misinformation extortion

yesterday and today i had to interpret for parent-teacher conferences. i do not like interpreting because you have to think in two languages at once... i can handle one or the other but both at the same time is very difficult. my biggest fear is misinforming the parents. the thing is, i have a different set of idiomatic expressions than they do (most of them are mexican; i did not learn spanish in mexico). so what ends up happening is sometimes i have to back and explain what i just said. plus there are some things that just do not translate from english to spanish - he's working very hard (trabaja muy duro?) he's done a good job (ha hecho un buen trabajo?) - while these would be understood, it makes one look like a novice because the first is gramatically incorrect (duro is an adjective; you would need an adverb) and the second implies that he has completed a project well, not that he's been doing well all along as the english implies. plus i feel bad because i cannot interpret what the teachers say exactly as they say it - i feel that the parents end up getting an abbreviated version of it. but you do what you can.

and with these conferences i have been able to extort drinks out of some of my colleagues... Mr P wanted to leave early last night for a date, and asked me if i would please please please sit in on his conference instead. come on, i'll buy your drinks next time. so we agreed on THREE. then, today he had to go home early for some reason, so they rescheduled his conferences with me (because he had some this afternoon and i had some empty slots). but then he came back right at four, and he said he would do it, but i told him i was already ready to go and he could buy me another. that's FOUR!