Thank Goodness for Past Students
Last school year I had a wonderful student named Laura Ortiz. She was not only a good student, but also a member of yearbook club, science fair participant, and a translator for me and my ELL students. I became very close with her throughout the year, met her family members, and even went to her house to help her with her science fair project. She has come back several times already this year to visit and chat and I now have her brother this year.
Upon one of her visits a week or so ago, I mentioned that I was selling my car and she offered to tell her dad to see if his friends needed a car. Sure enough she came back this week and left me a note that someone was interested in the car! Her father stopped by school on Friday and asked if I could bring the car to his house on Saturday for the guy to look at it. So, yesterday at noon I SOLD MY CAR to the guy for $3,800!!! I was pretty happy with this as it is more than half of what I orginially purchased it for and have driven it for 4-5years.
I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with Laura about how high school is and then ate some of her mother's home made chile relleno. It was delicious! She even gave me some to take home for lunch. It was very interesting to be there with her and her family and seeing them interact. Laura's mother doesn't speak english, but understands some and they are teaching her two youngest brothers a little english. The conversation that I did have with her mother was translated by Laura, which was fascinating to experience the ability of bilingualism.
The cultural differences are quite vast and made some of the things I learned in my CTEL courses a reality. Laura's cousin from Mexico now lives with them because if she would have stayed in Mexico her family would have made her drop out to start working to help the family. I felt so bad for this girl because not only does she not understand ANY english but she is miles away from her immediate family. I guess that is the price you have to pay though in order to get an education and better yourself. While I think it is very hard to work/live in an area such as this with all the cultural and language barriers, I can't imagine immigrating here and being immersed in a country where almost no one speaks my language or understands my culture. I guess being an American and having access to free education and opportunity isn't all that bad after all.
Oh, and as I was leaving yesterday, the ice cream truck was belting out a familiar tune... the ice cream truck version of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" I got a kick out of this! I could n't help but share. That is California for ya!
Upon one of her visits a week or so ago, I mentioned that I was selling my car and she offered to tell her dad to see if his friends needed a car. Sure enough she came back this week and left me a note that someone was interested in the car! Her father stopped by school on Friday and asked if I could bring the car to his house on Saturday for the guy to look at it. So, yesterday at noon I SOLD MY CAR to the guy for $3,800!!! I was pretty happy with this as it is more than half of what I orginially purchased it for and have driven it for 4-5years.
I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with Laura about how high school is and then ate some of her mother's home made chile relleno. It was delicious! She even gave me some to take home for lunch. It was very interesting to be there with her and her family and seeing them interact. Laura's mother doesn't speak english, but understands some and they are teaching her two youngest brothers a little english. The conversation that I did have with her mother was translated by Laura, which was fascinating to experience the ability of bilingualism.
The cultural differences are quite vast and made some of the things I learned in my CTEL courses a reality. Laura's cousin from Mexico now lives with them because if she would have stayed in Mexico her family would have made her drop out to start working to help the family. I felt so bad for this girl because not only does she not understand ANY english but she is miles away from her immediate family. I guess that is the price you have to pay though in order to get an education and better yourself. While I think it is very hard to work/live in an area such as this with all the cultural and language barriers, I can't imagine immigrating here and being immersed in a country where almost no one speaks my language or understands my culture. I guess being an American and having access to free education and opportunity isn't all that bad after all.
Oh, and as I was leaving yesterday, the ice cream truck was belting out a familiar tune... the ice cream truck version of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" I got a kick out of this! I could n't help but share. That is California for ya!
posted by Melissa R. Forgacs at 2:45 PM
3 Comments:
An unusual tune for the ice cream truck! I enjoyed talking to you this weekend and reading your blog
I love hearing stories about good students! Congratulations on the sale of your car. Have you gotten a new one yet?
It seems to me that if I had to be non-English speaking in the U.S., the next most familiar language would be Spanish. Have you seen the moving Spanglish? I couldn't help thinking about it as I read your blog. I'm often in Florida, and sometimes I feel odd because I don't speak Spanish.
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