Volume 160, Issue 4-June 8, 2026
The ELI Weekly
Farmers Markets
On Saturday morning, you’ll have the opportunity to visit one of Gainesville’s farmers markets. The Haile Village Farmers Market is open every Saturday from 8:30am till noon. Farmers markets have become very popular in the United States in the last two decades. Unlike shopping in a grocery store or supermarket, farmers markets allow you to buy food directly from the people who grow it. Typically, you can buy locally sourced meat, dairy, and produce at a farmers market. But that’s not all! You can find beautiful flowers, native plants, crafts and delicious baked goods, as well.
So, what’s the benefit of buying at a local farmers market? For one thing, it allows you to ‘eat with the seasons’ as farmers sell the food that has been recently harvested locally, not products that have been grown and shipped from faraway places. Seasonal food is fresher and tends to be tastier. Do you want to know what’s in season right now? Here is a guide: https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/why-eat-seasonally.
Another benefit of farmers markets is the boost that they give to the local economy. The money you spend on products from local farmers and growers stays in the community and is reinvested with other local businesses.
One of the oldest and most famous farmers markets in the US is Pike Market Place in Seattle Washington. Pike Place Market is known for its iconic clock and sign (see photo below). You may have seen it featured in movies or maybe you’ve even visited it in person! What about your hometown? Does it have a farmers market?
Photo of the Week: Coffee Talk
Weekend Event: Haile Market and Santa Fe Zoo
Saturday, June 13th – Haile Market and Santa Fe Teaching Zoo – 9:00am to 1:00pm
Get ready for double fun this weekend! Start the morning exploring the picturesque neighborhood of Haile for their Saturday Market. There will be lots of local vendors selling foods, home grown goods, crafts, and more! Entry is free but bring some spending money. After that, check out the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo! This small zoo is packed with adorable animals like monkeys, birds, caracals, and more. Entry is six dollars with your Gator 1 ID card. Meet at Norman Parking Garage. For self-drivers, we will likely leave the market and arrive to the Santa Fe Zoo at around 11:30am, but please keep in contact with Tate for timing.
You must sign up to attend this event: Sign up here!
Upcoming Opportunities: Green Bridges
Take part in this environmental, sustainability, and leadership development program that one of our alumni, Jeftey Saint Fleur, has planned for us! Our first workshop was a huge success! There are 3 more Green Bridges events this semester, and if you attend 3 of the 4, you will get a special certificate of achievement for your involvement. The next events with be a garden tour of one of our local community gardens as our rotating CIP activity on June 17th. After that, Green Bridges will be our Volunteer Day activity at UF’s Ethno Garden where we will learn about and help with composting on July 11th. The final event will be another Matherly Hall workshop with the topic and date TBD. It will be directly after classes in late July. Stay tuned for more info. If you would like to get involved beyond these events, please speak with Tate about finding more individual Green Bridges opportunities and she will help you get connected with Jeftey.
CIP Weekday Activities
| Monday, June 8th – Coffee Talk at Kung Fu Tea– 6:30-9:00pm |
| Socialize with LAs and ELI friends at Kung Fu Tea! Play games, speak English, and try their amazing bubble tea! Take bus 1, 38, or 37. The location will change each week. Address: 3102 SW 34th St, Gainesville, FL 32608. |
| Tuesday, June 2nd – Volleyball – 6:30-9:00pm |
| Play volleyball and hang out at Lexington Crossing Apartments Phase 2 Volleyball Courts with us! No experience necessary! You can also watch, socialize or play other games if you don’t want to play volleyball. Take bus 35. Address: 3700 SW 27th St, Gainesville, FL 32608 |
| Thursday, June 4th – Museum Nights at the Harn – 6:30 – 9:00pm |
| Come enjoy UF’s Harn Museum of Art for their special Museum Night activity, “Art After Dark: Fabulously YOU”! Explore the museum and partake in all the fun activities they have like 3D experiences, arts and crafts, and performances! Meet in the lobby area of the Harn Museum. We suggest you arrive on time because it may be difficult to find ELI friends once we start exploring. Take bus 20. Address: 3259 Hull Rd, Gainesville, FL 32608 |
Notes from the Office
- People Out: Daryl will be out of the office on Friday, June 12th and Monday, June 15th. Be sure to talk to him before then if you need his help with something.
