Universal Language: Stories as an Apprentice at Rancho Mastatal
By 2025 apprentice Aquino
It’s been three months now since I started living as an apprentice at Rancho Mastatal, a remote sustainability education center tucked away in the jungle of Costa Rica.
I was born and raised in Belgium, so Dutch (or Flemish) is my mother tongue. I speak English as a second language — good enough to get around, but still feeling limited sometimes, especially after calling home or when my girlfriend came to visit and we naturally fell back into Dutch. It reminded me how words in your native language can feel like a warm blanket — comfortable, familiar, effortless.
But here at the Ranch, I’ve started to feel at home in a different way. My fellow apprentices and the core team are becoming like family. Walking through the tiny center of Mastatal, I now recognize familiar faces. I’m starting to joke around with the local Tico crew — despite my far-from-fluent Spanish.
And that’s where I realized: language is not just about words.
“There is something I like to call universal language — a way of connecting that goes beyond words, grammar rules, or Google Translate. It’s the kind of language that lives in gestures, in shared experiences, in energy.”
Love — My Favorite Universal Language
It all starts with love. Or at least, with kindness and an open heart.
The other day we wrote a little birthday card for Lorena, one of Rancho’s beloved cooks. Even though my Spanish vocabulary is still embarrassingly limited, a handwritten card or a genuine smile crosses all language barriers. Small gestures like that create a safe and open space where people feel seen. And where connection can start to grow — even without a shared language.
Sports — The Great Icebreaker
And then, of course, there’s football. In Mastatal (like in the rest of Costa Rica... and let’s be honest, the rest of the world), football is the universal language.
Playing a game at the local field is probably the best way to connect with the local youth. No need for complicated sentences — just pass the ball, make a good run, celebrate a goal. That’s enough to make your first Tico friends.
Personally, ultimate frisbee was another icebreaker for me here at the Ranch. Throwing a disc around with the core team during my first weeks felt way easier than small talk in broken Spanish or shy English. And later on, during workshops, playing a game or two was often my favorite way to connect with visitors — without draining my social battery (I’m speaking for myself here).
Stacking Functions — The Ping Pong Table
Speaking of games — let me tell you about our ping pong table.
In permaculture, there’s a principle called stacking functions. It basically means: if you design a system (or an object), make sure it serves more than one purpose. Think of a chicken — it lays eggs, eats food scraps, provides fertilizer, and keeps your compost aerated. Multi-functional genius.
Well, our ping pong table in the Foodsmithy is a beautiful example of that principle.
By day, it’s a working surface for preparing food. But remove the cutting boards and veggies, and suddenly it becomes a place for play, laughter, and a healthy dose of competition. It’s a space where strangers become teammates (or rivals), where jokes are exchanged without needing words, where connection happens through movement and fun.
That’s stacking functions. It’s not just a table. It’s a kitchen counter, a game arena, a meeting place, a (universal) language lesson, and sometimes even a little therapy session.
Food — Connection on a Plate
Cooking together is another universal language I’ve come to appreciate deeply here.
My girlfriend Mari visited me at the Ranch for a while. As an outsider entering a tight-knit community, it wasn’t always easy for her to integrate. But the kitchen — a place where she finds confidence — that’s where she found her way in.
Peeling and shredding yuca together. Making gnocchi from scratch. Laughing, observing and interacting over attempts. Sitting down at a shared table to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Food has this magical way of creating connection — without needing many words.
In fact, on weekends we have kitchen shifts with the Tico team, which is basically the perfect Spanish classroom. What better way to learn a language than while chopping onions and asking for "más sal o no?”
So What Is Universal Language?
For me, universal language is about the human ways we connect — beyond cultural differences or spoken words. It’s about finding shared joy, shared struggles, and shared passions.
Some examples?
* Music — Feeling the same rhythm, dancing to the same beat.
* Body Language — A smile, a handshake, eye contact.
* Art & Symbols — Recognizing shared patterns and stories in creative expression.
* Mathematics & Science — The logic of numbers, true everywhere.
* Spirituality — The language of inner worlds and shared rituals.
* Food — Chopping, cooking, tasting, sharing.
And probably many more.
What they all have in common is this: behind every language lives a culture. And within every culture, there are patterns of connection waiting to be found. Universal language is the exercise of finding those patterns — and tying them together with joy, curiosity, and presence.
Final Thoughts
It makes me wonder sometimes: in a utopian future where everyone speaks the same language (like the constructed language Esperanto once dreamed of), would we lose this beautiful exercise of connecting beyond words?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Because even then, there will always be a smile, a game of football, and a table to share food around. And as long as there’s diversity in culture, there will be universal language.
