¿Puedo hablar con... (insert child's name here)?

Today at work seemed more draining than the other days. We had registration for the summer program, and it felt like the day was never going to end. We had 40 copies of registration packets ready to go for the parents to fill out. Slowly, parents began to come to the church and fill them out. The last thing we did before our lunch break was call the families to remind them that registration was taking place. That probably sounds unnecessary, but it in the culture it is crucial to send reminders of important events and dates. This part of the day was the most difficult one of them all.

We were given a list of 40 kids, and were told that it was highly unlikely that the parents spoke English. Rose Mary told us that she wanted us to call and practice communicating with the language barrier. At first I thought, "This seems like you're setting us up for failure." However, it was a good challenge. It was definitely an uncomfortable feeling communicating to parents, and pretending like we knew Spanish. We were told by Justin to say to the parents, "Hola! ¿Puedo hablar con... (insert child's name here)?" which translates to, "Can I talk to... (insert child's name here)?" This was very helpful because all of the children are bilingual. I had a couple of instances when the parents would either hang up on me, said "No no, Spanish?", or immediately gave the phone to their child to talk to me. For the families who I left a voicemail to, I tried to emphasize the importance of the phone call by making sure that I had the words Cristo Rey, their son/daughter's name, and summer program. It was also clear to me by speaking to some of the parents briefly that they actually understood English, but were just not able to communicate with the language itself. At first I was very nervous and kind of frustrated that we were unable to completely communicate with each other. This feeling surprised me a lot through calling parents, because I have been communicating with little/none spanish successfully up to this point in time. However, it really solidified my want and need to learn spanish during the remainder of my time in El Paso. I am FAR from some people in the U.S. who refuse to learn spanish with the reasoning behind "We live in the United States of America, I don't need to learn English." (Sorry if that seems insulting, but that happens way too much) I have learned some phrases that have benefitted me so far. When the phone rings in the church's office, I always answer saying, "Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey, this is Jennifer" just so the people are aware that I speak English as my first language. When I hear them ask if I speak Spanish, I immediately say, "No español" and "su número?" which is "your number?" and they are very eager to help me out and give me their phone number and name. I'm very willing to learn more Spanish down here, especially since it is the kids' primary language and is a part of their culture. It gave me a better understanding of what it must feel like to be living in the U.S. and not know any English. You feel frustrated at yourself, confused, and overwhelmed. Some of the kids who I have read with are adorable and help me pronounce words. They are the best teachers, to be honest. When I have completely butchered my words, all they do is give me a confused look and then ask me if I meant to pronounce the word in another way. That is a much more gentle approach to teaching a new language than how adults tend to go about the process.

Overall, the work day was accompanied with excellent work company, Erin and Justin. I just love working with those two. Justin puts a smile on my face on an hourly basis, and Erin is such a sweet, kind-hearted friend with the funniest sense of humor. She definitely lights up my life. Justin's face was priceless when we told him the story about how we almost ended up in Mexico from getting lost, and that Erin totally walked into the middle of UTEP's graduation line. Erin and I also listened to Shakira at work, so that for sure lifted our moods. It is amazing how the people you work with can make all the difference!

Today's work day ended with a funny/great surprise! One of the year long BSC members, Amy, surprised us at work! It was actually quite funny because when I found her she was hiding inside a cabinet. I had to think about that for a moment, and remind myself that something like that would be expected from Amy. I loved seeing her again, especially since we last saw each other on Friday night.

Tomorrow there are more phone calls to be made, more registration, and more preparation. It will be interesting to see how the second day goes. However, I am very much looking forward to tomorrow's community night. We are going hiking! There is a mountain in El Paso that has a star that lights up at nighttime. I'm quite excited for this adventure! Pictures will for sure be taken. It should be a very fun time to spend it with my roommates, Hannah, and Justin!