my fan club

As I have mentioned before, my Spanish classes are held in a private, bi-lingual K-12 school in Asuncion. Jon and I are the biggest of the big kids, and we are also Americans. This means that we are pretty much celebrities. The kids are awesome--they all know our names and always want to talk to us. This does great things for a person´s self esteem, but it can also be overwhelming at times.

Last week Jon and I noticed the first graders signing a song after lunch. Head, shoulders, knees, and toes in Spanish. The teacher then started a game with the kids with instructions like "finger to nose, hand to hip". Jon and I had just been learning parts of the body in Spanish, so we decided to join in. We played along quietly in the back for about a minute while the kids giggled and smiled. In this class there is a boy named Evan. He is an adorable, grinning, gangly little thing, and he is missing both of his front teeth. He would be the president of my fan club if such a thing existed--I need to make sure this kid does not meet Marle. So anyways, Evan was standing in the very front of the crowd and didn´t notice us at first. When he did turn around and see us, he slowly began to chant my name. His peers joined in quickly until the whole cafeteria was reverberating with "Co-ri! Co-ri!" I was simultaneously shocked, touched, amused, and mortified. I didn´t know what to do--being able to touch my own nose hardly warrants that sort of enthusiasm. So I hid behind Jon and could not stop laughing. I think I should record the chanting to take home with me, for those especially trying days when I could use some reassurance.