Anahi and Blanca Return Home

It was a glorious month for the girls in the U.S. On Friday the 25th, the girls graduated from their English class. After 18 three-hour classes, they made amazing progress. Each girl did a final presentation, telling us all in English about their trip. They made books with photos and presented them to all of us at their graduation. We can't say thanks enough to their teachers Stacy and Shaneka and teaching aid Kelsey. (Photo below of Kelsey, Blanca, Anahi and Stacy.)

After graduation, the girls wanted to grab a lunch at their favorite restaurant, In-N-Out burger. I chronicle that event on my burger blog.

After lunch, Judy Hobbs took the girls to Carmel for the weekend. They got to spend time at a horse show, where Brooke Hobbs was showing. They also got to go to the Monterrey Aquarium where the loved the penguins.

We had a somewhat bittersweet goodbye party at our house on Sunday. Both host families, Joni's family, my family and the teachers joined us. We laughed at all the photos from the trip and had a great time reliving the month.

Finally, on the 28th, I flew with the girls back to El Paso. Each one had an extra bag filled with t-shirts and other momentos from the trip. After landing we had one last lunch together in Juarez and I drove them back to Mexico. We went to Anahi's house first.

I was really excited to see what they had learned. Anahi's mom speaks no english. When she was talking to me in Spanish, I was understanding well enough, but was too tired to respond in Spanish. Instead, I told the girls in English what I wanted to say and they quickly translated for Anahi's mom. This is something that never could have happened before the trip.

I just want to say how much everyone contributed to this great experiment. Our financial contributors, host families, teachers and many friends that supported the girls were all part of the team. We couldn't do it without you all.

SRK