Project Amigo Visitors
Monday 30th June
Hello all!
I just wanted to send you an update on the kids. I know Jorge already had, but I just wanted to connect with you, too. Last night we had a little party and they all met their host families and spent the evening with them. They spent this morning talking to Jorge about their first night with their families. We had peanut butter and either grape jelly or honey sandwiches for lunch. Then we went to Logan High and the Geography teacher, my neighbor Kathleen, gave them a really great tour. The unexpected high-point of the tour was when we walked through the Yearbook office on the way to the Spanish teacher's room. They had a big board with everyone's assignment for the year- who was to make sure Boy's Tennis had a page, and who was going to take Medieval Club. The becarios, of course, didn't have any idea what she was talking about, so we pulled out the yearbooks- they had about 40 extra of the past 6 years, just sitting around. The kids and Jorge were fascinated. From everything to the "Senior Personalities" (how to explain why we vote for "best dressed" and "least mature".....?) to the Glamor Shots of each of the cheerleaders (hey- not even my school treated the cheerleaders like each one was a beauty queen....). We had a hard time tearing them away, and finally I promised to get out all of my yearbooks, and Kathleen gave them one of the extras- hoping that no one would notice is was missing. That'll make a fun 'recuerdo'. Outside taking pictures, they got a little distracted when I put a maple seed "rhinoceros horn" on Cecily, and pretty soon everyone, including Jorge, needed one. They took lots of pictures of each other. Then we went and toured the DI. They had a kid there that spoke Spanish, and explained to them about the job training and the humanitarian work (they told us that they send 37 tons of clothes to needy communities every week!). The manager of the store saw us wandering around and was really impressed with the kids- he introduced himself and then gave them each 6 DI dollars and they went shopping.
Tomorrow we'll do one of those ropes courses that'll help us to bond.... :) and then we're going to the Multicultural Center to meet Leo Bravo, who'll have a Service Project ready for them.
I'll try to keep you updated as often as I have time!
Tuesday July 1
Hello all!
Our morning began late. We were supposed to be at the USU ropes course at nine, but got there at about nine thirty, and even then Cristobal and Javier had to meet us there. We're going to try to work on punctuality. I need to remember a good fifteen minutes before we leave to say, "Let's get in the van!" because they all decide to use the bathroom and fill their water bottles and look for who-knows-what at that moment. It's like having eight of my kids. The ropes course was really neat. They had to do team-building and trust exercises on ropes and wires, some a foot off the ground, one about three stories up. The guy who ran the camp was impressed with how much more quickly and well they communicated on the last activity versus the first activity. And everyone except Alondra (and Jorge, and me) did the free fall- the 3-story jump with someone boulaying you. Javier was up last and was too scared to jump. We all tried to cheer him on, and pretty soon the other group that was there, a bunch of student-body officers from High Schools in Utah up there for the day, started cheering him on, too. He did eventually jump, and said he was glad he had. Pati and Cristobal were like monkeys climbing up those obstacle courses- we kept telling them it wasn't fair- them living so close to the palm trees. Javier was terrified at first, but overcame it. And even Mari and Meli just jumped right up there on those tightropes. Alondra is having a really hard time. She was weepy for most of the day, didn't want to participate in most of the activities. She's staying the night at our house and we've asked her family if she can invite one of the other girls to spend a couple of nights with her to see if that helps her. She says she just feels so lonely. We've tried to explain that that's what homesickness sometimes feels like, but she's sure it's just her. We'll see if we can steady her tonight and send her back to her great host family.
After the ropes course we had pizza and rootbeer- about three of them liked the rootbeer. Nobody liked the rootbeer floats (why ruin a good scoop of ice cream by putting it into cough syrup!?!). Then we went to the Multicultural Center and met Leo Bravo. He started the center as a way to help immigrants from mostly Latin-American countries deal with all of the paperwork necessary to be here legally. He had three volunteers there with him. He talked a little with the kids about cultural and especially legal differences he's noticed. Then we cleaned the building that they're housed in- the Whittier Center- for about an hour. We sat down to rest and chat and the volunteers sat down and started talking to the kids about homesickness (the three were from Brazil, Mexico, and one who had a Dominican mother and a Cuban father, and Mr. Bravo is from Venezuela), the differences in culture, asked the kids their backgrounds, just sat chatting, the next thing we knew a couple of hours had passed. At one point the young lady from Brazil was talking about how difficult it is to be a single mother, recently divorced from her American husband, raising her three year old daughter and trying to stay in school. Her point was that she wanted the kids to grab educational opportunities while they could, but Christian turned to her and told her that he's seen everything that his mom has done for him, and that she should never think that her child isn't noticing and appreciating everything that she's doing for her. Well, she started to bawl, and then Alondra started to bawl.......didn't Ted say something about Jorge not being happy about a charla unless everyone's in tears by the end? Well we done good. We didn't have a chance to debrief the kids about how they felt about the discussion, because Jorge and I were working with Alondra until they left, but I'd imagine it was a good experience for them, too. We're ending up spending more time than we planned EVERYWHERE we go, because every time we take a tour, the person that we're touring with takes a real personal interest in these kids and wants to sit down with them- it happened yesterday at the High School and again at the DI. And today, their ropes course instructor, Patrick, and the whole staff at the Multicultural Center spent extra time with them praising them and encouraging them. There's something about these kids that people are noticing, and that is inspiring them to want to touch their lives in some way.
SO, tomorrow, Utah History, and a trip to the American West Heritage Center!
Wednesday July 2
Thanks for all of the emails you've written expressing support for these kids. They're doing so well!
Today we talked about Utah history. We talked about the values of people in the West, and then talked about some of the things that happened in the history of the West and of Utah, and tried to figure out why Westerners might value things like space and guns and access to nature based on their history. It was really fun- and these kids are really smart. We talked about the Indians and the Catholic explorers and the Mormons. We passed books around and they looked at the pictures of Utah. Then we took pieces of cloth and made flower prints by pounding the dyes out of the flowers onto the cloth, like the pioneers did to decorate. Their cloths turned out well, and the dye also got onto the floor of my porch, so now I have all of these beautiful pansy and lavender prints on the floor of my porch. And they're still in love with Maple trees. They love the leaves. They say they can't believe they are looking at a real Maple tree. And we saw a Hollyhock in bloom and acted like it was a rare delicate species. And the poppies, too. I didn't want to ruin the romance of the two flowers to tell them what a pain it is to try to keep them from growing up as volunteers where I don't want them. I'd imagine I sounded just as ridiculous waxing rhapsodic about what they considered to be little more than a weed.
We had Chinese food for lunch. Everyone at least tried the chopsticks. A couple of them got quite good at them. Cande was trying valiantly to pick up every piece of rice with his chopsticks until we showed him how to use them as a shovel, to push the rice into his mouth. They all got fortune cookies. About forty minutes later I asked if they'd kept their fortunes to stick in their journals, and they started to pull out all of the things they've saved as souvenirs- the cocktail napkin from the airplane, the brochure from the multicultural center, Maple leaves.....
