Spanish and English...

Donna, Juan and Kim

I was up at 5 and at work by 5:30 Sunday morning. It was Juan's first day of work. Juan recently married Kim's friend and was hired to work in our kitchen. (Kim is the daughter of dear friends, and my direct boss.) Juan's from the Dominican Republic, and we weren't sure how fluent he is in English, so Kim asked me to come in to translate, if necessary. It was definitely worth getting up early to be a participant.

Juan speaks some English and he's working hard to learn more. While I was able to converse with him in Spanish, he actually requested that we speak as much English as possible to help him learn. I happily obliged, but told him if he didn't understand or had questions, we could lapse into Spanish at will. I also confided in him that I'd enjoy speaking Spanish with him to improve my skills.

He's enthusiastic about his new job, and has requested days with double shifts. Kim is pretty darn excited about his willingness to work, as well as how hard he works when he's clocked in. We can see already that he's going to be a dream employee.

When I got home, Handsome asked me if I'm ready to work at the United Nations as an interpreter now. I told him I'll pass, but gosh! I sure had fun. I've been asked to come back on Wednesday for a few hours in the event I'm again needed to translate. I'll be there!

It's going to be a busy week. My doctor's appointment on Tuesday; work on Wednesday; and then work again on Saturday to fill in for a cashier who handed in her resignation. I'll know more about my regular schedule once I have an idea of a new surgery date. I'm just going to keep it simple for now. My legs are thanking me for the consideration, I know.