We love school!

Madeleine and her amigas with smiles galore

Could this really be the happiest place on the planet?  I’m starting to be a believer.  For our family, today was just about magical.  Madeleine and Henry went to school for the first time today and the consensus was a resounding “It’s great!”.  Even though they knew no one, speak only very little Spanish and were scared out of their pantalones, they both absolutely loved it.

Butterflies were swarming in the stomachs of all three kids last night and this morning.  The moment of greatest anxiety for them, possibly in their lives, was here.  We showed up at the school at 8 am, feeling like we were sticking out like never before.  We took Henry to the fourth grade class (he was in third grade in the States but not here) and met his teacher, Nuria.  She was full of kind words, smiles and affection, even though none of it was in English.  She put her arm around him and took him into the class.  And like that, he was gone.

We were taken to meet the kindergarten class who was in the computer room.  Sullivan’s teacher, Madaline, was also quite kind.  As we were talking to her, he began to be very sad, cried and hid behind Erica.  It was decided to show him around the classroom and have him start tomorrow.  The classroom was exceedingly cute and very decorated, especially relative to Henry’s fourth grade class.  In addition to the fancy guppies in the fish tank, it was explained to us that there are two free-range turtles patrolling the classroom but we couldn’t easily locate them today.  Sullivan was very intrigued.

Sharp-dressed man

Henry was full of smiles and good cheer when we picked him up, having had a great time.  He claimed the kids were super nice and the math was fun.  He’d made a list of new words he’d learned including “silencio” and “regla”, which means ruler.  At 9:30 everyone was fed a hardboiled egg, some beans and rice and pineapple juice.  Recess was good fun.  He was befriended by a fifth grader from Montana whose family are apparently the only other “extranjeros” in the school.  The schedule his teacher glued in his notebook looks great, includes English, Spanish, science, math, religion and agriculture among others.  What an education this will be for us all.  There are about 15 students in Henry’s class and he is eager to return tomorrow already.

English won't be so bad and Agriculture will be very interesting.

The depth of Madeleine’s terror prior to starting school at 12:10 was equal to her joy at pickup.  There was a gaggle of about 10 girls from her class waiting outside the school with her.  They’d had a great time already, were exchanging hugs and kisses on the cheek with her and planning a get together tomorrow!!  We were absolutely dumbfounded at the warmth the kids showed her on her first day.  There is no school for the sixth graders tomorrow but she will join her friends at one of their houses to work on a social studies project.  In theory, anyway.  A friend gave her a highlighter.  Another bought her a treat at recess.  Madeleine’s asking for a cell phone after her first day of school so she can go places with her friends before or after school already.  Not sure how her day could have been any better.  She was thrilled and we were so relieved.

Some school uniforms were bought and the day finished off with some special treats (fruit/ice cream shakes) from our new favorite drink place here in town, Cosechas.  This day will go down as a great day in the history of our family.  Tomorrow I’ll venture to San Jose to pick up our new used car, as our wire transfers went through today!!  It’s all falling into place.

Yummy and healthy too!