(s) sounding (c)

Of names on this isle I have become fond – of Candi, Celuk, Canggu, and Cucukan. Instead of a soft or an (s) sounding (c), we in Indonesia pronounce it hard – tchay! – which was quite confusing to people like me, with practice though I've found it easy to say. There are many mysteries left in this land, I practice with locals as oft as I can, make errors and throw a few brief phrases out then laugh as they laugh at this man from without, this stranger who's come to their broad wave-swept shores, who samples their tongues and who joins in their mores. This ain't my first rodeo, that much is true, I have in the past learned a language or two, and used them to shock and impress local dames who after a while don't find me so lame. Mistakes are a given but people forgive, so choose deep within them to settle and live, to eat from the vendors who prowl through the streets and sample their home-made and spit-roasted treats. So off with the fetters and drive right on in, one cannot survive if one dares not to swim, to sit with the old men and share in their days, to learn of their foreign and curious ways.

© americanifesto / 場黑麥