"YOU LATE!"
I wasn't necessarily prepared to be suddenly accosted immediately upon walking into my Menu Development classroom for the first time this morning, especially considering I was 15 minutes early... I quickly scanned the room, hoping I didn't actually walk into the middle of a different lecture, and among the familiar faces of people I knew to be in my class, I found Professor Gaby. Professor is a short, portly man from Brazil, with a heavy accent, a comb-over, and absolutely no tan. I'm not generally one to talk about someone else being pale, as I'm pretty sure I show up on GoogleMaps, but seeing as Professor is from Brazil, I feel he has no excuse.
"Nahh, I just kid... How the heck are ya?!"
I didn't think "confused" would be a good first impression answer, so I responded with "Uhhh, good?" and hurried to the back row of the classroom, and as far away from the crazy Brazilian man as possible. Curiously enough, the first few rows of seats were empty...
As class started, we quickly learned the true eccentrics of Professor Gaby. During attendance call, he had no qualms about sharing his opinions.
"I said your name right? Really? I totally thought I said it wrong... It's weird."
"Where did you go on extern? Really? Why on EARTH would you choose that?!"
I was nervous about when he would get to me in the list, but thankfully, he stopped attendance at C because "I have A.D.D, depression, and various other deficiencies that make it hard for me to learn names anyway, so I don't really care." I don't know whether or not he can even remember his own name, as he spent the entire class referring to himself as "The Jungle Guru of Menu".
Professor Gaby then proceeded to jump onto the table at the front of the room and start singing Be Prepared from The Lion King as loud as his Brazilian lungs could go. About halfway through the second refrain, he suddenly stopped singing, declared he was bored, and got down from the table.
He then explained that his theatrics were actually a warning, that this class would be a lot of work, and that we all needed to be "bringiley". Professor continued to talk about this "bringiley", though only half was in English, and all of it was at a much faster pace than any normal human can understand. It wasn't until the 7th or 8th time Professor said we needed to be "bringiley" that I finally understood he was saying "Bringin' It."
"Bringin' It" is evidentially Professor Gaby's favorite phrase. Everything was "bringin' it", except for some restaurant in NYC that apparently he did NOT like and was "so NOT bringin' it."
I don't know if anyone in class actually knows what we talked about today, but we all are on the same page as far as agreeing with whatever Professor says, else feel the wrath of the Jungle Guru of Menu.
Being back at the CIA has everyone a little antsy about what this school year will bring, but if Professor Gaby is any indication, I think we have no choice but to be "Bringin' It."
