Punk'd

So for those of you who are not pop culture junkies, for several years, MTV aired a show called Punk’d, in which goofy yet very attractive Ashton Kutcher would mastermind and film elaborate practical jokes on other celebrities in order to bring the superstars “back to earth.” For example, in one episode, Ashton Kutcher tricked singer Justin Timberlake into believing that the government was seizing all of his property. In other episodes, Kutcher denied Halle Berry entrance into her own movie premiere, and set up Nelly Furtado’s purse as the source of a bomb scare. After every prank when the celebrity is either panicking or fuming, Kutcher would finally appear to inform them that they had been “punk’d.” It is all quite amusing.

It is slightly less amusing when you are the target of the “punk.” Yes, I must admit that this past Thursday, my 5 coworkers and I were punk’d by whom else but the seemingly unassuming, traditional Maya teachers at la Primaria Central. Here’s how it all went down:

Last Thursday, la Primaria Central observed Día del Niño (Children’s Day), a national holiday similar to Mother’s Day, in which adults throughout Guatemala appreciate and celebrate the children. Every year on Día del Niño, not only do restaurants and stores host special discounts for children, but schools also cancel classes and teachers provide special treats and surprises for their students. At Primaria Central, the day was very festive with a viewing of Nanny McPhee in the morning, athletic competitions and activities, dancing, and piñatas. In addition to the baked goods that my coworkers and I prepared for them, the students received t-shirts, lunch, cookies, and copious amounts of candy. Whether from the holiday excitement or from the copious amounts of sugar, the students were bursting with energy and enthusiasm all day.



However, throughout the week prior to the holiday, the other teachers repeatedly informed us that tradition requires all of the teachers to perform dances for the students in the “cultural section” of the festivities. As the resident English teachers at the school, we apparently also needed to perform. Consequently, although we six very rhythmically-challenged gringos were quite reluctant to display our lack of coordination in public, we decided to put our pride aside and attempt to choreograph a dance. After all, the other teachers would be dancing as well, and they had mentioned to us that a payaso artistic (artistic clown) would be performing after us. We might be silly, but at least we weren’t clowns. My coworkers nominated Dana and me to spearhead the endeavor (probably because we own and use several Richard Simmons work-out videos) (did I just admit that?), and so we did what any other girl from the 1990’s would do and chose to choreograph a three minute dance to “Spice Up Your Life” by the Spice Girls. A classic, nay iconic song of my generation.



After practicing frequently throughout the week, we arrived at the Día del Niño celebrations with snazzy dance moves and all the resolve we could muster. As we enter the gate, several teachers approached us and exclaimed: “Good morning! We have told all the students and everyone is so excited for your dance! Are you ready to do it?” Dana replied: “As ready as we’ll ever be! But can we maybe perform after all the teachers?” “Haha,” chuckled Esteban, the school’s principal and former mayor of Central. “The teachers do not dance. Only you six. The whole school is so excited.” We had been royally duped. The “cultural section” of Dia del Niño would include no other dances, no artistic clown. Only us. Dancing to Spice Girls. The teachers all enjoyed a good laugh, while we all stared at each other in disbelief. We got punk’d.



Ultimately, we did perform our dance, and although I still would not consider coordination to be one of our group strengths, we all had a great time. Plus, everyone seemed to enjoy the performance. Not only did several students ask to learn our “traditional American dance,” but we also received a large group chant for an encore performance. Overall, I consider the whole experience to be a lesson in humility. By humbling/making fun of ourselves, I believe that we reached a new level of closeness with the teachers. Also, it seems special that the teachers would feel a close enough friendship with us to punk us. I think we will not tell next year’s team of Program Directors about the “tradition.” It’ll be good for them.

Peace
Ginny Savage

(Video to come soon!)