The Tower of Babel, Face Recognition and the Search for Sense

Barcelona has two official languages, Spanish and Catalan. Barcelona is also full of people from all over the world. Walking down the street I catch bits and pieces of conversation. There's Spanish, Catalan, American English, British English, (No, they are not the same), German, French, Italian, Japanese, and more.

My poor ears are overwhelmed. My brain goes on overload. There's a moment when I just can't do it any more. It's as though a breaker in my brain switched over. Language as I usually know it is gone. I can see the lips move, but it's just random sound. My brain tries to make sense of it which only leads to something like this, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, museum, blah, blah, art, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, gelato . . . ."

I've been here in Barcelona for two weeks, which is plenty of time for my personal Tower of Babel to kick in. As if that's not bad enough, when traveling alone I find myself scanning the crowd looking for a familiar face. It's not a conscious thing, at least not until I'm aware of it. I catch a gesture or a glimpse of someone who, just for a glimmer of a moment, looks like someone else, someone from home. A quick double take and I realize it's just another stranger in a sea of strangers.

This all may sound a little odd to you. It certainly doesn't sound like a very comforting or positive thing. The truth is that experiencing this helps make me a better teacher. I think twice before I let myself get frustrated with my students. I know how it feels to have someone repeat the same thing to me, over and over. It's as though they think getting louder or getting frustrated makes them more comprehensible. Empathy and slowing down get me much further than frustration ever could. I know the feeling behind the smiling nod that really means, "I have no idea what you are saying." It's part of my job as a teacher to move us beyond that point.

As the art teacher, I teach every child in my school. Every year I have students who are new to the school and each other and to me. Some of these kids have been repeatedly moved from school to school. I watch them look for something familiar, something that will let them relax if only for a moment. I'm reminded of myself searching for that familiar face in the crowd. I believe making art can give them a familiar space even if only for a few minutes a week. That zone where creativity takes place is familiar to almost everyone. Hopefully the art room and the act of creating in a visual and sensory environment helps ease their transition.