Español – clase número sies

Monday's Spanish class was about body parts.

Señora Sierra handed out a photocopy of a body and a face.
She would say the body part in English, then give the translation en Español.

The arm ... el brazo
The leg ... la pierna
The foot ... el pie
The fingers ... los dedos

Then we moved to the face.

We were all furiously writing.
Not much was said.
But the class wasn't exactly quiet.
There was a constant hum of noise.
Pens scratching.
People muttering the Spanish words under the breath.
Others asking their desk mate to repeat a word.

The face ... la cara
The eyes ... los ojos
The ears ... los oídos
The hair ... el pelo
The teeth ... los dientes

Then ...

The lips ... los labios

There was an awkward silence in the class.
Not just your everyday run-of-the-mill silence.
This was a thick, heavy, oppressive silence.
No pen scratching.
No whispering of repeated Spanish words.
No one was even breathing.

My eyebrows went up, but I continued to stare at my paper.
You can believe a million things were going through my mind.
A lot of really? and hunh, how about that?

There was an unspoken agreement in the class.
No one made eye contact with anyone.
I think we all knew if we did, we were all going to start laughing.
Señora Sierra waited about five or ten seconds while everyone digested that.
Maybe she expected some sort of reaction.
I don't know.

Then she continues.
We all start breathing again.
Pens scratch.
Voices murmur.

The eyebrows ... las cejas
The eyelashes ... las pestañas

And I hear the girl behind me whisper to her friend:

"Well ... that makes sense, doesn't it?"