A Walk to School.

I hurried out of my apartment this morning, running a bit late (per usual these days-so hard to get out of bed when it’s freezing outside!)  and ran into the tiniest 1^st grader I’ve ever seen. With a backpack so big it could topple him over, round Harry Potter glasses, and a runny nose to beat all runny noses, he looked at me and said, “Teacher-avem scoala astazi?”. Which means, “Teacher, do we have school today?”

 I understood his confusion because just yesterday school was closed at 10:30AM because there was no heat. We woke up this morning unsure if we would even have classes-was the heat fixed? I called Vali and sure enough, we had heat so we were cooking with gas-literally.

I told him, “Da! Avem, avem. Vii cu mine la scoala.” Which means, “Yes, We have it, we have it. Come with me to school!” He looked at me, smiled, then offered me his tiny, ungloved and absolutely frozen hand.  He introduced himself, then grabbed my hand and off we went.

The walk to school takes about 10 minutes and we talked the entire time. He asked me what I taught, where I was from, then when he found out I was from America he asked me about everyone from Hannah Montana to SpongeBob. He told me about every one of his classes and about how much he likes school. Then asked if I would teach his class today. I smiled and told him that no, but I would come visit sometime. We continued talking until we reached the school door-question answer, question answer.

I turned to say goodbye and he said to me, “Teacher, do you know I have a girlfriend?” “Ohhh!,” I said,…”Really?? Well that is just great isn’t it?” He nodded his little head, snot running down his face while he jumped in place to stay warm in the cold. “Yes, I do. But someday, I hope to have a nice girlfriend like you.”

He shook my hand again in a true gentleman’s fashion, thanked me for walking him to school, then ran off to join his friends.

And I smiled, shaking my head as I walked through the front doors of school and into the warmth of my classroom.