gap week

I was a little worried about class today because I didn't really have a plan, except some vague ideas about games. Silly me! Here's what happened with my 4 classes today:

• I got in with 1-A, and after a little banter, I asked what they wanted to do. They said, "It's the week before vacation. We don't do anything." Well, I didn't want to be there either, so we played a Hangman-like game for a while, chatted, and I gave them their grades from my test.
• Because of Chile's World Cup game 2 weeks ago, 1-J still had to take Marcela's test.
• 1-H was delayed an hour because problems in the kitchen prevented making lunch for the kids (and me), so the school was scrambling around that. Since it was just a half hour left after that, I just left them with Marcela.
• 1-G got canceled because all the first-years were doing the show for their dance class. (It was adorable, all these 15-year olds, some of them quite troublesome, doing stuff they'd choreographed themselves.)

Tomorrow classes are canceled due to a student strike. I'm not sure what they're protesting specifically, but I do know a representative took their demands to the government today, which played its part by rejecting them; there's no shortage of things worth protesting in the educational system. No one's exactly sure what classes are canceled, whether it's just the morning, or the whole day. Eduardo, one of my most awesome students, said, "No classes all day. We'll be beating up on the cops."

"Well, be careful, they've got the trucks with the water cannons and everything."

"Aw, no, that's just to cool us off."
"Oh, because you'll be hot from running and everything."

"Exactly!"

There's a protest culture here that's alien to us now. I think we had it in the 60s, but now we're like democracy's elderly great-uncle: still mentally active, but physically, can't really be bothered to stand up and throw rocks at anyone.

Oakland Raiders fans excepted, of course.