Thursday was the day I got to test the waters of being a substitute teacher as one of the teachers at the school had called in sick. I was asked to step in and teach two back-to-back classes consisting of students with a good enough grasp of English that I wouldn’t have to exercise my broken Spanish skills, mixed with English and random French words that I’m always hoping would make sense to Spanish-speakers (they don’t). Our favourite biker held down the fort in the conversation class on his own for the evening.
My first class consisted of three minions kids of elementary school age. Their initial shyness quickly dissipated when I asked them if they wanted to learn about time or play a game; communicating only in English. Of course they chose to play and we ended up having a fun class of silly, but useful games. The next class was also fun with a couple of teenage girls who were at a higher level so we did some serious work before they started telling me about their Quinceañeras (similar to a 16th birthday, but for 15-year-old girls). It was a fun evening at the school and teaching (especially youngsters) looks a lot less scary to me now.
After class, we went for beers in the evening with Ivan and a couple of the other teachers from the school. Ivan’s musician friends were playing at the bar so, naturally, at some point, they asked him to get onstage and sing with them. It turns out that there was a rock star hiding behind his soft-spoken demeanor. We were really impressed with the talent on that stage because all the musicians were exceptional. We went to another bar afterwards with more mellow music and then finished the night off at 2:00 AM.
Ivan being a rock star with the band
The next day, we arose later than we usually do (perhaps because we’re not 20 any longer) and did some work before some of Isaias’ relatives came over. We enjoyed their company with some good food and good music that lasted well into the night. Because we were still doing karaoke when people started leaving, Isaias suggested continuing the party at a local karaoke bar so Isaias, Dolores, Phil, and I piled into a cab at around 11:00 PM and headed to the venue where we sang our hearts out and laughed at ourselves until 3:00 AM.
Because selfies are more fun with a group
The Karaoke Team
Photo by: MeetGto
Saturday was another late-start day; however, we spent the rest of the day being productive, only taking a break for some sushi dinner at a nearby mall. Being a sushi-lover from Vancouver has a tendency to make me apprehensive about eating it anywhere else, but I’m glad I took the plunge. The food was more expensive than what we would have paid back home, but it was delicious and we didn’t get sick. Double win!
We finished the meal off with fortune cookies, which are always fun to break open to read the little messages inside. Phil’s was surprisingly accurate in saying he will step on the soil of many countries. Mine advised me to consult others before taking unusual action. Thanks, cookie, but I doubt anyone would have encouraged me to quit my job and travel towards South America on a motorcycle 😛
Cucumber-wrapped crab sushi
Um… I’m glad I didn’t and DUH!
Sunday was another purely productive day where our only real break was dinner, which consisted of pizza from Domino’s.
