Today I got together with some friends that I haven’t seen since the fall.

We met about 15 years ago as new hires in one of the Spanish bilingual schools here in Calgary.

Since then we’ve taught at several different schools in the city.

Of the five of us there today (three from the original group couldn’t make it) we represent three bilingual schools.

We walked down the artsy neighborhood in Calgary – Inglewood – and went into some really fun stores. Some of us made purchases while others just browsed the aisles.

Then, we went to have lunch.

That’s when the conversation veered to the bilingual program, our respective schools and our experiences teaching during year 3 of the pandemic.

As we were heading back to our cars, we stumbled across a Colombian restaurant – three of the five of us are Colombian – and stopped for a cup of Colombian coffee, fried plantains and arepas.

We left the restaurant, but not before snapping a few pictures and sharing a few more laughs.

We said our goodbyes, promised to get together once a month, which we used to do pre-pandemic, and left for home.

I left my house at 9:20 am and got back at 4:00 pm.

It was a perfect day.

I can’t wait for the next time we can get together.

Cross posted to the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge.