Saturday, February 13, 2010

February 2010 Martinique - á l'ecole!




The kids are both giving school a go - en Français - quite bold, considering neither speaks French. Or attends school. They achieve a minor celebrity status on the first day out, although some language discrepancies have slightly altered their names- - perhaps you know our children, Mary and Phil from New York? (It was sorted out, but we giggled about it for days....)

School is pretty much school everywhere. First rule of thumb: complain about it. Maddie isn't into wearing a 'uniform' as bland as jeans and, horror of horrors, a white polo shirt! And, of course, the getting-up-early bit. Finn ends up quite tired at the end of the day due to inability to communicate, but has fun overall.

The schedules are great: Finn has classes from 8 - noon with three 15 minute mini-breaks. We pick him up for a two-hour lunchbreak, and he has time to hang out and go for a swim before returning from 2 - 4. There's no school for the under-12 crowd on Wednesdays. Maddie does have to start at 7, to her dismay, and has a Mon - Fri schedule, but with the same 2 hour break mid-day for eating & socializing (at school) and some days end early, with only a couple of classes - similar to a college schedule. (In fact, the high school level is referred to as "collége".)

We've adopted some low-maintenance pets to go with our very traditional lifestyle - the neighbors' cats and dogs stop by; we have a yardful of geckos, and a guardcrab - so watch your toes...!

2 comments:

Mardy Holmgren said...

I didn't even recognize 'Mary' without her colorful dudds and hair! It looks like l'ecole agrees with Phil:)

Unknown said...

This blog is such a wonderful summary of what I experienced down there. You make me feel I am living it again... and the photos are wonderful Maddie.
Love the little clip of Mardi Gras dancing in the streets.
Nice job Janie.