¿Fuimos a una Barra?

Go ahead.  Ask me how it is that I took my 4th period to a bar.  You know you want to ask . . . 

Well, it's rather simple actually.  One Wednesday per month my AP Spanish class goes off campus to the Wake Forest Coffee Company, a local hot spot just five minutes from the school where we sit down and discuss literature and politics over coffee - in Spanish, of course.

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As we walked inside, it was quickly apparent that the coffee shop was filled almost to capacity.  There were no tables available that could accommodate my three students and me.  The barrista told me not to worry that there was overflow seating upstairs.  That seemed ideal since it would be quieter upstairs and we would have more room to spread out with our iPads, textbooks, and peer-edited rough drafts. 

What I did not know what that upstairs was actually a wine shop.  This became clear as we reached the op of the stairs and came face-to-face with wine racks filled with countless bottles of wine.  There were high tables surrounded by bar stools and, yes - a bar, complete with bottles, glasses, and a bar tender.

I had to make a quick decision.  We could cancel our field trip and return to school, or we could utilize the space.  There were no patrons upstairs, and no one anywhere was serving, drinking, or interacting with wine in any way.  I decided that we would laugh it off and stay.  In the end I don't suppose it matters whether we are upstairs or downstairs; we weren't going to engage in any inappropriate beverage consumption regardless.  It just struck me as hilarious.  The places life takes you!

And, in case you are wondering, we were upstairs the whole 90 minutes.  No other patrons came upstairs and no wine was out at any time.  We had plenty of space for our peer edits and we read four pages of Jaque Mate en Dos Jugadas by Isaac Aisemberg.  I "confessed" to my principal this morning because I certainly didn't want him to hear the story from anyone else first.

I will have to come up with a backup plan for January's trip to the coffee shop - just in case.  Once is a funny story.  Twice would be . . . malo.

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK