My Colombian Children

I've decided just now as I've sat down to write that I will now refer to my students as my "Colombian children". On one hand it makes me sound like some humanitarian helping poor kids in Latin America. The other hand portrays the real picture: their not poor and destitute (actually quite the opposite), I just really like them. So yeah, I have 60+ Colombian children. If I told them their new name I can already hear their whiney response, "Mease. You can't call us your children. You are too young." Oh well, they'll just never know!

Well, my Colombian children are enough to make me crazy sometimes. One reason is the cultural difference of personal space. As a North American, I value my personal space. For those of you that know me, you can attest that my bubble is a lot smaller than most people from the United States - BUT my bubble is still there. I'm of the strong opinion that Colombians just don't have space bubbles or maybe they just don't respect them. Case in point: standing at my desk when the bell rings I immediately have 3 children standing within 3 fingers of my body. I move to the left a little to give myself more space and they naturally move with me. I'm pretty certain they don't even realize this. So I move a little more. They follow. I move - they move - I move - they move. And before we all know it, I'm standing at the door and they are still close enough to count my eyelashes. Sometimes it makes me claustrophobic. Especially with my taller kids. Last week 3 boys were standing around me harassing me about some homework assignment. All 3 of them are at least 5 inches taller than me. I was surrounded. Thankfully the bell rang and they departed. The truth of being saved by the bell!

One of my fellow North American teachers can't handle the closeness of students. His 7th graders suffocate him. His response? He took a roll of masking tape and made a box around his desk. No one is permitted into the box without permission. And if some kid happens to make it into the box without asking? Oh, this teacher will just stare at the students feet until they take a few steps back and respect the box.  Even though his personal bubble has been popped in Colombia, he has more than made up for it with his box of tape. I haven't gotten to that point yet.

Another thing about my Colombian children: they love to touch. It is not uncommon to find a students hand resting on my arm/shoulder while they are talking to me. That really isn't much of a big deal to me. I am a "toucher" by nature anyways. It helps me show people I care. What IS the problem with their touching is that they also are always touching each other. Poking. Messing around. Celebrating. You name it and they are touching. About 7 times each period you can here me say: No touching. Khaleb, stop touching. Sebastian, why are you touching Felipe. Carolina: no touching. At least they aren't violent. They just like physical contact. I think it's fair to blame it on culture though. Colombians are touchers. Males always shake hands when they greet each other and females (with females or with males) always greet each other by touching cheeks and making a kissing noise. There is so much to be said with the cultural norms of greetings. I'll save a later post for that.

So yeah, my Colombian children. They drive me up the walls sometime, but I certainly adore them...and I think they know it too!