My seniors graduated on Thursday May 16. The weird thing was that, although it had the finality and pomp and circumstance of an American high school graduation, the kids still came to school after the date for an occasional review session, make-up exam, or the school party in June! So basically, I got all emotional for nothing.
I showed up on Thursday evening and sat by myself on the right side of the auditorium. I didn't want to take up seats in the middle for the parents, and I sure as heck wasn't going to sit on the left with the other teachers. One of the juniors (who should have been graduating with this year's class) was passing out graduation programs, and she came over and told me, "Niki! You look so alone! Me and my friend are coming to sit with you!" She helped me through the ceremony because most of it was a mass, and I had no idea when to sit, stand, or kiss people. The two us sat there like babies crying. After the ceremony, we all took pictures in the auditorium and then went down to the cafeteria to eat and take more pictures. I met a lot of parents, siblings, and family members, and soon enough the kids started asking me to come with them to the dinner they had organized at a restaurant downtown. I really didn't want to bring the "awkward teacher" mood to their big night out, so I declined. One of the girls got down on her knees in the middle of the cafeteria, begging me to come, so I finally said I would come to the "night out" portion. I would meet them at 11-ish at the bar where we would be celebrating.
We all headed over to the train station. I found out about a lot of relationships...and a lot of information about their sexual orientations that I really didn't need to know. We took the train ride together and I held my ground about the "no dinner" thing. I went home, changed into more appropriate "going out" clothes that I would never be caught dead in with the teachers at my school, and headed to the Campamento metro stop. I was texting one of the girls to make sure I was in the right place, and then I saw one senior boy waiting at the metro with his girlfriend. The three of us waited about 20 minutes before hearing the rest of the gaggle coming up the stairs, and we proceeded to do the slow clap as they had all shown up 25 minutes late.
We headed to the bar. They had reserved the whole downstairs area and I actually had to show my ID. The kids who were under 18 had their hands stamped, but it was just for appearance's sake. Everyone was drinking, dancing, taking pictures, drunkenly telling me how great my class was, and singing at me every time I tried to sit down. They all made their way outside by about 3:30 for some reason. I don't know why, but the party almost always makes its way to the street in Madrid. It's so safe here, so I never feel weird sitting outside at such a late hour. Before I knew it, I was doing damage control, picking up shoes, reuniting people with lost friends, and just worrying about their safety in general. I turned around at one point, and a group of the boys were smoking cigars, people were setting off firecrackers, and cops were slowly driving towards us. I knew I would have to find a cab home soon because I wasn't going to pull an all-nighter with them. I hadn't seen a cab since we all met up at the metro stop, but I couldn't figure out how to get back to said metro stop, so when I saw a cab dropping someone off at a nearby apartment, I ran into the street with one of my girls and flagged it down like a crazy person. Once I realized it was coming for me, I did my happy dance in the street. I had given so many hugs and kisses that day, I'm sure I somehow said goodbye to all 50 of them at some point.
Throughout the night, some of the kids had been checking in on me, asking me how I was doing. I remember telling one of the girls, "I'm not sure if this is the best night of my life....or the worst" because it all seemed so crazy at the time. I would never have been able to do what I had done if I were living in the U.S. I also would never have had this experience if I had stayed put in elementary school. After some careful thought and consideration, the final verdict is that it was the best night I've had in Madrid in the past 3 years. I wouldn't have changed a thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment