Three views of a typical morning of conversation

February 22, 2017

Report 1: Aileen introduced the topic of antibiotics in a general way and we discovered to our delight that we had two doctors in attendance.We talked briefly about antibiotics, resistance, superbugs and the difference between bacteria and viruses. Mabel offered Cipro as an example of a drug whose overuse/misuse had rendered it far less effective than it used to be. In fact, more than 37% of bacteria is now resistant to the drug. 

In small group: 

I took Ahmad, Beata, Nagale, Mary, Mona and Mabel so we had a nice mix of returning students and a high level of conversation. We read the Post piece first and Mabel was invaluable in supplementing the article's message and explaining some of the more specialized medical vocabulary. A few examples are diagnostic tools, synergy, immunity, MRSA and mutation, the last of which she made plain to all of us by sketching a simple and illuminating diagram. 

We talked about malpractice lawsuits and how doctors' fear about those might affect the care they give to patients. Mabel stressed the importance of education about such issues as antibiotic misuse and related, the idea that our system often leaves doctors far too little time to spend with each patient. Hence, a trusting rapport can be difficult to achieve. 

We also discussed the pattern of viral epidemics worldwide and Mabel told us that Zika is not a new virus but actually first reared its head in 1948. It is the new knowledge about its relationship to macrocephaly that made its avoidance such a cause celebre in the last cycle. 

We spoke about the need for more investment in research and development of antibiotics as the last one was introduced eight long years ago! That brought up a discussion of the vocabulary word philanthropy and in particular, the work being done in Africa by Bill and Melinda Gates to combat malaria etc.  

Other vocabulary we touched on: "clutch" used to mean vital or crucial, robust, abnormal, lawsuit/to sue, bloodwork, to raise, to hasten, relief vs. recovery, to infect, to comply and void. To name a few! 

It was a great and lively group and a perfect size-- while we nearly finished both articles, we still had plenty of time for meandering discussion. I, for one, learned a lot. —Tamara

Report 2: After brief introductions we divided our group of thirteen students into two smaller groups with Aileen and Tamara facilitating.  We were fortunate to have a medical doctor in each group as the topic we discussed (article title) was “Antibiotics are becoming less effective, and their overuse is making them dangerous.” The entire group expressed serious concern about a possible, perhaps likely time in the near future when more and more “bugs” will become drug resistant. The topic prompted high interest and engagement. 

All joined in with personal experiences as we read aloud and discussed the article. There was high concern about how antibiotic “wipes” are everywhere which contributes to bacterial resistance. Many mothers even use wipes when changing diapers which shocked John (France).   Frederique, an OB/GYN doctor from France, cautions her patients to wash their children with just soap and water -which is sufficient.  She noted the large increase in early puberty in studies of girls worldwide which some have partially attributed to the plethora of antibiotics, including in home cleaning products. Also, people can eat foods from farm animals who ingest these drugs for growth and to prevent illness. 

We learned from John that in France, children are not vaccinated before entering school. Mona (Germany, but has lived in many countries) said that in the United Kingdom, only those over sixty-five or in hospitals are vaccinated. We wondered if there were studies to examine the rate of childhood infections in those countries compared to those in the US where the vast majority of school children are vaccinated. 

In France and in some other countries, Frederique shared,  patients are given an entire box of antibiotics even when they require fewer pills - a waste which encourages overuse. Youngsoo said that in South Korea, over-the-counter drugs are extremely limited, so people have to obtain prescriptions for medications which anyone can purchase in the US. 

For several years there was a slogan posted all over France stating “Antibiotics Are Not Automatic” to raise awareness of their overuse. This seemed to help but the slogan is no longer ubiquitous. 

Some of the vocabulary/phrases/idioms which arose from the article included: “hasn’t hit home,” “too much of a good thing,” comply, rely on, plain (soap), livestock, vulnerable, “fill the void,” compounding the crisis, ointment, (nasal) swab, purchase, effective, efficient, avoid, resist, crisis,MRSA infections. 

The group expressed an interest in reading/discussing articles about US issues including culture, government, and those which introduce new vocabulary.  —Aileen

Report 3:

As usual, discussion was friendly, uninhibited, lively and free-ranging.  Leo started us out with a description of a miniseries he had seen on Netflix about Sor Juana, a self-taught genius and seventeenth century nun who is famous throughout Latin America.  The miniseries illustrates how Sor Juana, in her letter to Sister Philotea and in her life, contradicted the then-current attitude that women should not be educated.

Diana’s perplexity about how to deal with a Muslim Uber driver who had objected when she filed a broken nail while riding in the back seat of his taxi opened up a long discussion of acceptable and unacceptable grooming habits in the USA and other countries.  From there ensured a comparison between Uber and DC taxi drivers, then drunk driving laws in our countries.  Most amazing was Brazil’s zero tolerance law under which eating a liqueur-filled chocolate candy produces a high enough score on a breath-o-lyzer to incur a fine.  In Europe blood alcohol level testing apparatus is required in new cars.  In Germany it did not used to be polite to say no to a birthday champagne toast, but now it is normal.  Another new habit is the seat belt, though in Naples people wear reversible t-shirts with a seat belt imprinted on them to get around the law.

At the end of our time together we did discuss politics, starting with the notorious Milo Yiannopolous who has been censured for saying that sex with a thirteen-year-old is not pederasty and then moving to the disturbing upsurge in hypernationalism, racism, and isolationionism.  Julia who is from Germany was offended that race is being tracked at her children’s schools.  

There is so much enthusiasm for this group of old-timers that do not wish to be taught that there will most likely be a free discussion group in most meetings held Mondays and Wednesdays.  —Susan

The English Conversation Group has returned to the Georgetown Neighborhood Library

Our English Conversation Club,

 at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library, 

meeting Monday and Wednesday mornings, 10 am-noon, has grown.  

Sometimes there are more than 20 participants with three facilitators.

Our club is free.  Just drop in!  Next meeting, Wednesday, January 18

"We started out by introducing ourselves and saying how we greet people, sometimes repeating all together the actual greeting words.  Here is an approximation of greetings.   Turkey: Merhaba, with hugs and kisses later. Colombia: Olà, buenos dias; Argentina: according to Julia, it depends on the circumstances.  This is one country where the formal “tu” is sometimes used.  Olà, Good morning, hand shake, 2 kisses, hi.  Slovakia: Dobringen (nice to meet you), 2 kisses, congratulations, happy birthday, hand shake.  Adriana thinks it weird and cold that instead of giving these greetings, Americans often give greeting cards.  Iran: Salam, hug, 2 kisses, and also questions about, where you live, who your parents are, how much you earn.  Brazil: varies by location, todo bem. Costa Rica: 1 kiss, shake hands — they also use the formal tu.  Ethiopia: Salam.  Girls kiss, men hug.  Kurdistan/Iraq: Salam, men kiss and hug and women kiss; Bangladesh: Salam Aleichem, men shake hands and women hug."  --Susan, facilitator

"Our Icebreaker, describing a superstition from our country, lasted about an hour and a quarter.  Here are most but not all of the beliefs we discussed, many relating to pregnant women.  Francesca described several superstitions in Italy, a very superstitious country: fear of black cats and walking under a ladder, putting salt on the table rather than passing it to the next person, which were common in the other Catholic countries in Europe and South America.  In Bangladesh, according to Suraya, it is bad luck for anyone to come to the house at night.  Wendy and NingXue described using food to propitiate ghosts of ancestors in China.  Arie told of a superstition in Madagascar, which came true in her case even though she was living in the USA, that pregnant women wearing tight clothing would have a child with the umbilical cord wound around his neck.  According to Alejandra, in Mexico it is believed that if someone sweeps at your feet you will not get married.  Carolina told us that in Mexico it is believed that if a pregnant woman does not eat what she craves her baby will look like that food.  Marta and her mother-in-law Pilar explained that where they are from in Galicia, in Northern Spain, the superstitions, including belief in witches and magic potions, are Celtic rather than Catholic.  There, women need to catch nine waves to get pregnant.  Anna Maria contributed that in Italy babies are often delivered at the full moon.  Oddly, in Mexico, it is bad luck to eat watermelon at night.  Leo’s grandmother is a curandera who uses folk remedies with lemons and limes.  In Colombia if a woman opens an umbrella inside she will be single for life (Mabel).  Adriana described an Easter ritual in Slovakia where men splash water on women so the women will be healthy and pretty like flowers, but this gets out of hand, and the men go from house to house getting bribed with cookies.  Magalie told about a strange custom of never putting bread on the table with the top down, which, in France, relates to the fact that the executioner, known only to the baker, would eat the upside down bread.  Luana told us that in Brazil it is believed that when people talk about you your ears get hot, and if you leave your shoes upside down you will die.

