Deyra has been busy! The entire group of SEED students in her cycle went to Yosemite National Park a few weeks ago. Each student was supposed to bring a lunch and while this sounded simple to me, Deyra had no idea what to do. She was just going to bring a soda and some grapes but I said no way. I taught her how to make a sandwich and we went through all the “portable” food that we had until she found things that she liked. At the end she said, “Wow, that was so easy but I had no idea where to even start.” Funny the things we take for granted. She had a good time at Yosemite, but was very tired the next day. In her words, “we climbed a giant rock and it took two hours and we didn’t get to stop very much”. Laurie’s boyfriend, Russell, gave her an old digital camera that he was not using so she took that with her to document her trip. (Sorry I don’t have any of the pictures.)
Kevin and I took Deyra to the Big Fresno Fair a couple of weeks ago. When we lived in Texas, we went to the Texas State Fair and were really excited because we were sure it would be the best fair around…wrong. It was a very disappointing experience and we realized that the Fresno Fair is actually better. So it’s a pretty cool fair and Deyra was impressed. We ate cinnamon rolls (the best in the world!), saw all the animals and exhibits, and even took her on the ferris wheel. She was a little leery of the rides at first but seemed to enjoy the ferris wheel. Kevin and I went on a pirate ship that went upside down and she declined that one. She watched us and when we hung upside down the first time, I saw her cover her mouth and I am sure she was saying, “Dios mío!”. She thought that we were crazy!
Deyra and I on the ferris wheel
Deyra also got to experience her first Halloween! I explained the whole concept to her (and the more I told her, the more I realized that it is really weird that we dress little kids up and send them door to door asking for candy) and told her that we were taking her to a haunted forest/hayride. This was really hard to explain, even in Spanish, and I’m pretty sure she thought that we were crazy. We went to the haunted forest with a group of friends and she (and our friend Laura) got really scared on the hayride while the rest of us were laughing. Then came the forest…Laura said that they were holding onto each other and screaming the entire time. They both came sprinting out screaming but Deyra said that she had fun and that it was something that she never imagined!
A couple days before Halloween I picked Deyra up from school and we were driving home talking about what she had learned that day. She told me that she learned about “Holy Week” which I thought was a really strange thing to learn about in October. She tried to explain what she had learned to me in English and it came out, “kids, candy, 31st”. I was super confused and she switched to Spanish and explained Halloween. When she realized the mistake that she made she laughed a lot and still likes to talk about how she confused Halloween with Holy Week!
Deyra carving her pumpkin
Laurie, Deyra, and I carved pumpkins on Halloween and I am pretty sure Deyra once again thought that we were crazy when I explained the concept to her. Laurie had a book of face designs that you just poke holes in and then cut along the holes. Deyra chose one because it was “easy” and actually enjoyed the whole process. She really liked when we put candles in the pumpkins so that they glowed. Afterwards, Laurie and I dressed up to go to a friend’s house and Deyra was so excited when she saw our costumes that she started jumping up and down squealing, “picture, picture!”. She took a picture of us on her camera so she would remember our costumes. She said that she liked Halloween because you get candy and she likes candy!
Our beautiful pumpkins!
Deyra has started speaking more English and while it is far from perfect, she has definitely improved! I can understand her most of the time and get the gist of what she is trying to say. We like to talk about how much she has improved and she always says, “When I come no English, now much English”. Her writing is even better than her speaking!
Fall finally arrived and the days have been much colder. Usually with lows in the high 30s or low 40s and highs in the 60s or sometimes 50s. Needless to say, Deyra is freezing. She told us that she has never been anywhere this cold and that her fingers almost froze. There is usually ice on Kevin’s windshield and she could not believe that was even possible. I took her to buy a jacket and she came back with two that were exactly the same. I asked her why she was getting two and she said, “don’t I need two?” I explained the concept of jackets to her and that she could wear the same one everyday over her other clothes or if she wanted, get two different jackets. She chose to just get one and usually doesn’t even wear it even though she says that she is freezing. We’ll see how she fares once it gets colder and foggy.
Up next: Deyra does community service and Deyra’s first Thanksgiving!
