I felt burnt out.  It seems that every visit with the father repeats every weekend.  The usual conversation includes warm greetings, work, the weather, politics, back to work, sipping coffee and current events.  The period of volunteer fatigue is normal and is expected, however, this can be a sign that efforts put forth through volunteering should change to meet existing or new goals and expectations that the volunteer has strengthening his or her mandate or greater self-initiative to volunteer.  Herein lies a problem when volunteering, and this problem is capable of being resolved without difficulties.  The solution: go outside!

The weather is finally favorable for a stroll through the multi-ethnic neighborhoods of Roger’s Park.  I was showing Arkiband the Spanish signs in the storefront windows on Clark, while Emily chatted with Gadina.  In search of an Eritrean restaurant, now non-existent, led us to a fantastic Mexican restaurant where I was able to share some of my cultural background with Gadina and Arkiband.  Food truly brings people together.  Arkiband, I think, was a little hesitant to eat his chicken taco, while Gadina was delighted by the sight and taste of a burrito.  The salsa and “maize” chips were a hit, in addition to the rice water.

I hope I can speak for all when I say, we are all looking forward to more outings especially those that involve outside activities.  However, one activity may be exempted from this notion: ice-skating anyone?  That will be next week.

This week it was back to normal at our families house.  Spring break was over so the father was at work the whole time and the mother came home later.  The grandma is back after having surgery and is scheduled for another soon, she doesn’t seem too worried about it and it will get rid of her discomfort I’m pretty sure.  This week the boys didnt have too much homework and so once we finished they were able to enjoy the comics that we found for them, unfortunately the comics are little too advanced but I’m hoping that this will encourage them to try and broaden their reading skills.  They were still excited about looking at the pictures, especially the older boy because he is excellent at drawing and loves to draw superheroes.  This time instead of playing bankopoly again we played “sorry!’ which I havn’t played since I was a child.  It was really fun and the boys really got into it, eventhough they didnt quite understand the strategy of the game they loved knocking off other players and saying sorry!

WHen the mom got home from work she made us the delicious coffee that Colleen and I have come to really really enjoy when we are there.  She also made us a new kind of soup with interesting, clear, skinny noodles.  It was weird to get used to at first because they were a little bit slimy but once you got past that it was delicious.  We are excited to go back next week and hopefully we cant find a them some books that they will be able to enjoy.

After some intense spring-cleaning, I discovered how many clothes I have in my closet that I don’t wear that often/don’t fit that would hopefully be wearable for the very petite C. Although most of them ended up being noticeably big, C seemed excited and then proceeded to show me some of the other new clothes that she’s acquired since her move to the US. Brian and I also brought along pictures from our previous visit entailing dressing up in traditional Nepali clothes, which delighted the grandpa so much that he kissed the pictures and exclaimed, “dheri ramro!” (very good).
Even though I remembered being slightly startled at how small the G family was the first time I met them, seeing the pictures of us all standing next to each other along with C swimming in my clothes made it even more clear to me how much of a height difference there is, and I’m only 5’4”! I remember learning in Medical Anthropology about the “small but healthy” hypothesis, which interprets the small size of many impoverished people as an “adaptation” in order to better fit into their resource poor environment. When you have limited resources, it would seem logical that your caloric intake would go more towards maintenance and less towards growth. Although I’m a self-proclaimed evolution nerd, I think this interpretation is not only ineffective but in addition, completely ignores the larger question of, why do people not have adequate resources to grow in the first place?
Another Burmese refugee who I tutor recently told me that the reason she is so short for her age is because she had to carry water on her back to her house everyday before she moved to the US. I’m sure that carrying such a heavy load, compounded with not receiving enough nutrition, is the reason that this little girl is now often mistaken for being four years younger than she actually is. After taking so many anthropology courses on how evolution and culture modify the body, it seems to me that many bodily “modifications”, including small size, ultimately have roots in poverty. I think all anthropologists need to be mindful when performing their research of the power that geopolitical forces have in shaping people’s biology and behavior and that shedding light on these forces can possibly lead to policy changes that will lessen the gross inequalities that exist in our world today.

