The Long Game
Our most recent Encounter You know that part in the movie when the moving van pulls in across the street and the kids sit in front of the window watching, hoping the van holds bikes and bunk beds and the possessions of kids their age? That was us last September when a family bought the store across the street from our house. One day, Chris walked in with the announcement: they have a 19 year old daughter who speaks English and wants to practice with us! This was in the early days when we were excited whenever someone wanted to spend more than five minutes with us. I poured myself into Sofia’s English classes. I analyzed her reading level, designed an appropriate curriculum, gave her homework and assessments. She had moved to the United States with her parents when she was 4. When she was 12 her parents divorced and she returned to Argentina with her mom and little brother. She missed the United States and loved talking with us about our home country. We visited her at her store of