you need the sun and the rain to create a rainbow

so last thursday we had back to school night... boy was it interesting. because the spanish teacher and i share two groups of kids, we each had 30 minutes to talk to a huge group of parents.

so Casa C - my house and roomies, head out to the school. for some unknown reason it always seems to rain whenever parents and school come together. all the back to school and parent teacher conferences i had at my other job - it rained. so why was i surprised when it was torrential downpours on thursday for the back to school night here?? because i live in the desert... that's why

anyway we made it to school relatively dry, which was a miracle because none of us brought umbrellas to torreon... when i got there the door to the spanish teacher's room was closed, so i was kind of walking around, but i was a little put off because none of the parents were introducing themselves. fast forward - my presentation was in english with a spanish interpreter (why an interpreter you ask? - because they want the parents to think i speak very little spanish and i would NEVER speak it in english class...) anyway the talk went well and by 8:30 the spanish teacher still hadn't shown up... as i was finishing up, the director of the school, the principal, and another administrator come in the room.

i figured they came in to explain there was a family emergency and miss claudia would not be showing up... not so. they started off "this is not a very easy situation..." everyone is waiting with bated breath to hear what has gone down, and then it came "miss claudia na va a seguir con nosotros..." translation - the spanish teacher for my students either quit or was asked to leave, either way, she's not coming back! i was shocked, my interprester was shocked, the parents were shocked, there was silence. then the fabulous women that head our school chimed in, "what questions do you have for us?", "what can we do to ease your discomfort?", "how can we accomodate in any way?" - even though there are a TON of things about this school i am not in accordance with, i have to give it them, they are so hospitable and compassionate and understanding. and every worry that i have had, if i spoke to my supervisor or principal about it has been addressed and remedied.

at the end of the evening i talked to so many parents and they all gave a hug and a kiss and were so delighted to hear about their children. it was really nice. and they all tried to speak english, most of them are pretty fluent - which is good for their kids definitely. although it wasn't what i expected, with the weather and the absence of my spanish counterpart, it was overall positive.

sooo - remember the lil story about my students turned warriors because they put white paint on their faces???? well i had to send a few notes home that day and the very next day a note came back to me - which was fine... except it was a touch rude. in so many words she called me a liar. i wanted to cry, because why would i ever accuse a CHILD of doing something they didn't... clearly, i held my composure and talked to my supervisor and we went to the principal together.

they both read the note and agreed we needed to met with the parent immediately to set things straight. so on friday i met with her and the principal and actually it went really well. the principal translated (because again they want to make sure everything is understood to the tee, which is good because i felt more comfortable that way anyhow). it was all cleared up and i thanked her tremedously for attending and she recounted her negative comments towrds me. all in all it was good. i was happy.

well this weekend coming up is a 4 day weekend. we bought bus tickets to go to mazatlan which is a beach on the pacific coast. the tickets were $86 dollars roundtrip and our hotel is $15 a night on the beach, with a view. i will be blogging about that next week when we come home. but i'm really happy we have a long weekend (it is for mexican independence day). but we need a break, school is sooo hectic everyday, there are no "prep" periods and lunch is only 25 minutes long. additionally, during lunch you inevitably have students that have to finish their homework or classwork - so in between bites im really still teaching... needless to say i NEED a break...

the other kinda sucky thing is you get no personal or sick days. if you're sick you have to go to the doctor (which is a long process involving the socialized medicine system) and only if they give you a note do you get paid for the day you took off. my poor jenna is sick and may stay home tomorrow, she has a stomach thing... i just hope we are all healthy for this upcoming weekend. aiight ya'll hasta pronto!!!