On Wednesday, I found myself getting a little frustrated when the Year 6 class (10-11 year olds) that I teach English to out at Soacha couldn't understand the difference between 'I', 'you', 'he' and 'she'. Today however, all was forgiven, when the same children and their teacher invited me to join their 'Día del Amor y la Amistad' (Day of Love and Friendship) celebrations, and they served me sausage pasta and Big Kola, fed me chocolate and even gave me three regalos (presents): a Rubiks Cube, a lollypop and two marbles.
As I watched the Soachan schoolchildren giving each other presents and thanking each other with kisses, I found myself reminiscing about my own schooldays back in Scotland when I was eleven years old. I remembered one boy in my class getting screamed at by the teacher for pinging a girls bra open during a lesson. I remembered two girls in my class getting screamed at by the teacher for burning someone elses homework in the tampon incinerator in the girls toilet. I remembered several boys in my class getting screamed at by the teacher after a gift-shop CCTV camera caught them stealing whoopee cushions during a school trip to Edinburgh Castle.
Fortunately, there was no arson, theft or unwanted amorous advances at Soacha school today. There was just pasta, cola and lots of smiles and laughter.
