Back Porch Cafe

Hello!

I need to update you all on my last English class. We had a lot of
fun during the week. I had some visitors from Colorado come for a few
hours the first day of class. They helped my students figure out how
to set a table. I had plastic ware, paper plates, placemats, napkins,
and plastic cups for the to practice with. That also meant the worked
on telling someone where to put something or asking where to put
something. The visitors and my students had fun.

The rest of the week, we worked on cooking terms and what to say in
restaurants. I made up two dialogs and one restaurant chant. They
had fun with the chant, but I had to slow it way down for them to get
the beat and cadence of the words. This was the first time I asked
the students to make up their own dialog. They had some trouble
figuring out what I wanted them to do, but most of them got it in the
end. They had to act it out in front of the class in groups of
three. I think they had fun and it got them thinking about why I
might have these dialogs. It is interesting to see that they still
think they need to say the name of the person speaking instead of just
saying the line. Something I need to work on with them.

On Saturday we had a fun final day. I brought them all to my house at
10 am. They were divided into three groups. Each group had an
english speaking teacher (a Brit, a Kenyan and me) that helped them
make a food item. They changed teachers and food items twice. So, I
made Pizza with my group both times. My British friend, Ali Edapal,
taught the first group to make Kenyan fry (chopped meat with some
veggies and a little juice). The second group she taught how to make
spaghetti sauce. They had to grind the meat and chop all the
vegetables for both of these food items. My Kenyan friend, Mary,
taught them how to cook ugali (white corn meal boiled till dry) and
sikuma wiki (greens with tomatoes and onions). The second group
learned how to make rice and a thick cabbage and potato stew (not much
juice). All these things helped them put into practice the words they
learned about chopping, slicing, cutting, boiling, grating, grinding,
stirring, and baking.

After the cooking lessons, they moved a big table onto my back porch
and set the table. Then, I took orders and served them while Ali and
Mary put the food on plates for me. I added some desserts and a cole
slaw salad to make the meal complete. Those who ordered ice cream got
a surprise at how cold it was. There were a few funny faces :).

So, all in all the last class went really well. The students were
really trying hard to use their English. I posted some pictures on my
facebook page of the cooking. I was too busy serving food to think
about taking pictures of the Back Porch Cafe. I hope you all had a
good week too! blessings!!!!!