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05/09/2006: "things i learned today"

this week, i started working with a group of immigrant women from somalia. i approached this class with some trepidation as it will be the first class i have taught with an interpreter. i tend to talk a lot in class and share all kinds of trivia as i work, so i was trying to mentally prepare myself to be as clear and concise as possible. we will see how well that went when we meet next and they have to remember what i have told them. i could tell from watching them that they could understand a lot more english than they could speak, which is nice for me. i learned two things from my class today.
1. not everyone knows about mixing colors together. i experienced this with an american friend once who couldn't remember which colors made orange and i figured that he was just more than normally color challenged. when i shared with the group a swatch i had made by mixing yellow and turquoise to get lime green, they were very excited. the group leader had particularly requested lime green as one of our color choices. since we don't have lime green dye, i improvised. from what i got from the interpreter, they thought this was a great idea and were amazed that it would work.
2. the somali word for scissors is maqas. as the group leader explained to the group that they would tell me what they wanted to make and i would cut it out for them, i interrupted and said "no- everyone does their own cutting". part two of this project involves a quilt made from dyed fabrics. my announcement caused a great stir and much pantomime of scissors. a cause for great excitement - whether good or bad, i am not sure.