I’ve had to substitute almost everyday, including today, given that the school was short a civics teacher (she just started a couple of days ago) and is still short a Spanish teacher. At 12:50 I blissfully dismissed group 1A, happy to have my one class of the day over and done with. But, just as quickly, they came back like a recurring nightmare; the “prefecto” told them I would be their sub for Spanish class.
The other day I commented to Luis (a very nice, passionate teacher with a fluffy head of short, dark hair and he also has an adorable little boy named Aldo) that substituting is very trying for me, dealing with students who are not in my classes and a subject that is not my specialty. Luis said that I didn’t have to try to teach the class; instead I could just play a video in the audiovisual room. When I said, “Wow, no one told me that,” he responded that in his first four years at the school no one had told him that he was entitled to 9 days off a year. So, today I put in the DVD “The Toy,” of one of my favorite movies, starring Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason. Forty-five minutes into the fifty minute period, every single student was finally quiet. I was relieved, happy and exhausted like a new parent whose colicky baby finally fell asleep.
The teacher-student dynamic here is quite different from that to which I am accustomed. The other day a sweet female student was walking by and greeted me as most do here, with a shake of the hand and a kiss on the cheek. I often have to remind myself, “Go left, always go left” – the kiss on the cheek is always on the left. Well, I momentarily hesitated and went RIGHT! So, we almost had quite the inappropriate situation.
When I walked into Elvira’s English class the other day all of the students’ attention was drawn my way. The students were whispering and saying that I’m beautiful. As flattering as it is to be told that by 15 year-old boys, I obviously thought it was entirely creepy. I told Elvira that if they ever go to the U.S. they should NEVER tell a teacher that. But, as we’re not in the U.S. a boy then continued in English, “You are beautiful.” They said they wanted to go out with me. When I said I live far away in Coyoacán, one boy retorted that it wasn’t a problem because he has a car. Um, what’s going on with me getting hit on first by an eight year-old and now a bunch of fifteen year-olds? Well, at least the age is going up and not down! Sexual harassment just isn’t an issue here – whether it’s teacher-student relations or among colleagues. A student took my upper arm in his hand yesterday, for no apparent reason. Another student kissed me goodbye on the cheek today.
Each day at “descanso” music blares from a 3-foot speaker that sits on the ground outside of the “prefectos’” office. Yesterday they played Spanish rap music by Daddy Yankee, the guy who sings “Gasolina.” Well, one of the songs repeatedly shouted the word “culo” (a**). I just don’t see that going over too well in WJHS’s cafeteria, maybe if Kelly gets bored one day while on cafeteria duty she can try and test that!