After lunch we headed out to the American West Heritage Center. But we got distracted by the Logan temple. We were driving by and the kids were twisting themselves around to get a good picture of it, so I told them that we could get out and walk around. So we did, and met up with a wedding party. The bride and groom had just come out, all dressed nicely, and the family gathered to take pictures. I went and told them that the kids were here visiting and asked if they could take a picture of them, and they were so sweet and posed for the kids. My sister Mary ended up taking the kids to the Center. She had a lot of fun. The things that the kids said that they liked the most were the horses, the Indians, the beaver trappers, and the mud hut. Mary had a hard time at the beaver demonstration because she didn't know how to say beaver. And every other word was 'beaver'. She also didn't like the wheelwright, with his very specific wheelwright vocabulary, because he kept saying things like, "This is the spredunker and it helps the guffulater to nudulate," and then ask her to translate. So she said that her translation was basically, "He says that's a thing that helps the other thing to do something." The kids told me, but now I can't remember. We thought of going to a dance tonight, but were too tired. It was really sweet, though, because three of the kids said that they thought the dance would be fun, but they were worried about missing out on the fun that their host families would be having. Cande said, in all seriousness and earnestness, that he didn't know if he should go because he and Chase (12) and DJ (14) kind of have this tradition going now of watching action movies all night until they all sack out on the couch. He didn't want to be the one to break this important ritual they have going.
Alondra is still having a hard time. She's moving in with us, and we're going to see if she can get her feet under her. Her host family has been so wonderful and so understanding. We thought maybe if we had Marissa come and stay with her at her host home she'd feel better, but when she asked Marissa, Marissa burst into tears and said that she would miss her host family so much if she had to leave them. That she's really become attached to them.
This seems to be best for everyone.
Tomorrow, making gingerbread houses, dying Easter eggs, and making Valentines. Then we'll have lunch with the Logan Rotary Club. We were going to try to go to juvenile court with Leo Bravo, but they moved everything forward to get people out for the Fourth of July weekend, and we're still going to be visiting with the Rotarians. If that doesn't work out, we'll sit in an air-conditioned room, or in a shady spot, and deliciously do nothing (it's been 100 degrees all week).
Thursday July 3rd
We had a very busy Thursday! When the kids got here this morning (dressed very nicely in their Project Amigo polo shirts) we started to talk about holidays. We made Valentines, and most of them made them for either their families in Mexico or their host families here. But they had to write them in English. Then we decorated Easter eggs. But their favorite was decorating gingerbread houses. We joked that we couldn't understand why all of the candy kept disappearing from around Javier's spot. They liked the fact that the Christmas colors were also the colors of the Mexican flag. From there we went to meet with the Logan Rotary Club. Each of the kids introduced him or herself to the club and I just explained what sacrifices they and their families had made to be where they are today. All of the boys presented themselves in English- Cristobal needed help part way through. All of the girls panicked and did it in English with me translating. When I sat back down at my table (I wouldn't sit with any of them, and wouldn't let more than two sit at each table so they'd have to mingle) one of the guys I was sitting told me that it was just really neat. The kids and Jorge made a really good impression on everyone there and they snagged a Logan Rotary flag for you.
Then we went over to the Municipal Court to sit in on a case with Leo Bravo. On our way in he ran into a lot of city officials and police officers that he knew and introduced them to the kids. We got into the courtroom and it was a case against a woman whose house the police passed and they saw juveniles drinking alcohol in the front window. So they knocked on the door and the lady let them in and they saw the kids drinking. She said she hadn't bought the alcohol, but when she saw the kids drinking, she had just sat down and had a few beers with them (she was the mom of one of the teens). So they went back and forth and she was getting very agitated, claiming that the police didn't have a right to come into her house, and them (five of them) saying that they had knocked and she'd opened the door and let them come in. And the lawyers obviously didn't like each other. So they ruled that she had to be on six month probation with no access to alcohol so she couldn't share with her teens and the judge told her she needed to stop trying to be a cool mom. Then the judge let the kids ask her a few questions (they already had a translator in the room because this woman was Hispanic.) They asked questions about how the legal system in America is different from the way it's portrayed on TV. She was very nice to them and very welcoming. Then we stepped outside and Leo kind of filled the kids in on what had happened during the trial, because most of them were lost. The defendant walked by as he was doing this and started yelling at us in Spanish and crying and saying that it was the Police's fault and left the building screaming and crying in Spanish. It was pretty entertaining! I've been to court a few times (not in the defendant's chair, thank you) and have never seen anything like that! Then we went to the library and everyone got to check out a couple of books. Then Jorge had a therapy session and they mostly talked about the court case and had us explain a few more things about the American justice system. They were surprised that the policemen they met were so nice, and that the judge was so nice, and that we were allowed to watch the court proceedings. They were also embarrassed to watch the woman and felt badly that she'd reflected badly on their culture. They also talked about their host families and how much they're enjoying them. Alondra didn't say anything, but she didn't start crying, either. I think she really enjoyed court and felt like it was an activity that played to her strengths.
Then the Nelson family, the family that Cande is staying with, invited everyone to go to the big fireworks show. They also had everyone come down beforehand for hamburgers. James went down with the kids, and the Nelsons and Pati's host family, the Cliftons, also went along. He said that the pre-show was pretty boring, an a'cappella group and an American History Trivia Quiz, but once the fireworks started, he said it was really fun to watch their faces. They sat in the USU football stadium and the fireworks were shooting over the north end zone. They were choreographed to go to music that was blasted into the stadium. James said that the boys and Marissa and Pati were really excited and vocal, but that what was really fun was to watch Alondra and Meli, because there was just awe on their faces. On the way home, to take Meli to her host family, Alondra said, "Este dia ha side padrisimo." It was a pretty padrisimo day!
Tomorrow (okay, I'm cheating, today) we're going to the parade in Hyrum, the kids are going to be interviewed by the Herald Journal, the local paper, and we're going to float down the canal.
4th of July
We encouraged everyone to wander in this morning by 10, which meant that we weren't all here until 11. I think we need to have a therapy session about being on time. It would help my mental and emotional state a lot. We also need to figure out a really nice way to tell Cande maybe not to say "Oh my God" all the time- that it packs a little more punch culturally in English than in Spanish... :) But nobody wanted to go home today and nobody cried, and everyone had a great appetite, so what am I complaining about!?
We made it to the parade in Hyrum in time to get a pretty good spot in the shade, right in front of the cemetery. A reporter and a photographer from the Herald Journal met us there. They quizzed all of us during the parade and spent quite a while afterwards asking the kids individual questions about their lives and their involvement in Project Amigo. By far everyone's favorite part of the parade was the candy. At first they were hesitant to chase after it, but not for long! There was a cute little family next to us and they just kept missing all of the candy- everyone would throw a big handful right before them and right after them, and sweet Cristobal noticed and started taking candy from his bag and throwing it at the kids' feet without them noticing. The mom would then point out the candy at their feet and smile at Cris. They loved the princesses, the marching band, and Jorge took a picture of every one of the 12 or so fire trucks that came along. Some USU football players came along passing out schedules in their shoulderpads and uniforms, and we stopped some to get a picture and one of them spoke Spanish and that was pretty fun for the kids. They also loved the stretch limousine and the old restored cars. Jorge said that they were all surprised because for them parade meant a formal, somber marching down the street, and this was chaos, with a few formal somber moments. He pointed out that it really was like a big birthday party with all of your brothers and sisters, which is what the 4th of July is.
Christian and Pati weren't with us today. Pati's family was going to a family reunion in Midway (east of SLC), and Chris' family was going camping, and both opted to go with their families instead of with us. Like Jorge said, we should feel offended, but instead we're excited that they've connected so well with their families. Especially Christian, where no one speaks English! Javier and Cristobal's family also invited them to go camping and boating, but for them it would have meant missing the Rotary Club meeting and I told them that was the one activity they couldn't miss, because we really needed to thank them for sponsoring their visas. So those two are staying with Cande's family and are enjoying it.
After the parade we drove by the Logan tabernacle and it was open, so we wandered around for a little while. Then we had lunch (really late, about 3) and then took the kids floating down the canal. Jorge didn't want to go, and at first Meli Mari and Javier said they'd rather watch, but we're doing really well with the peer pressure around here, and eventually everyone grabbed a tube except Jorge. They all screamed when they first got in the water- it is melted snow, after all, but we told them it would feel good on such a hot day. Cecily and I went last, and we could hear screaming and laughing all the way up the canal from us- because they were cold and because they'd run into each other or gotten stuck in the bushes or because we'd hit the rapids at the end..... James followed along the bank and waded in whenever anyone got really stuck. When we finally got out (I think it takes about 40 minutes to float the length) they were all shivering and teeth chattering. We went to the park and lay down in the sun. My friend Laura just happened to be having her family reunion right there and they were about to start a game of kick ball, so Audrey and Elliot and Javier and Cande and Jorge and Alondra and I joined with them. James and Meli and Mari and Cecily went to the playground, and Cristobal just sat on the tube in the sun, because he said he needed to be alone for a while. Kickball was so fun, we had everyone from grandpas to a little girl about 3 playing. Everyone learned soon that they needed to back up when Cande Alondra Javier and Jorge got up. Cande even got a home run once. And he popped the first ball we were using. So after Jorge had been up a few times and everyone knew how hard he could kick, he got up and bunted it about three feet. We had so much fun. Their family was so sweet to the kids, high-fiving and teasing each other even though they barely understood each other.
So then I ran up to the house to see if there were any phone messages from any families, and Audrey said she wanted to go down the canal again. At first it was only her and Elliot, because everyone else swore after the first time they'd never do that again, but pretty soon they had convinced them all to go down again. And James says that Cande and Cristobal even went down a third time, but just down the rapids. These kids are a lot braver than I'd thought, and than I think they'd thought.
We just let everyone hang around our house for a while afterwards and do nothing. It was nice to have a day of doing nothing when we've been running so much the last week. We missed Christian and Pati a lot, but we're excited they're bonding with their families. And I think it was good for Alondra, because she was able to spend some time with Meli and Mari. I think she and Pati have been in kind of a competition to see who's going to be alpha female. And she did really well at kickball too. I think it was a good day for Alondra.
Tomorrow, the kids are hiking with Jeff Larsen, who was just released as Rotary Club president, and then at night we're going to the Cruise-in- a parade of classic cars.Sunday 6th
Sunday July 6
Yesterday I didn't end up doing much with the students, so I can only tell you second-hand what they did.
Jeff Larsen, who is the outgoing Logan Rotary president, took the kids up to White Pine Lake with him. Christian and Pati were still on vacation with their host families. He brought along a son-in-law and a neighbor who'd been a missionary in Mexico. Elliot and Audrey went, but James and I stayed here, because if we did, then they could fit in the van that we bought. I think they are starting to wonder about our sanity- why on earth would we voluntarily spend two to four hours on a beautiful weekend taking a really strenuous hike, punctuated only by a dip in a lake full of freshly melted snow? They were all good sports and Cande and Cris even hopped into the lake with them.
We let them rest for a while and then James took them to A&W for hamburgers. The owner had offered to feed them for free. After hamburgers, they staked out a spot for the Cruise-In. They got to see fancy and classic cars ride up and down main street. They said that their favorites were the pimped out truck with the doors that opened up, and an old silver convertible. Sorry, I don't know the makes or models or years- and to tell you the truth, even if I'd been there I couldn't have told you. But I could at least have said something like "that looked like it had been built before/after I was born."
We had some hikers stranded on the hill behind us and everyone was out in their yards watching the helicopter go back and forth trying to catch them. Meli's host parents got out their telescope for a better look, and when the sun set, they let her look at the moon through it. She was really excited about it.
This morning we got together early. We had Christian with us again, but not Pati. Christian went on an overnight horse ride with his family. His host mom, Cammy, said that it was crazy. The saddles fell off a couple of times, one horse hurt its foot, they were attacked by mosquitoes, and one of their sons was throwing up all night........ That sounds exactly like a typical overnight camp to me. She said that Christian was a good sport- had never ridden a horse before, but ended up doing better than the rest of them. He said this was the first time he'd slept out in a tent. They're having so much fun with him.
We drove a couple of hours south to Salt Lake City. We arrived a little early for the services at Calvary Baptist Church. It's the principle African-American church in Utah. The Deaconess, Sister Cox, showed us around the church beforehand. Everyone was so welcoming and so sweet to them. The moment the drummer started, though, all jaws dropped. They had a little mood music during the prayers, and of course people stood and danced during the songs. During one of the songs, a woman in front of us stood and started to cry and shake and wave her hands in the air. The kids just did NOT know what to think! They welcomed all visitors and I stood and told them that this was a group of students from Mexico who came from humble backgrounds, but who had fought their way to High School, and that this trip was to show them we believed in them and in their education. Everyone clapped and cheered for them, and there were shouts of "Amen" and "Viva Mexico". It was so darn fun. The drum set may have taken some getting used to, but the joy was infectious from the beginning.
Then we ate a picnic lunch at Liberty Park right next to a family with a father who basically had a shirt made of tattoos, and two sons who made out with their girlfriends while listening to rowdy Southern Rock. Oh, the diversity of Utah.
We went to the 3 o'clock Spanish Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeline. We wanted to go to the evening mass in Logan, but they changed it to morning. There were some host families that really wanted to go to Mass with the kids. It was fun for them to be in the position of knowing what was going on, and for us not to know. They told us when to sit, when to stand, pointed out which hymn we were singing on the program. When I asked them afterwards whether it made them feel like home, Jorge said yes- that he looked around and saw people who looked like him, and heard them making announcements in Spanish, and then a couple of harried families ran in late, and he said, "Yes, this is the Mexico I know....." After three hours of church, we all felt very spiritual.
Tomorrow we're talking about winter sports and going ice skating and ice blocking. Pati should be back with us, although we wonder whether she's ever going to come back and if we haven't created a little globetrotter. Christian might go boating with his family tomorrow evening, they're trying to decide if his host dad Jeff can get off in time. And Cris and Javier are going up to a lake in Idaho with their host family's ward's young men.
Monday 7th
Yesterday morning we started by talking about the Olympic motto- swifter, higher, stronger- and about how the way that athletes train for something like the Olympics can teach us some things about how to accomplish our own goals. We had everyone back together again- Pati was back from her family reunion. She said she thought it was weird that American families only like to spend two or three hours together here and there, but then suddenly they spend four days together non-stop. But she had fun, especially with the littler kids, and says she taught a lot of Spanish.
We then went ice skating! While we were waiting for them to clean off the ice (with the Zamboni- Kathleen!) I tried to explain how to ice skate- I do it really poorly, but know in principle how it should be done. So they all stepped out on the ice and panicked. They realized really quickly that the people that do it well make it look much easier than it is. Jorge decided to just stay on the side and take pictures. I was afraid everyone was going to quit after just one minute. Elliot and Audrey and Mitch (Christian's host little brother) knew how to skate and took off. Then Christian stepped on the ice, took three steps, fell, laughed, got right up, and took off, too! In about two minutes he was doing better than I do. So then you could see by the look on Cande's face that he wasn't going to let it be said that Christian was the only one who learned how to skate. So he took off from the wall, too. And Cristobal did really well, too. Pati was also a good sport, venturing away from the wall. The other four mostly clung to the wall. Audrey and I each took them for a skate around the rink, but they were pretty terrified, and happy when I let them go back to the wall. They all put forth a really good effort, though. And by the end, Christian and Cande and Cristobal were even trying to figure out how to turn and go in circles. They fell down plenty- and so did Elliot and Mitch and Audrey, but I think they had a lot of fun. There were quite a few other people skating around easily, one girl even doing jumps and spinning on one leg, and I think they had a new appreciation for what they saw.
Then we jumped in the van and went to Kami's (Meli's host mom's) house. They had been doing a unit in their homeschool group on the Revolutionary War. She and the kids were dressed up in Revolutionary War clothes (she was just baking) and had fixed Clam Chowder and Sourdough bread for everyone. They really liked the Clam Chowder, which was a surprise for me, because I was afraid it was a very particularly New England taste.
Then we went to Gibbons Park and went ice-blocking. I bought a big block of ice and brought a towel for each person. Audrey and Elliot showed them how to fold the towel on top of the block of ice and then send yourself sliding down the hill. They were pretty skeptical. A couple of people in the group tried it and fell off after about a foot. Then Christian took off on his stomach and made it all the way down the hill and well into the field on the bottom. That gave everyone some animo and pretty soon they were all sliding down the hill. Even Jorge participated. The girls were having races to see who could get to the bottom of the hill first, and then who could get the furthest without falling off. The boys were trying going down using different body parts- backs, rear ends, stomachs, knees, feet.... Cande and Christian tried linking arms and going down, Christian tried using two blocks of ice like skis.... They had fun and finished bumped and bruised and grass-stained. We had to bandage up Christian's and Audrey's feet because they had grassburns- that's how smokin' fast they were going!
After Gibbons Park we went to Aggie Ice Cream and everyone chose a flavor. Alondra at first said she just wanted vanilla. Sigh. Alondra, Alondra, how can you pass up all of those colors and all of those names that end up being four words long like "Aggie Blue Bull Tracks"? Some people did stay with safe flavors like strawberry, but we had some raspberry cheesecake, pralines and pecans (neither or which I knew how to say in Spanish- I ended up telling them it was a nut from the South that was covered with burned sugar and made into a candy), chocolate and toffee, Aggie Blue Mint, and some even claimed to think that the Bubble Gum ice cream that Christian's little brothers Kaden and Mitch got was okay.
After ice cream we returned to my house. Pati said that she was going to fix dinner at her house for everyone, but she and her family had misunderstood each other, and so they decided to have dinner at my house instead. But I had things at Audrey's school I needed to take care of, and I think they felt badly that I couldn't host them, but I really kind of need those evening hours to do things for my kids. It took them a while to figure out what they were doing, and I ended up not being able to take care of Audrey's business anyway, but I think, although I know these guys would love to be together 24/7, that I'm going to have to be a little more firm about our family needing some time. I feel bad.
Javier and Cristobal went off with their host dad and brother to a Young Men's activity at Glendale Reservoir. They're going to boat and jetski and camp. I hope they have fun- they were feeling pretty apprehensive about it, but Christian and Pati encouraged them to go and said that they'd been glad they'd taken off with their families.
So, minus those two, tomorrow I'm going to give everyone a map of Logan and the bus schedule (the buses here are free) and have them wander around riding the buses by themselves for a couple of hours without me. We've been invited to a Mexican restaurant, Rancheritos, for lunch, and then we'll meet up with the people of the Multicultural Center again to do some more service. Pati's hoping to do her dinner tomorrow night, too, if she and her host mom can go shopping.
Tuesday 8th
When the kids got here, I handed out maps of Logan along with the bus routes. Elliot agreed to go with them, but James and I stayed here. They were just supposed to ride the bus for 2 1/2 hours to get to know the town and to feel like they could do it. I think they had fun- they found Walmart and a few of them needed to stop there for things.
Instead of going to lunch at the Indian restaurant, we were invited to Rancherito's for Mexican food. I picked up the kids at the bus stop and we met Evelyn from the Multicultural Center there. There was a cook who was really trying to flirt with the girls. He took a picture of them with his cell phone. Three of the kids ordered chimichangas, because they'd never heard of them. The servings were enormous. Elliot got two tortillas with his meal that were bigger than his plate. You almost could have made a shirt for him out of them. Leo Bravo showed up a few minutes after we started eating. We met a huge guy who was a friend of Leo's. He'd just graduated from Utah State with a Masters in Business. He told the kids to enjoy High School and to be good to their moms- that that is what he'd do over again at their ages. He was so hard to understand- even the kids said that he was hard- I have such a hard time with the Caribbean accent. Plus, it was just so strange to see a guy who looked just like Shaquille O'Neal chatting with us in Spanish. Afterwards, Leo gave T-shirts to everyone with the Multicultural Center logo on them and wanted to take a picture of everyone in them.
The plans that they'd had for our service project didn't work out, so everyone went back to my house and wrote in their diaries and wrote emails. Elliot reminded me at about 3:30 that he had Scouts, and when I asked him what they were doing, he said that they were going to the Fire Station where the Scout leader's son, who was a missionary in Ecuador, was going to give them a tour. So we asked Jorge if he wanted to go- because he'd told me that the only wish that his sons had had was that, if he had a chance, that he go and see a fire station here. So Jorge went with them and said that Straton, the volunteer fireman/son/Spanish-speaker even had him put on the coat and helmet and get into the cab of the fire truck so that he could take a picture of him for his sons.
Mari's family was having a farewell dinner for her, Jorge was with the Scouts, and Elliot and I took Christian with us to meet his host family at his soccer practice. Javier and Cristobal were on the lake with their family. The rest of them went to Pati's house and made dinner for themselves and for Pati's host family, since this was the last night Pati would spend with them. She's going to stay with a different family after Centerville, because the family she's with now is going to a conference in Toronto.
Javier and Cristobal got home late tonight. They said they had fun at the lake. Their favorite parts were the food- they said that everything tasted really good even thought they'd burned almost everything they fixed up there- again, sounds like a typical camping trip to me..... They didn't dare try the jetskis, or waterskiing, but they did go out in the paddle boat and loved that. They also had a lot of fun because one of Dave's neighbors drove them back to my house and they got lost several times trying to find our house. They apparently were all laughing hysterically in the truck.
Cande's host mom called me just after 10. She said that he's having a hard night- is really nervous about leaving for another place tomorrow. She's going to have him call his family tomorrow, and we told him that we won't force him to go, but that we really think he'll be glad he did. We'll sit down with him when we see him tomorrow, too, and see what the nerves might be about. She was really concerned about him, and said that she felt so bad for him because they've just gotten so attached to him.
Everyone else seems to be doing well- their families are all loving them- they've been wonderfully behaved and gracious and have been a pleasure to host. We're happy that Bruce is going to get to experience them, too, but we'll sure miss them!
Hello all!
