M.A.T.H.

Quick post-class update for y'all.
Here in Mexico, math is actually an acronym, not arithmetic.
For teachers here, math = Manipulation As They wisH
Manipulation of grades that is.

So, because of this math, you can scratch #2 off of the previous post with the list of things I need to do. And this is why:

I go to my Law class today, and there's all this chaos, like always. Suddenly, I overhear that if you have over a 9.5 out of 10 for a grade thus far in the class, you don't have to do the final paper. Since I failed the first exam and barely passed the next, I figure this is impossible for me to have achieved, so I start planning my speach to her asking if Liz and I can write the final paper together. Then I realize the chaos is because she's figuring out people's grades. So once this chaos dies down, I mozey on up to the front of the room, ready to lay my schpeel out on her (in horribly broken Spanish, of course, to further plead my case) and she's like "hey you two, get over here" to me and Liz.

And this is where it gets incredible.

So on the profesora's list, she's got our names, exam grades, homework grades and attendance grades. She's like "Well, you got a 6.5 on the first test (7.5 is passing here, by the way), so I'm just gonna scratch that out and give you an 8, is that ok?" To which I dumfoundedly respond "Yes." Then she's like "Ok, you went on the field trip, that equals a 10 for your second exam. And the third exam you got an 8." I'm still dumbfounded at this point, because for the third exam, she let Liz and I take it together, in hopes that our combined gringa brain power would help us pass, and we still only got like a 7.6 or something. So she punches all of these #s into her calculator and she's like, "Yeah, the two of you have 9's in the class. You can do the final paper to increase your grade if you'd like." So Liz asks "Do we have to do the paper if we're ok with our grade?" to which the profesora responds "No." So I ask, just to make sure we really understand, "So now we're done with everything?" and she says "Yes."

We said thank you to the teacher, and left the class still dumbfounded yet incredibly happy.

I'm still not sure exactly how all that managed to happen. Mathmatically, my unaltered test grades average to an 8. I missed 3 classes. I handed in my homeworks late. And somehow thanks to her MATH I'm done with her class for the semester and my final grade already is a 9 without having to do a final report.

Still dumbfounded, yet highly appreciative. I should write her a thank you note or something.