When we arrived at the G’s this week, we were promptly given homemade samosas—a delicious treat! As the afternoon progressed, I worked on homework with S—which included fractions and Dr. Seuss, and then we played a few games of Jenga together. Katie and grandpa practiced English, a routine that, somehow, is frustratingly, but endearingly, always the same. And like always, homework is followed by “dunch” (not quite dinner, not quite lunch at 4) with grandpa. My initial joy at a meatless meal was slightly lessened by the fact that, as always, the endless helpings left me in a food coma.
After eating, we all congregated around the computer, first for Farmville and Facebook, then Nepali movies. While the movie titles conjure up nightmarish horror movies, the content usually veers towards “Sound of Music” song and dance routines, with mountainous landscapes in the background. This week, we were treated to live choreographed dances, performed by C and a friend, in tune to some of the songs from the movie.
Before leaving, we attempted to invite everyone to come to the library with us to get library cards together, but after too much time spent deliberating (and attempting to find footwear) we were left with only a few minutes to get there before closing time. Perhaps next week.

Many more members of our family were there this Sunday, some of which we haven’t seen since the first visit. The mother was home and so were a few of the grandparents (I assume). Continuing their trend of furniture acquisitions, there was a new coffee table in the apartment and a sweet elephant pot fake plant thing. They seem to be sprucing the place up nicely; it’s much homier now, and not just because of the rare presence of sunlight.
The other group members helped the girls with their homework, something with math and graphing. Instead, I played UNO with two of the younger girls, the elder of them beating us about fifty times consecutively. Except for the last game in which I secured a breathtaking, unbelievably spectacular victory. I was quite proud of myself. They really seemed to enjoy playing and I feel it at least served some practical purpose by letting them practice saying colors and numbers. They still don’t seem to need our help for really anything but homework.
I can see how were getting closer to the girls, they seem much more open; the awkwardness of earlier visits has largely melted away. I don’t feel silly waltzing in once a week, a stranger who’s forcing myself on this family, but rather a friend now, mostly to the young girls. Yet, it’s driving me crazy the way we can’t seem to have good enough weather to get the girls out of the apartment. Perhaps we could have a picnic or something and play frisbee or get chalk to draw on the sidewalks, I know I loved doing that when I was younger.

Today was the first time Terry and I took our family out of the apartment for an outing. We decided to take them to the Ethiopian restaurant, Asmara, located off Clark (or so we thought). After Terry and I finished waiting for Mr. Smith and Robert to get ready to leave, I realized how nice Mr. Smith looked. He had put dress slacks on and a nice coat and had even offered Terry and I a spritz of his cologne, which we graciously declined. As we began our walk, the weather, while it was chilly, was beautiful. There were very few clouds in the sky and the sun was shining. As we walked I talked to Robert and asked him about school. He told me that his class took a field trip to a museum on Friday and that he saw “a dead body, many cars, and an airplane”. I asked if he remembered what the museum’s name was, but he did not so I proceeded to inquire if the airplane was hanging from the ceiling in “a really big room” and if he saw a life size human heart. Robert excitedly responded yes. Robert had visited the Science and Industry museum, which is one of my favorite Chicago museums. I hope Robert’s class has more field trips to take, as I believe these outings can be extremely beneficial in exposing kids to all that Chicago has to offer.
Following Terry, we made our way down Clark. After only a few blocks we suddenly stopped when Terry pointed to the tax center that now filled the space where the Ethiopian restaurant once stood. For a moment, we contemplated on where to go, as I was really looking forward to dining with my Ethiopian family at an Ethiopian restaurant. Needless to say, we decided to venture to another ethnic food place, The Taste of Peru. While the restaurant was just a few steps away, as we scanned the menu we noticed the place was expensive and instead we ventured to one of the nearby Mexican restaurants. Once we were seated we received a basket full of tortilla chips, two kinds of salsa, a plate of refried beans, and a small bowl of some kind of, what I thought, was cheese. The chips were great appetizers, as we explained what each of the salsas were made from and tasted like. The green salsa was spicy, and the red was a tad milder. We also ordered rice water or “horchata,” which was fabulous, but, unfortunately, did not extinguish the burning sensation I had in my mouth from the salsa and I had to order regular water as well. When the waitress came back I ordered a cheese quesadilla, Terry ordered steak tacos, Robert, with Terry’s assistance, ordered a chicken taco and chicken tortilla chip thing (sorry, Terry I forgot the name of it again), and Mr. Smith ordered a vegetarian burrito.
As we waited for our food we discussed the Mexican artwork hanging throughout the restaurant and the relationship Mexico and Spain have with one another, as Mr. Smith was confused as to why Mexicans spoke Spanish. Terry explained that Spain colonized Mexico and that is why they speak Spanish, although I added, making it even more confusing, that they actually do not speak the same kind of Spanish, but they do both speak Spanish. It is interesting to note how little conversation was said prior to our food arriving, as everyone was chowing down on the chips and salsa.
Ten minutes later our food arrived and looked delicious. Mr. Smith’s burrito was huge and Terry explained that instead of using a fork and knife that Mr. Smith and Robert could just pick up their food and eat it. A few minutes into the meal, Terry noticed how Robert was still mostly eating the chips and not his chicken. We believed this was because of the sour cream, but a little later into the meal Robert had cleared his plate. Robert stated that he had many Spanish kids in his class, and now he could tell them that he had eaten Mexican food. Our family described the Chinese buffet they went to before and how for so little ($8), one could eat as much as they wanted at the restaurant all day. Oh, Americans and our gluttonous establishments! Nevertheless, lunch was fabulous and we all walked out of the restaurant having to loosen our belts (thank god I was wearing spandex).
After arriving back at the Smith’s home we stayed for about fifteen minutes for coffee and then said good-bye, realizing how quickly the time had passed since we had left for lunch. Afterwards, Terry and I agreed that it was such a refreshing change to be out of the apartment and not necessarily talking about the weather. Repetition can get boring. We were able to address the issue of walking only when there is a “glowing walking sign” and, if not, to only walk when one is absolutely sure there are no cars. We also saw Robert’s school and explained that American dogs are not mean, although they may be protective. This outing was great and I was happy that Terry and I could expose, even if only a few blocks away, our family to a new part of Rogers Park.

