First day of escola! (by Krista and Rafi)

So...the boys were not sure about going to a Portuguese school--it sounded it might be hard to understand what was going on.   But, after a week of hanging out 24/7 with our guys, who only had their brother to play with...well, Michael and I were sure!

Cabin fever!

This morning, we got up early, ate breakfast, and walked to the Escola Pedro Nunes for the boys' first day of school in Portugal.  Zeke is planning to tell all about his experiences in his own blog post (soon to follow); so Rafi and I will take the lead on this post.

Krista: On the way to school, Rafi repeated what he had told Michael and me before: he was worried that he would feel "super-shy" at school.   Now, those of you who know Rafi might consider this unlikely, but...

Rafi: Mom! You're embarrassing me!

Krista:  When we arrived at school, the vice-principal took us to the school courtyard where the kids play, and he started introducing the boys to other kids who would be in their classes.  The kids were completely friendly.

Rafi:  (laughing) It was great awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Krista: Rafi met his teacher, Cece (short for Cecilia), who is the English teacher.

Rafi: I couldn't speak one word of Portuguese! by, the way, what is "word" in Portuguese???????

Krista: It's "palavra."  Anyhow, Cece introduced Rafi to some other 6-year-old boys named Santiago, Vicente, and Gonçalo.  They seemed like nice guys, and Rafi went to class with them as Cece shooed Michael and me out the door.  So Rafi will have to tell you how the day went after that.

Rafi: First, the kids stood in a circle and sang songs--la la la la loooo!  It sounded like a bunch of Ewoks.  Then, we went into a classroom to have English.  The kids were learning the letter M.  I did pretty well.  After that, it was time for music, this time with the music teacher and we played instruments, but it sounded like a box of pots being dropped from the window of our apartment building.  Then it was snack time.  The kids are really LOUD--you couldn't even hear yourself chew!  I was flabbergasted--they were even louder than me!

Krista: Then what?

Rafi:  Then we went to gym, and the kids really started screaming.  We ran around in circles, and then we dressed up and did some acting.  After that, it was lunchtime.  The food was good, especially the soup.  We played after lunch, and the older kids interviewed me--"what is you name? what is your favorite color? what is your favorite animal?"  They asked me in English.  They had big Portuguese accents, but they could understand what I was saying.   Then it was time to go back to class.  We did some "maths," and they taught me the numbers in Portuguese.  After that, we had more singing (this time they sounded like a bunch of apes), and we ate a snack.   Then it was time to go home!

At the end of the worst first day of school

Krista: Rafi came out the door with a big smile, and Cece said he had done really well.  We were all pretty happy with Rafi's first day of school.

Rafi: Except for one person--Rafi!  (though he's smiling as he says it, so we'll see how it goes...)