She said they needed me at Casa Achoy before noon, so she'd come pick me up during recess. She wasn't looking forward to telling my principal since he had "made faces" the day before when they had returned for more filming...
I finished my first grade classes and gathered my things. The principal struck up a conversation asking how I was, what I'd been up to, etc. I was able to work it in that Maribel would be coming to pick me up.
When she got there, he was conducting an unofficial faculty meeting, so she apologized for taking me away and off we went. Our plan was to park at the English office and hang out there until it was time to go to Casa Achoy on foot.
We joined in the conversation at the office and enjoyed the air conditioning. As we were leaving around 11:45, Gaby and Maria Delia (receptionists) looked suspicious and we questioned them and got a , "Nada!" in unison. Once outside, Maribel said they were discussing lunch and we obviously weren't invited. Ni modo. We got to Casa Achoy and the guard told us we weren't supposed to be there until 12:30. Maribel said that she had been told before noon. We sit for a minute and he does some checking around. Before he comes back, Maribel's cell rings and it's Ana Luisa back at the office. She said we were supposed to be there at 12:30 (apparently she just needed to pick me up from school before 12) and that there was ceviche at the office that she wanted me to have.
We basically ran out of there. As we were headed back, Arturo was parking, but we told him Ana Luisa had called us back and we'd be back shortly.
We all (Gaby, Maria Delia, Maribel, Cecy and I) headed to the back room to try to contain the smell of seafood while Ana Luisa conducted an interview. I love ceviche. It was not my favorite (like many Mexican foods with lots of ingredients), but it grew on me quickly!
We ate and chatted until it was 12:30 and time for us to head back again. We waited this time at Casa Achoy for almost an hour. Rocio showed up around 1:30 with the script for me to read as the voiceover for the English video. I was told I would watch the Spanish script being read so I would understand the process and then I would have my turn.
Guess again.
Maribel had to leave to pick up her girls from school (private schools are in session until 2pm), so she left me in Arturo's care; he would take me home when I was finished.
The guy in charge made me do some vocal exercises and stretches and I felt like a fool. Then we practiced the reading part. He of course had to slow me down since I'm used to speaking quickly and reading quickly as well. This was a narration, so it needed to sound more informative and formal. About the fifth time I read it, he told me to put more emotion into it. That my tone was all wrong. I can tell you, knowing two languages, that you can't correct a native on tone. But I did my best.
It took about 45 minutes in all. We all joked around (and they did the Mexican man flirt), and then Arturo and I walked out. The guy in charge came out asking what was going on for lunch. We spent 15 minutes deciding on sushi and ordering it. Arturo would pick it up after dropping me off and then head back to Casa Achoy to watch them work. He explained to me in the car that if you don't feed these guys, they don't work, and if you don't watch them, they don't get it done. Since there was a deadline coming up for the video (it's going to be shown at the 6th grade certification ceremony in a few weeks), he would spend the next few days there with them. I got the feeling that was not his favorite work task for the year!
He dropped me off and I joked that I'd see him soon.
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