We then divided into three small groups to look at the generous material about Halloween that Michele had provided.  My group concurred that the holiday was mainly commercial, and celebrations in other countries showed American dominance, though Marta (Spain) thinks it is fun and Francesca (Italy) finds celebrating the devil offensive.  At the end, we could not resist talking about how awful Mr Trump is.  The group expressed their gratitude for the conversation group and opportunity to meet people outside their language communities.  Many of them milled around for at least a half an hour after we were finished."  --Susan, facilitator

We often celebrate holidays.  This is Sue Wu's diorama for Christmas, not Easter!

"My group discussed Christmas markets, filled with local crafts and hand-made Christmas products and foods, in Germany, Poland, Slovakia and other eastern European countries, huge candle displays in large cities in Colombia and Ecuador, family get-togethers and childhood memories of the participants.  Several people had photographs from their home countries, which we passed around.  When one member of the group mentioned that she would be all alone for Christmas this year, since her host family would be traveling out of the country and her visa does not permit her to accompany them, another group member suggested that she go to New York.  Several of the group had visited New York, and we spent quite some time discussing the “rude style” sometimes displayed by New Yorkers, and the plight of the homeless in big cities, both in the United States and in their home countries.  Each student participated and had an opportunity to speak at some length, sometimes trying to express some fairly complicated ideas.  Group members were quite good at “helping” each other out."  --Ellie, facilitator

 One of our most successful activities was reading graphic novels and picture books which participants presented to the group.

Ela’s group had carefully studied Fred Gwynne’s children’s book The King Who Rained  (1970), about what children hear but do not understand.  Sue explained a number of these playfully if mistakenly illustrated words and expressions such as forks in the road, frogs in the throat, playing bridge, and coat of arms.  The whole group enjoyed learning these idioms from Gwynne’s easy to read book.

Julia had a difficult time with Yang Liu’s tiny book East meets West (2015), about differences between China and the West, but Sue stepped in to tell her that the simple graphics, at least in her experience, were apt.  Leo liked seeing the cultural differences, especially how fingers are used to count.

Samira really got into Belle Yang’s graphic novel Forget Sorrow (2010).  She had been attracted by the title and liked the fact that the book was based on the Taiwanese author’s true experience of having been in an abusive relationship and then finding comfort in her father’s stories about their family.  The father really understood his daughter and encouraged her to depend on her own talents.

Mabel, a physician, thought that M K Czerwiec’s Graphic Medicine Manifesto (2015) would make an excellent program for teaching medical students how to deal with their own emotions.  Mabel spoke about her own experiences of being overcome when her patient died, but the old way is not to show any emotion and to keep distance from the patient. 

Carlos at first hated Marcel Ruijter’s graphic biography Hieronymus (2015) but came to admire, through its shocking pictures, the painfulness of life under the rule of the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages.

Estephania and in fact the whole group found Nathan Pyle's NYC  Basic Tips and Etiquette (2014) useful and funny too.  They liked learning to be direct rather than polite when asking questions, how to buy food on the street, watching to see if a taxi’s sign was illuminated, not to touch anyone on the subway, not to stop in the middle of the sidewalk, etc., etc. 

From Hanoch Piven’s My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil (2010) Adriana learned that the best way for adults, especially grandparents, to communicate with children aged 4-8 is to make simple collages to illustrate their observations. 

 --Susan, facilitator

  

For us teachers, it is most satisfying to see new friendships.  Here are Mai, from Egypt, and Izabella, from Poland.

