School started again on the 8th not on the 5th as is did for most schools in the States. In Spain, there is the Christmas holiday, New Year's Eve, and then the Three Kings day. Three Kings day represents the day that the three wise men arrived in Bethlehem and brought gifts of frakenscence, myrrh and gold; this is the day that Spanish children get gifts sort of in the same way American children get gifts from Santa. That happens on the 5th of January and therefore students start back to school on the 8th.
I found myself procrastinating and basking in the two bonus days rather then finishing my lesson plans for the first weeks of school. As I typical for me, I didn't sleep well the night of the 7th because I was thinking about what I would need to get done in the morning. I woke up early, got to work early, opened up my computer and got to work. I had to print of documents and finish up a couple of presentations and I was highly focused!
As more people arrived at work I soon found myself surrounded by people who were not consumed by the details of lesson plans and last minute details but instead they all greeted each other, embraced, and said "feliz año" (happy new year!). Try as I might, I couldn't help but join in, they insisted actually! There were a lot of handshakes, hugs and kisses on the cheek (as is typical here).
What a great way to start the week back to work. In the states, I would have been obsessed with getting back in the rhythm of teaching. I would have been solely focused on my tasks and my work, to the neglect of these critically positive interactions with my peers. It changed my whole outlook on the day, I wasn't stressed about all of the little details and I would have been exhausted by the end of the day. Instead, my first day back was energizing and exciting and the details just took care of themselves.
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