- Lena Drake
An ESL Program in Toledo, OH
Updated: Sep 22, 2021

For Claudia and Eleni--
In Toledo, Ohio there was
not much, but there
was a school with not
much, but it did have
a program to teach
people how to speak
English. 17 and 18
year old girls found
themselves squeezed
into faux wood desks
staring at chalk boards
with words, not many,
but enough to learn
English. The girls
decided they would
be friends, no matter
how it ended, the
friendship or the school.
The word of the day
was accomplishment,
which was hard
to pronounce or understand.
They didn't learn much
English, or much of
anything at all. But they
did learn that if you
are Greek and your friend
is Mexican and neither
of you speaks English
there's always, well
it's not much, but there's
always drawing.
Charades was never
a parlor game in
a parlor or in the
ESL program. And when
you left the school, or
the earth, and you lost
touch because: landlines,
or cancer, you would
bump into each other again
in Dearborn, Michigan
at a restaurant neither
of you chose. Or at a
funeral 35 years later
where you could understand
the English, but not much
of anything else. Landlines
made sense. Cancer
does not. Other lessons
learned included: leftovers
are more important than
clothes, but less important
than dessert. And make
sure to get the name
of your crush, in case
he's your friend from ESL's
boyfriend. Mexicana
and The Greek were destined
to meet. They survived
a land that promised
more than it had with
drawings, charades, and
a few more courses
in English.