On Saturday Elvi arrived. Elvi Araujo had lived with us during Argentina I in 2003 and those of you who read my email posts then will remember how much a beloved part of our family she became. She now works for a family in Buenos Aires, cleaning and cooking, and has taken a week of vacation to spend time with our family. This morning she and Emily are giving each other English/Spanish lessons, with as much giggling as learning going on. Between Emily’s difficult-to-read handwriting and Elvi’s creative spelling (she’d only finished elementary school in Peru before she left school to work, way back when), this has been a tremendous cultural exchange. Elvi’s pronounciation of “coffee” – which comes across as “Garfield” – is guaranteed to crack up Emily every time.
diana maps 