September 4 - Figuring out the escuela

This morning I walked into the family room and found this heart-melting sight (note that he is wearing his Iron Man costume):

Any day that starts off with that can't be too bad!! (He had never read that book before - Go, Mimi's Reading Program!) 

Then hours spent driving around figuring out the school situation. There are three schools within walking distance of our house. 

-The one across the street is full in all our children's grades. 

-The farthest one (still walkable though) is Called Colegio Carmen Benitez, and it's where the American family will go. There is room for Lucy and Sophie, but not Lindsay or Stone. We were told to meet with the principal, and if we play it right (I told the kids to be their most charming and I will offer lots of volunteering hours!!) he may make an exception and call the district to approve adding them. That would be such a blessing. We went back to talke with him and the school was already closed, so we're going tomorrow. 

-The third option is close to our house, and while it won't have any American friends, it is in the most AMAZING location - I could hardly breathe. It is in Barrio Santa Cruz, the Medieval Jewish Quarter with cobblestone paths and walkways so narrow you can almost touch the buildings on both sides. It is full of colorful and whitewashed apartments with wrought iron balconies with flowers tumbling out, flamenco bars, tile and jewelry artisans, guitar music, a convent still in operation since the 1600's... it is an atmosphere electric with history and culture. I thought I must have had the address wrong but we walked up to a huge wooden door over which was written "Colegio San Isidro," rang a bell, and a very friendly man swung it open to reveal a huge courtyard, sport court, and a whole school behind the door! They have space for all three girls. So it comes down to this: if Colegio Carmen Benitez will take all four of my kids, then they'll go there with the other American family. If they won't take Lindsay, then Lucy and Sophie said they wanted to be all together at the other school. And if that happens I'll have to start from scratch to find a place for Stone (I'm of course not as concerned about his school as I am about the girls'). 

The girls walking through Barrio Santa Cruz to find Colegio San Isidro

The girls had to use the bathroom so we ducked into this cozy joint near the school. Cured ham is huge in Spain

The highlight of Sophie and Stone's day - we found a park near our house with a great playground, including a kids' zipline!

Our new friends the Martens family - this is Anna and Isaac. We met them for dinner and ice cream at a charming little plaza near their house, about a 20 minute walk from our house

The other side of the table, with Naomi, Lindsay and Grammy. The husband and wife are both musicians, and Naomi is playing a Vivaldi violin concerto at a concert in a church tomorrow night so we're going to go hear her!

I forgot to mention that this morning Lindsay and Lucy and I walked to a paper shop to make copies of our school papers. These are the buildings next to ours. It's a cuter neighborhood than I thought at first - it just has one wall of graffiti and an ugly empty lot that I saw at first that made me cringe. We are right downtown.

And here are the lovies inside our front door in the courtyard