This post is not about a single event, but rather about one of my favorite groups of people: The La Ensenanza Class of 2010. We had a little bit of a rocky start, but our finish was amazing.
Anyone who has been a senior in high school knows that by second semester "senioritis" has set in, and it's difficult to get excited about new things. Well, I came along second semester of senior year. The girls were very nice to me from the beginning, but many of them were either not really interested in something new or not comfortable with someone coming in to force them to speak English. On our very first day together I asked them to introduce themselves. I heard beautiful, clear English, which was much better than I expected. There was not a single student whose English was not clear. Many of them spoke confidently and gave in-depth answers to my simple questions. For some of them, however, the worried and stressed looks on their faces when their turn came made it seem as if I had asked them to perform brain surgery. Most of our time together was spent with me trying to convince the less confident girls that they could indeed speak English. Actually, that's not completely true... Most of our class time together was spent with me giving speaking exams. Although many of the girls hated having to speak to me one-on-one in English, it was a great opportunity for me to get to know the girls on an individual basis. I was to speak with each girl for 1-2 minutes, but each time I did a speaking exam I spoke with each girl for 3-5 minutes (sometimes longer) because I so enjoyed hearing about them, their ideas about their future, their likes and dislikes, etc. Fortunately Lucia, the 11th grade English teacher, didn't seem to mind that it would take me several Mondays to get through a speaking exam.
It was actually outside of class that I really got to know the girls. It all started with The English Show, progressed with ExpressArte, crescendoed with BAMUN, continued with El Bosque and Mision Sonrisa, and then culminated with all of the activities surrounding the end of the school year and graduation. Basically, it was five months full of activities that helped me get to know the seniors.
Since I have already written about the first five activities listed, this post will focus on all of the activities surrounding the end of the school year before graduation. Regular classes ended November 19, which was the day of the Senior Show, but before that the girls spent a great deal of time preparing for the show. One day while the girls were practicing for the show, I sat and talked to them. At one point my hair became a topic of discussion and the next thing I knew I was getting a new hairstyle, compliments of Olga and Camila C.
That same afternoon Laura, Valeria and I started talking after rehearsal was over and we kept talking until almost 7:30 pm. We talked about everything, including Valeria's trip to Brazil for which she pulled out her computer and showed me her pictures. At one point Valeria took out her Cruella de Vil wig and both she and Laura tried it on. So cute!
That same week (I believe) the girls were working on their Mickey heads, which were large black paper cutouts in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head. The girls put their name and their age on one ear, and what they will major in during college on the other ear. On the big circle they put pictures of them, their families, their friends, etc. Then they decorated the main hallway by the front door of the school with their Mickey heads. It was great to look at the pictures of all the girls and see the creativity they used to make their Mickey look unique.
A few days later, we had a Monday off. The seniors told me they were coming to school to practice for their show, but I didn't realize that meant they would come through the door of the convent rather than the school. I woke up at about 8:15 and decided to put a load of laundry in the washer. Since it was a day off, I just threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and headed to the laundry room without so much as brushing my hair or teeth. As I was returning from the laundry room, I happened to run smack into 3 seniors who had just arrived for the day's practice. Suffice it to say that I was a little embarrassed. Things didn't improve when Ana Elisa asked me to man the convent door because over the next few minutes the rest of the girls would arrive. I literally sprinted to my room just to run a quick comb through my hair and brush my teeth. Once all the girls had arrived, I took a shower and then joined them in the auditorium. At lunchtime, everyone left to eat and I went with a few of the girls to Exito, where there is a food court. Camila accompanied me to one of the places so she could help me order. When we walked up she told me I had to order by myself in Spanish but she would help me if I needed help. She ended up helping me by laughing while I was ordering. She so loves to torment me. After a nice long lunch we headed back to school to the covered basketball court where the girls who returned were working on a dance. Camila and I sat and watched them while they practiced and she reviewed with me everyone's name. In the middle of the practice, there was a huge downpour so they had to unplug the stereo and they couldn't practice. For a few minutes everyone sat and talked, but since it was the Monday of their last week of school, they couldn't pass up their final chance to play in the rain. Somehow they convinced me to join them, and I have to admit that it was great. I got completely soaked! After running around in the rain for a while, many of the girls just sat on a bench and let the rain fall on them. It had been too long since I had played in the rain. I am glad I joined them. Unfortunately, by the time I got back to the convent I wasn't yet dry and the nuns did not think me wise to have played in the rain :S.
