¿Éxito?...¡Sí!

First day of school 

Ok...so some of you are on pins and needles about whether or not the first day of school was a success. Before I tell you, I'd like to give a little history about the whole process of how we were able to actually get into our school of choice in Granada. It's a case of desire, tenacity and patience that enabled us to do so. After months of research from the states (which was more than extremely difficult and only resulted in a few updated websites from costly private schools), a friend suggested the public school Gomez Moreno.  This school is located in the Albaicin, the Moorish quarter of Granada and is perfect walking distance from our flat. I attempted to "pre-register" from the states via two sources but that never really amounted to anything.  After arriving with visas in hand, I was under the impression that our visas would need to  be finalized first in order to have our "NIE".  Our NIE will be our Spanish identification for the year, allowing us to do things like open a bank account, rent a car, and other more formal things citizens do here.  In order to get the NIE I would need to go to the "Delegación del gobierno".  The stern man at the gates of this magnificent building told me I had a nice Castilian accent, but, no, this was not the correct office.  I would need to attend the "SUBdelegación del gobierno" office "just down the street".  One half hour later after winding through various streets and following a handful of very kind but false directions, we arrive at the SUBdelegación, but, alas, it's actually, la Policia!  No, this was not the correct address.  We would need to take either bus #7 or #33 to the outskirts of town.  Fortunately the lady helping me was so kind to call the office and check to see if we could get in.  No, this was not possible, but perhaps "mañana", if we were early.

Ok, I'm telling myself to breathe and think positive that everything will go fine.  On a whim, I go back to the stern, short, Spanish man who complemented my Castilian, and I throw out my best Andalusian "zeta" and ask him about enrolling my children in the school system here, because I know it ultimately has to go through the Gobierno..."¡Ah, pero hombre!" (this is an endearing term used with women but doesn't mean you are masculine) all you need to do is bring passports tomorrow and be in line here by 0900 for the Escolarización office on the 2nd floor.  Oh, my god, this is too much.

La cola de mamás

So, tomorrow comes, "hago la cola" (I stand in line) with all the other moms from Granada and after 1/2 hour wait I have the formal signature for 2° grado (Owen) and 4°grado (Myles) in El Colegio de Gomez Moreno.  I don't even need our NIE's for enrollment and will tackle that monster when the kids are in school and I have multiple mornings to deal...

This is excellent.  I have paperwork in hand and we're all set.  Within the next couple days we decide to visit the school in the off chance there might be some kids around and teachers.  We have a lovely chat with the secretary, who Myles thinks is really cool and told me I should get my hair done like hers, and oh, we are informed that actually, NO, we are NOT enrolled in Gomez Moreno.  She could not find us in the computer system. And, oh, the computers between the school and the government have no correspondence.  We literally run down to our flat, grab our documentation and passports and fill out another lengthly set of paperwork for the school.  Ok, now, I find myself asking questions over and over again to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Back to the title of the post.  Before I translate the title for some of you, I'd like to say that the morning of Sept. 10th was really, really, really hard.  We walked slowly to school and because our pan (bread) hadn't been delivered yet, we stopped in a nice cafe for chocolate caliente, un café con leche y tostadas.  The boys are very nervous and not happy with me at all at this point.  We arrive at Gomez and many families are lined up to enter.  Children are excited, mothers are chatting, and there is a lot of great energy, but everything is in Spanish and it's really loud.  Myles and Owen are looking at the ground and squeezing my hands really tight.  When the doors open, there is a flood of children and parents moving into the playground where laminated signs are posted for the different grades to line up behind.  Everyone shouts "¡AL COLE!" (pronounced kolay) short for "colegio" which mean elementary school, not college.

We are unsure of which lines to be in because they are divided into A and B sections within each grade level.  We try to find out but it's difficult.  We know that Myles has a male teacher named Javier and we don't know Owen's as of yet.  The following is a little clip of what was happening.  There are some brits (British) families (as well as French) in the school so you'll see that a mother who speaks English is trying to talk with Owen.

At this point in time Myles looks up at me and says "I hate you for this".  I'm about to lose it as it has been a daily fight with him about WHY we are doing this and Owen is about to cry.  The bell rings and Owen's class goes in and due to all the people I don't even see Myles enter the building with his class.

I end up fretting all day until pick up time at 16:00 as to whether I have made the right decision with these kids.  Am I going to "luchar" this entire year "fight"?  How will I endure and how will I remain a positive figure for them?  This may be too much?  What WAS I thinking?  Are they going to totally digress in life?  And this is all because of one of my grand ideas...

I return at 15:30 and peek in the playground door.  Other parents have come early so I go in.  I don't see Myles or Owen anywhere when all of a sudden Myles comes running up with a wet head and a girl trailing behind.  He is all smiles and laughter and then Owen comes up with the same ear to ear grin and happy energy.  They have met a beautiful sweet Spanish girl, Sofia, who has taken them under her wing.  I about start to cry but am full of laughter and play some soccer with them on the field.

So, we have had "éxito" - success - this first day of school in the Spanish educational system.  Besides everything going so well, I find out that this school is a model school other schools are planning to follow and the cafetería serves "comida ecológica", organic hot lunches, they have amazing after school school options, including rock climbing, sports, music and French, and the list goes on....  What was I ever so worried about????

Ending with quotes this time that are a little harsh, but true:
"I don't like to being out late at night in the city."
"She has too many piercings."
"Mom, everybody sleeps all day and parties all night."
"Mom, PLEASE can you come with me just the first day???"
"I hate you for this."
"Javier is SO NICE!"  (Javier is Myles' teacher)

I'm posting this again.  I forgot to add one last foto of the banner hanging outside the colegio.  Much love to you all!  By the way, if it isn't too troublesome, take a moment and sign up to follow the blog.