Back to school!

The car got here on Wednesday afternoon and there was much rejoicing. "Hooray! Freedom!" Then it just sat in our driveway for two days... until this evening's elementary school open house. I took a taxi from work and Narra met me at the school in the minivan having just conquered GDL rush-hour traffic.

[Side note: Narra's last "I did something!!" post is ridiculous. She has been "doing something" every minute since our arrival. She's been amazing. Her job here is far harder than mine, she's been making things happen every day, and I have three happy kids to prove it.]

Deevie's open house will be next week, but we still had two teachers to meet tonight. Por que? Well, the Bird started off the year in pre-first, which is an extra grade they throw in, partly to help the Mexican children (the vast majority of students) catch up in English. Although most of them start there in pre-pre-K, they still speak Spanish in their homes, so the extra year makes sense... for them. For our book-devouring bird, not as much. After a couple of weeks, and some homework assignments that Birdie found sort of funny, the school and we concluded that a move to 1st was in order. Making the decision easier was that she's old for her grade in the US, so a bump up will mean she's still with kids her age.

Through this pre-first/first decision the school administration proved to be accommodating, caring, and great to work with, and we met several people we might never have spoken to otherwise. As icing on the cake, Birdie will be in the same Spanish section as before (same teacher and classmates for 1.5 hrs) AND have the same recess as her old class, so I hope the transition will go smoothly. Her old teacher and new teacher are working together to ease her in.

Meanwhile, the Deevster is all smiles in Kindergarten. She likes her teacher and classmates. Narra says there is one little friend, a French girl, who runs up and gives Deevie a kiss on the cheek when they see each other at recess. They bring a toy from home every Friday; today she was thrilled to bring in her daughter, Carol (a.k.a. the rather frightening looking doll in the post below).


There have been a few topes along the way. Each girl shed a few tears the first week--and we may still have a few to go with next week's transition--but I think things are smoothing out.

Tonight, when it comes to school in the GDL, we exhale.

Fancy school hairdos, courtesy of the other Eva.
(More about her later.)