Well, that’s embarrassing….

Welp, I’ve succeeded in committing a particularly humiliating Ki’che’ faux paus. The mistake I made was entirely my own fault, entirely avoidable, and completely predictable. Keep in mind that I work with 50+ student classes, with most of the kids being in their mid- and late-teens. That means that at any given moment, I’m in charge of twenty-five seventeen year old boys. If that’s not playing with fire, I don’t know what is!

I’ve been proudly practicing my incredibly limited Ki’che’ vocabulary with the students, teachers, and guard/janitors. Mostly this consists of saying “Xequij” (pronounced “cher-ear,” it means good afternoon) or “Xokaq’ab” (shok-a-ap, good evening) when appropriate. However, another easy and quick word which I’ve been able to remember is “Jo,” (pronounced “ho,” “Let’s go,”). When one of my male students at the end of the day today said “ya es la hora, let’s go,” (It’s time, let’s go), I responded back with an affirmative “jo!” Amused by the fact that I was using Ki’che’ words, another of the boys started in on a long diatribe which began with the word “jo.” I responded to his expectant look at the end of what was obviously a question with a blank stare, then a good-naturedly sarcastic “yeah, of course!” (in Spanish. Whew, all of this specifying which language things are taking place in can get exhausting!)

No one wasted any time in explaining to me that he’d just propositioned me with the eloquent statement “let’s go … sleep together.” Crap. I’m certainly on the fast track to earning these kids’ respect.