Full circle

Last week marked the end of term for DD1 hence a parent-teacher "conference" was scheduled. Her teacher was very direct and clearly didn't want to waste any time chatting but all was reported to be well much as had been expected. I still don't feel particularly aware of what goes on at school other than that all parties seem content with the status quo. In spite of the school's gloomy anachronistic ambience, DD1 has in fact been very happy, forming solid friendships and learning to read and write during her time there which is more than enough to satisfy me at this stage. She has also acquired Chilean Spanish in the most natural way possible as well as considerable cultural knowledge, numeracy skills and managed to lug an incredibly heavy rucksack to and from school every day... She may well be trailing behind in English spelling and writing but by way of compensation has learnt joined-up handwriting, loops and all. It's not quite what you'd get in a sub-standard state school in the UK (according to The Economist) but she's still young enough to catch up and the experience of living in South America for two years is probably a fair swap for anything she may have missed out on back in the twenty-first century...

Much the same can be said for DD2. Often she has lamented the fact that she goes to a Spanish-speaking nursery and not an English-speaking one, choosing to remain "as quiet as a mouse" for as long as possible while slowly but surely absorbing everything around her... She has gained an extraordinary level of confidence linguistically and culturally as well as producing enough artistic creations to sink the Titanic. Not to mention her experience of presenting to the class (this week it's seashells)... It's probably been very different to nursery in the UK but at her age being with other children and having fun are all that counts. The fact that she can also recite poems in Spanish, dance the tango and knows all about the glories of Chilean history are of course all a bonus...
As for me, I've learnt Spanish too, albeit not as well nor as naturally but I have had a good go, aided mainly by my very patient and eternally encouraging teacher. Not sure what else I have achieved apart from visiting some beautiful and far-flung places, surviving in an alien culture and always feeling like something wasn't quite right... Now my days as ama de casa are well and truly numbered as we prepare for our impending return to the UK. To use an analogy my children might understand, I feel a little like Jo in the Magic Faraway Tree, who visits the land of Topsy-Turvy and ends up walking upside down on his hands while his friends remain the right way up. After spending a while like this he eventually gets a reprieve and is allowed to return the right way up again, vowing to himself that he has in fact had enough exciting adventures and will not be visiting any more of the fascinating but unpredictable lands at the top of the Faraway Tree, however tempting they may seem...

El dia de la madre and other exciting events

While my body and soul have been crying out for jacket potatoes, fireworks and roasted chestnuts, the calendar firmly reminds me that it is in fact May despite all evidence to the contrary. Thus we have had the May Day holiday, otherwise known as el Dia del Trabajador, on which anyone who works is given a well-deserved day (or in this case as it fell on a Tuesday, two days) off for their trouble. This was closely followed by Mother's Day which began by secretive preparatory messages being relayed to an increasingly baffled DH via the home-school diary and culminated in a crescendo of cards, treats and a very special event at DD2's nursery last Saturday morning. The mothers were invited to attend in comfortable clothing and armed with a cushion while the creative and unswervingly energetic tias had transformed the nursery into a spiritual wellness centre complete with new-age music, incense and zen-like nibbles while also urging us all to participate in a rotation of massage, yoga and meditation activities... After this we were told how wonderful we were by our children via song, dance, poetry and of course a beautiful homemade card. As if that weren't overwhelming enough, the following day one could hardly move throughout Santiago without someone selling flowers/giving out sweets/calling out "felicidades!" as the entire world celebrated the almost holy figure of the mama'. I wasn't quite sure what I'd done to deserve it when the waiter in the Peruvian restaurant we lunched in thrust a small gift-wrapped box containing a single macaroon in my hand but I wasn't going to refuse...
Less than a week later and instead of Guy Fawkes we are commemorating another semi-mythical political figure namely Arturo Prat. Despite sounding like a joke he represents the most heroic patriotic qualities, having fought valiantly for Chile in the War of the Pacific and nobly sacrificing his life for his country (hence next Monday's national holiday, el Dia de las Glorias Navales). DD2 received the requisite brainwashing this morning at nursery and can now recite proudly how many boats he had, which battles he won and how he lost the third battle but inspired victory for Chile over Peru.
Meanwhile next week also sees the end of term for DD1 and a chance to speak to her class teacher to find out just what has been going on on the other side of the impenetrable school gates. Cannot wait...