Monday, March 16 - first day at the new school

Monday morning we were prepared with clothes picked out, morning snacks packed, and backpacks ready by the door.  In fact, we were so ready, that we arrived at school a good 15-20 minutes early and they didn't quite know what to do with us.  Typically you drop off the kids and then they know where to go and what to do.  But obviously this wasn't happening on day 1.

This was our first day up so early
(we woke up at 7 and left the apartment a little after 8)
and we didn't realize that it can be cold in the morning.

Cody is ready with his orange pants and backpack to go onto the patio and start playing with other children.  This patio is one of many where the kids have PE and recess.

Cody is smiling and as happy as can be in line ready to go upstairs with his class.
Devon is ready, but not quite as smiley.
At least he's wearing his favorite "holey soft pants with pockets".

Rosa started school an hour later on the first day since her class had a Spanish exam first thing that morning.
After dropping off the boys, we went to the school papeleria (paper and book store) and bought the kids' PE uniforms and books.  They only wear PE uniforms 2x/week on their PE days.  Otherwise, they can wear what they want.  At the store there was pink colored paper (de color Rosa) that you could buy.  It's of the Iris brand.  Arco de Iris is rainbow in Spanish.  Rosa loved seeing her name next to cousin Iris' name.  So did we.

With a little more time before we had to drop Rosa off at school, we popped into a panaderia (bakery) around the corner and had a morning treat each.  It was a chocolate donut for Rosa, a croissant for Scott, and a cafe con leche for me.

Back at the school in the waiting area, Rosa enjoyed sitting on Scott's lap while waiting for a teacher to walk her to her new classroom.

All in all the kids seem to love school.  They just wish that their friends and teachers from Denver were here with them.

Rosa is excited that her class is learning cursive writing.  She's wanted to try it since she was 4 years old.  She's also realized that it's good that math is in Spanish as it's easy to understand numbers in either language.  She has recognized, though, that the Spanish write some of their numbers differently than Americans do.  Rosa was welcomed to her class with an actual welcoming committee consisting of 2 boys and 2 girls.  And her desk is pulled next to another girl's desk, Sofia, to help out Rosa.  Rosa makes girl #9 in the class as opposed to the 15 or so boys in the class, so the other 8 girls are very happy to have her.  And, one of the girls is having her birthday party next weekend and inviting all of the girls in the class, including Rosa, to attend.  What fun!

The boys also have a bounce in their step at school.  They are enjoying the super nice teachers, the recess, snack, arts & crafts, etc.  Plus, every single student in their class is super welcoming to them and keeping an eye out for them.  There are about 4 students, in addition to them, who are native English speakers, so this also helps.  At pickup we met 2 of the moms, one originally from South Africa and the other originally from England.  Though both have been in Sevilla since ~2002.  So far we've met their Spanish teacher, English teacher (from Scotland), English Para (from Ireland), and French teacher (from France).

Their school day is from 8:45/9-1 and then 3-5pm.  On Monday I brought food and we went to the Plaza del Duque playground to eat and play.  It was empty when we got there with the exception of one mom and her daughters.  Amazingly enough, she's American and here for a few months.  And her girls are super close in age to our children.  We look forward to more play time over the Easter Week (Semana Santa) break.