I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I apologize if I have. You just get to read about it twice! When students in the USA have to go the bathroom during class, they politely ask, "May I use the bathroom, please?". Here is Spain it is a little different. First, since they learn British English they are taught the correct question is "Can I go to the toilet, please?". I've heard a few Americans gripe about how this seems a little impolite, because we don't often use the word toilet (probably because we'd rather not think about what a person is actually doing in the bathroom, I'm not quite sure). But what the kids say in Spanish is on a whole other level! The way students ask to go to the bathroom is "Me hago pis, me hago caca?", which literally translates to "I make pee, I make poop?". Every time I hear a child say this I still get a little thrown off. In the USA, we generally save the phrases "I'm going to go pee/poop," for close friends and family. And even then I often wouldn't use that phrase, unless I'm being slightly ironic. It's a little crass. But here, it's just the way it's done!
On Wednesday, the entire school participated in a "lipdub." Aka the principal ran around the school filming the students doing various activities and singing along to a song. We had to rehearse it twice and do "the real thing" twice. Hopefully, I'll be able to post the video soon. But for now I'll just leave you with the song the school chose.
A few mornings a week I start in a classroom that overlooks the patio the students enter through to get to school. Sometimes I watch the late students come in. Many times it is the same students that are late, which always makes me think, "Why don't their parents just try to leave 5 minutes earlier?". (But I don't know their situation so I can't judge!) It is interesting because the way certain students approach the school gives a little insight into their behavior at school. Some are sprinting to try and make it to class before the music stops. These are often students that try hard in school, whether or not their grades reflect it. Others half jog/half speed walk. These students tend to sometimes put in some effort, but often would rather talk to their fellow students. Then we have the students who casually walk into the patio. Most of these kids are older (the younger students still seem to have some desire to not disappoint the teachers) and tend to put in almost not effort in school. I always try to watch out for the students in my class so I know not to shut the door, hoping they can sneak in without the teacher noticing!
I have a few names students call me, mostly various ways of pronouncing Natalie. These various pronunciations includes Natchalie/Naxtalie (actually I can't even really pronounce my name this way). One of the girls in first grade does this often and some of the students say, "NOOO it's NaTalie." I don't even notice, but the other students seem to! Others will sometimes call me Natalia, aka the Spanish version of my name. Recently, I noticed a student started calling me Nata. I have been called Nata by one other class but it was a joke while they were chanting "Nata y Juli" because the professor and I were doing a silly activity. Nata is a Spanish word (I'm not sure how often it is used as a nickname) that means cream, and it's basically the Spanish equivalent to whipped cream. I think it started out as a little bit of teasing between him and another student and me. But now that's the only way he addresses and I think he has forgotten my actual name!
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On another note, one of the students has a fauxhawk and the other day it literally looked like dinosaur spikes. It was pretty funny, but cute.
Also, I noticed a student was wearing a sweatshirt that said "University Nebraska." I don't think it has anything to do with the actual University of Nebraska, but it was a nice little reminder of home. I obviously had to take a photo of it!
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