Reflexions of Living in a house with no clutter

Ok, so it has been two weeks since we got here. Here are some of my thoughts about living simple:

1. We have saved money on gas, which in return we can use to try all the delicious food here and do other fun stuff. We haven't used the car except to go to church, oh and once to go to the library because I got fed up of waiting for a bus that never came!! but then I was sorry about driving because I so much hate to parallel park!!!  I feel more active since we either walk or bike to places we want to see, sometimes we take the train.

This was our ride to one of the Islands (7.5 miles one way)

2. We have been doing really well with the clothes and shoes we brought. I was even feeling bad for bringing one pair that I haven't used yet, and I don't think I will. The girls have been able to wear different outfits just by matching up their shorts and shirts in different ways. Same for us, I think it was a good amount of clothing to bring and it even made me think of how much simpler I can live when I go back home.There are a lot of things in my house that I don't really need, (granted this is summer, you always need less clothes in the summer :0) and I live in a two bedrooms house! But believe me, for two weeks, I haven't felt stressed by messes caused by clothes on the floor, or shoes everywhere in the closet, or mounds of laundry to do!! I have done one load in two weeks and in was a small one! I LOVE IT! I feel like I have more time to spend with my girls, I have been able to read my book and have started knitting again, the less you have, the less messy it is and there is more good energy in the house!

3. I have not spend time yelling at the girls to clean their room because they have just enough to keep them happy that they do a "quick pick up" every night, ON THEIR OWN!! I know, I didn't believe it myself when I heard it first, but it is true. For me this means that they have too much junk in their room back home, things they never really play with.  They have not said even once "I miss this". They have big imaginations and make up so many scenarios with the dolls they have that sometimes I wonder where they get it all. The Barbies were good only for a couple of days, then they went in the closet, I haven't seen then at all, but their American Girl Dolls have been the stars in all of their imaginary scenarios. (Except for one time I found them pretending to be owls. The couches where their nests, their blankets their wings, and their stuff animals, their preys!! je je je, it looked like fun.) They are so into their imaginative stories they wake up and pick up where they left off. Sometimes I have to beg them to go out with me to see the city!  KIDS REALLY ONLY NEED THEIR IMAGINATIONS TO CREATE A WONDERFUL WORLD OF PLAY AND FANTASY.

Here they were pretending that they were bakers. They made lots of sand cakes and we were the customers. :)

What do you think of these three reflexions?

4th of July Weekend without the fireworks!

Our first weekend here was full of wonderful experiences, but no fireworks! It doesn't get dark here until almost 10 p.m. and we had two very tired girls.  Chris had Friday off so we biked to Old Montreal. It was incredible busy- lots and lots of people! There was a Poutine Festival, so we got to try two different types of this traditional Quebecquian (is that a word) fast food. It was delicious! We got to use our two new french words, bonjour and merci. We smiled and nodded a lot, although most people will ask you if you prefer English or French. The people in Montreal seem to be very polite and happy.
There were lots of street entertainers and they did their shows in both languages. This is a very dual language city. There was one of the entertainers that  did the whole show in French. He called on Bella to help him and he asked her in French what her name was and she answered!!! I was surprised, although I know little kids have a better chance of learning another language than adults. He then asked her in french to blow and she just looked at him, so he said it in English and she blew, then he said it in Spanish!! and she blew again, so he exclaimed: "wow, she speaks three languages!!!" ja ja ja ja, I wish!! maybe at then end of this adventure!

On Saturday we biked 15 miles (round trip) to one of the big parks, (Parc Jean Drapeau). There was a Latino Festival going on so the shows were in Spanish/English/French. It was pretty awesome, although I realized people really prefer to speak French. We did one Latino Dance lesson and even though the guy started his presentation in the three languages, he switched to French after just a couple of minutes and never went back to translating, so we had to use our language learners' strategy, observe what the others are doing and copy it.  We did the same during the concert, the guys singing were only speaking in French and I did understand when he asked if there were any latinos in the audience, so I raised my hand, I only got it because of the word "latino" in the sentence and then I "observed what the others were doing and copied" It is really a wonderful strategy. Also, language learners tend to make meaning of what they read or hear by using the familiar words and the cognates. 

So, do you still use that strategy when trying to make meaning? I certainly had not noticed, but now that I think about it, I do use it all the time when I read or listen in English. 

Day 2 & 3

I have to tell you that I have been learning a lot during this experience, especially, I was thinking how easy it is to live with the bare minimum.  Our second day here happened to be Canada Day, nothing was open and we really needed to get some cash! so we ventured downtown trying to find an ATM. We finally found one. On our way back we stopped by a very beautiful Catholic Church, we decided to go in, there was a souvenir store right at the entrance and then the majesty of the stained glass windows  in the ceiling, it was awesome! The best part was to talk to the priest, we have learned to say bonjour and merci, so that's all we said and for whatever he said in between we just nodded and smiled! :0)

My daughters are better at taking risks and use the words they hear other using, I admire this, it really made me feel proud of them.

On our second day here I did had to prepare dinner and I was so happy that I brought my iron pan because, since there are no baking pans, I could use it to prepare my sweet potatoes. Also there was no salt and since everything was closed today we couldn't get some. Anyway, my hubby made some pasta and we used some packets of parmesan cheese that we had gotten one time when we order calzones, they finally came on handy.

Our our third day we finally venture downtown Montreal. The adventure started at the train station, the cashier was trying very hard to understand me and to use English, I finally understood how the train thingy works and we got our tickets. Super crazy!!! The train was super fast! We went to the Museum, which is really four buildings with four levels each to see. It was awesome! There was one of the workers there who told Estrella not to touch something and I didn't understand the exact words but I got the point, which made me realized that my students do that a lot, they might not understand the exact words, but when they see my actions, they get it.
I had to tell the guy that I didn't speak French and he talked to me in Spanish! I was surprised!

There were drawing pads in certain parts of the Museum so people could just sit and draw the sculpture in front of them.

In conclusion, in my living simple experiment, in the first three days I felt that I had all that I needed. In our language learners experience, I realized how hard it is to take risks but it is so worthy, people really appreciates it when you use their mother tongue, I feel very proud of my students when they use Spanish, but I am beginning to understand them better, understand how hard it is to take that first step, how scary it is, and how much their poor little heads must hurt when everybody is speaking in a language that they still are not use to yet! (that was me this last three days!)

So, did you have a hard time taking that first step when trying a new language? what kind of strategies have you seen your students use when taking that risk?

The second Trip: Montreal, QC

So, to continue our experiment, we decided this year to live in another place where, not only the girls and my husband would be challenged by the language, but also me! We also thought that this time we would live on our own, not with family, to make it more challenging and we are doing it for six weeks. There has been a week and a half now and I will give you a little recollection of our experiences so far. We traveled to Montreal, QC, which is just right next to the border right? everybody speaks English, right? what kind of cultural shock you can get here right? Well, not quite!

Living Simple

We rented a condo with two bedrooms (although the girls' bedroom is really the dining room) It is in the second floor, there is no backyard, we are used to that, no garage, we are used to that as well. Here is the simplicity of the matter. In the kitchen there is only two pots, one medium and one small, two pans, one medium and one small. A set of cups and plates, enough silverware for four people and the necessary utensils but not overwhelming like I have in my kitchen I can't even open my drawer!!! There is a can opener, a wine opener, a cheese grater, two serving spoons, one with wholes, (I don't know the name of it) a ladle, a spaghetti thingy, I don't own one of those so I don't know the name of it, but it is kind of handy. There are two small  tupperware containers and two big ones, some dish towels, a washer and drier and a box of different kinds of tea (heaven!!) The living room has a couch and two chairs, no TV, no air conditioner, which we don't mind because we never use it.