- Midterm Exam Period: Next week, June 15th-18th, is the ELI midterm exam period. If you are unsure whether your class will have a midterm exam, ask your instructor.
- Course Evaluations: Soon we will be doing midterm course evaluations. This is your opportunity to provide feedback for your classes. Please go to this link https://bit.ly/4048gmH to review the evaluations so that you know how to fill them out when they are distributed in class. Your teachers and Language Assistants will use this information to plan the class for the rest of the semester
- Upcoming Holiday: Friday, June 19th is Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. In observance, RTS buses will not run and UF will be closed. All federal offices and banks will be closed, as well.
- Summer Break: UF and the ELI will be closed for Summer Break the week of June 22nd-26th. Classes will resume on Monday, June 28th. Because of the Juneteenth holiday, this means you will not have ELI classes for 9 days: June 19th – June 27th. This would be a great time to travel and explore more of Florida and the United States. If you will be traveling, be sure to keep your signed I-20 and other immigration documents with you.
- Student Addresses: It is important that the ELI has each student’s current address. If you have an F or J visa, you should report a change of address within 10 days of any change. You can update your address in myELI using the ‘Basic Information’ tab in your ‘My Profile’ page. If you need help updating your address in myELI, please contact Daryl at studyenglish@eli.ufl.edu.
- Traveling: Before you travel, you should check your I-20! You should make sure your I-20 is signed and check the expiration date. You can make an appointment with Daryl to sign your I-20 or to renew your I-20 before it expires.
Other CIP Activities
Conversation Partners
Want to meet with a fluent English speaker and make a new friend? Sign up for a CP! If you choose to sign up, you must meet with your partner for one hour a week. It can take up to two weeks to get a partner from when you sign up. Please sign up here!
Returning students, you will not automatically be paired again if you had a CP last semester. Please make sure to sign up again here for the Summer semester if you did not request a Summer partner in your end of term evaluation from last semester.
Please email Elijah at conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu for any issues, questions or concerns or visit him in the CIP Office during office hours.
CIP Passport
Don’t forget to get your CIP Passport hole punched from the activity leaders AT the event (not after).
We don’t hole punch passports after the event. Redeem your completed passport for a small gift, a photo for the ELI Instagram, and your name published in the ELI weekly!
Need a new CIP Passport? Stop by the CIP Office!
The CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office.
Stop by and find it for hole punches!
Birthdays!
| Students | Staff | ||
| None this week! | None this week! |
Grammar
Q: I find it hard to understand when native speakers say contractions, like could’ve or I’ll. Do Americans every have trouble understanding each other?
Hearing the contracted form can be tricky! In general, Americans don’t have trouble hearing and understanding contracted forms. The only time I hear people ask for clarification might be with the words can and can’t. Sometimes, it’s hard to distinguish those two words in spoken English because many of us don’t say the final ‘t’ sound very clearly. Do you ever have trouble with this?
Joke of the Week
Q: Why is number 6 so afraid of number 7?
A: Because seven eight nine!
Notes from the Editor
| I need all of you, students, LAs, instructors, staff, and administrators, to help me write the Weekly! Write a paragraph about your experiences this semester. You could write about an ELI activity, a Gainesville event, a fabulous local restaurant, or tell us about a place or event in your country that we should visit. Send me grammar questions for me to put in the Weekly. Send me manners and culture questions for me to put in the Weekly. Send me jokes to put in the Weekly. |
Send your paragraphs and/or questions to Jen Ramos (jenramos@ufl.edu) Use the subject heading: ELI Weekly.