Teaching is always an adventure

My first class of the day is about 15 blocks away from the Los Leones metro and because I hate the buses. I walked. Nearly 35 minutes later I arrived, slightly winded, with an aching shoulder from carrying my book bag. The doorman let me in a pushed the button for the elevator.

I knocked on the door for her apartment and heard a bunch of scrambling on the other side. She finally answer the door and looking slightly frantic said in Spanish "Oh, they didn't tell me that you were hear. You see they have to notify us when someone arrives and I am still cleaning, well, sweeping. Can you wait for me and I'll tell you when I'm done?" She asked breathlessly.

"I should go back downstairs?" I asked perplexed.

"Yes. Sorry. I mean, please! I'll call."

I went downstairs and I kid you not, a minute later, the doorman signaled to me that I could go upstairs again. I got back in the elevator, and knocked on her again. This time she answered and apologized again.

I saw that she had a stack of newspapers (at least two feet high) behind her organized with different colored little post-its. This lady, I thought, is neurotic. Nice, but slightly nuts.

This afternoon I had a class with one of my other students. He is usually busy and has problems scheduling things. I've had to run errands with him before (to the jewelers, to the notary,etc.). Today, he told me that he needed to buy a present for a friend.

We walked around as he debated between cologne (not good, I told him), wine (super), and a tie (ehhh...). Finally he picked out a belt (whatever, it's not my friend).

Then, he invited me to have some coffee because as he put it "You're always so nice and you run my errands with me." We went to a cafe con piernas. For those not down with the lingo that means a coffee with legs. Think Hooters, but in a Starbucks kind of way. The one we went to was tame, the women had on tight little dresses, but it covered everything.

"I'll show you another one" he said.

We walked a little while down a street and all the sudden he said "Look to your right." I looked and saw as a waitress in an impossibly tiny skirt bent over to pick up something she had dropped, giving everyone quite the view and I'm sure guaranteeing a fat tip.

"That's still not so bad. A little worse than the others, but I'll show you the best." He took me to a little underground mall and showed me the cafe con piernas (there where about five in the little mall) with blacked out windows. No one could see inside.

"Sometimes the chicks are naked." He said. I know he should be calling women "chicks" but I thought it was funny so I didn't correct him. My bad.

"That sounds like it might be kind of dangerous. I mean coffee splatters."

He looked like he didn't understand, then "Naaaaaaah. They're good."

"Right" was my only response.

"Want to go in?" He asked.

"NO! I mean, maybe next class."

Who knows... it keeps the class interesting, right?