Phul, Gopal, and Madhav’s mother wanted to go to Loyola’s adult ESL class on Monday so Laura took them to Loyola while I watched the boys back at the apartment.  It was interesting to see how they acted without adults around…I’ve been telling Madhav that I want to learn Nepali so he wrote some words and phrases down for me.  I learned that the reason they refer to us as “teacher”, a habit I have been trying to correct this whole time, is because in Nepal it is improper to call anyone older than you by his or her name.  Rather, they use the title or relationship.  This also makes clear why the unrelated friends of the boys refer to Gopal as “father” or “grandfather” (I’ve been awfully confused about this).  Before the adults left they expressed apprehension upon learning that there was not going to be a translator at the class, but when they returned they were glowing from their experience. This made me extremely happy! I’ve been acquiring materials online and will continue to consult the family to learn Nepali. I realize that I don’t want our relationship to end with the semester so it will be well worth it to learn their language and understand them on a deeper level. I notice I’m beginning to think a lot more about them and the entire refugee situation (even when I’m sleeping!).  I’m pleased with this because it can be good for a person to have one’s focus taken off of oneself.

Each visit it becomes more and more apparent that the best thing we can give our family is company. As with anyone, not just refugees, i believe it is always refreshing to see a new face. The boys in our family usually mention how boring it is being unable to go outside and instead spending most of their time on the computer. So, hopefully our company is a nice break in the day and a nice change of scenery for them. Also, i’ve noticed lately that our relationship has been evolving. I like that we can visit and they will go about their daily routines as we talk and laugh with each other as if we are just another member of the family. We are understanding each other’s personalities better and are able to joke around more. There will still be little problems that we are able to help them with. For example, this time the father asked us about a credit card that he received in the mail because he didn’t know what it was for. We told him it was probably a scam and that he could throw it out. He understood and seemed relieved. So, it feels better when we can do small things like that but I think the most important thing is to see the genuine happiness that our simple company brings them.

