70 degrees is like freezing here) and if there was snow where I’m from. The answer to that would obviously be a resounding sì. Then she commented on my sign name and asked if I was married. I had a good laugh over both of those comments/questions. At this point the conversation switched to babies and I was tad confused until the sister I came to the meeting with told me she was pregnant. *insert jaw drop here* I’m pretty sure the signs I used weren’t understandable ,but my facial expression was!! I met a couple more people and then the meeting was starting. The song was on a tablet held up by a brother and as soon as it started and I started signing it I felt a whole lot more at ease. At first, I was trying to discern how much of the Spanish I could understand while I was watching the brother interpret ,but I quickly forgot about that and all the Spanish was drowned out by LSN. The most impressive thing about the entire meeting was the brother and sisters who interpreted. There were 2 brothers and 2 sisters who did the entire meeting and most of the time as soon as they finished the part they were interpreting for they would almost immediately be up on stage doing the next part in Spanish. A sister did the bible reading and because they don’t have bible available in LSN she interpreted directly from the Spanish being spoken. Then, for the Apply Yourself to the Field Ministry a brother and sister switched out for all three parts. The language is fairly similar to ASL ,so for the most part I was able to understand the meeting. If anything it’s almost like it’s so close to ASL sometimes that you second guess what a sign is and then that makes it more confusing. The Congregation Bible study was in the back and played off a dvd. We got done back there before Spanish was done ,so were all talking about the elephant in the room….me. At some point the deaf brother thought they said I was from Africa (not sure how since the signs are like polar opposite) and so I started laughing and was like noooooo. Thankfully, the one other brother back there,who conducted the bible study, spoke a little creole and we all got through whatever we were trying to say laughing at the entire ridiculousness of it. After the meeting there were some more introductions and conversations about if I was gonna come to the meeting on Sunday. (YES! Of course I am) I also managed to ask what publication they were studying and found out that their C.O. ,just the sign language C.O., is coming in week after next!! I couldn’t have been here at a better time! I don’t think I’ve ever found confusion and somewhat understanding so much fun!! When we were walking back the brother asked what I thought of the sign language here and honestly I think it’s nothing short of awesome!! Now I’m just gonna be practicing up until Sunday so I can communicate a little bit more. Until more epic things…..
-Jay ❤️
journeyofablueeyedjay 