New School Year

A lot has happened in the past two weeks, and with the loss of internet access during that time I have not been able to fill you in on the move, transition and new beginnings here in Caselle.  And now we are in the throws of a new school year and ministries while still trying to get the house setup.  Bare with me and have much patience because I really do want to share our experiences with you.  It has been intense and nonstop around here.

September 10, 2013

Luca, age 7

 Emma, age 8

Samuel, age 10

So many of you have been praying for our children as they began their THIRD new school in the course of ONE year.  God's grace continually amazes me in how our kids have weathered these big changes in their lives.  They really do embrace newness.  Of course there was much nervousness the night before the first day of school.  Even I was up from 2-4AM praying for them and feeling anxious for my babies.

We were able to get just a little something in their tummies as they were too nervous to eat a lot that morning.  We walked out the door at 7:55 because Emma and Luca begin school at 8:10.  You think we would have learned our lesson from past experiences that we need to check the school gate the night before for any announcements regarding the first day of school, because when we arrived at the school there was not a soul around.  I thought for sure we had the wrong start date again, but thankfully we read that the entire school starts at 8:30 for the first week.

A 10-minute walk to school, which is worth it since traffic is horrendous.  On good weather days I will get 80 minutes of walking going to and from school!

So we ventured over to the bar across the street to get our 2nd breakfast of cappuccino and brioches.  Can you see their nervousness in this picture?  I had to tuck away unfinished brioches in my purse for later.

When the massive crowd started to gather outside of the school we felt and looked like deer in the headlights.  Every school functions differently and we had no clue what the protocol was.  When the gates opened the children rushed to line up with their teachers.  Never having met their teachers we just ran around asking where to find the teachers for "2A, 4A and 5B."  With two parents and three kids we had to leave one on their own.  Thankfully we knew one of Samuel's classmates and so let him go on his own, while we each followed the other two kids.  It was very intimidating making the transition to a school 3x as big as the one in Leinì.

The school is surrounded by 3 different streets.  Emma and Luca's classes are on the 3rd floor, facing east.

While I was standing in line with Emma a mom asked me if my daughter was new. When I affirmed that she was she told me her daughter was new too.  It was so obvious in both their faces, but precious to see them hold hands as they walked to their class.  The school has a very industrial look to it, because it used to be an old factory.  I was impressed with the cleanliness and spaciousness of it and that they don't even have to bring their own toilet paper, hand soap or hand towel to school. Bonus!

Samuel's class in the bottom center

None of the parents were snapping pictures of their kids so I only got this one picture of Emma in her classroom to show you.  

All of the kids have very nice teachers and we are so thankful for God answering their prayers.  After the first week, Samuel was so excited that his teachers had not yelled at the class once!  When the kids came home on that first day, they could not stop talking about how this was the best school and how many new friends they made already.  Samuel immediately rejoiced how God answered his prayers.  We could not be happier as parents for them to see, experience and give glory to God for his faithfulness, care and presence in their lives.

Luca's teacher took a picture of their class and pasted it in his notebook.  15 boys and 8 girls--I don't envy his teacher at all!

For those curious, here is their school schedule.  The only opening for 5th grade was a full-time slot so that is why there is a difference between their schedules.  All come home for lunch each day:

Emma & Luca: (normal-time)

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (8:10-12:40)

Monday, Wednesday (8:10-12:40/2:15-4:30)

Samuel: (full-time)

Monday-Friday (8:30-12:30/2:15-4:30)