In the cultural spotlight

After about a week of teaching, I have became accustomed to being stared at by students while I'm standing in front of the room. But in general, I never like being the leader of a group or in the spotlight. With that said, today was the opposite.

Today I worked at Colegio Sagrado Corazón here in Coria (the other school that I work at, La Salle, is in Plasencia). I usually have an hour break from 11am to 12pm from class, which is pretty nice time to run an errand or grab some café con leche. Around 11:45am to 12:15pm, the school has a recreo period, meaning recess. Most of the younger students go out and play soccer, snack on their bocadillos (sandwiches) that their moms made them or the older students (11-14 years old) hang out and talk. I walked around for a little bit in the playground area of the school then perched at a spot to chill away from the sun since it was starting to get a little hot. A couple of students of mine came up to say hi and were gather around me asking a couple of questions. Then, out of nowhere, A MASSIVE GROUP of pre-teens and teenagers gathered in a group around me. I just said HOLY SHIT (they didn't know what that ment) and started laughing because I was the man of the hour (or 10 minutes of recess).

I was asked the usual questions: where am I from, what do I study, what do I teach, how old am I. Then I would get random questions like do I have a girlfriend or can I sing. Most of the questions were in Spanish, so I understood everything. Some tried to speak in English too, which was pretty cool. But the whole time I felt I was an animal being stared at in the zoo, like LOOK! AN AMERICANO! It was a fun but an unique experience. Being from the states, that never happens since it is a very diverse country. Coria has one latin american family and one Chinese family, thats all. The rest are Spanish. It is a real culture shock for them, I suppose, to see a real foreigner. I'm actually happy to be in a foreigner's shoes. I somewhat know how international students feel when they come to UNT. Somewhat weirded out by the culture that you live in now but people are fascinated by you because of where you come from!

Sorry, no photos. Its about the story. READ IT, BITCH! (an ode to the finale of Breaking Bad).