A Good/Bad Day

So yesterday was what would have been our 'last day' of colegio (Peruvian high school).  It was the last day for quinto, the graduating class, of Colegio Santa Rosa de Lima.  They had finished their exams and yesterday were just tying up loose ends, handing in notebooks, and in the afternoon, there would be a ceremony with cuarto and quinto (kind of like, the graduation of cuarto to quinto).  I got permission from the school director to go with quinto all day instead of with my actual class, cuarto.  I also brought my camera (and I'm really happy I did, we had a lot of fun with it).

In the morning, during formation (everyone lined up in the courtyard), quinto sang a christmas song (I think) :

Then they mostly just had free time, not actual class, for the rest of the day (with the exception of one last exam):  So we just hung out and took photos together and stuff :

Me and a classmate named Raul

Nicole and Andre

Meeee

Meeee

My best friend Chachi

And then we had a lot of fun taking some mid-air photos:

Emilie and I

Me, Tami, Emilie

And I still can't believe how good this turned out!! 

How we feel everyday at our school (prison)

We found this really hilarious hahaha...that we all go to a Catholic private school and none of us are Catholic haha

We're pretty weird

Tami carrying our classmate, Zezur hahaha

And here are some photos from the ceremony with cuarto and quinto.  It was like, quinto was passing on the flags to cuarto, and cuarto became quinto...if that makes sense haha :

Quinto girls

Cuarto girls marching

Cuarto girls after receiving the flag from quinto

And I don't really know what these 3 were doing hahaha

Cuarto boys with their flag

Cuarto boys with their flag

And then, after that, there was the unveiling of the plaque.  A quick explanation:  Each year, a nice, shiny plaque is hung on the courtyard wall of the school, listing the students in the promocion (quinto).  And so, we all stood in a half circle and a blue curtain was pulled off the wall to reveal a lovely, shiny, marble plaque.  I wasn't close, but I could see the words "Intercambistas de Rotary" and so Emilie and I made our way forward to see.  And I said, "Look, Emilie, our names are on it!"  And I was really excited.  We made our way to the front and stood in front of the plaque.  And I said "Emilie, I can't believe they spelled your name right!" Because typically they leave out part of her name, or miss the  ' ø ' that her name includes.  And we were laughing, and then I saw my name.  And I froze.  

"Girger Pinkerton"

Girger Pinkerton.  I stood there, my mouth open in shock, for a few seconds.  And around me, my classmates began to see the mistake in my name.  And it got very quiet.  And then I pushed my way out of the crowd and ran into the bathroom, and started to cry.  I don't exactly know why, but it hit me hard.  Hard.  After working so hard, for years, to come on exchange, busting my butt and saving, and finally making it here...after 4 frustrating months of Peruvian high school, in which we were often treated badly, ignored, confused, constantly lied to, and despising every day that we had to spend locked inside that school...and I had seen the plaque from last year, with the 4 exchange students names, our "oldies" as we call them, and I had felt so excited to think that my name would be on a plaque, hung on the wall in the courtyard, and for years, students and exchange students would look at it and see my name, and I would be remembered.  I would have meant something at that school, even if during our 4 months there we felt quite insignificant, at least my name would be etched into the plaque and I would be remembered as one of the 4 exchange students of Colegio Santa Rosa de Lima, 2013.  But instead, my school let me down again.  Instead, years from now, people will look at that plaque and see "Girger Pinkerton" and think...."who the heck was that?"  

And so I ran into the bathroom and started to cry, feeling completely worthless.  And then two of my friends, Andre and Eduardo, followed me in and hugged me and told me not to feel sad, that it didn't matter.  Then a teacher saw us in the bathroom and yelled at Eduardo and Andre to get out (they are guys....and we were in the girls bathroom haha) and so I was consoled by my classmates outside.  And everyone told me very sweet things, things like "This doesn't matter, and years from now, the people that will see it? They don't matter either.  But us? We love you, and we will always remember you, we know you are Ginger" 

But honestly, as much as my friends consoled me, and tried to convince me that it doesn't matter, I still feel disappointed.  I didn't have very high expectations.  It doesn't seem much to ask to simply be remembered correctly, to be remembered as who you are, to have your own name spelled correctly...  And the real kicker?  It is an unbelievably small school.  There are no more than 150 students in the entire school.  4 exchange students.  No more than 30 students in our 'graduating class'.  That school did nothing for me....they switched me out of my class after a hard first month, away from my only friends, I was rarely listened to, was treated like I was stupid by nearly every teacher...I asked for very little, and it was a hard kick to the gut, after everything, to see my name spelled like that on the plaque...I am just very, very disappointed.

a nice, marble plaque...

so that's how I'll be remembered....

I felt pretty crappy the rest of the school day.  After school, cuarto and quinto went to lunch and had pollo a la brasa (chicken and french fries).  It was kind of a 'goodbye' lunch, from cuarto to quinto.  After that, I had ice cream with Emilie, Eduardo, and Chachi at Mcdonalds, and then we ended up going over to Andre's house.  And then I woke up today at 1.  I don't have any plans for this weekend.  And then supposedly, we exchange students have to go to school on Monday (and tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and friday...) for our 'exams', but I am highly considering just skipping, and then if they call to ask why I didn't come, I will tell them to call Girger and ask her.  lol, not actually seriously considering that, I just have a bit of hate towards my school at this moment (and most moments..lol)

Sorry for all the negativity.  Here's to hoping for a good week to get my mind off this.
Bye
-Ginger