We brought in our little car: light stuff for camping, some of my kitchen things I can't live without, for example, my Vitamix! (I have to drink my GGS every morning!) my iron frying pan, a wooden spoon, a spatula, a knife, (thank goodness cause there were only serving knives here) and some pinchers. Each girl has three dresses, two skirts, four short sleeve blouses and four long sleeve, a sweater and a jacket, swimsuit, two pairs of jeans/long pants, four pairs of shorts, camping gear, very minimal, some socks and underwear and four pairs of shoes, including the ones they wore on the way here. We have pretty much the same in our suitcases. Although I have six pairs of shoes, which I will tell you later my reflexion about this. We also brought some food staples that we like to have like honey, oatmeal, flaxseed, etc. 

We all brought some kind of entertainment, I brought my computer, my knitting (trying to make a pair of socks) and some books I want to read before school starts again. The girls brought one of their American Girl's Dolls and some of their clothes, a chapter book they wanted to read, a drawing pad and their computer.  They also brought comfort stuff, like their pillows and blankets, I am missing my pillow! The hubby brought his computer.

So, that is all we brought in our car and it is all we have to survive for a month. Today I wanted to tell you just my reflexions of the first day we were here.

Day 1

We got here on a Monday night just directly to bed. So our first full day was Tuesday, it was raining and we were too tired to try to do anything. The girls found in one of the drawers two barbies, a Kent, a baby and their clothes, not a lot but they were so excited for this, they also found a baby chair, a baby stroller and the baby to go with it. On their bed they found two stuff animals, they have brought two also, the ones they sleep with. I haven't seen my girls playing with these kind of toys for a long time, mostly they play outside, they do have a big imagination. In a matter of minutes they had created this whole world where the barbies had a very interesting life. I felt really grateful that they are used to create their own games, and that they do not need "the screen" to be entertain. But this was only day one, and this are the only toys they have, let's see what happens after a week.

I realized we didn't have anything to eat other than cereal, so I decided I was going to go to the store. First thing I noticed is, most everybody here either walks or bikes to places, and they also always bring their shopping bag. Me and the girls started walking trying to follow google maps, we walked for like it seemed forever, the little street was very active, lots of people, lots of bakeries, people eating outside everybody speaking French!!! So, our first tasks after google map failed was to ask somebody where the store was. THIS IS MY FIRST REFLEXION AS A LANGUAGE LEARNER I was so rude!! I asked in English, because rude me is thinking, well, everybody should speak English, or they better speak it! I felt very bad about this, I felt like a bad example for my girls, I mean, my mom always says, when in Rome do as the Romans, and here I was trying to impose my language on others, I know some can speak English,  but they were not speaking English at the moment, and what is it that I said all the time to my students: "If I talk to you in Spanish or you hear me speaking in Spanish you need to use Spanish" 

Lucky for me, the lady could understand me and nicely told me where the store was. At the store I made more Language mistakes, and I didn't even apologize, I asked a question in English eventhough the guy said "oui, madame?" The worse of the worse, at the Deli, the lady talked to me in French, and I quickly answered in English and order 1 pound of ham!!! they do not use pounds here!!! they use kilos!! I payed $11 for a lot of ham!! and all because I was feeling self conscious of looking stupid or iliterate, I don't know why. Then the girl at the cashier asked me in french where my bags where and I had to say "what???" and she was kind of rude when she realized I didn't speak French, she quickly ring me and at the end she said something in French I didn't understand, maybe she said bye, have a good day, or maybe she said, go learn French before you attempt to go shopping!! The best part of this day was that my daughters had to return the shopping cart and when they came back they had the biggest smile on their faces, then they told me "mami, a lady asked us in French if she could have the cart and we just nodded and smile and gave it to her and she said merci!" and I was like, how did you know what she said, and they were like "well, we didn't but we infer it cause of the way she moved her hands and all that"! Wow!! TWO LANGUAGE LEARNERS REALLY DO HAVE LOTS OF STRATEGIES TO MAKE SENSE OF LANGUAGES, I have forgotten about this because I have not been in this position for a long time.

In conclusion, one thing I won't make my students do anymore is assume that they understand me fully just because they are in Dual Language, or because their parents are Hispanic, also, to not be rude when they can express themselves in the language I want them to express themselves, because learning a language is hard, it takes practice, it takes time, it takes immersion, and even after all of that, unless you really use it, it won't matter how much Duolingo you do everyday. :) (I still love Duolingo)

Do you know what is the funny part of all of this? I  told our host our adventure of the day and (she is from France and can hardly speak English but she tries her best to use English with us) she told me that the grocery store was use right across the street!!!! ha ha ha!! 

Comment about my reflexion in learning another language, what do you think?

The Second Trip

The First Trip

Last year we decided that it would be a great idea to live somewhere else for  the summer. The idea was to see if we were able to live for a month with only what we could carry in our suitcases. Since it was our first time we decided to do it only for two weeks and in a somewhat familiar place, we chose Guatemala and El Salvador.
Since this trip required that we travel by plane, our packing options were very limited. We packed only the essential clothes. I had learned from our camping trip to Florida that you need to bring clothes that you can layer up because the weather is so unpredictable, sadly for me, my experience in Florida was a hard way to learn this because I packed only summer clothes and one meager little sweater.

It looks sunny but it was cold, Estrella was freezing! I am wearing my summer dress and my little sweater!

 Imagine my surprise when we were camping in the Everglades and a swarm of mosquitoes came after me as I was trying to prepare dinner in my shorts!!! Then it rained the next day, luckily I had packed my favorite camping waterproof pants, which I wore for the rest of the camping trip.
The point is,  I learned from that to pack clothes that I can wear down or up, that I can layer up in case it gets cold and clothes that I can use for a night out or a walk around the city.

So, back to our trip to Central American, we had three carry on suitcases in total, for the four of us. We did not stay on our own place, we stayed with my brother for a bit.

Then we drove to El Salvador and stayed with my grandma, which was pretty much camping.

This is her property.

This is how we had to take baths, the water was always freezing!

Living Simple

I missed somethings during that trip, like the fact that our phones didn't work, there was no internet at my grandma's house, I realize how much I like my microwave! :) but all those things really didn't matter much, we were able to live for a whole week with no more than three outfits, doing laundry by hand, cooking without all the cooking gadgets we are used to. The girls were able to find entertainment in things that most of the time we take for granted, they observed nature more, they could sat still for hours waiting for butterflies to land on them, they explore my grandma's orchards and her different kinds of flowers, they learned how to make "masa" (dough for tortillas) from scratch, and then make tortillas with grandma.

This is the bathroom

playing with the butterflies

More than a vacation, it was a time to learn and live with the resources we had at hand. But, after a week with her we were ready to go back to our house.

Learning a Language

Now the best part of that trip, besides being with family was that my daughters were "forced" to speak Spanish, the youngest had, until that point, refused to speak in Spanish, she could understand me pretty well, but I could never make her talk to me in Spanish, the oldest was already pretty comfortable switching from one language to the other. Being immerse in the language was a great opportunity for them to really use all their strategies as simultaneous language learners. Bella started by observing and using her hands to talk to people, then she started repeating every single thing she was told or she heard others say, specially other children, by the end of our trip she was able to have a little conversation with my grandma! I was amazed! The oldest was able to improve her vocabulary and speak more fluently. They really just needed that little push to embrace the fact that they are two language learners.

This past school year was Bella's first year in Dual Language and she blossomed!!! She still uses those strategies that two language learners use, repeating, observing, using her hands to communicate, she is more willing now to speak both languages, to switch when she knows that the other person doesn't speak English or viceversa. This was a great trip for my daughters and their experience as bilingual kids. 

So, what strategies have you seen your children, (students or your own) to use when learning another language?