Civic Engagement

Today I started what will become a weekly occurrence for the rest of the semester. I'm tutoring every Saturday for two hours at the Minneapolis Central Library. I've ridden my bike past the library many, many times. I've driven past it even more, but when I need my library fix I've always stayed in the neighborhood I lived in, mostly due to the lack of public parking, and by public, I mean FREE. The northeast library has become a regular stop for me. Let's just say I was impressed. As beautiful as the library is from the outside, the inside is even more jaw-dropping. It seems sort of silly to refer to a library in those terms, but that's exactly what it is.

The employees, however, really need to communicate between departments. No one seemed to know that there was adult tutoring on the fourth floor, and I wasn't sure where to go. Once I made it to the fourth floor, after stops in the teen center tutoring hall, everything went smoothly. My supervisor Kelly was very helpful and apologetic for the lack of cohesion between departments.

I spent most of the time helping a young east African girl with basic math. I don't have much experience with east Africans. I've had a few conversations with classmates over the last year, but beyond that I'm a newbie to their culture. I've been fascinated with the large number of east Africans in the Twin Cities, just as I have been with the large Hmong population.

As the time was running out in the tutoring hall, a second young east African girl arrived needing help with her U.S History. It's amazing how complicated the battle of the Alamo and "Manifest Destiny" are when broken down into the basic elements. Words that aren't English and yet are a part of our basic English vernacular, such as San Antonio and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, are very difficult for a ESL student. Some nouns (names and places) are also very difficult. I could feel my ethnocentric American version of history come out. True, the Alamo was a 4,000 to 200 battle that lasted much longer than expected - 13 days to be exact, but those Americans had moved into Mexican territory, staking claim to land that belonged to Mexico. Her textbook glossed over this part, leaving her to reason that it was a slaughter on the part of Mexico.

I was supposed to leave at 3:00, but I couldn't bring myself to leave before she finished the chapter. Watching her, a girl in her late teens who I'm sure has experienced her fair share of violence in her homeland, ask me to define a troop or a soldier was an interesting experience. You read about east African boys younger than her that are forced to fight in tribal wars. Are these boys soldiers? Are these boys part of a troop? The Continental Army had teens fighting against the British.

My mind wandered as she struggled with the word Houston, as in Sam Houston, and I explained that Houston was now a city in Texas that many survivors relocated to after Hurricane Katrina. I hope that by giving her a current event to connect these historic events to it would help her learn the details. I went on to explain that the American settlers were immigrants in Mexico's land that decided they no longer wanted to follow Mexican law. I could see the light bulb going off in her head. Immigrant was a word she understood. I'm looking forward to these Saturdays I'll have at library. I'm looking forward to helping our new neighbors learn about us as I learn about them.

Indie Coffee Shop.com

From Erica M at Metroblogs:

IndieCoffeeShops.com is a pretty nifty Google Maps mashup. Here are all the currently listed indie coffee shops in the Twin Cities. You can filter for wifi, food, alcohol, non-smoking, outdoor seating, and "one-of-kind" (whatever that is).

This is a great site, but I've already noticed that two coffee shops I've enjoyed are missing: Uncommon Grounds and Audobon Coffee.