These are the ""small words"" of living in a foreign land, of household mechinery, servants, food, sickness, gestures of friendship, of travel, revolution, -- as the author experienced them when her husband was sent to Bogota by the A.P. With their year old son, Mike, they traveled from the United States to Colombia in the party of President Olays, and their series of anti-climaxes noon began. There was Jorge, Chilly's assistant, invaluable for any emergency, the succession of cooks and maids, their pride and loyalty, there was the finding, and furnishing, a house, Chilly's stories and their sometimes unexpected results, Mike's sicknesses and the kindly actions of friends and strangers, all combining to evolve a pattern of adjustment to and appreciation of another country, its people and customs.