...I would have laughed

Today's mission: Do whatever it takes to make the students be quiet so I don't end up with a colleague/bouncer in my class to witness what a disaster I am. I thought about leading with the Spanish equivalent of "We have to talk," but I didn't know if that would be awkward-funny or just a lot more awkward than necessary, so I let it go. It was awkward anyway, but I told them to shut up (for real this time) and they kind of did. Of course I had to keep telling them, and glaring at people, and I did tell one guy to shut up or get out. The room wasn't silent, but the roar was much duller. They're definitely not afraid of me, and I'm still not really willing/able to be as mean and nasty as I would have to be to make them afraid of me. Because let's be honest, I'm still afraid of them. Less than I was a month ago, but still, I'm a little afraid of them. I'm sort of afraid to actually kick anyone out of class, for example. That makes me sound like such a wimp and I don't want to be such a wimp, but what if I told someone to leave and they said no or started arguing, what would I do then? Hit them? (Maybe a little less socially unacceptable here than in the US, but still not a viable solution.) It's not that long until this class is over, so hopefully I can keep up the mostly empty threats without their entirely seeing through me. The important thing is that they were quieter. For today, anyway, I'm declaring victory.