The first week of school

Outside our front gate

La escuela (school) 
We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief now that the boys have a few days of school under their respective belts. Not that they are enjoying themselves much, or are even very happy to be there, but we have a routine, they are meeting new kids and it has actually gone surprisingly better than I expected. They say they are bored and can't understand anything but they are listening, eating lunch with their comrades, and slowly making friends. Poco a poco (little by little)... 

They had some pretty nervous faces walking in to the school on the first day but were in fine moods after school and we spied them on the playground during the day happily playing futbol (soccer) during recess. It probably helped that classes were only 3 hours on the first day and that they didn't stay for lunch. 

Sexto y Cuarto (6th & 4th)

Clark's teacher and the Principal
chat in Clark's classroom

Clark is in the Sexto (6th) class and Colin Cuarto (4th). Quite a few of the boys in Clark's class speak English as our school is incredibly international and many of the parents come from countries other than Spain (Germany, France, Italy, Denmark....) and several a combination of a few. Several moms who I met prior to school starting even had their kids watch out for our boys on the first day and I definitley felt that warmness directly. Overall, people here couldn't be more friendly and welcoming. We have already been invited on a "swim date" tomorrow, which is a day off school due to a local holiday (Granada only). Cultural differences are strange though, as our afternoon play date will start at 5pm.



Colin looking fairly dejected on Day 1

 School supply shopping was comical until we found a stationary shop where the clerk quickly took charge and ran around the store picking out everything on our lists for us. Same routine as Seattle and about the same price (about 60E/$100 for both boys).

Picked the boys up on Day 3 and they told me all about their 2 course lunch with pumpkin soup and fresh bread followed by salmon and potatoes (all organic, mind you). Dang, I'm jealous. And did I mention how lovely the lunchroom ladies are? Muy cariñoso (very loving). I hope to volunteer up there soon.

In the hallway

Futbol (soccer)
A fellow mom with 2 boys walked us over to a local sports arena yesteday to help us scout out a place that the boys might be able to play futbol. It is a lovely facility with lots going on and the artificial turf looks brand new. Don't know if it will work out or not as plans seem to change quite a bit around here but we will keep trying. There is also an informal group that plays on the (cement) school yard two afternoons a week but they don't seem that interested.

Nuestro español (our spanish)

Here are the children of the Albayzin

And shall I mention again that our Spanish sucks? We really need to put in more time. We're each working with our tutor un hora y media (an hour and a half) every day but it is definitley slow going. Can never remember all the damn verb endings and am always grasping for vocabulary. And problem is, I like to talk, but can't communicate my thoughts without words. Muy difícil (very difficult).