Today was a chill day. We are on a very remote, small island. There are like 2 other tourists here and maybe only 2 hotels on the entire island. It is a bit strange to be honest. The quietness. The bungalows are next to the sea. The beach seems endless and a little sci-fy when the tide was very low for some reason. There are also, what felt like a million, tiny crabs on the beach. They were running away from us when we were walking. Some burried themselves in little holes. It was interesting to observe and I really didn’t want to step on one. The sunset was absolutely beautiful. And the chickens sit in trees. I have never seen a chicken being high up on a tree.

We also had little bit of misunderstandings here and there today, but with the help of google translate we managed well. And I am not sure how much it takes away of trying to build a connection. We just immediately take out our phones to google translate and then both parties seem to get impatient when the translation doesn‘t work correctly and when you have to repeat one sentence like 5 times to be sure everyone is on the same page. I remember not understanding people (because of language barriers) and it not being such a struggle in the past. We just connected with hands and feet and smiles. But it made me think. Maybe it’s not about the google translate that much. Where, when not in the faces of strangers that don‘t speak your language, can you see the honest and raw version of how you are. You can see yourself mirrored back in their eyes. I noticed it a bit before. If I have a smile on my face, I get a smile back. If I ask a question and believe with my whole heart that the person in front of me is honest and kind, that I can trust them, then everything works out. If I have a serious look on my face, think the other person wants to scam me, the person in front of me also starts to speak in a stronger voice and it makes me believe it even more. We had this situation yesterday. I thought we only pay at the boat and the 5min pick up to the bungalows is included in the price. That‘s what we understood from the boat driver. And then reaching the bungalows there was some discussion because they said we need to pay the taxi driver. And we said we already payed and were very confused. The bungalow owner ended up paying half the price to the taxi driver. My dad wanted to give him the full amount but he refused. And later I found out that I misread the message they send me about how to get there and it had all the prices listed. I feel awful about it. So whenever there seems to be a misunderstanding, I will try to remember to not have a serious face on and keep a smile and open heart. The fear of getting scammed shouldn‘t close our hearts. Of course in limits of safety.