The favorite people of my day today were Ernesto and the retarded guy. Actually I love the guys in the company that I'm teaching too. But they are normal adults and right now I just want to not be normal.
I am not that bad at playing with a kid. I let him lead most things, but this time I managed to direct the playing a bit, though not very logically or particularly adult-ly. I just keep on trying to talk in English while I am crawling under the table or pretending to snore or kicking a ball or pretending I am terribly frightened of the monster that Ernesto has drawn and is flinging at me.

On the way back from the Empresarial Park today, a big mentally handicapped guy got on the bus with earphones. One of the other passengers knew him and they greeted each other. Then the retarded guy burst out into song at the top of his lungs. He would stop and start rather suddenly, and at the same time as he sang, he moved his head up and down in rhythm, and he'd also move his hands vigorously as if he was playing the drums, and then the electric guitar or even directing with a baton. He had decent tone and good rhythm. In fact he didn't seem to lack that much that the rest of us have except inhibition. Some of the words of his music were about a niña, and he started singing to one of the girls and then blowing kisses at her. He eventually did this with various other girls and kept on singing at the top of his lungs and playing drums and guitar with all his might. It didn't take the other passengers long to be in an uproar. He kept interrupting his singing to say, "joder, tengo calor!" ("fuck, it's hot!") What was so cool was the way all the passengers interacted with him. Nobody seemed bothered, most of them were totally amused and laughed (with, not at him) and people noted what "arte" he had (arte is a bit like art, but used as a characteristic of a person - funny, artful). People were generally looking around at each other and laughing and making comments to or about him to each other. I've seen people at home interact with handicapped people on busses and treat them kindly, but what was noteably different was how much more, and easily people were able to interact with each other and him. I felt they treated him more like one of them, and with a lot of respect, along with their usual live and let live attitude. The young, pretty girl he kissed just laughed and called him guapo when she got off the bus - but it wasn't in a condescending way that I've seen so many people treat others whose minds are less capable (the elderly, children or mentally handicapped). People here seem so willing and able to see the human aspects of things - the heart. Whatever this fellow had inside him was just coming straight out, and it was something everybody could identify with. Who doesn't want to sing at the top of their lungs and play drums with all their might, wherever they feel like it? Andalucian people have quite a lot of propriety. Though they are very relaxed, and like to live and let live, they do have a sense of the way things go, and of what is appropriate. It's not that his behaviour was normal to them nor were they blasé about it (that's why they were all laughing so much).