The one with Dia del Centro

Today was Dia del Centro at my school, which is essentially a day to cut loose, do some different activities, and have fun.  I asked if there was any deeper meaning or purpose, and evidently, in the past the school had one more day off in the fall for Feria, but when the government said that wasn't allowed, they decided to create Dia del Centro in the spring for a break.  There were lots of fun things for the kids to do, like do sports (mostly football), build and set off rockets, do arts and crafts, and participate in contests in various school subjects.  There were also chocolate con churros, which is obviously a favorite for me, so I was a happy girl.  I mostly walked around, but I got the chance to do something absolutely awesome!  I made a pot using the traditional clay from this part of Extremadura.  It was the first time I have ever made pottery using a potter's wheel, and it was awesome and super fun!  I was pretty proud of myself, and I understood the directions in Spanish.  

 Later, we went to the Salon de Actos (Auditorium) to watch and do karaoke in English, mostly to the Beatles.  All of my kids have been saying for the past week that they weren't going to do it, but a good number of them went up in groups.  They were all trying to get me to go up, but I explained to them that I have been known to make people cry with my singing. So I told them there was no way I was going up there...Alone :)  I got a group of four of first year girls, and we went up and sang "Help!" by the Beatles.  I was pretty proud of myself.  It wasn't exactly in character for me, but I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.  Nobody could tell who was singing what anyways because the microphone wasn't turned up very loud, so nobody cried!

 We went back outside to listen to some of the students play in their rock band.  It is actually pretty cute; one of the teachers, Lluvia (which means rain), leads a group that practices during Recreo at school.  I don't know if they perform anywhere but at school functions, but I imagine they have a pretty good time of it.  Two of my fourth year bilingual section boys are in the group, and they always look pretty pleased with themselves, as they should.  Then it was back to the Salon de Actos to watch a former student perform magic tricks.  It was fairly entertaining, not that he will replace David Blaine anytime soon.  One of my private lesson kids went up on stage to help perform a trick, and it was fun to watch.  Then the school day was over, so all the students left, but many of the teachers stayed for lunch after school.  They hired someone to come and make the gorgeous looking paella below.  This is how paella is supposed to be done, for a community, in a giant pan, cooked on an open flame fire.  It was delicious with calamari, mussels, and clams.  The chef also took the time to explain the whole process to me, which was really neat too.  Many of the teachers brought their young children too, which was fun to watch.  One of the English teachers only speaks English to his children, so it was cool that his two year old understood and spoke a bit of English.  All in all an excellent day, except for when our waiter insulted me and my Spanish by saying that Marissa's is better than mine.  Maybe it is because I never know if the waiter and I are speaking English or Spanish together, but lo que sea (whatever!).