The kids have been attending CEIP San Fulgencio, one of the the local Spanish public schools here in Albacete, and it has really become a little hub of our community. Both kids have made amazing friends, and the daily bike ride has been something we all look forward to.
It seems that weekly one or both kids’ class have walked downtown to watch a theater program or see an exhibit. I don’t always know ahead of time, either! So, its a fun surprise for them. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to know and just not linked in, or if that is just part of learning here. I think the latter, though I have a renewed appreciation and respect for foreign language speakers who come to our country and attempt to put their kids in school. So many ‘normals’ that I need taught!! I’m positive a Spanish mom would be so confused by American ‘normals’ that parents just know.
Avi participates in the futbol club. His teacher Fran is so chill and kind to each of the kiddo’s. Avi quite enjoys it. While he is at class, Zoe and I will sometimes go out for coffee with our friends – Emma is Zoe’s age and her siblings are in futbol too.
Avi also got to go on a field trip to a dinosaur museum up in cuenca, which is a couple hours away! He had a blast, however, and the teachers kept us parents up to date with pictures the whole day.
Then there are all the special events at school. Zoe dressed as a peacock for the Halloween party, while Avi was a vampire bat. This fall was filled with other performances and special events at the school, like castanas day and a comedy troupe that came in….stuff I found out about from pictures sent around after the fact!
Thanksgiving has been a highlight two years in a row, as I led a little demo about the holiday. This year, we even took it up a notch and had the kids really act out the story while I spoke. They had lines (in Spanish!), too.
We really are going to miss this school when it’s time to go after Christmas. Before that came, I took some treats in to both the kids’ classes and they had their own little going away parties. Zoes’ teacher, Nemisio, had them all sign a poster and we got a big class picture on the stairs, plus some silly ones outside. Then they all ran around and burnt off energy. Avi’s teacher, Sole, had the kids sit in a circle and they could each raise their hands and say what they appreciated in Avi and what they would miss. Many “I love yous!”. They also played musical chairs and then went outside for a Spanish version of red light green light. He also got a little bound book with a colored picture from each of his classmates.
The Christmas performance (here and here) would’ve been enough to put me to tears, except it was so fun and loud and crazy! Each class dressed up and did a song or two that mildly related to the holiday. Avi was dressed as the guitar player for a flamenco group – he played and they danced, and then the police came to send them away but ended up joining in. Zoe’s class dressed as Abba and sung Spanish Mamma Mia! They also did a ‘tree decorating’ instructional show in English which was fun to see since it’s not at all part of Spanish Christmas tradition to have a tree.
I’m looking forward to returning to homeschooling the kids, but will definitely miss all the social fun we have had and all the Spanish language learning the kids have accomplished here in Albacete!