International Munchkin

International Munchkin

This blog is almost always a commentary about me and my adventures traveling and working abroad, but this time I want to talk about my smallest travel companion who has survived and supported all these changes with a smile and an adventurous spirit. She began this blogging journey along with me traveling to China and she has always supported our free-moving lifestyle. Thank you my little munchkin!

I remember a friend telling me that in France the popular children’s character “Dora the Explorer” speaks in French and teaches children to speak in Spanish. Here in Mexico, Dora speaks Spanish and teaches English and in Canada Dora speaks English and teaches Spanish. I think it’s great that Dora’s creators have made her internationally accessible. Denya, my daughter, loves Dora in any language. She’s Denya la Exploradora and she’s my own little International Munchkin.

Denya is always surprising me, she speaks English and Spanish and when prompted she sputters out words in Mandarin and French. Her food favorites are quesadillas, dumplings, miso soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, seaweed snacks, beans and maple syrup. She has had day caregivers and teachers speak to her in Mandarin, French, Spanish, English, Portuguese and Arabic. She has traveled by train through China, Thailand and Laos; by plane across the Atlantic Ocean and the North American Continent; and by car to the Mexican deserts, the Canadian Mountains and the US Northwest and she’s only three!

What does all this do to a child? I guess the long term effects won’t be known until she’s grown but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for fantastic results.

I suppose all this cultural understanding comes with the turf. She’s half Canadian after all, a people known for their love for other cultures. Growing up in Alberta, most of my friends were of Ukrainian or Dutch descent. I ate pyrogies and cabbage rolls as part of my regular diet. Multicultural living was normal for me as it is (in a different sense) for Denya. She has spent a large portion of her life in Montreal and Playa del Carmen, both cultural exchange centers where everyone gets along. The Montreal utopia is an amazing cultural success story where East meets West, South meets North and French and English share the communication rights with plenty of other languages. While in Montreal Denya was exposed to a wide array of languages, cuisine and cultures. Some funny situations arose from all that diversity. When she was getting to know her little neighbor in Montreal she thought his name was “Bonjour” since that’s what I would call when we went to see him. She would say, “Bonjour, come and play,” or, “Bonjour, ¿quieres jugar?” Another common occurrence was that she spent most of her time singing African songs she picked up in her mama’s singing class. This was funny because people would stop us to ask where we were from and what language she was speaking.

Here, back in Playa del Carmen, Denya can communicate easily with almost everyone. She has, however, been a little bored in her preschool English class. My parents have been visiting and so she speaks English with them all the time and we’ve had several friends come down from Canada with their children so Denya and her little buddies Annie, Dylan and Avery chatted away in English. Of course she gets full on Spanish treatment when her Abuelo (grandpa), Abuelita (grandma) and Tios (uncles) come to visit from Mexico City.

Denya’s world is small and she often states plainly that she wants to go to Canada, or to Mexico City, or to Beijing… as if they were just around the corner. With time, her concept of distance will develop normally and she will understand that it takes time to travel from one place to another.

Sometimes our friends and family question Denya’s traveling ways. The most common concern is that she will have to settle down once she starts school – we’re looking into the logistics of where and how she will be educated. Another concern is that she will live far from her families – I figure that makes all the more traveling necessary to make sure we visit often! Something that I think about is what Culture she will call her own. Without firm roots in one place how will she define herself? I’ve met people in my travels that when asked where they are from they begin with, “it’s a long story,” or, “we moved around a lot,” or, “well, I was born in such and such place but I speak such and such language and my parents are from such and such countries”. I guess she will define herself based on her experiences and I envision that it will be an advantage for her. I know that I feel lucky to have been exposed to different languages and cultures in my lifetime and Denya is getting that exposure right from the beginning. If she keeps going at this rate Dora won’t be able to keep up. ~ ;-)