Saturday afternoon, My husband and I decided to enjoy the pollen tempest and take a nice brisk walk via the footpath over? under (maybe around?) the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from National Harbor.
Such a clear day, perfect for signing. I wondered if we would see any members of the Deaf community? Yes, I am a NERDA (Not Even Related to a Deaf Adult) Plus, it just felt good to be outdoors. It was sunny and bright (nothing casting a shadow). Beautiful day despite being extremely windy.
"Over there......,""Where?" My husband asks. With everything blowing around, maybe I'm seeing things. My "saving-my-energy-for -the-trail walk" turned into a brisk walk to....Why, yes! Sign Language!!!! Yippie!!!!
Well, as it turns out, all of the Deaf we met were from Saudi Arabia and there was a Hard of Hearing woman from Iran. So how did we communicate since ASL is AMERICAN Sign Language and is not universal? These individuals are QUAD linguist. They are fluent in their country's spoken language, their country's sign language, ASL, and English. One person told me that he wanted to learn Spanish!!!! So we were able to converse using ASL. WHOA!!! How many Americans can say that we know more than English?
Also, they were college students. They had spent time learning ASL (many at Gallaudet) then transferred to other colleges to further their education.
What an experience!!!! So yeah....keep on the look out for Signing hands and let me know.
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