These last two weeks of visiting my family has been amazing as always! The visit one week ago was filled with card games and laughing. It was great because Sarah was able to join us for our visits. Last Friday when we went to visit, we started out with bingo. People just started coming in and there were many people there. Somehow we got to the topic of songs…and then the real fun began. They were so fascinated by Sarah. I think it was because she was from a different culture and did not understand any Nepali. I feel the mother also got to experience that others go through the same thing when learning a new language and laughing and making mistakes is just part of a process. The mother had so much fun with Sarah—she was like a doll. It was sooo funny. The mother would teach Sarah Nepali songs and have fun listening to her talk. Sine Sarah understood no Nepali, the son would translate for us and the songs had some interesting translations. I also played cards with the little girl and after a failed attempt to teach her tictactoe, I just drew pictures with her. Imitating, the mother, she would try to teach me Neapli songs as well. She did so well at teaching and patiently repeating the words. We danced to Nepali songs with our mother. It was quite an experience and a full cultural immersion for sure! Then we played fruit basket in which everyone joined in. I look forward to more music and visiting next week!

Our family is so awesome!! They are always incredibly fun to be around, and visiting them seriously makes my week every time! This week the mom showed us some pretty crazy nepali dance moves and we tried to imitate them but it looked a lot cooler when she did them! Also, they are absolutely in love with Sarah. They like me and Kesha too, but since we are somewhat familiar with the culture, they are much more interested in Sarah. They love teaching Sarah new nepali phrases, and Sarah has already picked up on a lot. She has already learned the entire chorus to a nepali song! The mom kept asking Sarah to repeat some Nepali phrases, and she was having so much fun teaching. You could just see the excitement in her face when we repeated the phrases and songs she taught us. She would laugh at Sarah, sing to her, dance with her. It was so amusing just watching the whole scene. Judging by their enthusiasm and their curiosity about Sarah, it’s easy to see that they are absolutely fascinated by American culture.

Overall, it was another very exciting visit! I absolutely love that they are so open and not afraid to be themselves. They are crazy and goofy, just like us which makes things so much more interesting. It makes it easy for us to be ourselves, and there is minimal tension when making mistakes. We really hope the weather gets nicer soon so we can take them out! It will be really fun; I can’t wait!

Last week we had another meeting with our family. It had felt like a long time since we had seen the family, so I was excited to get over there again. This time Thayer and I had a mission set to really get some English lessons done, and I am proud to say that we were able to work on more than the previous week. We brought along some pencils and a few old notebooks to work on writing in. When we got there we talked to the family for a little about how they went and got their state ID’s, although it took a few trips to the DMV actually get it accomplished. We started talking to the dad about English and found out that the only thing he really knows in English is the alphabet, and at that only the capital letters. He has picked up the “Hi, hello, thank you, good” and very trivial words, but that is about all. He learned the letters from a toy his son has, where you can magnetically switch the letters of the alphabet out and the toy pronounces how to say it. This showed me how eager my family is to learn English and I’m proud of them. The four of them are all signed up to start school in April. For the father we wrote down the alphabet both in capitals and lower case and went over them. The little boy came over and we were asking him which letters he knew. As we were going through the alphabet with him, Tom and Jerry episodes came on and he ran away screaming “Tom & Jerry, Tom & Jerry” while waving goodbye to us. It got us all laughing. The mother brought out her workbook again, and we got some time with her in too. She had the majority of it completed, but was having trouble with some of the pronunciations. We were talking about the work “ache” and she started saying the work “pin” which confused us a bit, until I realized she was trying to say the word “pain”. We went through the book and taught her to say some words she was not quite pronouncing correctly. As we walked around their apartment, she would ask what things were. I taught her the word “toys” and she ran out to get a pen and asked if “toese” was right. I corrected her, smiling at her attempt which was actually a great guess with the way it sounds. I am so glad they are eager to learn, and know they will be very successful in their classes. At the end of the night we started going over their WIC and immunization appointments. They had to go their the following Monday, and Thayer called the next day to confirm this and check the hours. I am very very greatful that Thayer is able to communicate with the family because it helps us be more productive and helpful to them, and I think it is helping them feel more at ease too knowing that they always have someone they can call.

Today was an exciting day, well for us, the family was already used to the good news. When we came in it was only the kids and the mom, we asked where the dad was and she told us, very excited, that he was at work. I couldnt help but think that this was exciting, from the research from our recent Mid-Term paper, our family is now well adjusted because they are now able to sustain themselves. I also think that his English will improve since he will be forced to speak it, hear it and be around it more that he would be at home. Over all i thought it was very exciting news.

