School daze

Today was the first day of school for Caden, and trabajo para mi.  I'm worn out, and I didn't even get the chance to meet with my classes today. I was supposed to team teach with the two teachers who had been covering my classes, but spent the majority of the day in the front office, with the delightful Norma (I think she is the school secretary), who helped me fill out most of my paper work and register Caden for school. Imagine a Mexican Elizabeth Taylor.

It was nice having Jolene there; we picked her up last night from the airport in Durango at around 11:30 or so. Again, I'm so very grateful that my director helped me figure out how to arrange for her pick up from the airport; he also invited her to the the flag ceremony they have every Monday, at school, so she could see the school, and the kids and staff, and be reassured that Caden is going to be okay. We arrived at school around 7:45 am. We live on the same street as the school- literally a two-minute walk. There is a guard stationed at the front of the school, but I didn't really notice any sort of procedure to get in, or id's or anything.The flag ceremony was impressive; Mrs. Betty was back, and whisked Caden off to stand in line with his class. The entire ceremony was in Spanish, which was a combination of interesting and frustrating. I saw Caden narrow his eyes at me, as I told him that most things would be in English as this was an American school. I do wonder why they don't have the ceremony in English and Spanish. Afterwards, however, the announcements were in English.

So Caden disappeared with a look of apprehension on his face, and Jolene left, with my keys in hand, to walk back to the apartment. I was shown my room by Mick, who is also my neighbor, and who has been covering my classes for the last two weeks. Now this guy is interesting. Think…a long-haired, Harrison Ford- type. Cultured, yet almost slightly rough-neck. He taught in Tiajuana for, I think, 6 years. He's old school. No lap-top. Taught the Old Man and the Sea the first week of class. He gave me a run-down of the school, a bit. (Staff meetings are in Spanish; so are most of the emails.) My first class came in; they had just finished reading Holes, and had papers due.


I didn't get to really observe much, because I knew Norma was waiting on me at the front to enroll Caden and fill out all my paper-work.

So I headed that direction. An hour or so later, Joseph checked in on me, and asked me how Caden was doing. When I told him that I had no idea, I think he could sense the uncertainty in my voice, and took me to meet his teachers and the elementary school staff. And, to grab Caden and see how he was doing. A red-faced, tearful little boy made his way into the office, and climbed into my arms. He'd been placed in the Spanish class, instead of the English class, and just wasn't handling it well. Mrs. Betty was translating everything for him, and had the whole class give him a group hug when he got overwhelmed and upset, but it was too much. The way the elementary works is, they are divided into two groups, and they stay with that group, and have one day in Spanish, and the other in English (I think I understood that right.) They meant to place him in the English group for his first day, but that didn't happen. They gave him the option of staying with the teacher who taught in English for the whole week, and then picking on Friday, which group he wanted to stay with. Next Monday, he'd start regular schedule, switching back and forth from Spanish to English, every other day. They let him stay with me for about 20 minutes, until lunch. I showed him my classroom, where Mick was still holding down the fort, and I introduced him to my 9th graders. I was only with them for a minute, but one of them called out, "No worries!" when I apologized for not being there on time, and for not speaking Spanish. I think they are going to be great kids.

After that, it was lunch-time, so I stayed with Caden through lunch. It's very different from how lunch was in our old school; the kids have a lot more freedom. It's lunch and recess, combined. They go through the line and pick whatever they want. (Caden chose cereal, go figure) and then they can eat it anywhere- in the little cafe area, or out in the courtyard, where there is a basketball court and playground. Little man was definitely perking up. At the end of lunch, I dropped him off (smiling, I might add) with one of the teachers for the rest of his day, and went back to the office, to continue the process of registering him, and myself, basically.

It was a long, long day. I met so many great people, who went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I met several women who I feel will eventually become close friends. Everyone is just so friendly.  I had phone numbers thrown at me, rides to the grocery store offered, countless hugs and kisses on the cheek. When they heard I hadn't eaten all day, they ordered food for me, and had it delivered, against my protests. (AUTHENTIC Mexican taquitos, so good, I died) I feel like they really want to help support me through this transition. 

At the end of the day, I left feeling pretty positive, although still super overwhelmed. I haven't even really begun to think about my classes yet, and I'm supposed to be on my own on Wednesday.

I'll figure it out though. I always work best under pressure.

Back home, around 3:45 or so, I was met with a pretty spotless house. Jolene had been busy.  She even fashioned a clothes line for me on the roof. She also picked Caden up from school, and he was a happy camper. All smiles, she said, and talking nonstop about his day.  He made two new friends; one was from Chicago and the other Oklahoma.  I changed clothes (these heels are KILLING ME. I haven't regretted my tattoos, yet, but not being able to wear flats might push me in that direction) Anyway, we planned to walk to Sorianos and try to get the rest of the things on my list, but I knew we'd need a taxi back, and didn't know my address…..

So we ended up taking her around the plaza. Showed her the bench we go to sit at for free wifi, the coffee shops and the countless bands set up along the cobble-stoned streets. We wandered into a Mexican food restaurant and proceeded to have the best dinner, with the best service. When I told the waiter that I didn't speak Spanish, it turned into a pretty funny game of broken English, (my) broken Spanish, and charades.  The food….oh….the food. I am in the perfect place. The cheese, the onions, the cheese, ohhhh and the onions. So good. The hot sauce was the right amount of spicy, and there was something like 5 different ones to choose from. We both had a glass of wine, and Caden had a limonade. Not sure what we ordered, exactly, but the waiter and manager recommended it, and it was heaven. Caden ate like a pig. He finally got his bean and cheese nachos. He's been looking for them on a menu since we crossed the border and had been unsuccessful thus far. Also, it was a pretty funny exchange, me trying to explain what Caden wanted. I was all, "um…chips? si? con frijoles y queso, solamente, si?" The waiter responded with…."Nachos?" And pointed to the "nachos" on the menu. That I'd somehow missed. I'm pretty sure that Jolene snorted when she laughed at me.

Caden's face when we
walked off without
the puppy

On the walk back home, a man thrust a tiny, 3 week old chihuhua in my arms, and said, "40 dollars, it yours!" I almost caved. This adorable, tiny, white fur ball licked my hands and nuzzled against me. Thank god Jolene was there to be the voice of reason. He knew what he was doing though. Put that tiny ball of cuteness in Caden's arms, and it was almost over. He was a crying mess, the rest of the walk home, puppy-less. Although that did get me to thinking that something like that would probably help him with this transition. I mean, we have a dog, who we love and miss the crap out of, but she isn't here, and I don't think she'll actually be able to get here, with the weight limits. I told Caden that if we ever got another dog, it would also have to be a german shepherd, so I don't know. I may start looking for a gsd puppy.

Anyway, got home. Caden had to do his homework. He had to write down the roman numerals,  1 to 20, but didn't know them, and hadn't been able to take any notes because he has no school supplies. I felt guilty about that and went back out towards the plaza to see if I could find a store to at least buy him a notebook and pencils, but it was fruitless. I think we are going to take a cab to the walmart in Durango tomorrow, and see what we can find. For now, it's 1015, and I'm drifting.

Adios, amigos.