The music behind the words

It's been about seven years we have been coming to Bulgaria. And to my eternal shame I still can't speak much Bulgarian. We speak some french and german so western Europe was much easier for us but here it's a different story. Some key words get us through but mostly it's the language of the shrug, a gesture , a smile, a hand grasp, a kiss on both cheeks, a wave. Their eyes tell of their warmth and welcome. But there is a catch. With one important gesture we understand the opposite, because here in Bulgaria a nod means no and a shake of the head means yes. Now I have always known that "da" means yes but every time it's accompanied by a head shake I'm thrown. I receive the answer as "no" until I have to adjust my thinking to the accompanying verbal answer of yes. Seven years on that's still true. The power of body language and the reminder that what we communicate is much more than what we say. When I facilitated counselling train