Hello world!
I am so excited for this upcoming week...I can't even explain it! First of all, it is Semana Santa...Holy Week...the week that Spaniards take off from school to celebrate Easter. To us Americans, it would be the equivalent of Spring Break, except everyone gets Spring Break at the same time. SPRING BREAK!! Actually, we get Friday off, then the whole next week, and then MONDAY too! Considering that all of my annoying classes (read: my 2nd grade classes) are on Monday & Friday, I'm ECSTATIC.
Spring Break will be glorious (I'm not going anywhere), but I'm more excited for these next four days before Spring Break. Jeri sent me 60 Easter eggs and I plan on using them to my full advantage. For my 1st grade classes through 4th grade, I'm going to explain a little bit about Easter in the USA and how it differs (here it is strictly a religious holiday) and then have a full fledged Easter egg hunt. I had my first one on Friday and it was AMAZING! I made the kids go out in the hallway and wait while I hid the eggs. Then they came back in and flipped out because they could see a few throughout the room. I made them sit down and explained some rules (so that all of the kids could find atleast one egg) and they kept yelling "I SEE SEVEN!!! I SEE NINE!!" It took all the effort I had to get them to calm down and tried to explain that in the United States, Easter is a religious holiday, but something else also happens. The Easter Bunny comes at night time after everybody is asleep, and hides eggs throughout the houses and yards for the children to find, and inside of the eggs (I showed that the eggs opened and they all gasped like I had just created fire....it was awesome) were little surprises. For one, I was super impressed because through drawing and acting, they understood everything that I was saying! But one little boy got a sad and said "but Chelsea...why doesn't the Easter Bunny come to Spain?" I immediately thought...well shit, there goes the happiness of Easter...BUT I think quickly on my feet so it all worked out. I asked "well...what does Santa drive? Does Santa have a car? (everybody yelled NOOO!!!!!!!!!!!) Well what does he drive? (A SLED!!!!!!!!!!) Yes, he has a sled, and magical reindeer, like Rudolph...well, the Easter Bunny doesn't have a car either...or a sleigh. He goes from house to house and he hops! Jumps! He doesn't have a boat either so he can't get over here in time....BUT this year I'm helping him, so I'M the Easter Bunny!" I had drawn a picture of a bunny on the board so I slouched down so that his ears were above my head. They absolutely loved it.
Haha....no wonder they think I'm so cool. I lie to them a lot.
So anyways each kid got to find their own Easter egg, one at a time, and had to tell me where it was before the could grab it (so..."next to the book"...or "in the box") They were appalled when I told them I had hidden 30 eggs in the room...20 students in the class plus 10 extra that were not visible. It was wonderful....except for the part when I'm smart, but not that smart....and forgot where I hid some of the eggs. I know, what the hell Chelsea. The class ended quickly and we weren't finished...but I also didn't know where the eggs were anyways so I told their teacher "you may or may not have eggs hidden somewhere in the classroom....sooooo if you find one, no big deal, it's yours! Good luck!" I felt pretty bad, though, because all of the kids were looking in every nook and cranny trying to find hidden eggs, and also didn't believe that infallible Chelsea forgot where she put them....that I was just playing hard to get. Well, kids...I wish. They also refused to go to recess because they wanted to keep looking for eggs that may or may not have existed. I felt pretty bad, haha, but in the end their teacher ended up finding one hidden behind her purse. She liked the candy and all of the kids were insanely jealous she stumbled upon it. That's almost as bad as the time I convinced them leprechauns were real (and really small) so for the two weeks following St. Patricks Day they all pointed to every little green object they could find and tried to determine if it was a leprechaun. Hehe.
P.S. here is a video my school made from the pictures from St. Patrick's Day...so adorable!
St Patricks - Primer Ciclo de Primaria from Colegio María Inmaculada on Vimeo.
There's no sound, just fyi.
Anyways, with my older kids I'm going to make them work a little harder. For 5th grade, after their animal project, I learned the hard way that I reeeaaaaally need to teach them how to say larger numbers. It's very difficult for them because in Spanish, the comma is a period and a period is a comma. So 5,9 means $5.90. 1.500 means 1,500. Plus most of them have difficulties with any number over 30. Soooo I'm going to put big numbers (and years) in an Easter egg and if they can tell me their number, I'll give them an egg with candy and a little fortune (I thought I would mix it up a little bit). I also might hide a few in the classroom just for fun. Then 6th grade is learning directions, so I'm going to make them have a full fledged scavenger hunt throughout the school. I'm SO EXCITED!!
I think my kids are excited too. This past week has been super crazy for everyone. First of all, I have been sick with bronchitis (still..) so I missed school on Monday and Tuesday. Before I went back to school on Wednesday, I prepared myself mentally for all of their harrassment. Usually they all run up to me and say "Chelsea!!! Monday....jew...no ees dare." And my usual response is "I know! I was the one who wasn't there!" Or they ask "Chelsea! Why jew no in class?" And I say "I was sick... :( " Most times they stare at me, like my answer wasn't good enough. So I cough a few times so they understand what sick is (because they pronounce it "seek") I get to school on Wednesday and they, of course, never cease to amaze me. A couple came up to me and said "Chelsea....jew no come Monday. Jew ees seek." (duuuuuh, I know! I'm still living it! Not to mention on Wednesday I was losing my voice from it all so I was clearly not healthy yet) My little ones were the funniest though. One kid came up to me with these big puppy eyes and said "Chelsea, jew no here Monday..." and I immediately began thinking "I know, I know...why you not here? I know..." but he finished with "....so are you ever going to come to our class again?" .....ughhh!!!!! Yes I'm coming to your class!! Another boy asked me "what days are you going to be coming to our class now? You didn't come on Monday.."
I hope I NEVER miss school again. Not to mention that missing two days in a row was Earth-shattering for everyone. Some of the teachers even told me "We thought we'd lost you!" ...really?? Ugh. Just...ugh.
Tonight is going to be a quiet night in with some pizza, a salad, and a movie. If I'm lucky, I'll also hang up my laundry and get some progress going on my Easter egg hunts. Such a luxurious life I lead, haha.
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