Attending a Mexican School
We made the hard decision to hangout in La Paz, Mexico a little longer for the girls to attend a Mexican school. It seemed like a daunting task to find the right school among the numerous that seemed to be situated about every third block. Fortunately, we ran into an expat whose daughter goes to school here. It’s an alternative private school under the philosophy of Freinet Pedagogy. Read about Freinet here. With its relaxed view on uniforms, only two different shirts required, and project based learning, we thought it was a good transition from their Montessori background and possibly more opportunities to learn Spanish as the kids work in groups.
First day at school in their school shirts. 98% excited and 2% concerned.
Although we wanted them to attend for at least a year to become fluent Spanish speakers, two more months of high moorage fees and a pretty good exposure to the language seemed like a good compromise. No, they are not rattling off in Spanish but they are definitely picking up phrases and words at three weeks.
School starts at 7:30 and we have about 25min walk so we get up before sunrise. In the mornings it’s cool enough for jackets though by pick up time it heats up to 90s on some days.
Tuesday and Friday are PE days so they wear these snazzy coolmax shirts.
As a family it’s been really interesting having the girls go to a local school here. We are up by 6 and out the boat by 6:45. All four of us walk to school and observe the local life begin to wake up. Typically we see a few women sweeping front of their “sidewalk”. By privatizing these sidewalks some are paved and glitzy with fancy tile work while others are unpaved with heaps of sand. In addition to the ever-changing “sidewalk” terrain, we are greeted by guard dogs behind fences, walking along side us at times, and on the roof tops barking to tell us that they own the streets. We try to keep our eyes open and be aware of where we plant our feet.
Walking out of Marina de La Paz.
Some streets are very nice with beautiful topiaries.
Love these mango trees on the way to school. They are one of the highlights of the walk to school. It will get even better once these green mango ripen in a month.
Papaya trees.
Just one more block and it’s our school.
When we have errands in town or just tired of walking in the heat, we take the bus home.
12 thoughts on “Attending a Mexican School”
Thank you for sharing. I wish I was a kid experiencing all that. Kudos for Anna and Sophia. What a good choice for a school.
Happy for you.
Looking forward to seeing you again soon and the kids.
They look so happy. It must be really exciting for them to go to a local school there. Morning walks must be the best part for you too, before it heats up unbearably(I assume that it’s the case over there?) You all look more and more like locals, meaning healthy :). It’s a good way to mingle with people, I imagine.
So envious of you being in Spanish speaking country. I’d love to travel through Latin America for a year or so one day.
We wanted our kids to have the experience of living somewhere like that when they were still young, but never had guts to make the decision in the end.
Have a great fun there and keep us informed on the blog.
Hello Eunmi! We are really blessed for this opportunity. Sometimes kids just see and feel only things that are immediate. Trying to teach them to be introspective and grateful but I think that comes after having a variety of experiences: some good and some bad. I’d say many people envy your life and travels with your family. Being able to do what you have done so far within the security of holding down a job is quite nice and comforting. Your family is also very blessed. I bet not many English speaking kids have been to the various part of the world as your kids have.
We are so excited to hear that you guys decided to stay in La Paz and enroll in school. Your courage and adventurous spirit is very inspiring. I like to think that by joining and participating in your new community you are making the world just a little more connected. Cheers, we look forward to seeing you guys again soon.
Sorry for the late reply. Need to connect comments to my email. Yes. School was super exciting at first but excitement quickly waned as things became routine. But, we did meet some neat people and learned quite a bit from them already. It was a bit of a sacrifice and unplanned on our part but it was definitely worth it. We finished our two month stay at the school last week and already in the boat school routine. Though it was two short months, Anna and Sophia have a huge list of vocabulary under their command. We can only imagine how much they’d be speaking if we had stayed for a whole year in school.
Miss you guys and we hope to connect with you soon, too.
WOW do you like your new school? What’s the best part and the worst part? Are you going to eat the mangos? Have you made any friends? Are you going to eat the papayas?
Responses from the girls:
Anna/ Sophia: We found some mangos on the ground which we took them back to the boat to wash and eat. They didn’t taste too good. The papaya trees were someone else’s so we didn’t pick it. We did find tamarind trees and the seed pods tasted like garlic. What we liked about the school: They had chickens, bunnies, and ducks that you can pet. Sophia likes that there were two seats at each desk. We liked gym class which was the best part of the school.
We made lots of friends at school and it was very easy because they were very nice.
We miss you Blossom and Mara. What is Kiwiwiwi doing?
The other part that we really liked is that we walked 1.3 miles to school everyday.
Those are sharp looking uniforms!
What a beautiful walk to school each morning, and so wonderful to be able to make the walk as a family each day. Not being a morning person, I really value the mental transition time inherent in my morning commute, part of which is a drive along a lovely scenic parkway and a river. It helps prepare me for my day. Baby M. and I also enjoy our neighborhood walks, and each week we enjoy discovering a new sight or fragrance, flower or leaf or animal that wasn’t there before. It sounds like you made some fun discoveries on your walks (and some not as fun – sorry to hear the mangoes were not tasty). What a neat school to have chickens and bunnies and ducks. We enjoy spotting wild bunnies on our walks, including a teacup-sized baby bunny in our front yard this week. We are looking forward to reading about your next adventures!
Hi Jennifer, it was a really good experience to have the girls attend Mexican school. It was also beneficial for Jeff and I because we got so much walking in that we actually became pretty healthy. We are now back in the land of driving everywhere in cars here in Arizona. We are taking a little break from cruising to renew our tourist visa, visit with family, and get some reprieve from the scorching heat and humidity. In August, we will be visiting Jim and Patsy in Florida. Funny, we call this a reprieve from heat but we are hopping from a hot place to another.
Have fun discovering all those little treasures in your neighborhood with Margaret. In our busy schedules it is necessary to take it slow to realize the small beauties (graces) in our lives. Say hello to Paul, your Dad and Margaret for us.