¿Te gusta?

Wow, yesterday was amazing. We had our first day at our more "permanent" volunteer assignments, and it was a blast! Melina and I are working at a Head Start Preschool fairly close to our house. The program is made up of approximately 75% Spanish speaking students, which is really exciting for me as I am working on my Spanish speaking skills. We helped out in one of seven classrooms at the school, which is brightly decorated and very well organized. The teacher does everything in Spanish and English, including directions and songs. I was asked to supervize the "housekeeping area" which is full of mini stoves, food, and dishes. Two students at a time were sent to play with me, and it was fun to get to know them individually.

One set of students was particularly fun to play with. Neither of them spoke very much English, and I was a little worried that I would have trouble speaking to them or understanding them. I was hugely relieved when they asked me "¿Te gusta?" in reference to a large plastic apple. "Te gusta" is one of the first things we learned in Spanish I, and means "Do you like this?" I answered "Si, me gusta" (Yes, I like it), which began a big long process of going through every piece of food in the cupboard and asking me if I liked it. We had such a good time! I was tickled pink that I could understand what they were saying, and they were equally tickled that I could talk back to them!

I am very excited to go back to the preschool next week (we will work Wednesday-Friday mornings) but I am also looking forward to our afternoon service work that will start next week at the YMCA close to our house. They have an after school program that helps kids with their homework and allows them to express themselves via computer art projects.

Another RAD team member, Caitlyn, has posted a blog on her sight about our adventures on and around my birthday that includes some pictures. If you would like to see them, check out http://caitlynscoffee.blogspot.com.

Blessings from Chicago!