After the news, we got to playing with the kids and watching some awful show, which made Friday the 13th seemed like a lovely show. It was some bad acting, very gory show called Stairway to hell… again i wished i could change the channel but i just didnt feel comfortable enough to do so, and by the end of our visit we were all consumed by the images on the T.V. My parents are coming to visit me this weekend and i will ask them to bring me all of our old movies (still in VCR) so i can give it to them, the Rugrats will be more entertaining anyway!

This time we didnt really do much, Shal and i talked about maybe taking the kids out to the movies on our next visit– i really want to see Hop and i think they would enjoy it, after we try to explain the concept of Easter and the Easter Bunny to the kids and the mom… it should be interesting. Oh, they fed us again… i was so scared… but i actually really enjoyed what they gave us this time. It was a mixture of dough, onions, cilantro and potatoes all deep fried… it was delicious… a bit spicy for me but i just drank a lot of water with each bite. I really cant wait until it starts getting warm out so we can take our family out or just for walks…

This past weekend, we brought the children a coloring book as well as a Cars sticker book which they both thoroughly enjoyed.  They were pretty self entertained the entire time we were there.  It was good to know that the books were a success haha.  The father was not there this weekend.  We asked where he was, and the mother said that he was at his job!!!  We were not able to get much information because there is such a strong language barrier, but we figured out that he was able to get a job working at a discount store.  I was super excited and happy for them when I found out he was working.   The girls who live downstairs came up and said hello and they also brought food up with them.  I forget what it was called, but it was very similar to the indian food my dad makes called pakoras.  They were absolutely delicious and they were thrilled that we enjoyed them.  The girls also noticed that I had gotten my nose pierced, and since they all have their noses pierced there was some definite bonding.

My partner and I have noticed that every time the TV is on, there’s some horrifying movie on like Friday the 13th or something equally terrifying.  The kids don’t seem to mind but we’re hoping to bring them some of our childhood Disney VHS’ so that they don’t have to watch people blowing their brains out or being sucked into hell…I think they’ll like Disney much more.

As usual, we had a good time.  Time always flies by there and they are always so nice.

The family needed to go back to the Uptown Clinic today in order to get some more immunization shots, so we volunteered to take them. The clinic wasn’t too busy which was a plus seeing as the two little rascals couldn’t sit still. We started off by getting the parents their shots first, which didn’t take to long. They had an Iraqi translator there who offered to translate but we explained to him that I would be taking on those duties today. According to the mother they didn’t have a translator there the last time they went which made things sort of difficult. The staff working in the adult section was very nice and helpful, which is a lot more than I can say for the ones in the children’s section. The ladies there were extremely slow and a bit rude. The evil lady who gave the kids a shot was very unprofessional and mean towards the kids. She had no idea how to deal with children, and at one point she yelled at the three year old girl and told her “your gonna have a hard time in life if you keep crying.” I was taken aback my her insensitivity, so of course I had to chime in and let her know, albeit politely as I held back my frustration, that she’s a three year old girl and of course she’s going to cry and squirm when a lady grinch tries to stick a needle in her thigh. Not only was the lady rude but she also ended up bending the needle in the girl’s thigh so she started to bruise. I was pretty upset by that but I held it all in because I didn’t want her to take it out on our refugee family next time they show up without us.

The trip took about 3 hours, but luckily I made it just in time for my first class. The parents explained to me that one of their relatives told them that they once received a free child car seat from WIC, so I asked one of the nicer ladies about it before we left. Unfortunately they said they haven’t received shipments of car seats for about a year. Despite our horrid encounter with an obese cruella deville, it ended up being a good trip and we had some pleasant conversations with the family.

This past Tuesday, Colleen and I headed back to our families house.  It was really exciting this week because both the parents are off work for spring break and were able to be at home with us this time.  The mother made us a huge dinner since she had extra time and everything was more than delicious.  We had the usual coffee, which I am not sure what she does to it but it tastes way better than normal coffee, and we also had these delicious potato roll things and noodles with veggies and some meat in it. It was all so good but it seemed like we had a never ending bowl becuase no matter how much we ate there always seemed to be a full helping left.

