The Power Of A Smile

The first day I went to the eating place at the university in Puerto la Cruz, I saw a group of cute little boys watching me from about fifteen metres away. They were afraid to come closer. Then they all gave me very soulful smiles and took one step nearer, but immediately they got frightened again.

So I gave them a smile. Then they took another step towards me. Like that, we kept smiling at one another and they kept coming forward until they were only one metre away.

—13 January 1985