Thanks So Much, Cathy!

Our wonderful volunteer, Cathy, will finish her time with us this week. We'd like to say thank you very much for your help the past several months. You're great! We will miss you!

Coming to America

My country is Ecuador. I came to Minnesota on October 1st in 2002. When I came to this country, I felt so sad because I needed to say to my mother and siblings goodbye, because I don’t know when I can see again, my family, and friends, my town. Or every part I remember when I grew up. I will be so expectative or very nervous because I will see my father, Juan, and my brother, Alejandro, who I have not seen for two years.
When they arrive in the airport, I will feel so happy because I will see my father and my brother. After that they will make some food for me. They will tell me where my room is and where everything is. We will go outside for a walk. They will teach me where I can take the bus for stores, or for work, or to visit another family.

Teresa

Fall Break

Our fall break was short but my classmates did a lot of interesting things. Hector traveled to New York with his brother. Natalia stayed at home in Anoka because she had homework. Lilian went to the gym every evening for his health. Shaymaa watched a comedy on TV for more than three hours in one day. I studied English, which is why I read children’s books for two hours every day. Sergei read a book in his living room for two hours every day. Liubovi had a back pain and took some Tylenol. Yolanda went to Terrace Park with her daughter and visited her friends in Minneapolis twice a week. Sergei went shopping in Wal-Mart every day. Mai played with her children at home for four hours every day. Evelina cleaned the house with Hector because it was dirty. Natalia talked on the telephone a lot with her husband and son for two hours. Kulwinder helped children with math because they didn’t understand. My classmates are very interesting people.

Sviatlana

Fall Break

Our fall break was short but my classmates did a lot of interesting things. Hector traveled to New York to visit his friend. Sviatlana studied English at home for two hours every day. Sergei went shopping with his family for three hours twice a week. Kulwinder has two children and she helped them with their homework every day. Mai played with her children at home for one hour a day and they had fun. Kulwinder cleaned her house because her home is big. Lilian went to the gym one time a week. Shaymaa watched a movie for more than three hours a day. Natalia stayed at home because she needed to clean the house. Yolanda traveled to Minnesota two times a week because her friends visited her. My classmates are very interesting people.

Liubovi

Fall Break

Our fall break was short but my classmates did a lot of interesting things. Hector traveled to New York to visit his brother for more than 78 hours. Sergei stayed at home to fix his car, Lilian went to the gym in the evening at 6 P.M. Shaymaa watched TV more than three hours in one day. Svetlana studied English at home. Lilian read a book for two hours in the living room. Yolanda went to the park with children on Sunday. Svetlana visited friends on Sunday. Sergei with family went shopping every week. Mai played with her children one hour at home. Evelina cleaned the house. Liubovi and her friends talked on the telephone a lot at home. Beatriz every day helped children with homework one hour at home. My classmates are interesting people.

Xuefeng

Fall Break

Hector traveled to New York to visit his brother.
Natalia stayed at home in Anoka because she cleaned the house.
Lilian went to the gym in the evening.
Yolanda watched TV for more than three hours in one day.
Sviatlana studied English because she wants to speak English. Sviatlana read a book at home.
Liubovi was sick at home because her back was in pain.
Sviatlana went to the park on Sunday with her family.
Yolanda visited friends in Minneapolis twice a week.
I went shopping to “Wal-Mart” once a week. I had fun time.
Lilian played with children at home for one hour.
Mai cleaned the house for one hour.
Liubovi talked on the telephone a lot with her friends.
Beatriz helped children with home work at home.
Many people in my ESL class have interesting lives.

Siarhei

Fall Break

Hector traveled to Mexico to visit his home city.
Shaymaa watched TV for three hours because she liked it.
Kulwinder likes to clean the house. She likes it beautiful.
Ger went shopping because she had money.
Natalia stayed at home because she doesn’t have friends.
Sviatlana studied English because she wants to talk.
Evelina went to the park because she had time.
Adriana sometime talked to her friends on the phone.
Yolanda read the book because she does not understand.
There are good students in school because they help me.

Lilian

Fall Break

Our fall break was short but my classmates did a lot of interesting things. Hector traveled to New York to visit his children. It took him 18 hours to get there. Yolanda went to Minneapolis to visit her friends. Lilian went to the gym with his children because they like swimming. Ger went shopping last week with her children. Mai played with her children for one hour at home. Evelina went to the park last month with her husband. Shaymaa watched a movie for more than three hours in one day. My classmates are very interesting people.

Evelina

One Normal Day

Today is 09-14-10. It’s cold, winter is approaching. My garden is not doing well now. I cannot pick more vegetables; everything gets dry. I love cooking my vegetables. I always liked to cook. My home is very important.

My life changed when I came to live here in the U.S. My family is now far in Peru. Sometimes I feel very sad. I remember my parents and my sons too much. In December I will see them and that makes me feel better. It is difficult for me. I have one beautiful family.

Here in Minnesota I like my husband’s family. They are very nice to me. I like them because life is natural and organic. We will spend Christmas with my family in Peru.

Elisabeth

My House

In 1975, I was a boy. My house was blue. The house didn’t have a basement. The roof was iron, the wall only bricks.
In 1989, I got married and I bought the yellow house. The house had a big yard. Every morning I could plant some garden in my yard. Some nights I went fishing. Sometimes I caught a big fish because my house was next to the sea. The weather is only warm. One year has six months of sun and six months of rain.
In 2007, I moved to Minnesota. In 2008 I bought a blue house in Blaine. The new house is very nice. It has a basement, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and four garages. It is a two level house.
My daughter painted her bedroom green. My other daughter painted her bedroom orange. My son painted his bedroom blue. The colors are very funny.
The neighborhood is very friendly. I spoke little English. When I saw them I only said, “Hi! How are you?” Then I said, “I’m sorry, I don’t speak English”. I like my house and neighborhood. I should study English and I will talk about it with people.

Danh