After we ate the delicious meal we helped the kids with their homework again while their father played the electric guitar in the background.  It was a nice background noise to hear and the dad is actually pretty good at playing songs, we were able to recognize a few.  This time I was helping the older boy with his homework and it was long division with decimals, my head almost exploded I had no idea how to do it so we had to look up directions online but we finally figured it out.  Afterwards we played bankopoly again and of course the boys did excellent.  Next week we are going to try and bring a different game if we can find one that is cheap.

On our visit this Sunday, Angelliza (the 3 year old daughter) FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY warmed up to Shuo and I. We found a lego kit and started building on our own and Angelliza was finally enticed to come participate. This has definitely been a long time coming… It has definitely been difficult for us to connect with her, which I think mostly has to do with the fact that she is so young. Playing with her was really fun and I hope when we visit again next week she will remember who we are.

Also, we did not get to visit with Bali Raj because he apparently is in Indiana? Luckily, Roshani and Angelliza were still at the apartment. We asked Roshani why Bali Raj was in Indiana but she either: 1. didn’t actually know, or 2. she didn’t know how to explain it to us.

As per usual, we watched part of a Nepali film, but beforehand we watched “Night at the Museum” with Ben Stiller. Roshani told us that they had checked it out from the library (using the library cards that we helped them get!).

Shuo also brought a map of Chicago over and we pointed out where we live, go to school, work, etc.

Roshani talked a little more about life in Nepal too. There were two things she said that I thought were very interesting:

1. In Nepal, you should not make eye contact. Roshani compared it to America where eye contact not only is appropriate, it is considered rude to not make eye contact.

2. Nepali police are corrupt. In the Nepali film we were watching there was a scene where someone was hit by a car and killed. Roshani said that car accidents happen all the time in Nepal. She also said that if you kill someone while driving, all you have to do is give the police money and the problem will go away.

This post is a little late, but nevertheless! Our visit last weekend was cut a little short for me because I had to leave for about an hour to attend an Annual Budget Request Hearing for my club. I had to leave after about 45 minutes, but then came back for the last hour or so which was odd. What I did think was nice though was the fact that for the hour I was gone Shuo was alone with the family. We had talked about me leaving beforehand, but I still thought it was cool for us to be comfortable enough to stay with the family on our own.

In general, I think watching Bollywood movies has become part of our regular visiting routine. Although we rarely finish a full movie (because they are about 3 hours each) we seem to watch at least part of one every Sunday.

We arrived around 6:00 on a Tuesday evening to be greeted by a household of people. The two boys were waiting at the entrance of the door, with their mother and father behind them, to greet us with smiles. We promptly finished the boy’s homework and were off to starting another game of bankopoloy. This week, the game went by much quicker than last week as the boys had learned the rules of the game and were eager to buy houses for their property. They thought it was so exciting each time a new piece rolled around the corner of the board to land only spots away from the most expensive piece of property. In the middle of the game, the mother began to bring our food from the kitchen. First, the deliciously brewed coffee that she serves everyone. Macrina and I just can’t seem to get enough of it. It is almost like she puts in a special flavored cream and then drops a chocolate inside to melt at the bottom. Whatever her secret is, I am completely hooked. Next, a large plate completely full of a fried food that closely resembled an egg roll, there had to be at least 15. This hearty snack appeared to be stuffed with meat and potatoes, wrapped in a sort of phyllo-dough and fried to the perfect crisp. She served it with a mild dipping sauce that tasted similar to a sweet and sour sauce. As our mouths watered with enjoyment, she proceeds to bring out two more large bowls filled with some sort of noodle entrée. Although she had prepared noodle dishes for us in the past, this one was different, and my personal favorite. It had noodles, lettuce, onion, and a mild sauces on top that was so different than any flavor I had ever experienced. We kept telling the boys how delicious their food was and they couldn’t have been any less interested-almost like a “yeah, we know. We eat it all the time” response. The mother spent some time sitting at the table with us to talk while we played the game with the boys and the father relaxed on the couch and entertained us by playing songs on his red electric guitar. For the next hour while we finished our game, Macrina and I proceeded to stuff our faces with Burmese deliciousness and tried to some sort of dent in the huge amount of food that she served us. In the end, our stomachs were stuffed and it looked as though we hadn’t even touched our food!

