Farewell Constitucion

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My last days of school continue to teach me so much. Some people are never going to appreciate the work I do for them, and they will never respect me as a teacher, but those that do express their gratitude both every day in class when they do their best and at the very end, make everything worthwhile. The love that I have received from so many here at Politecnico surpasses anything I could have asked for.



One class of sophomores made a slideshow presentation complete with cute broken English phrases (thank you Google Translate) and photos of the students set to “Everyday it will rain” by Bruno Mars. Of course, they didn’t know what the lyrics meant, but hearing “if you walk away, everyday it’ll rain…” really broke my heart. They and their head teacher Isaac (Narciso’s brother) then presented me with a framed photo and signed Chilean flag. On their way out the door, I received dozens of heartfelt hugs, “we’ll miss you” and “thank you’s” I’ll never forget.



While that was certainly the most organized and impressive farewell I received from a single class, the farewells I received from a multitude of other students were equally fulfilling and heartbreaking at the same time. David, one of my seniors, with quite stellar English was able to talk with me for a while about how much he enjoyed my classes, admired my teaching style, and appreciated me spending time with his class.



Wednesday afternoon I received an invitation from Jeannette for a farewell reception the teachers would be holding for me and one other teacher who happens to be resigning as of this week as well. I received a very warm thank you from the Director on behalf of the entire faculty. They even presented me with a lapilázuli bracelet that I later found out Narciso and Maria Gloria selected. It’s beautiful.



Before the reception, I had my last choir rehearsal. Now, I haven’t written a whole lot about the whole effort to create a choir here because for the most part is has been a very frustrating process for lack of piano, rehearsal space, internet, and most importantly, consistent attendance. This week’s woe was that hoping to get people to come, I wrote on the whiteboard at the entrance of the school that today was the last rehearsal. Apparently, it was soon after erased because by evening when I checked, it was no longer there, and no one saw it. Three loyal students – Hugo, Javier, and Tamara – who I had spoken with personally came. I decided that rather than ending the semester in disappointment that so few had come, we make the best of the time, and I would try to leave them with some basic skills for singing.



Who would have guessed amongst us 4 – 2 of which were new to choral singing – would be singing a most magnificent unison, and not half bad 3 part sustained harmony? It was incredibly satisfying to see the techniques I had been teaching all semester put into effect immediately and without asking. They showed me that they learned something about how to sing. Furthermore, we ended the evening improvising, and every single one of us took a turn. So impressed! I sang them a heartfelt thank you (during improvising) and well wishes to keep singing. They each gave me a hug at the end and thanked me for spending the time to teach them. Those 3 might as well have been 300 for the way I felt afterward.



In each class, I’ve been doing a brief lesson on chores so as to do an activity with the song, Yakety Yak by the Coasters (for anyone teaching English, it’s a great song for teaching chores!). For some reason, at least one kid in every class seems to think it’s country music, but anyway… the kids have enjoyed it. One class Friday had a pair of girls that did some intense dancing to it! I’ve also been giving my facebook information. Turns out that being “May Wright” on Facebook and “Emelia” in class proved to be a good hide-from-the-students technique because no one found me until now! However, now that they’re my friends, I get an overload of chat messages each night, “Hello Mis!” Looks like I’ll have a convenient way to continue practicing Spanish when I get home!



The week culminated with an act organized by a multitude of students that was realized Friday afternoon. Save 2 students, everyone else kept it a secret! 3 students from each course were allowed to attend for the sake of space. The performances were all unforgettable – the first being 6 girls line Dancing (the dance I taught them) to Shania Twain’s “I feel like a woman.” Heyla, a beautiful promising young 2^nd year, gave me a farewell speech that she wrote in English. Then, Javier, one of my loyal choir students (2^nd year) sang a solo in English: Bryan Adams, Everything I do. Roberto from 3E is an absolutely amazing dancer, and he performed this type of dance called “popping.” It’s kind of like robotic movement – super awesome. Of course, it’s not a Chilean celebration without a little Cueca, so to conclude the performances, a pair of students, adorned with the appropriate regional Cueca getup: Guaso hat & spurs, floral dress & white handkerchief, danced the lively dance as we clapped along.



Throughout the performances, I was all smiles – perfectly content and tearless until I got up to say thank you, and I saw all of those faces of the teachers and students I love staring up at me. I looked from face to face of my colleagues: Cristian, Narciso, Juan, Luis, Sayuri, Maria Gloria, Francisca was there too… and all of the wonderful memories came back to me: all of the special trips, jokes in the Salon de Professores, words of encouragement, and finally how close I have become with Maria Gloria and Francisca during these final days. I’m going to miss them so much! Amidst tears and less than perfect Spanish, I thanked them all for the whole experience and told them that we’ll see each other in Texas!



Narciso, in English, told me how much of an impact I’ve made on the students. “This is not like them to get together and organize something like this. It’s a big deal.” “Yes, Emelia is very special” Maria Gloria said. The night before, Director Luis told me as well that he can tell a difference in the students since I came. I can’t imagine ever being so honored again in my life.



In the evening, I had once with the Director, Luis and his family. The meal was pretty much the norm: bread, avocado, cheese, ham, tea, plus a “kuchen de nueces,” a tart like dessert filled with walnuts and a custard-like filling – pretty good for Chilean dessert! The conversation was nice. They asked questions that I get a lot here: So, do you like Chile? How have the students received you? What kind of program are you with? What parts of Chile have you gotten to know? Did you study Spanish before coming? What swear words have you learned? This last one came about because the little nephew that was running around has picked up a habit from someone of exclaiming, “puta!” which is the equivalent of “whore.” I was absolutely intrigued by this little guy because Luis told me, when he hears a foreign language, his face changes completely. I said a few words to him in English several times during the evening and every time, immediately his face broke into a huge smile, and he began to laugh. It amazes me that with only basic Spanish language skills, he immediately recognizes (and responds positively!) to English! The evening passed very quickly, and all of a sudden, I looked to my watch to find that it was already 11. When I arrived home around midnight, Francisca and Maria Gloria said they experienced the same surprise when Maria Gloria’s alarm went off at 11 and I was still out. “La Emelia still hasn’t arrived?” They know I’m no night-owl.



Saturday, we had lunch at our favorite restaurant on the beach – the same place we went the first time we went out to eat. The sunshine from the previous days didn’t quite hold out for an afternoon on the beach, but we enjoyed the time nevertheless. The same waiter that always tends to us greeted us with a big smile. We got the regular: empanadas to start and the vegetarian plate for the main course. I got to try a “queso loco” empanada this time around rather than my regular favorite, empanada de mariscos. Locos are a type of mariscos, that you can only get around Conti. Apparently, they’re endangered though, so I’m not exactly sure how the ones I ate were obtained. I can understand why though because they’re absolutely delicious!



That evening, my family and I went to Ariel’s house for dinner as he had invited me over earlier that week. We discovered when we arrived that the whole choir had been invited. What a warm evening it was: pizza and wine, two showstoppers (Ariel’s kids Gabriel and little 1+ year old, Antonela who very much enjoyed sticking her tongue out at me), and an abundance of boisterous singing around a guitar that passed from hand to hand. I sang along to the songs I knew from choir. About 11:30, we bid farewell for the last time. Again, Ariel thanked me for my contributions to the group and offered his home as a place to stay if ever I need it. Argentinians may have a reputation for being stuck-up, but the only one I know is one of the most genial people I’ve ever met.



Thank You friends and family of Constitucion! I will never forget you!

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Photos

Colleagues and I
Director on the far Right