I woke up four times in the middle of the night to check my Fox News Election Updates on my phone. By 5:30 am, I had read the results. In my disappointment and half-asleep state, I began to freak out and couldn't get back to bed for a bit. >_< Rawr.
Upon arriving at the bus stop, one of the third graders from my impromptu election class ran up to me (nobody EVER talks to me in the morning. I usually arrive late and keep my distance because it's just too gosh darn early for professional human interaction in a foreign language gosh darn it). "Chelsea! Obama won! That means that he'll be president for EIGHT years." She smiled, excited and proud of herself. Although the last thing I wanted to hear about that early in the morning was the results of the elections, the fact that that girl had taken it upon herself to find out the results and knew what they meant made me feel a little warm and squishy inside. :) Just then, her mom came up to me and said, "Oh yes, she was very excited about it after having learned all about the elections in your class yesterday! She woke up and wanted to know what happened and told me all about it! It's just amazing how much English she can understand and how much she learns!"
The warm and squishy feeling grew exponentially.
ME? Making an impact? As a teacher?
Awesome possum, style, yo!
Who woulda guessed!? And here I thought I was sorta just wasting everyone's time with English ramblings and pointless coloring sheets. Perhaps not!?
When I arrived at school all the teachers felt the need to tell me Obama won, as well, clearly expecting my response to be positive, and looking really confused when it wasn't. One teacher (the one I seriously dislike) said, "Thank God for Spain that this was the outcome. Imagine what could have happened to Spain if the other guy got elected! Now Spain had a chance!"
O_o
Uh... hello??? If who the president of America affects you guys in Spain at all, then let's look at how well your country has done in the past four years... when they fell into a serious and awful economic crisis. You're happy that the president we've had through all of that is going to remain president? There isnt' even an ounce of logic in any of that. That same guy had told me the day before that the president of America strongly influenced Spain because when America went to war, Spain supported the US and it was totally stupid. I wanted so badly to point out the numbers of troops that have died under each presidency and tell him that the news in Spain is so biased that he has no chance of having even a remote idea of what he's talking about and is really making himself look like the idiot he is. But instead I just stared at him blankly, which, in the end, I think bothered him more.
Anyway, the day continued on and happily it was my day of only three classes (with my two favorite teachers who aren't stupid enough to talk about politics with me). When I got to the last class of the day - my absolute FAVORITE class in the whole school comprised of 23 adorable and intelligent and well behaved first graders with the best teacher in the school (and perhaps all of Spain), I was ready for them to understand nothing I had to say about the elections. After all, the first graders in Idiot's class didn't even know what a president was... so maybe this was just a little to advanced for them.
But of course, it wasn't. The AMAZING teacher helped me to explain it all and before long every six year old was all about it! She held a mock election in the classroom to vote on a class president for the day, she pulled up pictures of Romney and Obama on Google for them to all see, she wrote cute campaign slogans on the black board for them to write on their buttons, she made them giggle, she told them to make sure Obama was brown, beacause that's just what color he is, etc. It was beyond adorable how into it they all were. :oD
Then the teacher went to another class and came back with a sash. She then told me how a girl from the third grade class from yesterday had taken her voting button worksheet home, finished all the buttons, cut them out, and taped them on a scarf that she tied into a sash. She cut out the reasons she would be a good president and hid them in the pockets of the taped buttons so she could pull them out and tell everyone why she was the best choice. She wore it all day at school and called herself "Sofia Obama." :o) AWESOME!
I swear before today I had no idea anybody was listening to anything I said, or that I was even teaching anything valuable that anyone would remember. But those two third graders today and those first graders being so excited about it... well... today changed my mind. Maybe I don't totally suck at this? Huh...
After school I had my private classes I detest so much. Okay - to be fair the boy is actually getting a lot better and impresses me daily... like today he could tell me all the parts of a fish, a mamal and an amphibian, plus about 30 different creatures' names!! But the girl... UGH!! Today I ripped up her birthday crown and threw it away because she was p*ssing me off so badly. It got her attention, but she still pretended not to give a crap. UGHHHH.
I then boarded the bus home, but at some point during the ride, decided "Why go home and play on the internet all night when you are thirty minutes away from one of the most amazing cities in Europe?!" I think I owe the credit for this epiphany to a pin I pinned on Pinterest today saying something like, "Live your life - don't waste it in front of a screen." Lol.
Anyway, I walked around, bought a confetti sweater I had wanted that went on sale, visited a friend and set up a time to see him next Tuesday before tango, got my delicious pizza and decided instead of taking the train from Sol to Atocha to home, I would continue my exploration of the Letters' District and find my way back to Atocha and then board the train. Brilliant idea! ^_^ The neighborhood is just so beautiful and I found quaint bars, cafes, clubs, restaurants, buildings, fountains, shops and hookah lounges on every street! I can't wait to go back when I have more time, when things are open and I have my camera!! ^_^
XOXO
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