Spanish Teacher (Updated September 17, 2019) (2 Shy Sneezes, Coughing)

[I love Alan Rickman]

I have seen my Spanish teacher from last year (second semester) sick several times. I’ve seen her sneeze twice, though and the other times, I’ve only seen false starts at most. She seems to be fairly shy with her sneezes, but she doesn’t hide illness. Let’s just call her Señora. 

Señora is probably about 5’6” tall and I’d say in her mid thirties. She has tan skin, long straight dark brown hair with some dirty blonde highlights, deep brown eyes, and arched eyebrows. She has a slightly long, thin nose and wears a kind smile when she enters the room. 

Señora‘s parents are from Spain, but she doesn’t speak English with a very Spanish accent (only very slight occasionally) since she grew up here in the US. However, she’s obviously fluent in Spanish, and she loves to teach, hence teaching Spanish. She is a very kind lady and treats us (her students) as her children. You can really tell she cares about us. I have several observations of her, starting off with the first one, where she did sneeze twice. In the rest, she didn’t sneeze (though in another, September 17, 2019, she almost did), but I still see her around and talk with her, so that doesn’t mean I won’t ever see her sneeze again!

 

1. 5/11/2018 (Friday)

Today, Señora entered the room and scanned her eyes around the room to take a silent roll call. She also used this to see who was doing the exercises on the board and who was talking. She walked to her desk, which was up against the wall, and I sat at the table to the left of her desk. As she walked over there, my classmate had his hand raised, so she acknowledged him. He asked her a question regarding the exercises. I watched as she held her hand to her nose and rubbed the bridge of her nose from the top to the bottom with her index finger and thumb as she answered him, her break a little shaky. She was very obviously fighting a sneeze. 

When she finished answering the question, I watched as Señora made her way around her desk and observed her computer screen, her mouth slightly parted. She continued to rub her nose and seemed to try to hide behind her computer. Finally, the itch in her nose must’ve disappeared, because she breathed a soft sigh and moved her hand down from her nose.

The bell rang. Señora walked to the front of the class and stated, “Saquen la tarea de la noche.” I could hear the congestion in her tone. We all took out our homework. “I’m going to come around and check to make sure it’s finished.”

She walked over to another classmate of mine on the other side of the room to start there as usual. I looked down and double-checked over my answers. 

“Ts’sschew!” I jumped in my seat in surprise when I heard a medium-volume feminine sneeze and just hardly turned in time to see Señora with her hand cupped over her nose. She put her hand down, and I watched as her cheeks grew red with embarrassment when she saw we were all turning toward her.

“Salud [Bless you/Health],” I and the rest of the class called out.

She choked out a shy “Gracias” and looked around quickly, clearly utterly embarrassed. Her cheeks turned even redder. She strode across the class and out the door, stifling another sneeze on the way out.

About two minutes later, she walked back in and sniffled. Her nose was tinged red, and her nostrils flared slightly. “I’m going to come around and check it now,” She stated with a slightly shy and embarrassed tone. 

When she finished checking our homework, she walked to the center of the class and said, “Como están ustedes?” We all answered how we were doing, and I and several others asked back, “¿Y usted?[And you?]” “Estoy un poco enferma hoy,” Señora replied, which means “I’m a little sick today.” Sure enough, she was sort of out of it, coughing, and sniffling all throughout the class. Her nostrils flared a bit and she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb again later on, but she didn’t sneeze this time. She managed to fight it off.

I asked her how she was near the end of class, and she said tired and that she was mad that she was sick because she was supposed to be singing at her church on Sunday for Mother’s Day. I told her I hoped she still could.

At the end of class, I asked her how to say “Feel better” in Spanish. 

“Sentirse mejor,” she responded.

“Que tenga un buen día [Have a good day], Señora.” I stated kindly.

“Tú también [You too],” she replied.

“Sentirse mejor,” I added sympathetically.

“Muchas gracías, [my name],” she responded with exhaustion.

 

2. 5/14/2018 (Monday)

I’m going off the top of my head since it’s been 7 months since this, but I do remember some details! I saw Señora in the hall before another class and asked how she was doing. She said that she was feeling much better but her ears were clogged now.  “Did you get to sing?”

“No,” she responded with a frown. “Everyone else did except for me. I was too sick to sing.”

“Well you’re gonna have to make up for it next year, then!” I stated. She smiled and agreed. 

Señora said at the start of class, “I’m still a little sick and my ears are clogged, so I’m sorry if I have to go,” she cupped her hand by her ear “‘Huh? Huh?’ to any of you.” We all chuckled. She was very sniffly and congested throughout class and coughed a bit. She got better within a few days. And I said “Sentirse mejor, Señora” just about each day. She thanked me.

 

3. June

Señora got sick again at the start of June and was sniffly, congested, and coughing throughout class. It was for the last week of school. I saw her on the last day though, and she was better with just a  lingering cough and a slightly raspy voice. We chatted for a bit. And I told her how much I appreciate her and loved her class. Then we hugged. She told me to have a great summer. The last words that were exchanged between the two of us before I headed off was her saying “Have a good summer,” me replying “You too. I’ll miss you,” and her response of, “Bye, hon” with a wave and a friendly sparkle in her eye.

 

August

When I got back to school, I chatted more with Señora at the end of almost each day since we had a bit of time to talk before I had to go to the bus.

 

4. 9/26/2018 (Wednesday)

When I talked with Señora today, I told her how I didn’t see her yesterday, and she said it was because her smartboard broke. I asked if it was like the season for technology breaking or something, and she said apparently, since my phone recently broke too. Señora listened and sniffled softly as I also told her about how my teacher M’s computer almost broke about a month or so ago and her keyboard stopped working too, so she had to use a mini two octave midi one with the computer until she got her new one. Señora laughed and said that’s crazy!

We talked for a bit  about what her first semester Spanish one students were doing in class now, and she sniffled a few times. I started to rap one of the raps she made up for Spanish pronouns that I’d learned last semester. She joined in. When we were done, Señora just laughed and stated, “Bravo, bravo! Tú pasaste! You passed!”

I laughed. “Gracías, gracías,” I responded.

“Que tengas una buena noche [Have a good night],” Señora stated and waved.

“Gracías, que tenga un buen día [Have a good day],” I replied.

 

5. 9/28/2018 (Friday)

 

I talked with Señora today, and her tone was a bit congested. At one point, she covered her mouth when she started coughing uncontrollably. “Are you okay?” I asked her sympathetically.

“No, I think I’m getting sick,” she responded miserably. Ah, that’s probably why she was sniffly two days prior.

“But didn’t you say you use hand sanitizer all the time?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied, “I just have such a terrible immune system. I always end up getting sick. And my toddler’s birthday party is tomorrow.”

“I swear, do you get sick at the worst times?” I asked her.

“Apparently,” Señora stated.

“You couldn’t sing last semester because you were sick, and now you’re sick and your toddler has his birthday party tomorrow,” I said. “That’s so unfortunate.”

“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Señora agreed congestedly with another cough. “Everyone’s getting sick.”

“I’m trying to make my way through,” I stated.

“Well, you didn’t miss much school last year,” Señora pointed out.

“I think it was just when I had an appointment,” I agreed.

“Well, I think you can make it then,” Señora stated. Then she sniffled thickly and groaned with annoyance. “Not me, though. I can already feel it. You know when you can just feel the congestion building in your nose and you get the cough and runny nose first?” She gestured with her hands at her sinuses. “That’s what it is for me right now.”

“Yeah. Well, I hope you feel better soon,” I said. “Try to get some good sleep over the weekend.”

“I do, too,” Señora said. “And that might be hard with a toddler’s birthday party.” She laughed.

“Well, just try to get a bit at least,” I replied with a laugh.

“Yeah, I will,” she responded. “I just hope that afterward, he’ll be tired and take like a three hour nap.” We both laughed some more.

“Well, then you can take a three hour nap too,” I mentioned.

“Honestly, that would be amazing,” Señora said dreamily.

“I bet!” I said. “Well despite that all, I hope you can rest and feel better. I’ll be praying that you feel well enough to get through it without it being too difficult.”

“Muchas gracias,” Señora stated gratefully. “Que tengas una buena noche.”

“Gracias, que tenga un buen fin de semana [Have a good weekend],” I replied.

“Gracias, y tú también [Thanks, and you too],” Señora said. “¡Ciao!”

“¡Ciao!” I replied.

 

6. 10/1/2018 (Monday)

Señora and I talked. She said she didn’t really get to sleep after her toddler’s party since he got so many gifts. One had to do with Chewbacca because he loves Star Wars, and I imitated Chewbacca there. She asked me how I did it, if it was a gargle. I said it was, but with the pitch too. She tried it. “I can’t do that,” she said with a laugh.

“Well, it doesn’t help that you’re sick too,” I stated. She agreed on that. I asked her how she was feeling.

She said her sinuses are starting to clear, which she’s relieved of, and it’s mainly just her cough now. I talked with her about Spanish and that I’m teaching my parents.

The other Spanish teacher came in and said, “We got a future Spanish teacher here.”

“Well, I’m teaching my dad, because he’s terrible,” I said.

“She’s doing great! She really retains information very well,” Señora mentioned. “She’ll be in Spanish two.”

“This semester?” The teacher asked.

“Next semester,” Señora and I stated almost simultaneously.

“Yeah, I had her last year, and she’s remembering everything really well,” Señora said with a proud smile.

“It helps that I’m teaching my dad,” I pointed out.

“Well that helps you keep it in your brain,” Señora agreed.

“I love languages, too,” I stated. I talked about languages and that I’m also learning German. “Well, I got to go,” I stated. “Que tenga un buen día.”

“Gracías, tú también,” Señora replied.

“Auf Wiedersehen,” I stated. She laughed and coughed.

“I know that one! Auf Wiedersehen!” Señora replied.

 

7. 10/4/2018

“Hello,” I said softly when I walked in.

“Hey,” Señora replied. She was writing some exercises on the board.

“Did you get my short little message? I’m sorry if I’m bothering you,” I stated with a frown.

“No, you’re not, I’m just really busy,” she replied congestedly. “I—My mornings are hectic ‘cause I try and get everything done for the day, ‘cause I don’t get a break. What’s up?”

“I-I was—“ I began. “I kinda didn’t know if it was okay to come up again this morning, because I wasn’t sure if you were busy.”

“Yeah, every morning, I’m like running around like a chicken with its head cut off here,” she stated. She cleared her throat. “But what’s up?”

“So, I kinda wanted to update you about yesterday,” I stated.

“How did yesterday—“ Señora began and coughed harshly twice, covering her mouth with her fist, “go with your stress?”

“I think it’s doing a little bit better,” I stated.

“Yeah?” Señora asked and coughed. I nodded but told her it’s still crazy and I’m having trouble.

We talked for about ten minutes, and I explained the situation with all my preparing for performances and lots of crazy stuff. She gave me a good suggestion for managing my stress. “Try it out,” she stated. “See if it helps.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “That’s very, very helpful.”

“Good,” Señora said. “Well,” she looked at me, “you seem better a little bit. You seem a little bit happier.” I nodded. “Okay.”

“And thank you for being here for me,” I stated.

“Oh, you’re welcome!” She replied with a smile. “You’re welcome!”

“Since you’re like a parent to me,” I continued.

“Aww, of course!” Señora agreed with a smile. She coughed twice, quickly covering her mouth, “You need someone to talk to.” I nodded. “Yeah. Why don’t you try that idea?” I nodded. “Yeah. Alright, [my name]. You have a good day, hon.”

“Que tenga un buen día [Have a good day],” I stated.

“Gracías, y tú también [Thanks, and you too],” she stated, and I went to my first class of the day with a smile on my face.

 

8. 12/5/2018 

Today, I was able to talk briefly with Señora at the end of the day. I talked about how much I love Spanish, can’t wait to learn more of it next semester, and that it’s such a pretty language. She smiled and said in a congested tone that’s great and she’s so happy I love it so much. 

She sniffled softly a few times as we talked, and she definitely sounded congested the whole time. She also struggled to speak at the end of our little conversation. “Not thinking well?” I asked.

“No,” she replied with a laugh. “I’m tired!”

“Aw. Well get some sleep,” I said sympathetically and walked with her out of the classroom. “Que tenga un buen día.”

“Gracías, tú también,” she responded and used some hand sanitizer.

 

I’m gonna guess that (especially with her fairly weak immune system) she’s getting sick again. If I see her tomorrow, I’ll ask her how she’s doing, and we will see for sure.

Edited September 18, 2019 by I love Alan Rickman
New observation, and almost forgot to mention the date updated

[FadedRose]

Nice! She sounds exactly like a Spanish teacher I had last year lol. Unfortunately my Spanish teacher this year pushes us a lot less.. we’ve had 2 or 3 all Spanish days since August, and we have class every single day. Keep us updated, she sounds like a super fun teacher. 

