you guys are braver than me

Yesterday morning, I rather sharply insisted to the assembled grandparents that no, I'd already had bread for breakfast, no, I'm not hungry, no, I don't want any fish. (Saying "I don't want any food" here doesn't carry the weight it does back home.)

I looked back over the past 24 hours and realized I'd also used my Spanish to smooth out classroom flow, help with classroom management, kill some time at the end of class by chatting with the kids, discover my early class was canceled due to a student protest (no one would have told me), and keep from having to eat too much food.

I can barely imagine how annoying this experience must be if you don't speak the language.