Tourists
Emmanuel is the on on the right. Joseph, his best bud, is on the left. They’re inseparable, like two old grandpas. Such characters!
Some time last week, I was sitting outside waiting for the parents to pick up their kids.
I brought my laptop to keep my company, but don’t worry, I still had a sharp eye on who was picking up their children.
One of my 2nd graders, Emmanuel, walked up to my desk.
“What are you doing, Teacher?” he asked curiously in Spanish. (Except for “teacher”, they’ve learned that well in English.)
“I’m on Pinterest,” I replied in English. “Sabes que es Pinterest?” (“Do you know what is Pinterest?”
He shook his head.
“Look,” I motioned to the pictures.
“Wow,” his eyes widened.
“See? It has recipes and pictures of pretty things…and yeah,” I ended lamely. “Look at this picture.”
“Que es esto, Teacher?” (“What is this, Teacher?”)
“It’s a hot cocoa popsicle with marshmallows in it,” I smiled.
“Mmm! Que rico! Quiero uno!” (“Mmm! How yummy! I want one!”) Emmanuel exclaimed.
I was about to show him another picture, when two tourists walked by, speaking loudly in English. I was startled – I rarely hear English except from Bianca and Karalee, so it’s weird seeing other people who speak my language.
“Me asusto Emmanuel!” (“I got scared, Emmanuel!”) I gasped a bit.
“Ah, Teacher. Son touristicos,” (“Ah, Teacher. They’re tourists.”) he shook his head sagely. He looked about 80 years old in that moment, wise beyond his age. It was as if the tourists were below his understanding at that point.
“Emmanuel! Y que? Soy un touristca tambien!” (“Emmanuel! What, I’m a tourist too!”) I laughed.
“No, Teacher! No es una touristica, usted es una Teacher!” (“No, Teacher! You’re not a tourist, you’re a Teacher!”)
He looked at me like Duh. You knew that.
I laughed heartily and Emmanuel gave his rare, adorable little smile with his eyes.
“Los touristicos viene aqui para ver el bosque….y camina adentro para ver los pajaros,” (The tourists come here to see the forest…and walk inside to see the birds.”) he continued.
“Well, I did that once,” I argued.
“Well then you were a tourist. Once,” He amended.
Oh kids. They have the best logic. =)
Random Phrase/Word of the Week:
Venido – come