First Day of School

Backpack (check), uniform (check), lunch (check). Hair brushed, teeth polished and insect spray applied...we must be ready to catch the 6:45 bus to school. It was a long journey to get to this day and what a relief it was to see some happy but tired faces in the end. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place today (day two of school) as we realized that parents either drive their kids to school or hire a private "little bus" to shuttle the kids. For a small fee, the bus picks them up and returns them right to our door. This allows us to avoid the 15 minute walk in the rain, the potential two-hour wait for the city-bus with a bored and hungry 5-year old and the 5:50 AM wake-up call only to pack both a picnic breakfast and lunch. Was this a relief? Let me tell you!

From the parent's perspective we see school as a great opportunity to have the kids meet new people and enjoy the customs of a different school. Who knew that someone comes around before lunch, collects your Tupperware with the leftovers you brought, heats them up and returns them to you. Cool. Was there a difference between the all school assembly at Greenvale and the opening procession of grades at Escuela Interamericana (EI)? Of course! I'm sure the Greenvale crowd would have loved to hear the music professor play the melody line of Kansas's hit "Dust in the Wind" on the recorder. (yes, I have video). Would the kids at EI enjoy Mr. Craft's guitar playing? I'm sure they would. (now if only I had some video of that...)

It sure sounds like most of the day for Grace and James will be in Spanish. They did a great job on their first day and that should be the toughest one. Maggie's day seems like it will be a mixture of Spanish and English. In the classroom she will try to negotiate in Spanish and on the playground (as we observed) she will be giving the kids clear directions, in English, on how to join the fun in "Maggie's World".

I'm sure there will be more updates from our youngest authors on their perspectives of the school adventure.