The initial meeting took several attempts, however, with persistence, I guess one does succeed.  We met our family last Thursday in the later afternoon.  The time was spent overall in good company.  The two of us had the opportunity to meet the mother and one daughter, initially, then a friend came by, and soon the baby daughter woke from her nap.  The father was returning from work to join in with our conversation before we left for the evening. 

The family residence is quite close to Loyola Chicago, so Tricia and I were able to meet at the CFSU.  We couldn’t get ahold of the family so we went in with another resident’s swip for our entry into the building.  We still had a difficulty this second time to find the family.  We checked both addresses.  The prize, I guess, was before door number two because we found our family! 

Upon entering, we removed our shoes as we noticed the family’s shoes near the entrance.  The mother offered us a seat in the living room.  We spoke with the mother for several minutes, then, she phoned the friend who came right over.  He has been in the country from 2007 to present, has a job downtown, and has a better English comprehension.  It’s not like we weren’t able to talk with the mother…  And well, actually, we did have a good conservation between us three.  The friend was able to tell about the family’s coming to Chicago, a little bit of his own experience, the father’s job, and the daughter’s attendance at a local grammar school near the family’s residence.

The mother left during our conversation , shortly returning with gigantic Arizona Sweet Tea offering one each to Tricia and I during our conversation.  She made us feel welcome.  We had a several conversations about school, English, Chicago, and religion–I found that they were Christian Baptists.  Having known of some English, the friend and the father were able to use the roman alphabet.  The friend before the father came had written out the names for us, and that’s when I realized that the friend wasn’t the father.  I had assumed this to the case until he stated the father was returning. 

The family’s phone rang, the mother answered the telephone, and she promptly opened the window to drop the keys to her husband.  He was in to visit with us.  The group stated we could help the older daughter with homework.  The father said that he couldn’t offer her any assistance with it and well, that’s what we’re here for–We’re here to help!  We left the family for the day after letting them know that we would be back next week. 

-george