I need to go back to Pre-K

One day, it occurred to me that I need to go back to Pre-K.

That one day was yesterday. During circle time.

Or perhaps I should say it was during las actividades de grupo since in truth, that’s exactly what it was. It was circle time, in Spanish.

Growing up, I never really learned Spanish. My comprehension is very poor. Anything beyond “Buenos Dias,” or “Cómos estás?” is completely foreign. Leila no comprendo.

How funny it is then, that this semester I was assigned to work at a bilingual school full of beautiful bilingual students.

“Miss Leila!” I hear a student say after we finished singing our first song in circle time.

“Me gusta tu pelo!” a girl shouts excitedly.

I knit my eyebrows.

“What? What did you say?” I wait for a translation.

“Me gusta tu pelo! I like your hair Miss Leila.”

I smile.

“Gracias,” I say to her. And to myself I say: “Gosh, how in the world can I remember that one?”

We break into song again. We laugh, clap, and play. Suddenly though, I feel a small tug on my shoulder.”

“Miss Leila!” says the boy to my right.

“Yes?”

“Cocodrilo, cocodrilo, cocodrilo!” he says.

He was quick to catch a whiff of my confusion, because he then began to snap his hands together in a sort of munching motion.

“Cocodrilo!” he said again.

“Ah, you mean a…crocodile?” I exclaimed delightfully as I pretended to snap at his cheek.

He giggled in affirmation.

Needless to say, whenever I go to my school, I always leave learning a new word. It’s almost ironic how that works…how the teaching roles can suddenly be reversed in just a blink of the eye. I’ve started to keep track of all the Spanish words I’ve learned so far. The list of words I now know is long. But list of words I still need to learn, is longer.

Which is why I’ve decided…

I need to go back to Pre-K.

-Leila Nasser