Our group is sponsored by the Georgetown Neighborhood Library, at the corner of Wisconsin and R Streets, NW, 

and by the Washington English Center

Spring and new growth from traditions to politics

Alex says that shaving lotion and cologne are typical Father's Day gifts in Moldova. as Jorge (Spain), Fatima (Brazil), and Rei (Japan) look on.

Now comfortably ensconced in the Georgetown Safeway Starbuck's, the Georgetown Library's English Conversation Club is a place to make new friends while sharing traditions from Eastern Europe, Spain, Peru, Brazil, and Japan, and learning about the American political system.  Today, Rei described the day-long picnics that celebrate "starting a new life" in Japan, with kegs of beer and rice balls called onigiri.  Groups of picnickers share food and fun.  With the flowering of the cherry trees, Spring is a hopeful time, when students graduate, and the academic and fiscal year begins.

Further West, Spring Day, which comes on March 1st in Moldova, is a celebration of mothers.  In Albania, the Spring holiday, which  does not come until two weeks later, is celebrated with sweet pastry.  Father's Day in Spain, coinciding with the Feast of Saint Joseph, is not universal but at the discretion of individual provinces, while in Albania, there is no Father's Day at all!

From Spring holidays, the conversation moved to the traditional topic in Washington -- politics.  Everyone was familiar with House of Cards, a regrettably accurate depiction of how the game is played in the USA.  Jorge asked a provocative question: how long does it take to learn how to play the game?  Despite being from different cultures, the psychologists present, Tringa (Albania), Cristel (Peru), and Estrella (Spain, Jorge's wife) all agreed that it depends on the person.

Onigiri

Georgetown Library Conversation: Now Calling the Georgetown Safeway Starbuck's Home

On February 18, when we got to the Georgetown Library, we learned that it was closed due to a broken pipe.  The chief librarian, who helpfully posted our sign on the Library's door, suggested that we move to the comfortable and convenient Starbuck's at the Georgetown Safeway, 1855 Wisconsin Avenue, between Reservoir Road and T Street.  As befits a cafe, at Starbuck's on Monday and Wednesday mornings, from 10 am until noon, conversation has become more casual, reflecting the wants, needs, and even reading tastes of those present.

By contrast, at the Library since we started up again at the beginning of February, we talked mostly about defined topics such as Bruce Jenner's transition from male to female, a biofeedback device that uses GPS technology to let the wearer know whether her friends stress her out, community colleges as part of the US system of higher education,  and Sherry Turkle's TED talk about how it is still possible to be lonely in our connected world.  Ines Lima, from Brazil, commented in an email that she enjoyed receiving pre-work with a list of topics and links as well as follow-ups on conversations whether she was able to attend or not.  On the subject of loneliness in our global village, Ines wrote "I totally agree with Sherry Turkle about the 'paradoxes of technology'! However, what worries me the most is the 'security' aspect of the 'virtual reality'. I also worry about the dangers of 'drones' and other robotic devices. The complexity of the new technology is something beyond my understanding. Yet, I couldn't live without my computer and the internet. "

Whether we are at the Library or at Starbuck's, though, there are often new participants, and it is a pleasure getting to know each other and the customs of Brazil, France, South Korea, Russia, Spain, Colombia, and China.  Unsurprisingly, child-rearing practices, food preferences, and attitudes towards different animals like guinea pigs and horses vary widely among these countries, but there is still a lot of overlap from country to country as the acceptance of American attitudes, for example, is beginning to make parents less strict than they used to be in Asia.  I was surprised to learn, as one instance among many, that the ideas of Thomas Szasz regarding de-institutionalization of mental patients have caused as much havoc in Spain as here in the USA, because in neither place have there been sufficient social services available to help people once they were liberated from mental hospitals.

