School is Different

School is a funny thing. I never really liked school because, well, school is school, but at the same time school has always been the place where I get to hang out with my friends. The same is true here. I don´t like school because it means I need to spend six hours trying to understand Spanish. Today during break I was so exhuasted that I was minutes away from sleep when the bell rang. At the same time, I love the interactions that happen at school between me and my classmates. It is so fun to see who acts like who back in the states, what kids seem to get into trouble, what I talk about with other people; each day is just so different from that last that I can´t help but be excited when I think about going again. It is also interesting to start seeing the big and small differences that make this school so much different from Mount Baker in Deming. Let me give you some examples:

1. We only have one class room and we never have to leave it.
2. Every morning we begin by having every age group line up in the gym and say prayers.
3. We can´t eat anything in class; only during breaks.
4. This kids have been in the same class with each other since they were four.
5. Because of #4, all of these kids are friends with there whole class. Back home, I have so many different classmates in different classes that although I might know every one´s names, I probably haven´t even spoken to half of them. Here, everyone knows everyone and it makes it really fun in terms of interactions during class and break.
6. When a teacher is sick or can´t teach, we don´t have class. If it is the last period of the day like Literature for me the last two weeks, we just get to go home early. If it is a class in the middle of the day like Religion today, we had a woman come in and play memory games with us until our next class.
7. If you miss school because you are sick, you need to take your note from your parents and get it stamped at the "Centro Civil" before you can bring it to school. I still don´t really understand what the stamp is for. Also, you only have to have it if you are sick. Not if you went on vacation or had an appointment.
8. This last one is probably the largest difference from Mount Baker. What we wear to school. Technically, we have three different options of what to wear depending on the weather, which are dirty, and whether it is a P.E. day or not. The first outfit is the one that you can see me in in the picture on a previous post. It is a white shirt with a redish blouse over it, a checkered skirt, high maroonish socks, and black shoes. The second outfit is similiar but instead of having the skirt, you can wear grey wool pants. The third outfit is maroon sweatpants and a white t-shirt with the school´s emblem on it. For P.E., you are also aloud to wear blue short and a completelly white t-shirt but you can´t wear that to school. With any outfit, you also have the option to wear a maroon/redish jacket or sweatshirt. Right now, I have every piece of clothing except for the jacket. Which has been unfortunate because these last couple days have been cold in the mornings and I have had to go without one.

I need to leave for the center now. I am going to go meet up with other AFS girls and hang out!!