How to know if you are a real CNGer

Many people say sure, I’m part of CNG. But are you really? Being part of CNG is not only coming to classes and then leaving. It is living the whole experience, having the spirit in you. Here are some ways in which you can tell if you belong to the school:

• You get to the top of the hill and you can still talk. It seems like an easy thing to do, something you were born with, but think about it… when your parents come to school for parent teachers conferences, are they panting when they reach the top? The most common answer is yes. For some reason, potentially the practice of climbing it every day in a rush, people who are real CNGers can do it, and they reach the top as if they had just gotten out of a car.
• You go into the bookstore at break time. Yes, such a simple thing, if you are a CNG person that is. As soon as the bell rings, hoards of people rush down to the bookstore, where they begin to defy the law of physics that says that no two things can occupy the same space. From outside, it looks like a big stuffed closet filled with blue and white cloths. Occasionally shouting and cursing can be heard, and hands, heads, and food are spontaneously seen above the crowd. It is simply crazy. So who would go in there? The answer; someone who belong at CNG. Somehow, we manage to squeeze our way in there, get the attention of one of the busy bookstore moms we all love, be heard, hear the price, grip our purchase, and get the hell out of there; all this with our head still attached to our shoulders, and all our joints in their sockets. It is, undoubtly, a talent present only in those who carry CNG in their hearts.
• You call all your female teachers miss, and all your male teachers sir. We just can’t put their last name with the title. It’s like a disease or something, but we are just to lazy to do it, and teachers don’t really care anymore. Even our Spanish teachers respond to the unappreciative, whiny, bored “Miiisss…” we utter every time we don’t understand, we don’t want to do something, or we want attention.
• When you get off the bus you say “Adios y Gracias”. Not “chao y gracias”, or “adios y que le vaya bien”, but the simple, slightly rigid “adios y gracias” the monitoras and drivers hear about 100 times a day.
• You “typear” your essay. You don’t type your essay, or pasarlo a computador, you “typear” an essay. With this comes the classical “saviar” the document, or “printiar” the report. You “fakear” you’re sick, or go to a play that’s going to “suckiar”. Oh yes, the dreaded Spanglish is part of us all.

These are just some of the clearest ways to tell if you really belong in CNG. Although some of these vary, the basic idea is in place, and if you belong you will be able to tell in afew seconds. If you don’t, well try some of the above, and in no time you will become a natural. These things are embedded in our brains, and the funny thing is no one ever told us to say “adios y gracias” or call a teacher miiisss, or to not be afraid of the bookstore. These are all things we have begun to do as we spend our time at school, climbing the thousand stairs, or things we have picked up from fellow CNGers.