At the Starbuck's we have talked about lying (too many examples to list here), Internet shaming of Justine Sacco, and whether our attempts to de-clutter our lives are misguided.  As there is still no indication of when the Library will re-open, we must content ourselves with good coffee and conversation.  Please check the Library's website for updates.  --Susan Joseph

Going Bananas at Holiday Cookie Exchange

On Wednesday, December 9, in a private meeting room, our outreach group from the Washington English Center, from China, France, Brazil, Costa Rica, Spain, Lithuania, and the USA celebrated our last meeting of 2014 with an American tradition: an exchange of mostly homemade cookies, crêpes and treats from our homelands.  Food facilitated conversation about holiday traditions.  Among the represented countries, only in China, where red string bracelets ward off evil spirits,  are sweets not traditional for the new year.   In the USA and in Russia, the new year may begin with a polar bear plunge in icy water, not so special for Russian men who dunk whenever the air is colder than the water, and, when available, take a sauna before and after.  Gentle switching of the body with leaf brooms can enhance the sauna experience by promoting good circulation.  Saunas are de trop in Brazil where the new year brings warm weather.  There, swimming and surfing may be even more universal.  

As we talked about how to make our cookies,  we also looked at printed recipes.  Everyone but the North American teachers uses metric measurements,  although sets of measuring cups and spoons for dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda, are cheaply and widely available.  With American dry-measuring cups,  which are less accurate than their metric equivalents, it is necessary to take a knife to smooth the top to get the correct amount.  The Internet provides a cornucopia of variants for these deservedly popular recipes using American measurements: Jewish rugelach, chocolate and vanilla pinwheels, Mexican wedding cookies, raspberry thumbprint cookies  made with almond paste, peanut butter blossoms, hot cocoa cookies, and ginger bars.

This post is incomplete, featuring recipes only from the three American facilitators!  I welcome students' recipes, comments about their holiday traditions, and ideas for another recipe exchange.  The Monday and Wednesday, 10-noon conversation group will resume January 21, after the Martin Luther King holiday. -- Susan Joseph, instructor for Washington English Center with photo by the multi-talented Olga Lynova 

Here is the first participant recipe with an explanation and good directions, from Inês Lima, who is from Brasilia.  I can almost hear Inês talking.

Brazilian Cheese-rolls - “Pão-de-queijo” - also translated “cheese bread

"It’s is not difficult to find the frozen version of Brazilian “pão-de-queijo” at the foreign food shops in Virginia or Maryland. [I usually get mine from the European Foods Store @ 2700 N Pershing Dr, in Arlington, VA.] 

The best brand is "Forno de Minas". Minas, in this case, refers to the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, famous for its cheese and cuisine. [Trying to translate “Forno de Minas”. “Forno” is the same as oven, “de” is the preposition - “Minas Bakery” would do.]

However, back to the recipe... it is possible to prepare a similar dough, using ingredients found at your nearby Whole Foods market. And that’s what I did before I learned about the specialty food stores that carry the so convenient Forno de Minas brand. 

Let’s try. Cheese-rolls Brazilian style (makes about 20)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup of shredded mild Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 3 cups of tapioca starch, also known as tapioca flour (Bob’s Red Mill is the best brand)
• 1 cup of melted unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs (or 3 small ones)
• salt to taste
• a little extra tapioca starch (for balancing the dough)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 385F degrees.

Lightly coat a large cookie tin with butter.

In a large bowl combine starch, salt, and shredded cheese.

Slowly add melted butter, mixing by hand. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well. When using 3 eggs, if dough gets nice and firm after the addition of the second egg, use only the yolk of the third egg to get a soft and easy “texture”.

If, after adding the eggs, you find the mixture “too wet” use some of the extra starch to “correct” the dough. A play-dough like texture is fine.

Now, make the rolls using about a tablespoon of the mixture for each roll, rolling it by hand. Leave room between the rolls, because they may spread a little, before they get puffy.

It takes about 25 minutes in the oven. Check the oven when you start to smell the melting cheese. Sometimes they get golden and ready in less time... sometimes it takes a little longer.

Enjoy!"  --Inês

Salads, Salsa, and Schooling

Last week, at our first conversation club of the summer, we agreed that this blog would be a good place to post recipes.  Inspired by Fatima's photos of gnocchi made at a recent cooking and cinema session,  I volunteered to provide recipes for two salads using fresh crabmeat, a DC specialty available at local fish markets and seafood counters.

