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Bad Language Sometimes I learn new Spanish words at school that I have to ask Dad about. Lately, there have been many that he says are cuss words and I should not use them. But most children at the school say them all day long! I noticed that some of the words are used only by boys, and girls use others that boys don't. But I can't write any examples here. In Virginia, any insult or four-letter word and you're sent to the Dean of Students, and may even be kicked out of school for a few days. When a kid says a bad word here, though, the teachers don't say anything (unless it's a REALLY bad word). It is very strange because this is a Catholic school, where I thought it would be very bad to say cuss words. I think the reason is that some of the words are used so often, by so many people, that they are not considered cuss words anymore. But how is someone who does not know Spanish supposed to know? ------------- They just built a new field and running track at school. When it was finished, we had a ceremony and a blessing for it (like the Blessing of the Fleet in Virginia). It started with a speech by the director of the school, followed by the Chilean national anthem, the school song, and then a very long, loooong blessing. Later they had children playing soccer, running relay races, and cheerleaders cheerleading.
Now that the track is done, most of the classes are using it in gym class. My class is doing "atletismo" (athletics), which means running, jumping, and throwing. At first, I thought it was not going to be fun. But then the teacher told me and my friend that we were good runners and should join the after-school program. So I liked it a little more and decided that I would join the athletics program. I have been wearing Mom's hand-me-down sneakers to gym class, but now I will have to get some of my own. Mom has been a runner since she was 14 years old, and she started running with my grandfather who is STILL running at age 74. Mom thinks it is great that they have a track at school and says that it reminds her of the high school track meets she went to. I don't see how she can enjoy just running. The only kind of running I like is down the soccer field, and sometimes on a track at school. ------------- To learn Spanish faster, RJE is getting books out of the school library. They are really simple books. Today, she got one with poems and, after learning the words, RJE even read the poem aloud. You can hear part of it here. The library at our school in Virginia is used as a place where you pick out your "Accelerated Reading" books---books that you have to read and take a test on. In that library, there is a section for each grade level (1st to 8th), each with a different color. In our school here, students almost never check books out. They use the library more like a study room, to do their homework and projects, but not to read or borrow books. Anna Karenina #15
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