I'm currently thinking in Spanish. Which means this post will probably have poor English. My apologies.
I left school today and went to a birthday party. Where I spoke Spanish for several hours. Then I came home and had a long conversation with my host family in Spanish. Then I got on facebook and chatted with some friends in Peru (which I think is awesome that technology allows me to do that). Also in Spanish. And as much as I love Spanish, it does make me tired to speak it for long periods of time. Especially after teaching all day. And especially after this crazy week. I should be sleeping. Or probably more than that, preparing for school. But I'm blogging. Because I need to take a break for a minute.
So anyway,
Let me backtrack first. Last post I was thinking that I was going to be home alone for the night. My host family had gone to the beach for the day and said they were probably going to spend the night. They said they would call if they changed their plans. My host mom told me to not open the door for anyone AT ALL. To lock the door lock and the chain. And to not talk to anyone. So that's what I did. When I was in for the night, I locked all the doors and went to my room. I was skyping with a friend when I heard the doorbell ring. I ignored it. But then it kept ringing more and more. I began to grow a little concerned. It was dark by this point. I told my friend to wait as I went to the front door to see if I could hear anything. And what I heard was someone trying to open the door. Uh oh. I decided to call my host mom, because I didn't know what else to do. And she said they were on their way home. Turns out the person at the door was my host sister and her boyfriend who had come home from the trip a little earlier. But it scared the crap out of me! We all got a good laugh though!
Okay, fastforward to today. I went to another student's birthday party after school. Basically my whole class squeezed into one car-- totally unsafe. I know. And drove to the tennis club for the party. The whole ride they were shrieking/screaming at the top of their lungs. I so badly wanted to do something, but it was out of my control. Once we got there it was fun though. They had gotten a guy to come to entertain the kids with games. And at one point, he was literally lasso-ing them with rope and dragging them across the floor. Made me chuckle to watch. Sometimes I wish I could do that.
As exhausting as it can be to go to these parties, it is definitely a neat experience. I get to see my students in a totally different element. The language thing is a huge part of that. I think sometimes I forget how hard it must be to go to school and learn in a language that they don't speak at home. But when I see them speaking their native language and how expressive they are, I quickly remember. I see how hard it is for me to communicate with the parents in Spanish, and I think about these little second graders that speak and listen to English all day long. How tired their brains must get. How frustrating it must be at times.
Speaking of tired brains... I don't think this one can stay awake any longer. So ready for this weekend.
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