A warm welcome! I spent a wonderful morning at Good Shepherd Episcopal School visiting with students from Pre-K through the eighth grade. It is so exciting to find schools like this where the students are so obviously honored and loved. Favorite comment: On hearing that my tía Isa was actually a terrible driver: "Your next book should be Tía Isa Goes to the Emergency Room." Three best questions: Do you ever find that you accidentally put pieces of one story in another story? How do you know if your idea should be a book? (With a worried look.) Is your tía Isa still driving on the streets? Most touching event: Chef Sue (who cooks homemade from organic produce every day for these sweet kids) made me "lechon" (pulled Cuban pork), white rice and black beans, so that I could enjoy un buen almuerzo. We even had merengues for dessert. (A big hit. "Yum! You got this cookie right," said one of the third graders.) A Cuban feast for school lunch! Chef Sue! Best slang I taught them: ¡Pin Pan Pun! (rollaway bed) Happiest coincidence: Señora Cardounel, the Spanish teacher, is from Cuba, too. We chatted in Spanish and swapped lots of stories. I hope she'll visit me soon. The fabulous Mrs. Dysart Thank you, Ms. Dysart and all the lovely faculty and students at Good Shepherd! If I had to go to school again, I would want to go to a place just like Good Shepherd.