I know I already wrote about the senior show, but I want to share a few more pictures and a little more info about before and after the show. As I wrote earlier, Olga was the MC of the show, but what I didn't share is that before the show Olga needed some help getting her pants buttoned. She lay on the floor of the auditorium in front of the stage and and Maria Jose (Mache) helped her button her pants. It was hilarious! I took several pictures with seniors before the show started, including one with Nathalie when she agreed to put on a wig if I would wear an indian headband, and with Jack Sparrow (Claudia) after the show. Claudia told me I could show my friends the picture with her and they would be super impressed that I met Jack Sparrow :).
On the last day of school after the schoolday ended, I wanted to spend a little more time with the seniors, so it was fun for me to move from group to group and chat. Most of my chatting was done sitting on the floor of the main hallway on the first floor, but at one point I got a text asking me to go to the first aid room. When I got there, I found 6 girls sitting on the sick bed reminiscing. We started talking, but we were soon discovered by Ana Elisa who wasn't sure hanging out in the first aid room was the best idea.
The night of the last day of school, the juniors had a farewell party for the seniors. The threw an awesome party! I totally enjoyed it. There was socializing and food for the first hour or so. Then a Mariachi group showed up. I told the girls next to me that I had no idea Mariachis were popular outside of Mexico (and SoCal haha). They told me there are many, many Mariachi groups in Colombia and it is very common for them to play at parties. After the Mariachis left we had Una Hora Loca, which is when Carnavales music is played by live musicians and everyone dons masks and/or hats, blows noise-makers, and dances like they are loco. Along with the musicians, there are people who come dressed as marimondas, who are characters from Carnavales. That was my first experience with Una Hora Loca and it was unbelievably fun. I was forced to dance with a marimonda, which was fun but embarrassing because I cannot get my body to move like they do. My biggest problem is the fact that I CANNOT shake my shoulders. With some practice, I am pretty sure my hips will be able to do many of the dance moves, but never my shoulders :(.
After the farewell party, I went to Subs with several of the seniors to celebrate Martha's birthday. It was fun to celebrate with her and spend a little more time with the girls.
On Saturday I joined Tatiana, Melissa, and Giannina for Harry Potter. I enjoyed the movie, but I enjoyed the company even more. It was extremely fun to spend the evening with the girls. After the movie we went to Burger King, which is a relatively new phenomenon in Colombia. The girls told me they prefer it to McDonalds because it has a drink machine and you can get free refills. It's the only place in the city that does it. (Stupid me did not take any pictures that night.)
The Friday after classes ended, I went out with Camila, Laura V, Laura T, Valeria, Nathalie, and Andrea. We went to a place called Multiple Tastes, which has a menu that has pizza, potatoes, Mexican food, burgers, etc. It was my third time there and I must say the food is quite good. What I enjoyed, though, was sitting and talking and laughing with the girls. We met at 7:30 and it was almost 1:00 when I got home. Such nice and funny girls. At one point Laura V dropped something under the table so I took a picture of her emerging from under the table and seriously looks like she is from a scary movie.
During the next three weeks, the girls who failed a class or two had to come to school everyday from 7:00-12:00 for three weeks for academic recuperation. I asked to have a group to recuperate so I would have something to do during those three weeks, so Kellys gave me the 9th graders to work with. I really enjoyed working with them, but it was only one hour a day. So the rest of the time I spent hanging out with the seniors. It made every day during those weeks enjoyable. I also enjoyed that I had students asking me for help in math because I have really missed teaching math. One more than one occasion I had a lesson in Spanish. Daniela even created a quiz for me on prepositions since I really struggle with por and para. After she explained the prepositions, I took the quiz. She gave me an "Excellent!" :)
There were several seniors who had still not brought up on of more of their grades to passing just days before graduation. Camila, Sandra, and Daniela, the three who I spent the most time with during the three weeks of recuperation, were having the hardest time with statistic. The all believed they would not recuperate their statistics grade and, therefore, not graduate from school. I was extremely worried for them on the day they had their final chance to pass an exam and prove they shouldn't fail statistics. After the exam and their results, Camila and Sandra found me with. They both had the saddest looks on their facesI had ever seen. They proceeded to tell me that the statistics exam was brutal and they couldn't pass it. They would have to go home and tell their parents that they wouldn't be graduating. I was in shock! My mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to help them because they had worked too hard to not graduate. I was sitting trying to come up with a solution for what seemed like a long time when they started laughing. They then screamed that they passed and they would be graduating, and that they were only teasing me to see my reaction. My second reaction was to tell them they were evil and I hated them for making me so worried. It was pretty funny, though, because I totally believed them when they said they wouldn't be graduating.
Thematically, I should include graduation in this post, but I think it's already way too long, so next time I'll write about it.
