Lunch with the Seniors at Jackie Robinson

On Friday, three of us joined the seniors at Jackie Robinson Senior Center for lunch. We went with the intention of having some casual conversations with the seniors to begin to get to know them and tell them about the oral history project, On the Table, that we're working on.

The experience was so worth it! We walked into the center, said hi to Norma and made our way inside. We paid our $3.50 to the woman at the door and signed our names. Then we handed our numbers to a tall, melodious man who was calling out numbers for people to line up and approach the counter. They served us orange juice and milk, cinammon applesauce, pasta, collard greens and a fish cake. We took our fully-loaded trays and plopped down at a table where three women were sitting together and started chatting.

All three of the women were Hispanic, one from El Salvador and the other two from the Dominican Republic. Most had family living in the area, whether in Grant, in Harlem or in the Bronx, and most went back to their countries for a few months every year to be with the rest of their family. All came to eat meals at the senior center regularly. It was exciting to be communicating in Spanish and the women could not have been more friendly! We exchanged questions back and forth and found out that one of the women was illiterate. We told them what we were studying and about the Grant Garden project.

At the end of the meal the women were very pleased with our visit and asked us to come back soon: "Que se repita!" (This should be repeated!).

We're hoping that we can make this a regular thing, although we think that it's best if students go in small groups. As we get to know them we can scope out whether and who would be interested in speaking about their food knowledge in a recorded interview. Many (but not all!) of the seniors speak Spanish (but not all!). For those looking to practice speaking Spanish with a patient and affectionate audience, this is a great opportunity! In any case, it was wonderful to see that our presence was received well and we are sure that many of the seniors would love to have the company of friendly students for lunch de vez en cuando (every once in a while).