You Speak Spanish?

It's so funny to me that people don't believe that I speak Spanish. Not once, not twice, but three times this week, I have been asked if I speak Spanish fluently. Maybe it's because I don't have an accent, maybe it's because I don't have the "look" - who knows what it is? Spanish was my first language. I taught myself to read & write it around the 4th grade, but I have spoken it since birth. Okay - since I was old enough to talk.

This next section is titled:
Reliving Memories-Random Thoughts-My Mind Is All Over the Place
Way back in 1984 when I started Kindergarten at Hurst Hills Elementary in Hurst, Texas - Mrs. Thomason's AM Kindergarten class to be exact - (I went to Spring Garden & Meadow Creek in Bedford, too.) I was given an ESL (English Second Language) test and I failed it. I think that was the only thing I EVER failed in elementary school. I remember 2 of the questions I missed: 1. What is the difference between a comb & a brush? 2. Look at this picture and tell me which one is the burrito and which one is the taco.
Ummm...first, of all - what 5 year old fluent English speaker knows the difference between a comb and a brush? Second of all, I'M NOT MEXICAN AND I DON'T EAT TACOS AND BURRITOS! (No offense to my Mexican compadres!) Never seen either one of those food items before that day, so how do I know the difference? Believe it or not, there is another Hispanic life form out there other then Mexican. Ask me what picadillo, ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, guayaba con queso, mojito, madre que no para de gritar, Abuela que no para de cocinar, or something of the like is...and I'll jump all over those questions. Now we are talking yummy CUBAN stuff! I had to attend ESL classes and after the 3rd class, my parents asked that I be pulled and that it was ridiculous what they were teaching me. They had me singing songs and "this little piggy went to market, this little piggy went home..." What is THAT supposed to teach me?
I still remember how bored I was in Kindergarten. I would finish my work and instead of trying to challenge me, the teacher would say, "Lower your head on your desk and rest." Oh my parents would get so frustrated until finally one day, they had me tested and realized that I was a smart little girl and needed to attend the gifted & talented program. (It was called PEAK back then.) I won 2 spelling bees in elementary school - the only 2 I entered. I still wonder to this day why I didn't do more with my mind - I think I burned out though and I don't regret anything that I've become.
I didn't miss one day of school in elementary school - not one. Jeremy and I were looking through my old report cards (yes, my father is a freak like that and saved them all!) and Jeremy couldn't believe that I made straight A's all the way through elementary school with zero absences.
I remember one day when we were in Miami and we were trying to fly home on a Sunday night. My Dad worked for Delta, and we lived on airplanes growing up. The flights were full from Miami to Dallas, and I was CRYING, BAWLING, throwing a fit because if I didn't get on the flight, I wouldn't make it to school the next day. Do you know what my parents did? We flew from Miami to Los Angeles on the red-eye, and then from Los Angles back to Dallas and got in at 7:00 AM...JUST so I could go to school. That's called dedication baby! I think this is why I'm so adamant about Jaydon going to school and staying healthy so that he doesn't have to miss school. (Knock on wood!)
At my old job, I was the "voice" of the company. In fact, when you called the 800 number, it was my recorded voice that they used in English & Spanish. They claimed that everyone else spoke with a "twang" and I didn't have any accent . Now they have some automated voice that sounds like a robot...boring! I also did all of their translating. I translated prompts & webpages from English to Spanish and vice versa.

That's my exciting blog for the night!
I hope you enjoyed my random thoughts.

Nighty-Night!