Voices Interpreting Company

02/17/2025

"What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and love, and joy. We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them, and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves. We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures. And we can strive at all costs to make a better world." - Barack Obama

02/14/2025

"You are the sunshine of my life, you take the clouds away and make me a rainbow every day.
You're in my heart where you'll forever stay. I love you, sweetheart."
- Stephanie

Valentine's Day is today - a day to express your love to your sweetheart, your family, your friends, your fur babies, everyone! Honestly, we should be expressing our love to all these folks every day. for 2025; show your peeps your love as often as you can!

Below are some sweet ways to express your love in various languages:
Arabic: حبيب قلبي (habib gelbi) - "My heart’s love"
Spanish: Mi corazón - "My heart"
Turkish: iki gözümün çiçeği - "The flower of my two eyes"
Hatian-Creole: Ou se lanmou kè mwen - "You are the love of my heart"

To all who are celebrating today, Happy Valentine's Day, lovelies! 💜 💖

02/10/2025

"When life gives you Monday, dip it in glitter and sparkle all day." - Ella Woodward ✨💜

02/07/2025

"No te preocupes por el futuro. O preocúpate, pero sabiendo que preocuparte es tan efectivo como tratar de resolver una ecuación de algebra masticando chicle bomba."
[Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.]

We all worry! It's hard not to. As the above states, worrying doesn't solve the issue we're worried about. We have to DO something in order to solve the issue and alleviate our worry. We all can do something.

It's National Bubblegum Day! Here is some sweet and chewy treat history:
🍬 According to anthropologist Jennifer P. Mathews, the ancient Mayan people chewed a substance called chicle from the sapodilla tree as a way to quench thirst or fight hunger.
🍬 The Aztecs also chewed chicle, but if you weren't a child or a single woman, you couldn't chew it in public. Everyone else could only chew it in private to either freshen their breath or clean their teeth. 🤫
🍬 1840s gum consisted of boiling spruce tree resin, cut into strips and cornstarch to prevent the strips from sticking together. 😬
🍬 In a failed search for a rubber alternative using chicle in the 1880s, a New York inventor (Thomas Adams) decided to create a better tasting, better type of chewing gum.
🍬 Chicle (imported from Mexico to the US) served as the main component in gum up until the mid 1900s
🍬 1893 Juicy Fruit and Wrigley's Spearmint brands were launched by former soap and baking soda salesman, William Wrigley Jr.
🍬 1928 Dubble Bubble was devised and sold; the first successful formula of bubble-blowing gum (by Walter Diemer)

Yay! Have a great Friday and weekend gum-chewing, bubble-blowing friends!

02/06/2025

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." —Barack Obama

02/03/2025

02/03/2025

"Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable. I didn't have to become perfect because I've learned throughout my journey that perfection is the enemy of greatness." - Janelle Monàe

The world is heavy and we understand it's hard (sometimes dangerous) to just BE. If you feel safe to, celebrate being you... and BE great, friends!

Reading list for World-Changers & Justice Seekers:
🖤🤎 readinginpublic.com/lists/L-d0TJceBpgU ( )
Documentary watch-list:
🖤🤎 pbs.org/articles/what-to-watch-black-history-month
Go out to eat!
🖤🤎 catchdesmoines.com/blog/stories/post/black-owned-restaurants-in-greater-des-moines/ ( )
Black-Owned Businesses
🖤🤎 catchdesmoines.com/blog/stories/post/black-owned-businesses-in-greater-des-moines/ ( )

**Be sure to support local all year long!**

02/02/2025

Shadows - a Groundhog Day Haiku by Larry Belt
"We blame the Groundhog
For six more weeks of winter
Tho it's the sun's fault"

Will Spring arrive early or linger? Who knows, but lets not blame the Groundhog! Since the first observance of the tradition in 1887, he hasn't really had the best track record in predicting the weather. So, don't let whether he saw his shadow today, or not, ruin your weekend. Spring will come eventually! Enjoy the best day possible to you!

Haiku:
A Japanese poem of 17 syllables written in three lines - line one has 5 syllables, line two has 7 syllables, and line three has 5 syllables.

02/01/2025

It's the last day of January - FINALLY! As we move through 2025, we have a message for heading into next month... You can create your own path forward, it's not set. And, hey February, be kind to our peeps! 💜

01/30/2025

Goodbye year of the Dragon. Hello year of the Snake! The Lunar New Year is an international holiday celebrated in many Asian countries (not all) and even in the U.S.! Globally, around 2 billion people celebrate the Lunar New Year.

🇰🇷 In Korea, the Lunar New Year (Seollal) is a 3-day event! The year of the snake is a symbol of revival, wise improvements and new beginnings; immortality and rebirth. It is considered the wisest and most agile animal on the zodiac. Seh-hahm-muh-sae 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Korean "Happy New Year!")
Saehae bok mani badeuseyo 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Korean "May you receive many blessings in the New Year!")

