The Café y Conversaciones (Coffee and Conversations) Spanish class at Presbyterian Village North (PVN) has been an appreciated activity addition for residents. Led by PVN teammates and fluent Spanish-speakers, Daisy Fuentes, Community Life Manager, and Dora Leiva, Community Life Coordinator, the class began this past February to assist in informal conversation. By resident request, the class has grown into an engaging Spanish class, held every Wednesday morning in the PVN Game Room. Café y Conversaciones typically hosts 10-15 residents who participate in lessons from a Spanish for Beginners course and delve into vocabulary and grammar exercises led by the teammate instructors. The eager learners are even assigned homework. One of the goals of the class is to separate hard from impossible. “Learning a new language is hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible,” said Dora.
Adding to the fun cultural experience, Daisy and Dora serve assorted bites from different Latino countries on the first Wednesday of each month. Snacks have included Mexican tamales, Pan Dulce (sweet bread), savory Honduran Baleadas and ChocoFlan (chocolate flan), which was specially prepared in Daisy’s kitchen. The class also enjoyed an outing to San Martin Bakery in Dallas to sample Guatemalan cuisine.
Michael Iwasko, owner of Elevate Coffee Trading Co., volunteers with the class on “Lotería” days and generously provides the morning coffee. (You may recognize Michael from the PVN Coffee Pop-Up, where he sells his coffee.) On “Lotería” days, the group plays a lively game of Mexican Bingo while sipping Elevate Coffee Trading Co.’s freshly brewed coffee.
Under Dora and Daisy’s guidance, the class provides much more than language lessons. “We’re learning a new language, but we also get to really know one another. I enjoy the stories and the time we spend together,” shared Dora.
Sign up to attend Café y Conversaciones on Cubigo.
by Amee McGough