This Sunday at the G’s, K, S, and I caught up on our last two weeks. K is training to be a nurse’s aid (!!!), which will take a month and will hopefully supply him with a well-paid position at any number of facilities in Roger’s Park. One of the family’s friends came over, and told me that he easily found a job in the same position after completing the program. This is incredible news, as K is very well-educated and definitely capable of success if given the opportunity. However, we are going job searching for a few hours tomorrow, and hopefully K will be able to find a night job until he finds a better position. Since he is such a good cook, I’ve looked at a few different places on Craigslist who are hiring line cooks. He had worked in restaurants in Nepal and enjoys the work.

S begins her new job at Wrigley Field on Friday, but unfortunately the pants she has rented for the position are much too long and too wide in the thighs. I offered to drive the family to a nearby discount store to try and find a new pair, but unfortunately Salvation Army was closed on Sunday. I am going to pick her up at 2:30 tomorrow (before my 4pm meeting with K) and we’re going to go to a few stores. Hopefully we’ll be able to find something!

J has been getting used to our visits, and usually greets us with a shriek before trying to steal our apple slices. She is amazing. And so cute!

K spent the majority of our time together asking me if I knew of certain Indian foods. He then put on “Karate Kid” to entertain S and I as he made me a puffy rice/veggie puff/mustard seed oil/peppered peas/potato dish that was so intensely spicy I thought my stomach would implode. The family loves watching Erin and I eat spicy foods – I can handle most of it, but sometimes I regret it later…

So we started this visit by talking about all the red tape they had to go through to get their IDs and sign up for school etc…The father kept apologizing for cancelling a couple of our recent meetings due to how hectic his week has been. We told him that we understand and not to worry about it. We then started working on English. The mom actually has her own workbook that’s completely in English and shes done almost all the exercises. The only problem with that is she’s mispronouncing a lot of the words. For example she kept saying stomach ‘pin’ instead of stomach ‘pain’. We worked out some of those kinks and did a lot of pronunciation work. As for the father, we had to start with the alphabet. He recognizing the big letters but not the small ones. For example, he recognizes the letter ‘A’ but not ‘a’. I wrote out the entire alphabet for him and we went over it a few times. The little boy actually has a little electronic game that he plays with and its helping him with the alphabet. I sat down with the boy and he had him repeat the letters after I said them. He got to the letter ‘M’ when all of a sudden he heard Tom and Jerry cartoon and he ran away waving goodbye and screaming ‘Tom and Jerry!’

We also went through their immunization records and WIC papers. We explained to them that they have to use their WIC papers before they expire. They told us that they have to go back to the clinic on Monday to get more shots so we offered to take them there. Were looking forward to taking driving them there Monday morning.

Not all of the outreach done by students in this program is direct service for refugee families.  We also conduct research on our service and have been involved in developing a micro-nonprofit organization.  These goals require us to think about and learn the appropriate civic skills for our purpose and to understand how research can be connected to service and teaching in ways to enhance them.

These goals mean that it is important to periodically describe our efforts to various audiences (the refugee community, the general public, service providers, and academics and academic administrators).  That is one purpose of this blog which actually serves many purposes — as a means of student reflection about service-learning, as a tool for advocacy and awareness raising, as a personal narrative about experiences in refugee resettlement befriending programs, as a historical document of our evolving program, and as a transparent form of describing our involvement in refugee resettlement. 

There is much more that happens in this program than gets published on this blog.  Much of it revolves around the collective activities, events, and research efforts we engage in.  On Friday, I had the chance to share the history of this program and its design with faculty, students, and staff at Loyola’s Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL).  It was a very stimulating visit for me because I believe that CURL may be able to play an important role in helping us advance our mission in this program.  I am looking forward to continued opportunties to engage more of the Loyola community in this work in whatever ways they may wish to connect to it.  The opportunities are vast and the cause is truly rewarding.

Click this link to see this presentation which represents a summary of our past 2 years as an organization.  Individual and organizational consent has been given to include all the photos contained in this presentation.

CURL – Amick – 3-25-11