I just wanted to send you an update on the kids. I know Jorge already had, but I just wanted to connect with you, too. Last night we had a little party and they all met their host families and spent the evening with them. They spent this morning talking to Jorge about their first night with their families. We had peanut butter and either grape jelly or honey sandwiches for lunch. Then we went to Logan High and the Geography teacher, my neighbor Kathleen, gave them a really great tour. The unexpected high-point of the tour was when we walked through the Yearbook office on the way to the Spanish teacher's room. They had a big board with everyone's assignment for the year- who was to make sure Boy's Tennis had a page, and who was going to take Medieval Club. The becarios, of course, didn't have any idea what she was talking about, so we pulled out the yearbooks- they had about 40 extra of the past 6 years, just sitting around. The kids and Jorge were fascinated. From everything to the "Senior Personalities" (how to explain why we vote for "best dressed" and "least mature".....?) to the Glamor Shots of each of the cheerleaders (hey- not even my school treated the cheerleaders like each one was a beauty queen....). We had a hard time tearing them away, and finally I promised to get out all of my yearbooks, and Kathleen gave them one of the extras- hoping that no one would notice is was missing. That'll make a fun 'recuerdo'. Outside taking pictures, they got a little distracted when I put a maple seed "rhinoceros horn" on Cecily, and pretty soon everyone, including Jorge, needed one. They took lots of pictures of each other. Then we went and toured the DI. They had a kid there that spoke Spanish, and explained to them about the job training and the humanitarian work (they told us that they send 37 tons of clothes to needy communities every week!). The manager of the store saw us wandering around and was really impressed with the kids- he introduced himself and then gave them each 6 DI dollars and they went shopping.
Tomorrow we'll do one of those ropes courses that'll help us to bond.... :) and then we're going to the Multicultural Center to meet Leo Bravo, who'll have a Service Project ready for them.
I'll try to keep you updated as often as I have time!
Tuesday July 1
Hello all!
Our morning began late. We were supposed to be at the USU ropes course at nine, but got there at about nine thirty, and even then Cristobal and Javier had to meet us there. We're going to try to work on punctuality. I need to remember a good fifteen minutes before we leave to say, "Let's get in the van!" because they all decide to use the bathroom and fill their water bottles and look for who-knows-what at that moment. It's like having eight of my kids. The ropes course was really neat. They had to do team-building and trust exercises on ropes and wires, some a foot off the ground, one about three stories up. The guy who ran the camp was impressed with how much more quickly and well they communicated on the last activity versus the first activity. And everyone except Alondra (and Jorge, and me) did the free fall- the 3-story jump with someone boulaying you. Javier was up last and was too scared to jump. We all tried to cheer him on, and pretty soon the other group that was there, a bunch of student-body officers from High Schools in Utah up there for the day, started cheering him on, too. He did eventually jump, and said he was glad he had. Pati and Cristobal were like monkeys climbing up those obstacle courses- we kept telling them it wasn't fair- them living so close to the palm trees. Javier was terrified at first, but overcame it. And even Mari and Meli just jumped right up there on those tightropes. Alondra is having a really hard time. She was weepy for most of the day, didn't want to participate in most of the activities. She's staying the night at our house and we've asked her family if she can invite one of the other girls to spend a couple of nights with her to see if that helps her. She says she just feels so lonely. We've tried to explain that that's what homesickness sometimes feels like, but she's sure it's just her. We'll see if we can steady her tonight and send her back to her great host family.
After the ropes course we had pizza and rootbeer- about three of them liked the rootbeer. Nobody liked the rootbeer floats (why ruin a good scoop of ice cream by putting it into cough syrup!?!). Then we went to the Multicultural Center and met Leo Bravo. He started the center as a way to help immigrants from mostly Latin-American countries deal with all of the paperwork necessary to be here legally. He had three volunteers there with him. He talked a little with the kids about cultural and especially legal differences he's noticed. Then we cleaned the building that they're housed in- the Whittier Center- for about an hour. We sat down to rest and chat and the volunteers sat down and started talking to the kids about homesickness (the three were from Brazil, Mexico, and one who had a Dominican mother and a Cuban father, and Mr. Bravo is from Venezuela), the differences in culture, asked the kids their backgrounds, just sat chatting, the next thing we knew a couple of hours had passed. At one point the young lady from Brazil was talking about how difficult it is to be a single mother, recently divorced from her American husband, raising her three year old daughter and trying to stay in school. Her point was that she wanted the kids to grab educational opportunities while they could, but Christian turned to her and told her that he's seen everything that his mom has done for him, and that she should never think that her child isn't noticing and appreciating everything that she's doing for her. Well, she started to bawl, and then Alondra started to bawl.......didn't Ted say something about Jorge not being happy about a charla unless everyone's in tears by the end? Well we done good. We didn't have a chance to debrief the kids about how they felt about the discussion, because Jorge and I were working with Alondra until they left, but I'd imagine it was a good experience for them, too. We're ending up spending more time than we planned EVERYWHERE we go, because every time we take a tour, the person that we're touring with takes a real personal interest in these kids and wants to sit down with them- it happened yesterday at the High School and again at the DI. And today, their ropes course instructor, Patrick, and the whole staff at the Multicultural Center spent extra time with them praising them and encouraging them. There's something about these kids that people are noticing, and that is inspiring them to want to touch their lives in some way.
SO, tomorrow, Utah History, and a trip to the American West Heritage Center!
Wednesday July 2
Thanks for all of the emails you've written expressing support for these kids. They're doing so well!
Today we talked about Utah history. We talked about the values of people in the West, and then talked about some of the things that happened in the history of the West and of Utah, and tried to figure out why Westerners might value things like space and guns and access to nature based on their history. It was really fun- and these kids are really smart. We talked about the Indians and the Catholic explorers and the Mormons. We passed books around and they looked at the pictures of Utah. Then we took pieces of cloth and made flower prints by pounding the dyes out of the flowers onto the cloth, like the pioneers did to decorate. Their cloths turned out well, and the dye also got onto the floor of my porch, so now I have all of these beautiful pansy and lavender prints on the floor of my porch. And they're still in love with Maple trees. They love the leaves. They say they can't believe they are looking at a real Maple tree. And we saw a Hollyhock in bloom and acted like it was a rare delicate species. And the poppies, too. I didn't want to ruin the romance of the two flowers to tell them what a pain it is to try to keep them from growing up as volunteers where I don't want them. I'd imagine I sounded just as ridiculous waxing rhapsodic about what they considered to be little more than a weed.
We had Chinese food for lunch. Everyone at least tried the chopsticks. A couple of them got quite good at them. Cande was trying valiantly to pick up every piece of rice with his chopsticks until we showed him how to use them as a shovel, to push the rice into his mouth. They all got fortune cookies. About forty minutes later I asked if they'd kept their fortunes to stick in their journals, and they started to pull out all of the things they've saved as souvenirs- the cocktail napkin from the airplane, the brochure from the multicultural center, Maple leaves.....
After lunch we headed out to the American West Heritage Center. But we got distracted by the Logan temple. We were driving by and the kids were twisting themselves around to get a good picture of it, so I told them that we could get out and walk around. So we did, and met up with a wedding party. The bride and groom had just come out, all dressed nicely, and the family gathered to take pictures. I went and told them that the kids were here visiting and asked if they could take a picture of them, and they were so sweet and posed for the kids. My sister Mary ended up taking the kids to the Center. She had a lot of fun. The things that the kids said that they liked the most were the horses, the Indians, the beaver trappers, and the mud hut. Mary had a hard time at the beaver demonstration because she didn't know how to say beaver. And every other word was 'beaver'. She also didn't like the wheelwright, with his very specific wheelwright vocabulary, because he kept saying things like, "This is the spredunker and it helps the guffulater to nudulate," and then ask her to translate. So she said that her translation was basically, "He says that's a thing that helps the other thing to do something." The kids told me, but now I can't remember. We thought of going to a dance tonight, but were too tired. It was really sweet, though, because three of the kids said that they thought the dance would be fun, but they were worried about missing out on the fun that their host families would be having. Cande said, in all seriousness and earnestness, that he didn't know if he should go because he and Chase (12) and DJ (14) kind of have this tradition going now of watching action movies all night until they all sack out on the couch. He didn't want to be the one to break this important ritual they have going.
Alondra is still having a hard time. She's moving in with us, and we're going to see if she can get her feet under her. Her host family has been so wonderful and so understanding. We thought maybe if we had Marissa come and stay with her at her host home she'd feel better, but when she asked Marissa, Marissa burst into tears and said that she would miss her host family so much if she had to leave them. That she's really become attached to them.
This seems to be best for everyone.
Tomorrow, making gingerbread houses, dying Easter eggs, and making Valentines. Then we'll have lunch with the Logan Rotary Club. We were going to try to go to juvenile court with Leo Bravo, but they moved everything forward to get people out for the Fourth of July weekend, and we're still going to be visiting with the Rotarians. If that doesn't work out, we'll sit in an air-conditioned room, or in a shady spot, and deliciously do nothing (it's been 100 degrees all week).
Thursday July 3rd
We had a very busy Thursday! When the kids got here this morning (dressed very nicely in their Project Amigo polo shirts) we started to talk about holidays. We made Valentines, and most of them made them for either their families in Mexico or their host families here. But they had to write them in English. Then we decorated Easter eggs. But their favorite was decorating gingerbread houses. We joked that we couldn't understand why all of the candy kept disappearing from around Javier's spot. They liked the fact that the Christmas colors were also the colors of the Mexican flag. From there we went to meet with the Logan Rotary Club. Each of the kids introduced him or herself to the club and I just explained what sacrifices they and their families had made to be where they are today. All of the boys presented themselves in English- Cristobal needed help part way through. All of the girls panicked and did it in English with me translating. When I sat back down at my table (I wouldn't sit with any of them, and wouldn't let more than two sit at each table so they'd have to mingle) one of the guys I was sitting told me that it was just really neat. The kids and Jorge made a really good impression on everyone there and they snagged a Logan Rotary flag for you.
Then we went over to the Municipal Court to sit in on a case with Leo Bravo. On our way in he ran into a lot of city officials and police officers that he knew and introduced them to the kids. We got into the courtroom and it was a case against a woman whose house the police passed and they saw juveniles drinking alcohol in the front window. So they knocked on the door and the lady let them in and they saw the kids drinking. She said she hadn't bought the alcohol, but when she saw the kids drinking, she had just sat down and had a few beers with them (she was the mom of one of the teens). So they went back and forth and she was getting very agitated, claiming that the police didn't have a right to come into her house, and them (five of them) saying that they had knocked and she'd opened the door and let them come in. And the lawyers obviously didn't like each other. So they ruled that she had to be on six month probation with no access to alcohol so she couldn't share with her teens and the judge told her she needed to stop trying to be a cool mom. Then the judge let the kids ask her a few questions (they already had a translator in the room because this woman was Hispanic.) They asked questions about how the legal system in America is different from the way it's portrayed on TV. She was very nice to them and very welcoming. Then we stepped outside and Leo kind of filled the kids in on what had happened during the trial, because most of them were lost. The defendant walked by as he was doing this and started yelling at us in Spanish and crying and saying that it was the Police's fault and left the building screaming and crying in Spanish. It was pretty entertaining! I've been to court a few times (not in the defendant's chair, thank you) and have never seen anything like that! Then we went to the library and everyone got to check out a couple of books. Then Jorge had a therapy session and they mostly talked about the court case and had us explain a few more things about the American justice system. They were surprised that the policemen they met were so nice, and that the judge was so nice, and that we were allowed to watch the court proceedings. They were also embarrassed to watch the woman and felt badly that she'd reflected badly on their culture. They also talked about their host families and how much they're enjoying them. Alondra didn't say anything, but she didn't start crying, either. I think she really enjoyed court and felt like it was an activity that played to her strengths.
Then the Nelson family, the family that Cande is staying with, invited everyone to go to the big fireworks show. They also had everyone come down beforehand for hamburgers. James went down with the kids, and the Nelsons and Pati's host family, the Cliftons, also went along. He said that the pre-show was pretty boring, an a'cappella group and an American History Trivia Quiz, but once the fireworks started, he said it was really fun to watch their faces. They sat in the USU football stadium and the fireworks were shooting over the north end zone. They were choreographed to go to music that was blasted into the stadium. James said that the boys and Marissa and Pati were really excited and vocal, but that what was really fun was to watch Alondra and Meli, because there was just awe on their faces. On the way home, to take Meli to her host family, Alondra said, "Este dia ha side padrisimo." It was a pretty padrisimo day!
Tomorrow (okay, I'm cheating, today) we're going to the parade in Hyrum, the kids are going to be interviewed by the Herald Journal, the local paper, and we're going to float down the canal.
4th of July
We encouraged everyone to wander in this morning by 10, which meant that we weren't all here until 11. I think we need to have a therapy session about being on time. It would help my mental and emotional state a lot. We also need to figure out a really nice way to tell Cande maybe not to say "Oh my God" all the time- that it packs a little more punch culturally in English than in Spanish... :) But nobody wanted to go home today and nobody cried, and everyone had a great appetite, so what am I complaining about!?
We made it to the parade in Hyrum in time to get a pretty good spot in the shade, right in front of the cemetery. A reporter and a photographer from the Herald Journal met us there. They quizzed all of us during the parade and spent quite a while afterwards asking the kids individual questions about their lives and their involvement in Project Amigo. By far everyone's favorite part of the parade was the candy. At first they were hesitant to chase after it, but not for long! There was a cute little family next to us and they just kept missing all of the candy- everyone would throw a big handful right before them and right after them, and sweet Cristobal noticed and started taking candy from his bag and throwing it at the kids' feet without them noticing. The mom would then point out the candy at their feet and smile at Cris. They loved the princesses, the marching band, and Jorge took a picture of every one of the 12 or so fire trucks that came along. Some USU football players came along passing out schedules in their shoulderpads and uniforms, and we stopped some to get a picture and one of them spoke Spanish and that was pretty fun for the kids. They also loved the stretch limousine and the old restored cars. Jorge said that they were all surprised because for them parade meant a formal, somber marching down the street, and this was chaos, with a few formal somber moments. He pointed out that it really was like a big birthday party with all of your brothers and sisters, which is what the 4th of July is.
Christian and Pati weren't with us today. Pati's family was going to a family reunion in Midway (east of SLC), and Chris' family was going camping, and both opted to go with their families instead of with us. Like Jorge said, we should feel offended, but instead we're excited that they've connected so well with their families. Especially Christian, where no one speaks English! Javier and Cristobal's family also invited them to go camping and boating, but for them it would have meant missing the Rotary Club meeting and I told them that was the one activity they couldn't miss, because we really needed to thank them for sponsoring their visas. So those two are staying with Cande's family and are enjoying it.
After the parade we drove by the Logan tabernacle and it was open, so we wandered around for a little while. Then we had lunch (really late, about 3) and then took the kids floating down the canal. Jorge didn't want to go, and at first Meli Mari and Javier said they'd rather watch, but we're doing really well with the peer pressure around here, and eventually everyone grabbed a tube except Jorge. They all screamed when they first got in the water- it is melted snow, after all, but we told them it would feel good on such a hot day. Cecily and I went last, and we could hear screaming and laughing all the way up the canal from us- because they were cold and because they'd run into each other or gotten stuck in the bushes or because we'd hit the rapids at the end..... James followed along the bank and waded in whenever anyone got really stuck. When we finally got out (I think it takes about 40 minutes to float the length) they were all shivering and teeth chattering. We went to the park and lay down in the sun. My friend Laura just happened to be having her family reunion right there and they were about to start a game of kick ball, so Audrey and Elliot and Javier and Cande and Jorge and Alondra and I joined with them. James and Meli and Mari and Cecily went to the playground, and Cristobal just sat on the tube in the sun, because he said he needed to be alone for a while. Kickball was so fun, we had everyone from grandpas to a little girl about 3 playing. Everyone learned soon that they needed to back up when Cande Alondra Javier and Jorge got up. Cande even got a home run once. And he popped the first ball we were using. So after Jorge had been up a few times and everyone knew how hard he could kick, he got up and bunted it about three feet. We had so much fun. Their family was so sweet to the kids, high-fiving and teasing each other even though they barely understood each other.
So then I ran up to the house to see if there were any phone messages from any families, and Audrey said she wanted to go down the canal again. At first it was only her and Elliot, because everyone else swore after the first time they'd never do that again, but pretty soon they had convinced them all to go down again. And James says that Cande and Cristobal even went down a third time, but just down the rapids. These kids are a lot braver than I'd thought, and than I think they'd thought.
We just let everyone hang around our house for a while afterwards and do nothing. It was nice to have a day of doing nothing when we've been running so much the last week. We missed Christian and Pati a lot, but we're excited they're bonding with their families. And I think it was good for Alondra, because she was able to spend some time with Meli and Mari. I think she and Pati have been in kind of a competition to see who's going to be alpha female. And she did really well at kickball too. I think it was a good day for Alondra.
Tomorrow, the kids are hiking with Jeff Larsen, who was just released as Rotary Club president, and then at night we're going to the Cruise-in- a parade of classic cars.Sunday 6th
Sunday July 6
Yesterday I didn't end up doing much with the students, so I can only tell you second-hand what they did.
Jeff Larsen, who is the outgoing Logan Rotary president, took the kids up to White Pine Lake with him. Christian and Pati were still on vacation with their host families. He brought along a son-in-law and a neighbor who'd been a missionary in Mexico. Elliot and Audrey went, but James and I stayed here, because if we did, then they could fit in the van that we bought. I think they are starting to wonder about our sanity- why on earth would we voluntarily spend two to four hours on a beautiful weekend taking a really strenuous hike, punctuated only by a dip in a lake full of freshly melted snow? They were all good sports and Cande and Cris even hopped into the lake with them.
We let them rest for a while and then James took them to A&W for hamburgers. The owner had offered to feed them for free. After hamburgers, they staked out a spot for the Cruise-In. They got to see fancy and classic cars ride up and down main street. They said that their favorites were the pimped out truck with the doors that opened up, and an old silver convertible. Sorry, I don't know the makes or models or years- and to tell you the truth, even if I'd been there I couldn't have told you. But I could at least have said something like "that looked like it had been built before/after I was born."
We had some hikers stranded on the hill behind us and everyone was out in their yards watching the helicopter go back and forth trying to catch them. Meli's host parents got out their telescope for a better look, and when the sun set, they let her look at the moon through it. She was really excited about it.
This morning we got together early. We had Christian with us again, but not Pati. Christian went on an overnight horse ride with his family. His host mom, Cammy, said that it was crazy. The saddles fell off a couple of times, one horse hurt its foot, they were attacked by mosquitoes, and one of their sons was throwing up all night........ That sounds exactly like a typical overnight camp to me. She said that Christian was a good sport- had never ridden a horse before, but ended up doing better than the rest of them. He said this was the first time he'd slept out in a tent. They're having so much fun with him.
We drove a couple of hours south to Salt Lake City. We arrived a little early for the services at Calvary Baptist Church. It's the principle African-American church in Utah. The Deaconess, Sister Cox, showed us around the church beforehand. Everyone was so welcoming and so sweet to them. The moment the drummer started, though, all jaws dropped. They had a little mood music during the prayers, and of course people stood and danced during the songs. During one of the songs, a woman in front of us stood and started to cry and shake and wave her hands in the air. The kids just did NOT know what to think! They welcomed all visitors and I stood and told them that this was a group of students from Mexico who came from humble backgrounds, but who had fought their way to High School, and that this trip was to show them we believed in them and in their education. Everyone clapped and cheered for them, and there were shouts of "Amen" and "Viva Mexico". It was so darn fun. The drum set may have taken some getting used to, but the joy was infectious from the beginning.
Then we ate a picnic lunch at Liberty Park right next to a family with a father who basically had a shirt made of tattoos, and two sons who made out with their girlfriends while listening to rowdy Southern Rock. Oh, the diversity of Utah.
We went to the 3 o'clock Spanish Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeline. We wanted to go to the evening mass in Logan, but they changed it to morning. There were some host families that really wanted to go to Mass with the kids. It was fun for them to be in the position of knowing what was going on, and for us not to know. They told us when to sit, when to stand, pointed out which hymn we were singing on the program. When I asked them afterwards whether it made them feel like home, Jorge said yes- that he looked around and saw people who looked like him, and heard them making announcements in Spanish, and then a couple of harried families ran in late, and he said, "Yes, this is the Mexico I know....." After three hours of church, we all felt very spiritual.
Tomorrow we're talking about winter sports and going ice skating and ice blocking. Pati should be back with us, although we wonder whether she's ever going to come back and if we haven't created a little globetrotter. Christian might go boating with his family tomorrow evening, they're trying to decide if his host dad Jeff can get off in time. And Cris and Javier are going up to a lake in Idaho with their host family's ward's young men.
Monday 7th
Yesterday morning we started by talking about the Olympic motto- swifter, higher, stronger- and about how the way that athletes train for something like the Olympics can teach us some things about how to accomplish our own goals. We had everyone back together again- Pati was back from her family reunion. She said she thought it was weird that American families only like to spend two or three hours together here and there, but then suddenly they spend four days together non-stop. But she had fun, especially with the littler kids, and says she taught a lot of Spanish.