🇻🇳 Tết Nguyen Dan (Tết Festival) is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and the most widely celebrated holiday in Vietnam. 2025 is the year of the Wood Snake. In Vietnamese culture the snake symbolizes wisdom, mystery, and transformation. Combined with the wood element (Mộc) this year will be a year that emphasizes growth, harmony, and strategic planning. A Wood Snake year is thought to bring opportunities for personal development and thoughtful action - planting seeds for future success. Chúc mừng Năm Mới 祝𢜠𢆥㵋 (Vietnamese "Happy New Year") Cung chúc Tân Xuân 恭祝新春 (Vietnamese "Best wishes for the new spring")

🇨🇳 Xīnnián hǎo 新年好 (Chinese "Happy Chinese New Year") Today kicks off a 16-day Spring festival for all of our Chinese friends who celebrate Chunjie! Similarly to the other countries listed, the snake symbolizes wisdom and transformation to the Chinese. The year of the snake offers opportunities for personal growth and change! Unlike the bold and outgoing Dragon, the Snake represents calmness and introspection.

From our family to yours, and to all who have begun to celebrate, may the new year shower you with luck, love and excellent health. Happy Lunar New Year!

01/27/2025

"The danger lies in forgetting."
Elie Wiesel - Holocaust survivor, professor, activist, & Nobel Laureate

January 27th, , commemorates and pays tribute to all those who were targeted and then made victims to hatred during the Holocaust. Today marks the 80th anniversary of when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp was liberated (January 27, 1945). The pain and loss created by this devastating act echos in events sprinkled throughout our recent history - even now... it leaves communities feeling vulnerable and othered. The goal in remembering these hardships, is to learn from them, come together, grow, and take actions to create a better future for all.

We'll use today to remember that kindness and compassion are the answers and the remedy to denial, hatred, and prejudice - always and forever. 💜

"Every moment is a new beginning." - Elie Wiesel

To learn more, visit: ushmm.org/learn

01/24/2025

"Lavoro s**o durante la settimana quindi dedico il fine settimana allo svago!" 🇮🇹
[Translation: "I work hard during the week so I save the weekend for relaxation!"]

"Il riposo è molto importante." 🇮🇹 [Translation: Relaxation is very important.]
Preach! An Italian statement we can all relate too! Because it's felt like the LONGEST week ever, friends, let's relax. It's Friday - THANK goodness!

01/24/2025

"Multi-tasking language Ninja"... is it really taken? We may still adopt this title anyway. Until it's official, "interpreter" will work!

01/23/2025

🚨🚨🚨

01/20/2025

Today we honor and celebrate Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr... We celebrate his birthday (January 15, 1929). We celebrate his mission, his legacy and his dream - working together to create more equitable communities. The examples set by Dr. King, his wife, his family and the activists who fought (and still fight) by their sides are our call to action. However we all plan to serve - whether that's volunteering today and throughout the year, initiating conversations about tolerance, donating or signing petitions... just serve. It will make a difference!



Here are some helpful volunteering links:
americorps.gov/serve/volunteer/mlk-day
mealsfromtheheartland.org/upcoming-events/
urbandreams.org/get-involved/
familiesforward.org/volunteer

Visit Iowa's black-owned businesses - tdcdsm.org/black-business-directory

01/18/2025

"Quando a vaca tussa." [When cows cough]

Cultural diversity can make communication a challenge (it keeps us all on our toes), BUT it can also be entertaining. Having different ways to say something across cultures is a great source of joy and makes us smile. Shared idioms definitely showcase the potential of the human imagination! Whoop whoop - language and culture 😀

01/15/2025

Polka | ˈpō(l)kə |
a lively dance of Bohemian origin in duple time • a piece of music for the polka

Etymology > The term polka is believed to derive from the Czech word "půlka", meaning "half-step." As an expression of honour and sympathy for Poland and the Poles after the November Uprising (1830-1831), the name of this dance was changed to "Polka"; meaning "Polish woman" in both Czech and Polish languages. "Polka" was widely introduced to the major European languages in the early 1840s.

Origin Story > It's origin story first appeared in the periodical "Bohemian" in 1844 in which the dance was attributed to a young Bohemian woman named Anna Slezáková. As told by the historian Čeněk Zíbrt, she was observed dancing in an unusual way to a local folk song called "Strýček Nimra koupil šimla", or "Uncle Nimra Bought a White Horse" by a music teacher in 1830. Other young people mimicked the dance and it spread... Other versions of its origin feature it being danced in Hradec Kralove (city in the Czech Republic) or in Labska Tynica (village within the Czech Republic). Historians believe the polka evolved as a quicker version of the waltz and rapidly flourished across Europe! It spread to ballrooms in Prague, classical music hubs of Vienna, introduced to Paris, then to London and brought to America by immigrants. It remained popular by Central, Northern, and Eastern European immigrant groups until the late 19th century!

To learn more, go here >> bit.ly/3Wis0Ca
Polka: Traditional Cross-Cultural Party Music | Expressions | PBS LearningMedia

01/11/2025

"Thank you is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding." - Alice Walker

Tomorrow is International "thank you" day, but because we know you're busy over the weekend, we'll tell you today! Thank you (gracias, asante, shukran شكراً, gamsahabnida 감사합니다) for being you, friends! 💜 🧡