¿Como se dice?

I took four years of Spanish through high school. And in those four years, I learned exactly 51 words, including the dirty ones that we had to look up.

The class was fine; it just wasn't too hard to earn an 'A,' mostly because there was no urgency to learn or speak the Spanish language. We did often eat Mexican food, which our teacher interpreted quite broadly to include Frankie's Rib Shack.

We used to watch this show called Destinos, which was a poor attempt at educational television crossed with a poorer attempt at a soap opera. I can't even begin to recount the plot; not because it was in a language I didn't know, but because it was just bad. Wikipedia tells me that Destinos featured 52 episodes (!), although I've never seen anything beyond episode 12. And I've seen each of those episodes at least six times apiece.

In college, I was woefully unable to test out of as much Spanish as you might expect. Somehow, I passed right through the 100s into a Spanish 201 course. In that course, much of the curriculum centered around Destinos. When I read that in the syllabus, I yelped. During class. While the professor was talking.

I recall clearly that there was a tubby little boy named Jaime. Jaime had a rascal of a dog named Osito. One time, Osito got away; which led to the epic footage of a rotund child actor chasing a fuzzy little dog, all the while yelling, "Osito! Osito!" The kid made it about four steps into his run before doubling over and gasping - no wheezing! - for air.

I've seen the clip at least two dozen times through my educational career. That means I've spent about 2% of my life watching a fat kid chase a dog in a language I didn't know. That's probably all I'll need to say about my high school.