April 25, 2012

I was early to class today. There was only one other person sitting in class. It was Marie. Ms. Austin came in. She said there was a work and share fair. It was a job fair and a fair of other things like services. A few more students came in as she was saying that. Ms. Austin said that if they wanted to they could go out and look at the vendors.    They were getting ready to start board work when a lady walked in. The lady said that the ESL classroom could go first and look at the fair. So, we all went to the fair. The tables had jobs, services (health clinics), and information about the school.  Some of the vendors were Aunt Martha’s, UPS, Comcast, etc.  We went to every table.  When we got to Aunt Martha’s table, they were talking about family planning; how to prevent kids. Ms. Austin said that all the women have kids. The fact he was mentioning prevention is irrelevant. I told her they do have other services. I know this because I use Aunt Martha’s. If you have no insurance, they are a good place to go the doctor. The representative never brought out those other services. Ms. Austin encouraged them to go practice their English at each table.  I noticed they gravitated towards those who spoke Spanish. I understand. It’s a normal instinct to go where you are familiar. It’s not easy to want to step outside the comfort zone. When I’m at work, I have heard Spanish speaker customers before. I get the desire to talk to them, but I get nervous and talk myself out of it.  Ms. Austin understood that they wanted the Spanish speakers. So instead of pushing them, she just stated this will be good practice for me. So, I did follow the class and listened in Spanish. When we got to the table about a job, the woman listened out of respect, but they said that they couldn’t take a job because they have family to take care of. We finished and went back to class. Another lady came to say there will be a seminar on fitness at 10:40 if they wanted to go. The class got up and went. It was time for me to leave. So, during my stay there was no class.