August 30

Well, today was kinda awful. My first day of school. I know that it was “only” my first day, but I hate it. It was probably one of the worst experiences I can recall. I get up and get all ready and look all nice and do my hair and my mom drives me to the school. Then, as soon as I walk through the door, the first thing the woman says to my mother is “you’re late.” (in spanish of course) and so my mom asks what time school started and she said seven. So then the principal comes out. She nods in my direction and says you need to pull your hair up and you cannot wear makeup or jewelry. No hello. Just “this is how you are unacceptable to me.” So then, I followed the principal upstairs (without talking mind you) and then she ushered me into this room with about 16 students in it. She said “this is Deidre.” She pushed a desk in behind me and then left. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds then took my seat. The teacher didn’t say hello. She didn’t ask where I was from. She didn’t ask how much Spanish I knew. She didn’t introduce herself. She didn’t introduce me to the classmates. And no one else talked to me either. Until, a blond girl behind me said “I’m Jane.” She’s from Iowa. Anyways, she was the only person who seemed to care that I was here. The other students just talked around us and talked with each other. Well, talking is a mild term. It was more like screaming overtop of one another. The teacher just let them do this for about 20 minutes. Then she tried to talk to the class and they wouldn’t shut up, so she just didn’t teach. Jane said that that is the way it normally goes. She said that they never really study anything.
In the school, there are no books. There is no paper. There are no pencils. There is no pencil sharpener. There is no tv. There are no computers. There’s no worksheets. Only one chalkboard. It’s probably the most awful thing ever. Jane said that she had been there about 2 weeks and that the students still don’t talk to her. Great. I mean, the students weren’t really helpful at all. They really didn’t care that I was there. I would ask the kid that knows a bit of Spanish to explain something in statistics but it didn’t work so well.
That brings me to another point. This school is supposed to be a bilingual school where they focus on business in other countries and the students should be fluent in English when they graduate. But the reality is, no one speaks English. There is one kid in my class who knows some English, but the teachers don’t know English. Not even the English teacher! They don’t speak in English at all. They barely teach for that matter.
It’s just so frustrating for me. I can’t speak well, so I can’t do too well in school. But it’s not like it matters. Jane said that in the two weeks that she’s been here, she hasn’t had to do anything. No tests. No homework. No class participation. Just sit and don’t cause problems. That’s all. I want to be able to go to school and learn the language, but I can’t learn anything if no one will talk to me! I can’t learn anything if the teachers don’t even acknowledge my presence. The one teacher that came in didn’t even say hello to me. It’s like I was just another desk or something. I want to learn! I am trying to learn! But it’s so hard when i don’t have anyone to communicate with. I mean, I can talk to Jane just fine, but she doesn’t speak Spanish well either.
It was weird. What little interest the students had in me, it was all strange information. Like, the girls would keep asking me if I had a boyfriend. Like, where did that come from? And they boys only wanted to know what kind of music I listened to. But it’s just so random. Eh.
Anyways, I came home and told my mom that I didn’t like it. And she suggested that I ask to change schools to be with my sisters. She tried to say that I was sorta forced into going to that school because the director of rotary is the owner of the school. I would feel so much better if I could go to school with Pilar. I mean, she and my other sisters try so hard to help me learn the language. At dinner we had a quiz game where Chabelli would ask me the names of everything around and what they were in English. I learned a lot of new words. 100 times as many as I did at school. I didn’t learn a single thing at school. Nothing. I think that if I went to school with Pilar and I could be with her friends that I already know, it would make things so much better. It doesn’t make sense.
Anyways, I had statistics homework, but I couldn’t do all of it because I didn’t have minitab. I mean the united states, we actually use technology, so I don’t know how to not use it. So, I tried downloading it, but it was being so difficult. I tried skyping with Daniel several times about it, but we eventually gave up and he said we’ll try again tomorrow. I know how to do the work. I just need this program. But I don’t think that we have that class tomorrow. I don’t know.
Oh, we also had gym class today. That was pretty fun. We played handball. I’ve never played it, but it was pretty fun and the other girls thought it was cool that I got so into the game. Here the girls just don’t really try in gym. But yeah, that was my day. Rating: 2.