FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

From Nathan:

How did school go today?

Good.

Did you like it?

I don’t know.

Did you hate it?

No. Not at all.

Did you like your teachers?

Yes.

Did you make any friends?

No.

Did you talk to any of your classmates?

Yes.

Did you like the lunch?

Yes.

What did you have for lunch?

Lentils. Chicken. Apple. Bread. Water.

What are some names of kids in your class?

There are two Noah’s. I can’t remember any more. They are hard to say.

Do any kids speak English?

Three speak English and Spanish.

Did they help you out today?

Yes.

How did they help you out?

A person was translating everything for me.

What was your favorite thing about today?

Let’s see – the lentils.

What are you excited about for tomorrow?

I will have to take a look at my backpack and see the schedule. (Goes off to look at his schedule.) Tomorrow I am excited about PE.

How many times do you have PE each week?

I think 3 times each week.

Do you wear a different uniform because you have PE?

Si.

What is the PE uniform?

Pants – not my school pants. Chandals. It is like a warm-up suit. A white short sleeve shirt without a collar.

Do you have anything else you’d like to say about school today?

Oh. Yes I do.

What do you have to say?

Music is the one I’m really excited for.

When do you have music?

I have music (looking at his schedule) on Tuesday. I’m done.

From Nora:

It’s my turn now! Today school we got there late, after the first recess, because we had to go to the immigration office for an appointment. And then we went to school and it was in the middle of Hebrew and Judaism class. I think it was Judaism, because Hebrew and Judaism are different classes. And after Judaism was Ed Fisica, which means physical education. And then we had comida, which is lunch. After that, we had Ingles and Science, which are taught by the same teacher. So the teacher just stays in the room when the bell rings. We didn’t do that much English or Science but the teacher spoke English and we just got ready for the next day – I think we are going to do some activities. But I’m not sure. And tomorrow, I have Tefila, I’m not sure what it means. (Dad: This is the morning prayer for 10-15 minutes to start the day.) Oh, OK. And then we have Ingles and Ingles again, and then mathematics (or matematicas). And then we have lengua, which is language, which means Spanish. And then we have Ed Fisica, which is the same thing as I said a couple of sentences ago. And on Wednesday, we have Tefila – we have this every day of the week. And then we have Lengua, Ingles, science, judaism, mathematics, lunch, and then hebrew informatica and then hebrew informatica again. (Are you going to tell the schedule for every day?) No, just up to Wednesday.

Today at the pool, Bella rung me and told me that she was going to be at the pool. And we played until about 7:15. And during 6 to 7:15 we did a lot of things, like we played pañuelo. This is a game where there are 2 sides with equal players. You either use numbers or colors. The person who is holding the shirt or something gives out numbers or colors – like 1, 2, 3 4. There is the same thing on both teams, like a 1, 2, 3, 4 on one team and a 1, 2, 3, 4 on the other team. The person who is holding the flag says a number like 1, and then both people who are 1’s on each team have to run for the shirt or flag or whatever. Whoever gets it has to run back to their side quickly before the other person gets them – when you get them you have to hug them, not just tag them.

(Tell me more about school. Did you make any friends today?) Yes, I made a few friends. I forget some of their names. But two of them were Donna and Sofia. In gym we played two games – both were really fun. I’m not going to tell you about them because Daddy would say that telling you about them would take much too long. (Did anyone in your class speak English?) Yes, almost everyone spoke at least a little English. But there was a lot of people who spoke a medium amount of English. And I was playing with them and I spoke a little bit of Spanish and understand a bit of it. At lunch recess we walked around the school after talked on the bleachers of the gym and did something that I will tell you about after I finish telling you about this. When we were halfway around the school we had to run because the bell rang. And we climbed up the rocks and slipped under the gate and we ran to the side door of the school and got in. And then we had our next class which was Ingles.

What I did on the bleachers was we were talking and then there was this girl (I forget her name) she was giving out necklaces to all of her friends. Since I was there and she had an extra one she gave me one too. And I got half of a necklace that said “best” and then another person (I forget her name) she looked exactly like me in the clothes she was wearing. And she wore the necklace that said “friends,” and so together ours said “best friends.”

(Did you like your school? Do you think you’ll enjoy it there?) Yes, I think I will enjoy it, because it seems fun. The lunch is family style. So you sit down at the table and your first course is waiting for you. And then you eat it or don’t eat it if you don’t like it. And then you say your teacher’s name and they will come to you (usually) and they will take your plate and put it on the washing counter which is near the kitchen. And then a lady with your next course puts it in front of you. And then usually you eat that and then you have an apple course. Before lunch you say a prayer. And after you say a prayer you eat lunch. When you are finished you say a prayer at the end of lunch and you leave and go to the playground for about the rest of the time – we have about an hour for lunch with half of it as recess. Every class is about 50 minutes, but sometimes things are shorter, like Tefila is about 15 minutes. And recreo is the recess at the middle of the morning, which is 30 minutes. And comida is 1 hour.

And then we walk home and usually do our homework. It wasn’t a lot on the first day. But I think it will be a lot bigger after we get used to school. And then we do our homework – Daddy said it might take about an hour. After that we watch a little TV and maybe go down to the pool. When the pool is not open I’m not sure what we’ll do. The pool closes on Sept 11.

(Nora keeps on talking, but Daddy can’t keep up and his fingers are getting tired.)

Daddy, just a little more. I’ll try to shorten it up. I might have playdates with my friends from school or from the apartment. And I said ‘might’ be happening. OK, I'll stop.