Teacher's Day

In Argentina there is a day for everyone, and yesterday was Teacher's Day. If you are a real Argentine teacher in a school you get the whole day off in appreciation for your fine work, but seeing as my pay is contingent on the fact that I show up to teach so I taught my three Friday classes. However, I did receive one appreciative gesture that was quite touching. I thought I'd share it with you. Marcela is one of my student's cousins, and I've been teaching her young daughter for a few weeks now. She's one of my favorites because she's young, knows no English, and her mom feeds me tea and dulce de leched treats or miga sandwiches. Last Tuesday she had also left me a little present (un regalito) from a place kinda like Claire's. The little bag held a little lite scarf and a new wallet!! I wrote her a thank you email the next day and she responded with this:

Querida Julia,
Mañana se conmemora el Día del maestro, aquí, en Argentina.
Vos sos la maestra de Guadalupe. La maestra que le enseñó a darse cuenta que el idioma inglés era divertido y fácil.
Gracias a vos está aprendiendo y disfrutando de algo que no entendía.
Nuevamente MUCHAS GRACIAS por el amor que ponés en la enseñanza.
Marcela

Dearest Julia,
Tomorrow we commemorate Teacher's day here in Argentina.
You are Guedalupe's teacher. The teacher who taught her that the English language is fun and easy.
Thank you for for teaching her this and for helping her enjoy something she didn't understand.
Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the love you give while teaching.
Marcela

As Josh will tell you, it is rare to ever be appreciated like that here!! And I am going to wear the new scarf tonight while I go see a play called Una comedia bareback sobre el SIDA. Something about being gay and AIDS. I'll let you know how it goes.