September 5 - Settled in Sevilla

Today I woke up the children to make it to Colegio Carmen Benitez to meet the Director at 9:00, while Erik took their applications to the Delegacion de le Educacion - essentially the school district office. I told him before we left that I would do anything possible to get them into that school so that they could have the comfort of an American friend.... but I would be relieved if they didn't get in because I had a better feeling about San Isidoro. We pulled up to the school (Carmen Benitez) and spilled out of our giant white van and through the heavy wooden door. A weak-smiled male secretary ushered us back to a sterile white office, where a small man sat at a desk, completely dominated by a gigantic portrait of the King of Spain hanging behind him. SuddenlyhestartedspeakingsofastandIknewitwasSpanishbutitwascomingsoquicklyandsofarinsidehismouthIfeltlikemybrainwasonabullettrainandcouldn'tslowdownsoIfocusedeveryounceofmyattentiononhisfacetounderstandwhathewassaying and then was distracted because Stone ran out the door - thank you Lucy for chasing him waitwhatishesayingnow that is weird - it looks like one eye is looking at me and one eye is looking at the door - ok yes, he has a seriously lazy eye, that is weird and disconcerting - Amy that is so rude! Think what a hard time he must have had in Junior High... Oh shoot what is he saying? heissayingthereisabsolutelynowayhecangetLindsayandStoneintheAmericanstookthelastspotsherearealltheschoolstheycangoto and I answered several times explaining our situation and asking if he could put us on a wait list or something, but he was only interested in super-fast talking and looking both at my face and the door at the same time, as if half showing me out as he spoke to me. We bid farewell to Señor Small Man with the big King picture and I was relieved! Sad to not be with friends, but we'll get together for play dates.

So we ran over to Colegio San Isidoro, the school on a street dating from the 13th century, and everyone in that office was friendly and sparkly-eyed and spoke at normal speed. And they still had space for all three girls and said the process is complete - the girls are in! I am SO HAPPY!! I'll find a place for Stone soon - I'm not worried.

Outside the door of the school. A Flamenco bar is right across the narrow street, and you can see on the right side of the photo a little flamenco dress from a shop next door.

You walk through that big wooden door to find this sport court. These are Summer school kids.

Here is Erik's dad outside the school office (all of this is behind those flat facades  - you would never know this space was back there!

Walking home from school - we timed it and it was 18 minutes, so I might convince the girls that we should ride bikes. Riding in the big city scares them (when you get out of the old quarter you have to cross some major streets. I would always ride with them of course, but they still insist they would rather walk).

A courtyard near the school - these pretty little mini-parks are everywhere and they really do help cool the city down and give you a shady place to rest. I was expecting 115 degrees but it hasn't been nearly that bad. Still, walking around in 95 degrees for hours is sweaty, and trees and benches are welcome sights.

Right after registering for school we had scheduled a walking tour of the city. We turned one corner, then another, and I heard Lindsay (who was walking in front of me) say "Mom's going to fall over when she sees this!" This was the view as we came out of the narrow alley into the square. This is a hop skip and only half a jump from their school. It's the Seville Cathedral - once a Muslim Mosque but the conquering Christians built on top and inside and every which way all through it, turning it into the largest Gothic structure in Europe.

In this quiet little square you can see Roman columns (they're short because street level is higher now - the bottom part of them is buried), then Visigoth embellishments, then came the Vandals but I don't know that they added anything, then on top you have Moorish arches - they turned the building into a mosque and those pointed arches were the minaret where the Prayer-singer would call the people to prayer, and then on top of that is a Christian bell tower. History is displayed before your eyes in a visible stack.

The girls LOVE Flamenco dresses.

Sophie was a pretty good sport on the walking tour. Erik wisely took Stone with him to run errands - I carried Sophie around and had to repeat the guide's stories in her ear in 6-year-old terms. Stone would have been miserable.

All sizes of families are wonderful and have their charms and their challenges. One thing I like about six is that everyone always has a buddy. Lately Sophie has been mine.

I saw this row of old friends and thought of my sisters and all my girl friends back at home. Will we still gather to chat when we're supporting our cankles in flesh-tone pantyhose and teasing our thinned hair into poufs? I believe we will.

Our first tapas bar for lunch! We tried all kinds of new things!

Tonight after dinner we were invited to a special concert in a tiny church - our new friends are musicians  (he is a Professor of Music with a group of students here for a Semester Abroad and she is a Pianist) and their family put on a mini recital playing an organ from the 1600's. Before and after the recital they took the group of students (and us!) up to the balcony to show us how the pipes and bellows work and even let us play it! This is Lindsay and I trying to think of what to play on such a special instrument. I wish I could meet all the people whose hands have played those keys through the years.