I have fond memories of Craig Claiborne's 1961 recipe for cold rice ravigote but our tastes call for a lighter, brighter, fresher version.  For green peppers and canned pimentos, substitute diced red, yellow and orange peppers, and instead of curry powder, use chopped fresh dill or basil.  Use 1/2 cup of mayonnaise cut with 1/2 cup of 2% or whole-milk yogurt.

From the 1970 edition of her Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook, Gloria Bley Miller's crabmeat and cucumbers needs no adjustments.  While you are whipping up your salad, why not listen to some appropriate music?

Basic Tips, Weekend Suggestions, and Rehashing

Basic tips  Nathan Pyle's blog "NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette" should be of help not just for newcomers to New York, but also for people from abroad.  Nathan's cartoons provide just the dose of humor needed to learn to navigate through crowded subways or contraptions like revolving doors.  You can also sample Nathan's gifs on his Facebook page.  Because his beguiling  gifs are unreproducible, I have just ordered Nathan's book as a paperback, I confess, so I can xerox his cartoons for conversation classes.  In the meantime, please take a peek at Nathan's blog or Facebook page, and choose a favorite to discuss at Conversation Club.

What to do?  On the even lighter side, this Saturday, 10 am-4 pm, you may enjoy the EU Embassy Open House.  It's between that and the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure.  Either way, at least for me, a lot of walking will be involved.

Looking back  On Monday, Fatima, whom I had emailed my teacher's blog when she was absent a few weeks ago, suggested that I post some of our recent conversations so that you could practice new vocabulary.  If you, like Fatima and Julia, especially admired Li Po's poem, perhaps you want to recite it in Chinese!  Seriously, below is a newer translation than the one we used that may give you a slightly different impression of the poem.  For me, Tsai's translation is less elegant, more clunky, although perhaps more specific and easy to understand.  In my own anthology, 100 Poems from Tang and Song Dynasties,  translator (and mystery novelist par excellence)  Qiu Xiaolong illustrates Changgan Song with a painting of a melancholy young woman whose curving posture is echoed in a delicate frame of budding branches surrounding the pagoda where she sits, gazing out, ignoring her tea and her book.

A Poem of Changgan (Changgan xing) 

When my bangs hung about my forehead

I played by the gates, bending off flowers;
Circling the well in play, infant plums in hand:
Living in the lands of the boatsmen.
My shy cheeks widened for laughter not once.
Beckoned a thousand times, I answered not once.
I would follow you as ashes mix with dust.
I won't climb the look-out for you.
Where the Horse-Head Rocks pile high.
The apes call of sorrow, the heavens wail.
Grew of green moss,
By autumn wind. Early this year.
Flying over the grass in the Western Garden.
She frets on a chair for her cheeks growing old.
When you will come down from Sanba.
Even on the Sands of Lasting Wind.

Riding on a horse of bamboo, you come

Two children without dislike or suspicion,

At fourteen I became your wife.

I lowered my head to a dark wall;

Only at fifteen my eyebrows opened to you:

I gave you my antique promise.

At sixteen you traveled far beyond the Gorge,

Beware the month of May- there

Your footsteps at the gates

Moss deeper than broom sweepings. Leaves fell--

In August butterflies turn yellow, pair by pair,

They hurt your wife, pair by pair.

Tell me in a letter

I will meet you-- nowhere is far---

Translated by S-C Kevin Tsai, a doctoral student in the Department of Comparative Literature at Princeton University. His poetry has appeared in Salamander and Del Sol Review.

Just to expand, here's the first stanza of a much more recent poem about yearning, love without physical contact.  Does looking at a crowd of people instead of one lonely little wife make the newer poem less poignant? Take a look and let me know if we should discuss the heartache blues on Monday.

Everybody Has a Heartache: A Blues        BY JOY HARJO
In the United terminal in Chicago at five on a Friday afternoon
The sky is breaking with rain and wind and all the flights
Are delayed forever. We will never get to where we are going
And there’s no way back to where we’ve been.
The sun and the moon have disappeared to an island far from 
anywhere.

As always, your comments are invited.