"Mateo, you DO look like Chewbacca!"

This week was very, very nice because I only had to actually teach for 3.5 days, so it was a nice transition back to Ecuador. On Monday, we had "juntas". Basically, all of the teachers of each grade get together in a classroom and talk about the students - grades, discipline, etc. My grade didn't start until 1PM, so all morning I was BORED out of my MIND, and when my meetings finally came, I said maybe 2 words. Great.

My kids are getting pretty funny. Mateo is a student who talks ALL THE TIME, but he is always talking in English, so I let him. Another reason I let him is because the things that come out of this boy's mouth!! He sits right in the front row up by my desk, so I get to hear it all. The class that Mateo is in is composed of 12 boys and 8 girls - 9A. It's fun... Anyways, they all tattle on each other ALL the time, and it's gotten a little out of hand, so I don't actually know when someone actually does something or not. The other day, Mateo - the KING of Tattle Tales - comes up to me.

Mateo: Teacher! Teacher!! Ricardo called me I look like Chewbacca!
Sara: Mateo, you DO look like Chewbacca!!!

This got a laugh out of the class, and then Mateo was doing the PERFECT Chewbacca impression. It was SO funny, and it is HARD to hold back the laughter with these students!!

Later, on the same day, I was on hallway duty during the breaks. This means that I stand at the top of the stairs on the second floor and make sure that no one comes up during the breaks. It really does suck; half of the students beg me to let them up and I just have to tell them no. I had just denied access to a group of 9A boys, so they were standing on the landing just out of my sight (I could only see their legs), but they knew I was there. Mateo, unaware of my presence, came up the first flight of stairs to where the boys were and said "What's up bitchesssssssssssssss". So I, having heard this, yell, "MATEO!!!" And show myself. His face got ALL red, the boys were on the ground laughing, and, always ready for a comment, Mateo says to me, "But Teacher, I am practicing my English!" Nice try, Mateo. But of course, that made me laugh. What a kid.

Yesterday I found out that surprise! The kids leave at 10:30 on Friday (today), and at 1 there will be a lunch hosted by the parents for the teachers in celebration of Teacher's day on Tuesday. Hurray! BUT. At 11 there was going to be a two hour presentation by the police about I don't even know what. Great. So, at 1030, I make my way to my boss's (John's) office to ask him where I'm supposed to go.

I get to his office, and he says, "Sara, are you a fast typer? Sit down. I'm going to dictate to you, and you type this. Fast." Ummm, ok. So I type this letter for him, we print it off 4 different times before we get it on the school's letterhead right, and he says, "Ok, well, I guess we should go to this meeting. I'm going to fall asleep, so we're going to sit near the back." And he ushers me out of his office.

Someone tells us to go downstairs, so we go, and nope, this isn't the right place - it was all set up for our nice lunch. John has no idea where we're supposed to go. We stand around for a few minutes, chat with a few teachers, and then John says, "Come on, we're going back to my office. I've got shit to do, and you can just sit there." Ummm, sounds GREAT to me! We're about to round the corner, and we see the principal. John: "Oh SHIT. Hurry." And he takes of a different way towards his office. I have no choice but to follow - I don't want to get in trouble! I was practically running (not an exaggeration), and when we got to his office, John shut the door and said, "Keep a lookout, we can't get caught!" I like this guy.

As we're talking in his office, John and I are talking about states that "are never in the news". Like Arkansas - which John was pronouncing Arkan-SAS, pronouncing it like it's spelled. I about peed my pants, because at first I thought he was joking, but then he kept saying it so I said, "John, it's Arkan-SAW" And he started laughing and then asking me if there was a state called Kansas, asking me where Kansas City was, etc. John moved to the US with his family when he was 2, and lived there until he was 20, so he's VERY Americanized.

As John was printing things off, I'm talking to him, and he starts asking me questions. Do you have a blog? Should I set one up? People ask me if I have a blog, I don't even know what it is. How do I let people know I have this blog?

Since I'm such an EXPERT in the blogging world (what a joke), I answered his questions and showed him my blog. Then, we set one up for him. He wants it to be a blog where he can talk about his "professional teaching experiences" and things like that. He's pretty well-known in the teaching world here, so if he can figure it out, it should be pretty beneficial. He decides to send a mass email letting people know about his blog:

Hi all
This is my blog: http://theloveforteachingenglish.blogspot.com
I want to keep in touch with you all.
Take care

Wow, John, so heartfelt. At first he just put the first two lines, and I was like, ummm no. Tell them WHY you have a blog or something. So he adds the second two lines. At first he had words like "wanna" and "y'all" and I nixed that idea right away (John, you grew up in New York, not Arkansas).

At 1, John and I decided to go downstairs and join everyone else for lunch. When we arrive, we find everyone standing around, and the parents tell us that oh, sorry, but lunch will be at 2. John flips. I laugh. We also find out that tomorrow the teachers have to go to school to give report cards to the parents. Go to school on a SATURDAY? BOOOOOOOOO. Everyone was pretty furious. Anyways, John decides that he's going to leave early and not go to this lunch, because he doesn't want to sit around, and he has to leave at 2:30 anyways, and in Ecuadorian time, we wouldn't actually EAT until about 3 ("Such a shame, the Ecuadorian's sense of time" as my friend Diego puts it). I ask if I can catch a ride home. Sure.

I run upstairs and get my things, and meet John in his office. We have to sneak out. Is this a joke? George was in the office too, but he wasn't leaving. John tells me to go this way then that way to get out of the school unseen. I have no idea where he is directing me, but John has an idea: George will escort me out. I was laughing SO hard, because George was SO awkward about it. He was seriously acting like we were on a secret mission, and it just killed me. We went out through the doctor's office, and as I went through she whispered "I won't tell!" What a pal!

With George as my lookout (a SLOW lookout at that... He was trying to be all nonchalant and looking cool and calm, but it was really SLOW), I run past the principal's office window, duck below the owner's office window (who is my neighbor... oopsie), and literally run out the front doors. I jump in John's car, and he sits down and says "What TOOK you so long, I was ready to LEAVE! I had to dodge the PRINCIPAL!!" I laugh, and he sits down in his car, and says, "Oh shit, where are my keys." So we're looking all over, I'm starting to sweat because A. It was hot, and B. I didn't want to get yelled at! John finds his keys, and off we go.

I got home, made lunch, and took a little nappy. What a wonderful Friday :)

Until next time,
Sara the Sneak