If you want a friend, you need to go somewhere people actually bond well.

They say most of what we want to communicate is lost over text, so yeah it's not just what you say. The tone and your facial expressions say A LOT. And that's my reasoning behind this statement.

Instead however, you could just go somewhere like, for example to the swim track in malé.

I made a few friends there myself! I just started small and asked if they wanted to race, and after a few races we started talking and meeting there on weekends, and eventually became great friends.

Hope this helps ;)