Plaza Sesamo

Today there were enough sickies at my house that we all stayed home from church. I turned on PBS for Audrey because I realized a few months ago that, while PBS Kids shows are not aired on Saturdays, they do air on Sunday mornings, and usually shows that aren't on during the week. (I'm pretty bummed about this, in a way, because this essentially means we miss some of our favorites, like Sagwa, which isn't on during the week in our area).

This morning I made another discovery: Plaza Sesamo, the Spanish-language version of Sesame Street, airs here Sunday mornings! You might ask, "Um, I thought your family's second language was Chinese? Why the excitement?" Actually, I would love for Audrey and Aislinn to be exposed to as much Spanish as possible. Worldwide, as far as international business is concerned, they will have an advantage because Chinese is projected to be the language to know. But for life here in the U.S., Spanish is increasingly important to know, for all purposes. Just the other night we were in a McDonald's and saw a Hispanic family. They had a sleeping baby, and I just wanted to connect. I worked up my courage and my extremely limited Spanish left over from high school, and asked, "Cuantos anos?" The young woman smiled, and asked, somewhat puzzled, "El bebe?" "Si." She thought for a moment, and answered in halting English,"Nine months." MONTHS! Duh. I laughed and corrected myself, "Cuantos MESES, si?" We all laughed, but I was struck with how limited I am in connecting with an increasingly large part of even the local population here in Indiana. I am a relational person, even though I am an introvert, and I like connecting with people around me. My China experience has also drawn me to international-type folks, but I can only learn from those who also speak English.

I can't learn every language, but Spanish is one language (my kids and) I should reasonably be able to understand and speak, ideally at least as much as my still somewhat limited Chinese. My Chinese is still far better than my Spanish, and I don't even live there anymore.

I've got to figure out a way to watch this program more frequently. Our VCR, since the loss of its remote, is no longer programmmable. We don't have Tivo. But maybe I can lobby for it... :)