The second visit with the Cuban family was a success! It definitely went way better than our first time with the family last week. The translator was at our meeting this time and was able to help us understand the story behind the family and why they left Cuba. Although I am fluent in Spanish, it helped having a translator their as she and the family are very comfortable with one another as she has helped them since day one in America. After learning why they left Cuba (mainly for political reasons) I was definitely more empathetic for the family and their situation. To be honest, before learning about their situation, I thought of traveling to Cuba in my future. After learning more about the situation and violence in Cuba, I would rather not ever go to Cuba. Especially after meeting a family who had it so bad, that they felt they had to get out of the country in order to have a more relaxed and comfortable life. I had perceptions in regards to Cuba before meeting the family, and based on my experience with the family, my perceptions have changed once again as shown.
Another great thing about this visit was that Mykahl opened up. The little boy who I had talked about in my last post. Mykahl was very shy at first, but after spending a lot of time with him, he began to talk and open up to me. Mykahl still doesn't answer every question I ask him, but he is easily distracted as he is just a young little boy! He is definitely making strides in the right direction. In relation to Mykahl, one problem that we had is the fact that we only had one iPad, in which the kids loved. The problem is that both of the boys did not get the idea of sharing, and Mykahl got extremely jealous whenever it was Felix's turn to use it. I do have to say, Mykahl and Felix, the little boys just loved the iPad. They were able to learn about instruments and then play them (on the Garageband app). Also, I had downloaded some English/Spanish kids learning applications in which they thoroughly enjoyed without question. Next time, the other volunteer, Maddie plans on bringing her iPad as well so we are able to work with both boys on iPads instead of taking turns.
During this session, I noticed that the mom, Katia, was very comfortable with the translator. The translator is another women about the same age as her, so she ended up talking to her socially for almost the whole time. She was more then kind to Luke and I, however I wish she would have interacted with us and wanted to work with us a bit more. When the translator is not there in the future I feel we will have a better time connecting.
In terms of the stage of Knapp's relationship model, I would say the family and I are in the experimenting stage. We are still unsure of how each other reacts in different situations and how to communicate the most effectively with one another. We are not sharing all details of our life, and we are experimenting with what to share and how to interact with each other without question.
We are definitely working towards are hopes of helping the family become more comfortable in America. Mykahl already considers himself American and is so excited about the fact that he is in such an amazing country. The others are still adjusting as it is an extreme change from what they were used to, in terms of transportation, technology, living situations, etc. I have also noticed my Spanish coming back, and noticed the ease of use I am having with Spanish. Knowing Spanish is definitely helping teach everyone in the family the words in English. Everyone in the family is improving every day! In fact, Felix had his first day of school yesterday, so I suspect he will pick up English very very quickly!
During my future interactions with the family, I plan on bringing more game based activities for the kids. Also, I plan on really trying to connect with each family member on a different level based on their needs, knowledge level, etc. Also, in the beginning of our sessions is the best time to work with the young boys, as they are tired and restless by the end, although they LOVE to hang out and learn English with Luke and I without question!
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