I had just landed in the Chicago airport. I had gone through customs, re-checked my bags, and gotten on to the shuttle that would take me from the international terminal to the national one. I still had one plane to go. About 5 minutes into the drive, I noticed the woman next to me was starting to get anxious. She had a baby strapped to her back and was probably around my age, maybe a couple years older. The longer we were on the shuttle the more nervous she got. Finally, she pulled out her boarding pass and started to speak. I couldn’t understand her fully, she spoke very very little English. However, I looked at her boarding pass and realized she was trying to get to the same terminal as I was, and she was headed in the right direction. I tried to reassure her using different hand motions and smiles, hoping that she understood. Another five minutes passed and we finally got to the terminal. She nervously stood up, obviously not knowing if this was her stop or not. I grabbed my things and stepped off, cautiously motioning her to follow me. I led her inside and showed her that the terminal on her pass and the signs inside matched. I smiled at her reassuringly and got ready to move on.
This is the part of the story where I realized how much I have grown in my own awareness since being overseas. Instead of just smiling and moving past her, I hesitated a bit to see where she was going to go. She seemed just as lost there as she did on the bus and all I could feel was empathy. I knew exactly how she felt. So, I gently grabbed her hand and motioned for her to follow me. We went through security together; I unloaded all her liquids and tried to explain to her what the security guards were saying. Once we passed through I knew she had no idea how to get to her gate. I, myself, am not a fan of the Chicago airport because of how big and overwhelming it is. For someone who doesn’t speak English or have any familiarity, I can’t even imagine how much more stressful it would be. I needed to get to concourse C but she needed to go to Concourse B. I still had about an hour until I needed to board, so I led her past the maze of people and we finally got to her gate. Once we got there, she didn’t want to sit down and was speaking to me very quickly. After trying to listen to what she was saying, I realized she wasn’t speaking English, but Ahmaric, the national language of Ethiopia. How interesting that the place I now call home borders Ethiopia.. My phone was broken so I shyly asked the girl next to us if I could borrow her phone to use google translate. She handed me her own phone so I wrote down what I was trying to say. My new friend would have to wait at the gate for 2 hours until they began boarding. I asked if her or her son needed any food or water and she declined. I think I finally smiled enough times that she felt confident enough to sit down. At this point I now needed to run across the airport to get to my concourse, but I needed to make sure she got on her plane. I think the girl with the phone could tell that I was having an internal struggle because she then reassured me that she would help get my friend and her son onto the plane. I thanked her a million times, said goodbye, and ran across the airport.
I have always believed myself to be a kind person. Before moving overseas, I definitely would have tried to reassure the woman when I saw her on the bus. I probably would have helped her get off the bus. Then, I would have smiled and gone my own way. I wanted to brush my teeth, wash my face, and grab some food before the next flight. However, this time, I knew all too well how it felt to be a foreigner not knowing where to go. I have had countless women, complete strangers, grab my hand and lead me to the new bus stop or show me how to wear the headscarf. Without their unrequired kindness, I would have been stuck more times than I can count. I saw this woman on the bus and I saw myself. The foreigner, who would deeply appreciate some guidance.
When I was sitting on the plane, drinking some water after the run across the airport, I smiled. I thanked the Lord that He has let me be the foreigner. Because of this, my eyes are opened just that much wider, my empathy is just that much deeper, and my faith is that much stronger.