celebramos

this past week i had the pleasure of taking my conversation class on a field trip to the state capitol. the halls were full of beautiful, new mexican art while behind closed doors legislative committees were busy trying to figure out our state budget crisis, i presume.

here i am with 6 of my 10 "lucky ladies" as one student has called our all female conversation class. these women were all very shy 12 weeks ago. each week i had the honor of watching their timidity unravel as they bravely shared stories of survival from their homelands, confessed their loneliness and problems in the u.s., and cracked jokes about themselves and each other. we discussed everything from politics to homemade noodles. it was such a joy to meet with them twice a week. here we are learning about how a bill becomes a law in the land of enchantment. it seemed frightenly/delightfully simple???

here is the final celebration with my other class. we always tie up our semesters with a no boundaries pot luck filled to the walls with posole, tamales, taquitos, pasta salads, pizza hut boxes, sushi, gallons of sunny d and fresca, costco sized, but local tres leches cakes that are gone in an hour etc. this prefaces an informal ceremony of shaking hands and rowdy applause as completion certificates are handed out one by one to all of the classes in each section.

here i am with my life skills 4 class. they are intermediate students who are waiting to see if they will move up to the next session of esl classes...grammar classes. i can't even express what a delight it was to teach this marvellous group. this job is truly a blessing to come to each day. it's just what my family and i needed.

here i am with hector who was very appreciative of our class and my teaching. our class was very bonded, but i was shocked in one of the last classes when he came to the front of the room and they all raised one hand and said in deep voices: "how." thankfully he smiled right back and raised his hand: "how." this led to a great student led talk about first impressions, native cultures and families. it's so refreshing to forget political correctness and get to the point:)!

adios, kimosabes!