Not all who wander are lost: Because it’s September 30th

Things at school often don’t get communicated well. And many times I really don’t think it’s because I’m not understanding the Spanish. Sometimes I feel like people talk in a really convoluted manner. Or they assume that I should know something. Whatever the case, I again missed the part of the conversation where we wouldn’t be having classes today. Yesterday the director explained that some of the teachers weren’t going to have class because they’d be marching. When I asked Cecilia’s son about this he responded that it was because it was September 30th. Okay, I’m not sure what that means.

So I showed up at school today with all my teaching materials and ready to teach. I walked into my 2nd grade class and the teacher told me that we weren’t going to be having class because the whole school was going to the park. When I asked why she said it was because it’s September 30th. She must have seen the confused look on my face because then she went on to explain that it was the last day of Independence month. So we were going to have the closing ceremony of the month.

After the 7:30 bell rang the entire school filed outside to the street and got in formation. Together we marched to the park in the town center where we were joined by the other schools in Berlín. Like the other ceremonies we’ve had this month the Salvadoran flag was marched to the stage and the national anthem was played. Someone spoke for a while about Independence month and then the performances commenced. Four or five different groups danced for everyone. By now I’d seen all the groups except for one that was new to me. But I still enjoyed watching them.

The ceremony ended a little over an hour later. After that people just kind of wandered around for a while. Then the little kindergarten band played out on one of the streets. Following them was the band from the girl’s school and the band from the boy’s school. Finally the band from the high school performed. During this time some of the kids watched while others just ran around the park. No one stayed with their own class, and several kids went to buy food from various vendors around the park.

Eventually it was time to head back to school. Miraculously, all the 2nd grade students I walked to the park with showed up when their teacher and I started walking back. No one from the school walked back in formation but rather in clumps. I’m not even sure if all the students went back to the school. The only reason the 2nd grade students that I walked to the park with went back was to get their things. Then everyone was headed home. That included me. Happy end of Independence month!