Serenata de Belisa
Por las orillas del río
se está la noche mojando
en los pechos de Lolita
se mueren de amor los ramos.¡Se mueren de amor los ramos!
La noche canta desnuda
sobre los puentes de marzo.
Belisa lava su cuerpo
con agua salobre y nardos.¡Se mueren de amor los ramos!
La noche de anís y plata
relumbra por los tejados.
Playas de arroyos y espejos
anís de tus muslos blancos.¡Se mueren de amor los ramos!
– Federico García Lorca
Day: May 3, 2012
Caveat: Teacher! My favorite beer is Heineken
I had my first day back with the middle-schoolers after the end of the mid-term test-prep period. Many of them were absent, but a core group of my RN1T cohort of mostly seventh graders was present, and they were definitely entertaining. The highlights:
Jeongjae said his homeroom teacher was a pig. I said that didn’t seem like a very nice thing to say. “Why is she a pig?” I asked.
“She gives horrible test!” He explained, which I could see leading to antipathy, but didn’t really make her a pig. “And she gives me food all the time. Extra food. She keeps making me eat!” Jeongjae is very skinny. Maybe she’s trying to take care of him.
“Hmm,” I mused. “That sounds more like a pig-farmer, than a pig.” This went right over the boy’s head. But Eunjin, in the other corner of the room, broke out in a fit of giggles. She’s very quiet, but her English comprehension is excellent. She got the joke.
Later, we were talking about wild animals. “Are there any wild animals in Ilsan?” I asked.
Jeongjae’s hand shot up. “My homeroom teacher!” He announced, confidently.
The best was when Donghun’s hand shot up, unbidden. “Teacher!” He exclaimed, as if making a profound discovery. “My favorite beer is Heineken!” Out of the blue, and his accent was flawless. This is from a seventh grader. I think it’s from a television commercial. I couldn’t help but laugh at this.
[Daily log: walking, 5 km; running, 3 km]
