When I realize I may "not be" mentally healthy. (just joking)

                                                                 MONDAY

         Physics flew by quickly and we were left with little homework (oh yeah!). Math was not anything extraordinary as I had to work on the math book that West High gave me to work on. Breakfast was okay but I ended up eating only part of it. The BIG highlight of the breakfast was the cappucino that they made at school. Paola gave me a sip of hers before I got mine and it was pure heaven in a plastic cup.

         English is always a good class for me because I get to excel in my first language. Our homework from last time was to read the first chapter of "The Three Musketeers" but Maya didn't have the book and Emmanuel "said he read it" but he couldn't remember a thing about it. So that forced me to be the one that explained it all to Maya so that we could write a summary. I kind of acted it out also which further prompted Maya's idea that I am going to be an actress when I grow up. Azul was put into our group after the teacher realized how much English she knew.

       Then we had Geology in English, that wasn't anything special so I will go to the next activity. After our snack we were meant to have art, I like the teacher but lately we have been doing less creative stuff and more stuff like cutting things out. Maya and Ana (who Tilo remarked about yesterday that she has a voice that always sounds like she is suffering. At the end of her sentences her tone drops) complained about it and I felt bad for the art teacher. I like Maya but sometimes she is rude. We went down below to make a string of flags but it soon started to rain. We went into the rain because we wanted to get wet. We were very bored with our current project so after she tried countless times to get us back underneath the balcony she told us we were going to get reports. She told Eloina (the principal) what she planned to do and Eloina told her not to because if we got sick then that was our own faults. We got completely soaking and had a bunch of fun as we splashed each other and kept saying "well what the heck, YOLO (you only live once) as the sixth graders looked on jealously at us (they were in there formal uniforms and were un-allowed to go down). I think that statement is true and that maybe I should loosen up a little (just a smidgen!). We came in after and dripped all over the place.  Some people used the curtains for a towel!!

       After school I had a lot of homework so I did that most of the afternoon.

                                                              TUESDAY

           We had double physics first thing in the morning which did not make me thrilled. I almost fell asleep at one part! Breakfast was chilaquiles which are chips covered in a watery tomato sauce and chicken. It was a little spicy but I thought it was good. Math was pretty much the same as the day before so nothing to get really excited about.

          Then, we were supposed to have PE but you know how that goes, they didn't end up showing up, so they scheduled a class (or as she insists "this isn't a class it's a course") for that time. It has a very long name so I will just call it Social Intelligence or Counseling. She had us copy the homework off the board and then we did this exercise where we had to write down the names of three people that suck the joy out of things. She tried to get us to think of dementors in Harry Potter and for me that was NOT very hard! I had a hard time thinking of one but then I finally got one. Later she split us up into partners and let us loose outside to try and get us to explain why we think that the person who is like a dementor is that way. My partner was someone who will remain un-named to avoid class issues (if someone stumbles upon it) and lets just say that I was less than thrilled. And I wasn't the only one so the rest of us who were disappointed with our partners just sat on the hill in the sun. After the time that she gave us she came down and had us sit in a circle while she talked about who controls who in the education system. I kind of zoned out for that bit because Oscar's class where doing relay races and that was more interesting than what we were doing.

          Then she explained to us that Lina (the girl with the handicapped hand) had something to tell us. She told us that a lot of people were being rude to her (and rightly so, Favio, Evodio and Diego all were being awful to her, they threw stuff at her, mimicked her, made fun of her). She started quietly and then she had a major crescendo in which she was almost in tears. She then told everyone who WASN'T mean to her: Paola, Maya, Azul and I. After a big discussion in which everyone agreed that they would respect her if she respected them (by not freaking out). I had seen her being bullied but I was just at a loss of what to do, if I was reading this blog about someone else I could easily give them advice but it is a lot harder to actually fulfill that advice. Then Griselda (the teacher) told us that to be emotionally healthy you have to have the minimum of hugs (22) a day. Now I don't get that many hugs a day but I seem to be mentally healthy, right!! She told us that we had to give everyone a hug. I started with my friends so first Paola then Maya and Lorena and then Ana and I kind of were standing there with no-one to hug and then I just said "Ana" and then we both gave a small laugh and then hugged each other (we had never been as close as she and Paola). I ended up also hugging Favio, Tilo and Emma among the boys.

         Then, SNACK TIME!!! We all gathered in the hexagon shaped kitchen and ate bread with jam that was left over from the little kids. I had two pieces and a cup of smoothie from the elaborate breakfast that my dad and mom made for Oscar's class. We were going to go back to the class but instead were supposed to go back to the kitchen. We were told to sit in a semi hexagon facing in towards the work space. First, as we were jammed together literally hip to hip to make room for Maya's friend who came to visit her that day, they first reminded us of the meeting tomorrow in which we were going to sell homemade food for money for a trip. We had a discussion about who would go on it. Then the teachers wanted to tell the students that were mis-behaving in class that they wanted it to stop by playing this odd game. The teacher would walk around and give everyone a hand shake or a pat on the head. I you were given a handshake then you were fine and if you were given a pat on the head, then you had to ask why you were tapped on the head. Most people were in trouble because they were swearing in class (or saying "groserias). Then it was Karla's turn, she changed the game a little by first giving everyone a hand shake and then really starting. The people that she shook hands with she had something good to say about them and the people that she didn't touch at all were fine. The people who she tapped on the head she needed them to change something. The rest of the game went the same as before. In the middle of what she talked about, it started to rain and because we were underneath a tine roof it was VERY loud. Maya and I unable to hear anything cupped our hands over our ears and experimented with the sound. After we left, we read from a book a little bit and then Karla checked the speech that I am going to do on Wednesday.

           

The "forbidding" gate to my school on a misty morning.

Charro on the lawn of the school

My mostly beloved school shrouded in mist

Men and women in Zinacantan

Me sitting in my classroom after school.

Something really weird happened and this post got deleted. We mostly recovered it but the title and some parts are still different. Sorry Papa, your comment was deleted.