The Irish Invaded Spain!

My school--Ciudad de Roma--chose to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day this year as part of the Bilingual Program. Over the past couple of weeks, the hall corridors have gradually been covered with hundreds of green, orange, and white flags, shamrocks, pots of gold, rainbows and leprechauns. We have been singing songs, learning vocabulary, and learning stories about all of the above, too. The 17th of March was a big day for us...

Glad to have a reason to change things up, I wore a green dress and knee-highs with slippers, my attempt to represent the Irish-Riverdancer-look. However, I botched that attempt with my flashing shamrock earrings and shamrock headband. Kids and teachers alike marveled at my costume all bought at Big Lots back at Christmas-time. Thank you, Corporate America. In addition to dress and accessories, I also took the liberty of having a shamrock drawn on my face with green eye pencil. Consequently, I was obliged to draw one on every second grader's face. That's me in the picture above with my second graders before the parade, and yes, Sergio is strangling Javier.

Singing to the tune of "I'm a little teapot," I taught my 2nd graders this festive and catchy song: I'm a little leprechaun, dressed in green, the tiniest man that you have seen. If you ever catch me, so it's told, I'll give you my pot of gold!

All the school gathered outside on the patio for the big celebration, choreographed and orchestrated by the music teacher, David. He played the bagpipe to lead the parade of pre-school children, which was pretty hilarious. 1st through 4th graders danced their Irish jig (see video) and 5th and 6th graders played their recorders and sang the modern Irish tune of "Molly Malone." It was quite a spectacle, and I had a blast doing some dancing and skipping of my own.

Fernado and Belen also have a special St. Patrick's Day message for their pen-pals, Anna Beth and Quinton. After watching this, maybe you can see why I love these two kids so much!

An Irish Blessing: May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face,and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.