9.02.2010
Our back-to-school time this year was characterized by the hard labor of trying to move into a new building covered in dust (some floors we mopped 4 times and they STILL looked dusty!); reunions with friends not seen, in some cases, in 15 months; and a last minute frantic search for "inside shoes"....here we don't wear street shoes indoors, so all the kids are expected to bring their own pair of slippers/flipflops to keep at school. I must admit that I was so intent on getting the library ready for the first day of school that I neglected this oh-so-important back-to-school item and John had to do it (which I'm sure brought much amusement to our shop ladies!).
Though many of our rituals are different, many are the same. Getting everything ready the night before: backpack, lunch box, clothes, and water bottles. Waking up way earlier than necessary because the butterflies beat out the alarm. Our traditional send off prayer: Help them to be good listeners, good learners and good friends....These things don't change dependent on our location.
There is one new aspect to our schooling this year that we've never experienced before: walking to school. When we lived here before, Sophie first had a 35 minute taxi ride to school and then, once we got our car, a twenty minute car ride at the school's second location. Then last year in Canada, the girls waited for the school bus each morning and rode about 15 minutes to school. This year we are only a five minute walk to school...as the crow flies it would be much shorter but because of some dead-end streets we need to make a "U" to get to the school. Still, a five minute walk is hard to beat! We thought we'd show some pictures from our walk: