Hola! I'm Scarlett Mercado, and I'm 11. I go to the Virrey de Mendoza primary school on Mexico City's busy Cuauhtémoc (coo-ah-uht-TAY-muk) Avenue, named for the last Aztec warrior prince. Here's my typical day:

6:15 a.m.
I get up. School doesn't begin till 8 a.m., so I've got plenty of time to have a shower, comb my hair ... that sort of thing. I take my breakfast to school with me in a lunch box. Usually I pack a sandwich, a Hershey bar, maybe a Yakult (a sweet dairy treat popular with Mexican kids). I buy a drink at school.

7:40 a.m.
I walk to school.

8 a.m.
First class of the day: ecology.

8:40 a.m.
The morning assembly. We all line up in the schoolyard, salute the flag and sing the national anthem. If it's a special day, like Labor Day on May 1, we get a lesson on that from one of the teachers.

9 a.m.
Prayers with one of the sisters. (The school is run by nuns.) Then straight into a class with the music teacher. I play the flute.

9:40 a.m.
The morning break. I eat breakfast, then play basketball. My best friend Siunoy and I are the only girls who play.

11 a.m.
Spanish class.

12 p.m.
History class.

12:30 p.m.
English class. We sometimes work with a picture book, where you have to pick out a picture that matches what the teacher says in English. She asks questions in English, then says to raise your hand if you can't understand. Most of the time I understand ... well, more or less!

2 p.m.
School lets out. We all line up in the yard, chatting away till someone comes to pick us up. I go home and have lunch. I have two favorite dishes that my mom makes: pastel azteca (a kind of Mexican lasagna with layers of tortillas, chile sauce, cream and cheese) and green enchiladas with chicken. My favorite dessert is flan (a custard with caramel). After lunch, I change out of my school uniform.

I do heaps of things the rest of the day: I dance and sing, play with my Barbies, or I play Nintendo with my two older brothers and my sister. (Sometimes I like to annoy them, just for fun.) I don't watch much TV, but usually it's music programs like MTV. I also like to chat on the Internet, play basketball and go in-line skating. My favorite place to skate is the Parque Hundido. (El Parque Hundido, or Sunken Park, is about 9 feet below ground level.)

The things I hate most? Math, taking out the trash and cleaning my room. I like to see my bedroom neat and tidy, but I hate having to make it that way!

8:30 p.m.
It's homework time. We don't get much. It takes 20 minutes at most.

9:00 p.m.
Dinner.

10 p.m.
Off to bed.