Magnificent Monday

It should’ve been a terrible day. I had been on a bus all night. I hadn’t slept much. I was missing my Turner. I had been awake since 6:30. I was bus-riding dirty.
I got to school with a strange sense of energy (usually my exhaustion doesn’t hit until day two, so this isn’t too weird). I signed in and out and went to get my stuff ready for first grade. I had received their tests about two weeks ago, but hadn’t had two days in a row of teaching them to review and then give the test, so I decided today would be review. We played some games with flashcards. While they needed a bit of herding, they did amazingly well. They were entertained and even remembered some stuff from a long time ago.
At recreo, we all sat in the special ed room (the one where we can “watch” the kids-and be prepared if a supervisor stops by) since it’s no longer miserably hot. We discussed the upcoming festivities for Posadas (the story of Jesus’ birth and no room in the Inn). There would be food, candy bags, a piñata, etc. We set the date for Dec 18. We talked forever about what the school would buy vs. what the students’ money (50 or 60 pesos) would pay for. The conversation went in circles for some time and the answers changed. But the conclusion seemed to be that the students would pay 50 pesos to cover the cost of anything other than pizza, drinks, and cake, which the school would provide. Since the ideas had changed so many times, everyone was confused, and at one point I got to explain to a Mexican what was up. It was kind of hilarious. Rocio, the second grade teacher who has her act together, seems to have been teaching a while, and is stylin and cute said, “Just ask Teacher, she knows,” and we all died laughing. It was really funny. Usually in those situations, I’m so confused and there’s so much going on that I totally tune out. This time, I had listened while everyone else was talking instead of listening. Too funny.
After recreo (that didn’t end until 11:30), I played a game with 3rd grade, too. There just wasn’t time to get into a brand new lesson. All classes needed a review, really, since it’s been almost a month since I was there on a regular basis.
6th grade was a bit more boring, but it still went well. Today was another one of those amazing days. I’m so glad I’m here and I do cherish this experience, even if it gives me headaches sometimes (like tomorrow will inevitably be).