Habla Espanol?

Hola! So today I had a training for work (we're required to get 15 hours of training, unpaid, in order to be up for raises...kind of intense) and while I was a little upset to have to do work related things on my precious weekend time, this one ended up being really interesting.

It was a cross-cultural brokering workshop to help Latinos and Anglos better understand each other. Pretty important in this part of the country since there are certainly a lot of Latinos in the area, many of whom immigrated straight from Mexico and don't speak any English. Needless to say, there were several interpreters on hand to help overcome the language barrier. It was a really enlightening experience for me- we were each paired up with a Latino person and had a chance to share our cultural backgrounds and beliefs with each other. My partner was born in Texas to Mexican parents and moved to Chicago when she was 5, speaking only Spanish. The schools in Chicago forced her to stop speaking Spanish completely because "You are an American now. You must speak English." When she was 13, she dropped out of school to take care of her younger siblings, a sort of family obligation that her working parents placed on her. Her story was filled with interesting details and I really enjoyed being able to talk to her and compare our experiences.

Plus, we were served authentic Mexican food-- tamales, chips and salsa, and a cactus dish. It was all delicious, and a nice treat! Who can resist free homemade food? I'm enjoying all the interesting things I'm doing here in Boulder.

Then after the training I went to see High School Musical 3. I guess I'm still a teenybopper at heart : )