Fuego en me escuela

By law, we are supposed to do a fire drill every month.  That's the thing.  The kids need to practice an orderly evacuation process every month in case there is an actual fire.  Yesterday, we had a fire alarm go off, and it was quite a surprise, because we had already practiced evacuating in February.

So, we stood outside, waiting for news of why we were there.  It really wasn't a problem.  It was a beautiful afternoon, and there wasn't anything dramatic that the kids were missing inside the building.  It was about like this:

Except that when I tried to take that photo, I ended up with this one first.  Oh, Mr. Lee!  You are the funniest tall, nerdy, bilingual Mormon I know...

Excellent work on the photobomb.  

Anyhow, there was no fire, but it was not a simple case of a kid pulling an alarm.  It was, in fact, a kid who broke a fire sprinkler head in a boy's restroom on the third floor of the building.  Evidently, the sprinklers aren't filled with water, either,  I have learned (just this morning) that they are filled with a sticky, smelly, black substance meant to thwart fire.  It's a fire retardant.  That may be the only time you can say there is some retardant in the building without upsetting someone.  On second thought, somebody out there would still be pissed.  

No matter.  It's Ash Wednesday, so today, I get to see which kids (and which teachers) are the very most Catholic among us.  It's always odd to me when this day rolls around and so many people walk around all day with ashes on their foreheads.  I would go nuts and wipe it off.  I can't deal with a smudge on my face, even if Jesus wants it there.  It's also the first day of Lent, so if there was anything I was supposed to give up, I failed to think of it.  I usually tell people I am giving up loaning money.  That's a good one.  This year, I actually want to give up photography club, but I don't see that happening until we have at least one more meeting to determine our course.  I'm pretty over it, though.  We had four kids yesterday, three the week before and five the week before that.  No knock on those three to five kids, but I am tired of spending an hour of my life every week on a poorly attended club.  It kind of sounds like I am in need of spring break or something.  Hmm.  At least I got to stand in the sunshine for a moment yesterday.  Because there was a fuego in me escuela.  Or something.