Waiting for the flag with my sister!

I’ve had one month of no school, so that feeling of freedom with a February summer break came and went pretty fast. Getting back to school, for the second time this year (but now in Grade 6), was kind of rough. Also, the first day of school is usually worrisome enough, but to make matters worse, all the kids here speak Spanish and very little English, and they all try to ask questions to a shy new guy (me).  Needless to say, I was feeling pretty nervous and overwhelmed on Day 1!

The courtyard at school!

My days begin with breakfast and putting on my new uniform, which are cargo shorts and a bright coloured t-shirt (all the kids have a variety of reds, blues, yellows, and greens).  They feel like casual wear, but in a uniform that looks good.  Sorry FFCA, I prefer these uniforms!  Then, the drive that takes about 15 minutes from my house in the car we borrow from my Abuela.  But when we don’t have Abuela’s car, we’ll have to take a bus and walk about six blocks, so then it’ll take us about 40 minutes.  Obviously, I prefer to take the car.

From left to right are Felipe, Juan, and Frank, but I still need a photo of me and my best friend, Lucas!

When we get to school, just before 8am, every kid in the courtyard is yapping their heads off like crazy ducks. After a while of waiting and talking, we do the national anthem (which I haven’t yet learned, partly because they play it too quietly, and partly because it’s in Spanish and I have no idea what they’re saying), and they raise the Argentinian flag too.

Afterwards, we drag ourselves up two flights of stairs to the classroom for first and second period. Usually it is something like Spanish L.A., projects, or math, which are some of the classes that I don’t understand, but once I do understand it, I can do it instantly. After every period we have a break – one for twenty minutes (I love it compared to eight minutes back at home), while the others are just ten minutes.  During the first break we can use coupons (that you buy at the front office) to get a drink and/or a food item they sell, such as cookies, crackers, pastries, cereal bars, water, and juice boxes.  Anyways, the third and fourth period in the morning is usually the easiest class, English! So, obviously I can be the best in class for once a day!

Seriously, this is where I go for Phys. ED! Awesome!

Finally, we get to have lunch around 12:30! We don’t have to bring our own lunch because we have a cafeteria, and no it isn’t one of those cafeterias in cartoons where the person just plops a big pile of green mush on your plate; rather, it’s one that gives you all types of delicious hot homemade food like mashed potatoes, chicken, spaghetti, milanesa (which is breaded meat), meatloaf, a serving of vegetables, a piece of bread, and for dessert we get apples or oranges! Afterwards, we have recess and that’s when I play with my friends in the courtyard or the cafeteria – we don’t have a playground because we’re in the middle of the downtown! The friends I have here are Lucas (who just happens to be my best-friend here, and is also the son of my dad’s best friend), Juan (which in English is John), Felipe (whom I first met), and the latest friend I have made is Francisco (who prefers to be called Frank).

1st day Assembly – they called us up to the front and I was so nervous!

After our well deserved break time, we have fifth and sixth period which are usually classes like math, art, music, or social studies!  However, on Wednesday we get to get on a bus and go to Predio (click Predio to see more photos) for four hours, which is like a huge recreation centre with pools, playgrounds, basketball courts, tennis courts, futbol (aka soccer) fields, and picnic grounds.  It is so cool because the design is wonderful, there’s something to do in every corner, the grounds are huge, palm trees are all around, and the beach is across the street, and the best part is that I’m with my friends the whole time.  I went here for the first time yesterday and it was awesome.  I couldn’t believe that was school – it felt like a field trip, and we go every week!

My teacher and my class at the assembly!

By 2:50 we start packing up to go home, except on Monday when I have guitar class for another hour.   My day ends with waiting in the courtyard until I can find my parents, which is total chaos because trying to find your parents and get out through one door is crazy – people are everywhere!  By the end of the day I’m exhausted from not understanding anything except English class and my friends when we get a break.  When I get home, my dad goes over all the Spanish work I’ve done and not understood that day.  Thank goodness my dad can make sense of it all!

Overall, I’m happy that I’ve been able to go to such a good school and meet such good friends who help me understand what I’m doing, and I have so much fun with them too.  I hope that I can learn Spanish quickly so then I will be less stressed and less dependent on my friends and my dad to make sense of school.

MY SCHEDULE