[I love Alan Rickman]

4 minutes ago, FadedRose said:

Nice! She sounds exactly like a Spanish teacher I had last year lol. Unfortunately my Spanish teacher this year pushes us a lot less.. we’ve had 2 or 3 all Spanish days since August, and we have class every single day. Keep us updated, she sounds like a super fun teacher. 

Oh that’s funny! Sadly I don’t have her this year since she’s only teaching Spanish one this year (which she said she was bummed about because she loved having me in class), but I do see her and chat with her a bit nearly every school day. She’s like a second mom to me. She’s fun and super sweet! ☺️

Edited December 6, 2018 by I love Alan Rickman
Missing words. Words are hard

[I love Alan Rickman]

@FadedRose Today, I entered Señora’s classroom at the end of the day and saw her standing with her laptop on her laptop stand, her elbow on the side as she propped her head up. With her head propped on her hand, her long hair was like a curtain over her arm. I walked in. “Hola,” I stated. She lifted her head and gave a little smile. 

“Hola, [my name],” she responded, her voice a little tired-sounding.

”How are you?” I asked her.

”It’s been a long day,” she stated and looked around. “Not a very good day for Spanish class today. It’s been very gloomy and everyone is tired. I think everyone just wishes it were Friday.”

“Yeah, and everyone’s getting sick, too,” I stated, trying to turn her in the way to discuss this if she was feeling to be getting sick. I could see the change in her usual energetic mood that showed me she may be getting sick. Combined with her sniffling yesterday, I was fairly sure. “I’m trying to hold up as always.”

”Yes, they are,” she replied. “I’m not sure how long I can last. I usually don’t last long when everyone around me is sick.” She shrugged. “We’ll see.”

”I hope you make it,” I responded. I really do hope she does, though I do also partly hope she is sick tomorrow and sneezes again. Obviously so I can share an observation, but also because I like to talk with her and be there to sort of comfort her when she’s ill. I let her complain about her cough and runny nose, and I just like to think that when I’m there for her when she’s ill and she smiles when we talk, that I’m helping her to be less miserable.

 Maybe since she’s comfortable around me and is also not in front of a whole class now when I talk to her, she’ll also be less shy if she has to sneeze. You never know. And I heard her sniffly two days prior to her getting sick last time. And it would also be perfect though if she’s truly getting sick, because I will likely be picked up tomorrow to go get something after school from the luthier, so I’d be able to talk with her for longer since I wouldn’t have to stop talking as early to catch the bus. I get like an extra ten to twenty minutes or so to talk with her when I get picked up. Well, we will see what happens!

Edited December 6, 2018 by I love Alan Rickman

[FadedRose]

Huh. I’d be too afraid to talk with her about that kind of stuff, especially multiple times in case she figures out about the fetish, or just thinks it’s weird to repeatedly talk about being sick so much. Plus my old Spanish teacher and I just say hey in the hallway, and my Spanish teacher this year is so chill and boring that once somebody asked him why he had a stick up his butt and he just shrugged.. he’s the most average Spanish teacher possible.

I miss my old teacher because she actually taught us stuff, and she had allergies so she was constantly coughing and sneezing lols

[I love Alan Rickman]

54 minutes ago, FadedRose said:

Huh. I’d be too afraid to talk with her about that kind of stuff, especially multiple times in case she figures out about the fetish, or just thinks it’s weird to repeatedly talk about being sick so much. Plus my old Spanish teacher and I just say hey in the hallway, and my Spanish teacher this year is so chill and boring that once somebody asked him why he had a stick up his butt and he just shrugged.. he’s the most average Spanish teacher possible.

I miss my old teacher because she actually taught us stuff, and she had allergies so she was constantly coughing and sneezing lols

Well, my Spanish teacher is real chill but nice too. I don’t think she has allergies, because I’ve only seen her cough and sneeze when she’s been sick. But she’ll talk about how she feels when she’s sick, and I’ll listen. And we’ll just generally chat, smile, and laugh. It makes me happy to talk to her when she’s feeling under the weather. Because she seems sort of upset when she’s sick, but when we just talk about Spanish and stuff together, she’ll be really happy. And I like to put her in a better mood when she’s ill.

[I love Alan Rickman]

@FadedRose  I am very sure that Señora is indeed getting sick! By the way, there is very brief talk about the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, but I didn’t give out any spoilers!

 

“Hola,” Señora said a bit congestedly and sniffled shortly after I walked in. 

“Hola,” I responded. “Remember how I said the other day that we were reading Julius Caesar?” I asked her. She nodded. “Well I understand your line now.”

“Et tu, Brutè?” She asked dramatically, and I could hear that bit of congestion in her tone. We both laughed.

“Yes, that,” I responded. “Yep, I got to say that line today, too, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, so this is what Señora was talking about.’” She laughed.

“Well yep! It’s probably the most famous line! Did you finish already?” She asked.

“No, we just finished that scene today,” I confirmed. “But yeah that was fun.“ We walked out of the classroom. 

“Tragic ending, though,” she stated.

“Well, it’s a tragedy, so it’s expected,” I responded.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Señora agreed, and gently ran her finger beneath her nose to rub it. Then she sniffled again.

“I want to ask you some questions before Spanish 2 since I couldn’t be picked up today,” I stated. “Could we talk on Tuesday or so if I can be picked up to get my bow that day?”

“Oh, yeah! You sent me that message, I’m sorry, this morning was very busy,” she stated and then smiled. “But yeah, sure! Come to me when you can, and I’ll answer your questions.” She sniffled again.

“No problem, I understand,” I stated and smiled back. “And I will. By the way, how are you this Friday?”

“I’m so happy it’s Friday,” she admitted. We both laughed and I said I am too. ”Another long day!”

“Well, it’s especially good that it’s Friday, then,” I agreed. I also thought to myself that she’s definitely seeming to get sick now. “Well, I need to go now. Que tenga un buen fin de semana.”

“Gracías, y tú también, [my name]!” She stated and went back into her class.

 

I surely think she will be sick by Monday. She was sniffling more today, and she was congested as well. Let’s see and just hope if she is that I can indeed be picked up so I can talk to her for a bit longer. Not only would I get my Spanish questions answered, but I’d just be able to chat more with her. It would be amazing if we got another sneeze. Let’s see!

[macrotwentytwo]

@I love Alan Rickman you provide some of the best content here btw

[I love Alan Rickman]

8 hours ago, macrotwentytwo said:

@I love Alan Rickman you provide some of the best content here btw

Thank you so much, that’s very kind of you.

[I love Alan Rickman]

My sincerest apologies for not updating recently! I only got to speak very briefly with Señora on Monday, and yesterday and Tuesday, I wasn’t able to sit down and write more than just notes after talking on Tuesday. I’ll update again after school today (in case there’s anything new today worth noting), so in about eight hours.

 

Edit: I was very very busy that I hardly even had any time to do really anything for myself Thursday or Friday, so the update will have to be postponed until later today, the 15th, instead. In fact, it’s 12:20 am right now on the 15th for me but still the 14th for some of you. I’m usually not up this early in the morning, but I am just going to bed now because I’ve been that busy.  I will definitely try to get the update posted later today

Edited December 15, 2018 by I love Alan Rickman

[I love Alan Rickman]

@macrotwentytwo @FadedRose Update: Señora’s schedule changed, and I will have her next semester!!! Hopefully we get some good observations.

[I love Alan Rickman]

@macrotwentytwo @FadedRose 

After a long time, finally another two observations from Señora! Now you see, we did have one observation of an almost-sneeze last school year, but that was allergy related, and this I put it in the allergy related post. But yesterday, she was sniffly and coughing a lot (and a cold has been going around the school anyway), making me think she was getting sick, and indeed she was sick today. It’s weird. I swear I have a hidden talent for being able to tell when people I know well are getting sick, and this was not an exception to that. She didn’t sneeze today, but she almost did and was real sniffly, congested, raspy, and coughing a lot.

 

Since I plan on minoring in Spanish in college, I talked with Señora about it on Friday, and after our little discussion, she let me borrow a Spanish book about the story of La Llorona and said I could borrow another one after I finished that one. I finished it that same day, but obviously it was the weekend afterwards, and I also forgot to return it yesterday, so I went to talk to her today to return it and get another book.

When I was walking to her classroom before lunch (I don’t have her for class right now, but she has extra time during lunch where we talk a little before I go to lunch), I heard her say to kids in her previous class, “¡Ciao! ¡Adiós! Que tengan un buen día.” Then I heard her cough a few times. I entered her room and saw her covering her mouth with the crook of her elbow as she coughed.

“¡Hola!” I stated as I stepped over the threshold.

“Hola,” she responded, her voice raspy and congested. She coughed a few more times.

“You alright?” I asked sympathetically with a frown.

“No,” she replied and turned to me. “I have a cold, I’m sorry,” she continued with a slight nervous chuckle, turned, and bent over the desk, moving whiteboards, markers, erasers, papers, etc that kids hadn’t put back properly and into the correct places.

“Aww,” I said with a frown. “Well, I have ‘La Llorona’ for you.”

“Ah, yes!” She stated, looked back at me, and walked over. When she walked over, she stopped in front of the metal cabinet drawers, opened one of the drawers, and looked through a few books, almost all in one fluid motion. She observed a few of the books for a second. “Alright, so you can pick,” she stated and looked at me.

“This is for you,” I stated, handing her the book. She thanked me and took it. I stood next to her and watched her skim through my book to the end of it, and I read some of the titles on the spines myself. She sniffled again and ran a finger beneath her nose, and I could see her nostrils were quite visibly red. “You don’t sound good,” I said honestly and sympathetically. “You okay?”

“No, I don’t feel—I don’t feel well,” she admitted fairly quietly, still quite congested. She reached the end of the book. “73 pages. Alright!” She returned it to its rightful place in the dresser with the rest of the books. I just watched. “Alright, so here—“ she began and sniffled softly. I saw her scrunch her nose a bit, and her brow furrowed a little. “Oh my gosh, I’m gonna sneeze,” she said quickly, and her breath hitched and quavered slightly. Her nose was even redder than before, and she rifled through the books a little faster as if trying to distract herself from the tickle in her nose. I tried to say “Bless you, for when you do sneeze,” but ha! My brain didn’t let me, I probably got out just a little squeak, and she might’ve thought I was crazy. 

Despite that she wasn’t visibly fighting it by holding her nose like she did last year during the allergy scenario (she could’ve been fighting it on the inside though), she didn’t sneeze (grrrr false starts. Second one from her, really makes me mad). 

She pulled out another book. “Here are...” she began, paused, and sniffled, “your other...” she paused again, and her breath hitched a little. She sniffled and looked at the book she pulled out and read its cover.  “Well some of these are—you see—repeated.” She placed it down and created a pile on the other books in the drawer. “You can pick! If you want to do another one.” She sniffled loudly. 

“Do you have any recommendations?” I asked and looked at her.

“I’ve not read any of these,” she admitted and looked at another book. “La Hija—“ she began congestedly, and her nose twitched a little, “del Sastre. Oh, this one’s a political one.” I chuckled. She put that one in her newly-formed pile and reached for another book.

We looked at more of the books, and Señora read out some titles and sniffled a few more times. As she was reading one of the summaries, I looked over her shoulder and noticed the summary was in English. She nodded. “This one looks cute. This one’s short. I bet you could read that in a weekend,” she stated and handed it to me with a sniffle. I read the summary, and she sniffled a few more times. “You should do that one next,” she recommended with a nod.

“Yeah, I can do this one next,” I agreed and smiled. “Cool!”

“Alright!” She stated and quickly turned as she coughed harshly. 

“Awww, I feel bad for you,” I stated sympathetically as I put the book into my bag.

“I know,” she stated. “I’ll survive.”

“It’s been going through the entire school,” I pointed out.

“Yeeees, everyone is coughing, hacking,” she said and sniffled. I walked to the door and turned around.

“But I hope you feel better,” I said, looking back at her and getting a bit of hand sanitizer, which I always used after each class when people were sick at school. She thanked me. “I’ll pray for you,” I added. (Since someone asked about this: For quick recovery. She’s a Christian, too, and she knows I care about her health, so it’s not awkward. She always appreciates that.) I laughed nervously. “You don’t sound good.

“I’ll surviiive,” she responded.

“Well, que tenga un buen día,” I said, “as best as you can have. Sentirse mejor, y adiós, hasta!”

She chuckled a bit. “Adiós. Hasta—Hasta luego.” 

I turned around and went to walk out but then turned back around and saw her pinch her nose as she made her way back to her desk. “Vitamin C and zinc is your best bet to help you get better as soon as possible.” She agreed. “Hasta,” I finished.

“Hasta,” she repeated back.

 

I also checked in at the end of the day. “Hola, ¿cómo está usted?” I asked as I walked in. I saw her moving more things as she walked to her desk. All she got out was a groan before she started coughing uncontrollably. “Not good?” I asked sympathetically.

“I’m just...trying to avoid talking, at this point,” she responded in the congested—and now extremely raspy—tone. 

“Aw,” I said with a frown. “Well, I actually have a question for you about this,” I said, holding up my book. 

