Stories from The International Center

By Lidia Hunter

Last night in my dreams I saw a lot of papers flying around my head; I tried to catch one of them. After many attempts I did it, exactly when the dawn showed its face. The yellow piece of torn paper had this code: ICNY 1961 and a list of the craziest, funniest and most incredible stories in languages that you never heard, written by people from all the continents. Only in my dreams I could communicate with these invisible characters, and I want to share with you this amazing experience before I forget it forever:

--This is a miracle!. It is wonderful to see this place full of people talking in English with volunteers, who have plenty of patience. Something like this doesn´t exist in my country".

--Where are you from, I asked to Angel Eguizabal, who "wrote" these words with his voice.

From Spain, he answered, eager to express his gratitude to a friendly old man with blue eyes who every week since The Year of the Dragon, gives Pronunciation lessons and is called Mr. Joe Lamb.

--This gentleman gave me a very warm welcome and made me feel confident. I remember his words: "I wake up in the morning, I take a shower, I brush my teeth, I see my face in the mirror and say: You know what? You are handsome, healthy and intelligent. You are a very lucky guy".

Eguizabal added: --'That´s the reason that every morning I repeat the same magical words and I am becoming handsome, healthy and intelligent".

After that, I heard voices telling me a love story between a descendant of a Moldavian king and a heiress of an ancient Ecuadorian reign. Centuries ago they fell in love but they could not talk to each other because they were oceans apart and did n´t speak the same language.

One day she found in her clothes a piece of shredded paper with the address of a secret place called ICNY where, according with the prophesy, they will meet and learn the same language; the language of love, friendship, and respect: The English Language.

When I heard their story I said ok but know you guys are in the XXI century and this place is located in NYC, the city that never sleeps, the city where you can find diversity, all the languages of the world, all the colors, the smells, the flavors and the feelings from everywhere, and here you have the most important thing: The codes to enter to this magical place, where you will meet the people who will help you.

Try to spend at least one minute to say hello to the staff, be friendly with your teachers, say something nice to your classmates, and take advantage of all the activities that ICNY promotes for you. Encourage yourself to speak up and speak out even if you think you can´t. That´s the only way to learn English.

And remember always: You are unique, very special and intelligent; your enemy is your fear and your friend is your passion to learn the language. This is the secret key to enter. And they found their path.

When I woke up this morning I found on my bed two pieces of paper dated 1961. Immersed in my thoughts trying to understand it, I discovered information in the old text that I am trying to decode: www.intlcenter.org

This antique is full of tales about thinkers out of the box, Latin lovers, explosive minds, Chinese food, Persian teachers, Peruvian nurses, warm Colombians, Cuban doctors, Korean poets, Nicaraguan journalists, handsome Tibetans, African entrepreneurs; and ancient recipes and songs from every corner of the world.

I can see myself in this paper dancing in a funny style with verbs, synonyms, and nouns in Ms. Ann Black´s lessons; answering the most incredible questions to The Detective of Words, called Mr. john Uss, traveling in those imaginary trips across The United States of America with Mr. John Donald Quinn, and acting like a journalist with Ms. Elaine Roberts.

Also I can see myself eating lunch with Mr. Bob Baumann in California, talking with Mr. Pete Versage, discovering new places with Mr. Rick Segui, and having fun with Ms. Jessica Vitkus, who encouraged me to write this story, and with Ms. Evelyn Polk, who edited this text; all of them connected with the same goal: Transforming People.