We then went ice skating! While we were waiting for them to clean off the ice (with the Zamboni- Kathleen!) I tried to explain how to ice skate- I do it really poorly, but know in principle how it should be done. So they all stepped out on the ice and panicked. They realized really quickly that the people that do it well make it look much easier than it is. Jorge decided to just stay on the side and take pictures. I was afraid everyone was going to quit after just one minute. Elliot and Audrey and Mitch (Christian's host little brother) knew how to skate and took off. Then Christian stepped on the ice, took three steps, fell, laughed, got right up, and took off, too! In about two minutes he was doing better than I do. So then you could see by the look on Cande's face that he wasn't going to let it be said that Christian was the only one who learned how to skate. So he took off from the wall, too. And Cristobal did really well, too. Pati was also a good sport, venturing away from the wall. The other four mostly clung to the wall. Audrey and I each took them for a skate around the rink, but they were pretty terrified, and happy when I let them go back to the wall. They all put forth a really good effort, though. And by the end, Christian and Cande and Cristobal were even trying to figure out how to turn and go in circles. They fell down plenty- and so did Elliot and Mitch and Audrey, but I think they had a lot of fun. There were quite a few other people skating around easily, one girl even doing jumps and spinning on one leg, and I think they had a new appreciation for what they saw.
Then we jumped in the van and went to Kami's (Meli's host mom's) house. They had been doing a unit in their homeschool group on the Revolutionary War. She and the kids were dressed up in Revolutionary War clothes (she was just baking) and had fixed Clam Chowder and Sourdough bread for everyone. They really liked the Clam Chowder, which was a surprise for me, because I was afraid it was a very particularly New England taste.
Then we went to Gibbons Park and went ice-blocking. I bought a big block of ice and brought a towel for each person. Audrey and Elliot showed them how to fold the towel on top of the block of ice and then send yourself sliding down the hill. They were pretty skeptical. A couple of people in the group tried it and fell off after about a foot. Then Christian took off on his stomach and made it all the way down the hill and well into the field on the bottom. That gave everyone some animo and pretty soon they were all sliding down the hill. Even Jorge participated. The girls were having races to see who could get to the bottom of the hill first, and then who could get the furthest without falling off. The boys were trying going down using different body parts- backs, rear ends, stomachs, knees, feet.... Cande and Christian tried linking arms and going down, Christian tried using two blocks of ice like skis.... They had fun and finished bumped and bruised and grass-stained. We had to bandage up Christian's and Audrey's feet because they had grassburns- that's how smokin' fast they were going!
After Gibbons Park we went to Aggie Ice Cream and everyone chose a flavor. Alondra at first said she just wanted vanilla. Sigh. Alondra, Alondra, how can you pass up all of those colors and all of those names that end up being four words long like "Aggie Blue Bull Tracks"? Some people did stay with safe flavors like strawberry, but we had some raspberry cheesecake, pralines and pecans (neither or which I knew how to say in Spanish- I ended up telling them it was a nut from the South that was covered with burned sugar and made into a candy), chocolate and toffee, Aggie Blue Mint, and some even claimed to think that the Bubble Gum ice cream that Christian's little brothers Kaden and Mitch got was okay.
After ice cream we returned to my house. Pati said that she was going to fix dinner at her house for everyone, but she and her family had misunderstood each other, and so they decided to have dinner at my house instead. But I had things at Audrey's school I needed to take care of, and I think they felt badly that I couldn't host them, but I really kind of need those evening hours to do things for my kids. It took them a while to figure out what they were doing, and I ended up not being able to take care of Audrey's business anyway, but I think, although I know these guys would love to be together 24/7, that I'm going to have to be a little more firm about our family needing some time. I feel bad.
Javier and Cristobal went off with their host dad and brother to a Young Men's activity at Glendale Reservoir. They're going to boat and jetski and camp. I hope they have fun- they were feeling pretty apprehensive about it, but Christian and Pati encouraged them to go and said that they'd been glad they'd taken off with their families.
So, minus those two, tomorrow I'm going to give everyone a map of Logan and the bus schedule (the buses here are free) and have them wander around riding the buses by themselves for a couple of hours without me. We've been invited to a Mexican restaurant, Rancheritos, for lunch, and then we'll meet up with the people of the Multicultural Center again to do some more service. Pati's hoping to do her dinner tomorrow night, too, if she and her host mom can go shopping.
Tuesday 8th
When the kids got here, I handed out maps of Logan along with the bus routes. Elliot agreed to go with them, but James and I stayed here. They were just supposed to ride the bus for 2 1/2 hours to get to know the town and to feel like they could do it. I think they had fun- they found Walmart and a few of them needed to stop there for things.
Instead of going to lunch at the Indian restaurant, we were invited to Rancherito's for Mexican food. I picked up the kids at the bus stop and we met Evelyn from the Multicultural Center there. There was a cook who was really trying to flirt with the girls. He took a picture of them with his cell phone. Three of the kids ordered chimichangas, because they'd never heard of them. The servings were enormous. Elliot got two tortillas with his meal that were bigger than his plate. You almost could have made a shirt for him out of them. Leo Bravo showed up a few minutes after we started eating. We met a huge guy who was a friend of Leo's. He'd just graduated from Utah State with a Masters in Business. He told the kids to enjoy High School and to be good to their moms- that that is what he'd do over again at their ages. He was so hard to understand- even the kids said that he was hard- I have such a hard time with the Caribbean accent. Plus, it was just so strange to see a guy who looked just like Shaquille O'Neal chatting with us in Spanish. Afterwards, Leo gave T-shirts to everyone with the Multicultural Center logo on them and wanted to take a picture of everyone in them.
The plans that they'd had for our service project didn't work out, so everyone went back to my house and wrote in their diaries and wrote emails. Elliot reminded me at about 3:30 that he had Scouts, and when I asked him what they were doing, he said that they were going to the Fire Station where the Scout leader's son, who was a missionary in Ecuador, was going to give them a tour. So we asked Jorge if he wanted to go- because he'd told me that the only wish that his sons had had was that, if he had a chance, that he go and see a fire station here. So Jorge went with them and said that Straton, the volunteer fireman/son/Spanish-speaker even had him put on the coat and helmet and get into the cab of the fire truck so that he could take a picture of him for his sons.
Mari's family was having a farewell dinner for her, Jorge was with the Scouts, and Elliot and I took Christian with us to meet his host family at his soccer practice. Javier and Cristobal were on the lake with their family. The rest of them went to Pati's house and made dinner for themselves and for Pati's host family, since this was the last night Pati would spend with them. She's going to stay with a different family after Centerville, because the family she's with now is going to a conference in Toronto.
Javier and Cristobal got home late tonight. They said they had fun at the lake. Their favorite parts were the food- they said that everything tasted really good even thought they'd burned almost everything they fixed up there- again, sounds like a typical camping trip to me..... They didn't dare try the jetskis, or waterskiing, but they did go out in the paddle boat and loved that. They also had a lot of fun because one of Dave's neighbors drove them back to my house and they got lost several times trying to find our house. They apparently were all laughing hysterically in the truck.
Cande's host mom called me just after 10. She said that he's having a hard night- is really nervous about leaving for another place tomorrow. She's going to have him call his family tomorrow, and we told him that we won't force him to go, but that we really think he'll be glad he did. We'll sit down with him when we see him tomorrow, too, and see what the nerves might be about. She was really concerned about him, and said that she felt so bad for him because they've just gotten so attached to him.
Everyone else seems to be doing well- their families are all loving them- they've been wonderfully behaved and gracious and have been a pleasure to host. We're happy that Bruce is going to get to experience them, too, but we'll sure miss them!
posted by Parnell Willmores at 9:31 AM
1 Comments:
I loved reading through that! What wonderful experiences they all had. I look forward to getting to Utah next week so you can tell me even more!
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