“What’s up?” She asked and walked over.

”There’s this one word: I searched up what it means, but I have no idea how to pronounce it,” I stated. She stood next to me and looked over my shoulder at the book. I held it a bit closer to her so she could see it better, and I saw her pinch her red nose gently.

”’Shame.’ ‘Vergüenza’ [bare-gwen-suh],” she responded.

”I’ve never seen that before, what is that?” I asked, pointing at the “u.”

”Vergüenza. It means ‘shame,’ or like, you’re embarrassed,” she responded and sniffled. “So, ‘I was embarrassed talking with the girls.’”

”I’ve never seen that symbol,” I stated with confusion. “It looks like German to me.”

”Oh! Yeah, that’s an umlaut,” she clarified and looked over at me.

”An umlaut?” I asked, intrigued.

“Mhm,” she continued with a nod. “That’s a German term. An umlaut.”

”That’s in Spanish?” I asked.

”No, it’s called a diéresis [dee-air-ay-sees] in Spanish,” she explained how it makes a w sound and showed me an example using the Spanish word for bilingual, “bilingüe” and how it’s different than without it. She sniffled a few more times and also mentioned how when she sang in German, they called it an umlaut. 

“Alright, well thanks!” I said.

“Sure!” She said with a smile.

”Que tenga un buen día.” I continued, and she thanked me. “Sentirse mejor. I hope you feel better tomorrow.”

”Gracias,” she said with a nod.

”¡Hasta!” I stated, and walked out.

”¡Hasta!” She replied back, and I walked to the bus.

Edited September 18, 2019 by I love Alan Rickman

[FadedRose]

Isn’t that awkward telling your teacher you’ll pray for her because she has a cold? I feel like that entire scenario would’ve just been awkward in itself. Yikessss. As much as I would’ve liked to see a sneeze I don’t think it would’ve been worth it lol

[I love Alan Rickman]

1 hour ago, FadedRose said:

Isn’t that awkward telling your teacher you’ll pray for her because she has a cold? I feel like that entire scenario would’ve just been awkward in itself. Yikessss. As much as I would’ve liked to see a sneeze I don’t think it would’ve been worth it lol

Well for fast healing, pretty much, since I felt bad for her, seeing her that way. She gets sick a lot, and I always hurt a bit to see her when she’s ill, but I also want to be there for her and talk to her about Spanish and stuff to help keep her in a good mood when she’s miserable. She usually is pretty emotionally down when she’s sick too, unless she gets to talk about Spanish or her kids or music. So yeah, it’s worked a lot before, and it makes me happy when I see her smile when we’re talking when she’s sick and know it works even somewhat. I want to be a beacon of light and positivity in this world to everyone I meet! 

So I’ll probably do that tomorrow if she’s still feeling real sick. I just like to do that with people I know well if they’re sick. Just talk about things they like and help them be happy through the illness. And about the praying thing: She’s a Christian, too, and she knows I care about her health, so it’s not awkward. She appreciates it. (Just clarified in the ob for future reference) Also, what do you think wouldn’t have been worth it? This whole scenario occurred because I had to get my book returned and get the new book and then at the end of the day: ask a question regarding a word in the book I didn’t understand how to pronounce or what that umlaut was even called in the moment. Tomorrow, I’ll be checking up since I care for her, though the interactions today were pretty much entirely connected to the book. Just the beginning of the second ob was a checkup, but it was mostly about the book with that word. I didn’t know she was sick today, just felt she might’ve been getting sick yesterday, but didn’t actually expect her to be. That spot about praying for her just came into play since I care about her, and she’s my favorite teacher and a really helpful person.  

Edited September 18, 2019 by I love Alan Rickman

[I love Alan Rickman]

Señora’s recovering better than I have ever seen! She was still quite sniffly and coughing yesterday, but it was less, and she did sound better, even though she said she didn’t feel better. Today, she sounded tons better and said she felt so much better too. She didn’t even cough once during our chats. She’s doing pretty well, which I’m happy to hear. I felt quite bad for her those first two days. But it’s quite bearable to her now. But yeah, this is the fastest I’ve ever seen her recover from a cold, which is amazing!

[ThePokeFan599]

Glad to hear that Señora is feeling better. Hopefully before she fully recovers she gives you a sneeze, or if not, her next cold comes sooner than later, and a great ob to follow. Maybe she's been working on strengthening her immune system, hence the quick recovery.