Story Time: It's Finally Sunny!

The Andalucía region of Spain is known for having the happiest, most laid back and friendliest people in Spain.  Most Andalucians attribute these bright characteristics to the sun, since it seems to be always shining here.  However, I just happened to pick the first year in DECADES that Andalucía has experienced record amounts of rain, rain and more rain.  After months of incessant rain accompanied by hurricane-esque winds, the sun finally seems to be here to stay.  Last week was especially nice - sunny, warm and pleasant.  So perhaps it should have been no surprise when the following story unfolded at school.

During recess and snack time (yes, I have a snack time - don't be jealous) I was relaxing and eating my daily tostada.  I looked at the clock and began to prepare my materials for class and then waited for the bell to ring, signaling the beginning of afternoon classes.  I continued waiting for 5, 10, 15 minutes, occasionally looking outside to find that the kids were still playing and the teachers were still chatting.  At first I really didn't question it.  After all, I've learned that Spanish time is quite different than American time - time is considered to be more fluid than concrete here; more of a suggestion rather than a mandate.

But after recess had stretched an additional 20 minutes into afternoon classes, I sought out the director to ask what was going on.  His response?  "Hace sol hoy" (It's sunny today).  So there you have it; almost 30 minutes of class time was lost because it was sunny outside.  There's Andalucía (and Spain) in a nutshell.

Besitos,
B