“I’m finished!” One of my Job Class students shouted with startling volume, simultaneously shooting his hand high into the air. The rest of the class burst into shocked and amused laughter, pausing for a moment to look wonderingly at the newcomer (today was his second day) before returning to their assignment. The laughter billowed louder the second time this scene repeated itself, the purpetrator apparently unscathed by the reaction to his first outburst.
An English class without laughter is like a mild Minnesota winter. I honestly can’t remember one. Ever.
Today is Día de los Reyes in Mexico (Epiphany, or literally King’s Day) and in some parts of Mexico, gifts are exchanged on this day rather than on Christmas Eve, although one student said their family exchanges gifts both days– “Mucho dinero!” (“Lots of money”) she laughed. Another student commented that apparently they didn’t believe in the economic recession.
One of my students brought in a traditional wreath-shaped sweet bread, festooned with candied figs and cherries to share with the whole class. Oddly enough, this King’s Day treat is laced with tiny plastic figures of the baby Jesus, which if found in your piece of bread means you have to bring tamales for Candelaria day on February 12. I of course got one, and so did a wondering Bhutanese student, who smilingly nodded as she pulled it out of her piece. Sometimes I wonder what is going on beneath the polite smiles of my students as they observe what for their classmates is perfectly normal behavior.
I ate, and ate, and ate some more pozole after work at the house of my former students, squeezing on more lime, piling on more lettuce and cucumber, and cracking tostada after tostada into the spicy red soup. Then the parents and I watched as their children finished off the bottle of Coca Cola, and the more they drank, the more unbelievably crazy their antics became. I finally had to escape away into the snowy night to rest from so much laughing.
Now it’s time to finish off my current knitting project so I can start the next one (the yarn just arrived today!)
