Hippity, Hoppity, or Sam?

We've had a fun couple of weeks here in the Land of the Eternal Spring.  It rained a lot last week, but this week we've had sunny skies, which has been WONDERFUL.  I even ran outside (with another teacher...on campus...inside the gate...) on Thursday.  For a minute I thought I was back in the States, where I can run "free as a bird" outside without as much fear of being kidnapped. 

Last Friday, we had an incident with our school guard dog.  I know a lot of you get my updates, so I won't go into the whole story.  Basically, the large German Shepherd guard dog got out of his cage on Friday during recess and bit one of my students.  He was upset, I was upset, and the rest of my class was a basket case.  He is better now, however, Nimo (the dog) is no longer with us on campus.  He has been moved to an "alternate location".  I guess he proved he was a good guard dog; however, he guarded the wrong person, so he had to go bye-bye. 

On Thursday, we had a lockdown drill...or as some students called it, "bad guy drill".  As I reviewed with them the procedures of what we were to do when we heard the siren, I had some interesting scenarios come up.  If I counted how many questions started with "What if..." I'm sure it would be in the thousands.

"What if I'm wearing dress shoes and I can't run?"
"What if I'm wearing a long dress?  Can I "hike" it up to my knees so I can run faster?
"What if the bad guy comes in the room?"
"What if the bad guy comes to the door with a gun to Mr. Agrellas' (the principal) back and makes Mr. Agrellas say that it's all clear when it's really not?
"What if the bad guy grabs me?" 
"What if I'm in the bathroom?  Do I wipe before I run out or not?" 
"What if they let Nimo (the school guard dog) out and he bites one of us again?"  I explained to them that Nimo is gone. 
"What if the bad guy has a tool to break down the wall and he finds us?" 
No more what ifs!  If your question starts with what if...put your hand down!  There came a point where I had to say, "Then I guess you would just have to pray." 

We also have a new class pet.  This pet was found at recess yesterday and put right in my face for me to see.  He is called a "lorito" or "esperanza" in Spanish.  In English, we say  grassshopper.  Yes, I did google "What do grasshoppers eat!? 5 minutes after I received him, I was trying to find someone on campus to help me make a home for him.  I found a clear jar and had Richard poke some nails in the lid for holes for the little dude.  We brainstormed some names for him.  The names ranged from Sam, Mr. Rigel, to Hoppity, Hippity, chico ("boy" in Spanish), linda ("pretty" in Spanish), classmate, Simon, and the most original- grasshopper.  We'll vote on Monday...I'll let you know the verdict.  (Don't tell the kids...but I told them that I would take him home this weekend....and I did not....but I did leave enough grass and water for him for a couple days...I think).  I hope he's still alive and kickin' when I come back or I will have 14 very sad children!

Goodnight!