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Almost without preparation, my son Sam will today say good-bye to his first ‘real’ school, as the year has come to an abrupt ending that snuck up on me completely.
It seems like yesterday that I wrote about his first day in the Baie Lazare Crèche, the local version of kindergarten, but it was almost a year ago that we all went through the drama and trauma of big boy going to big boy school and all that entailed.
He cried every morning for a week when we’d leave him, but soon adjusted well and enjoyed his days.
He has learned to speak Creole over the year, and can now play with Seychellois kids, easily learning the games and even the taunts five-year-olds are so fond of in any language. (Calling his sister kaka when he’s annoyed with her is a favorite, at the moment.)
Both of my kids have colds now … again … and because of some coughing and general snottiness, I kept them home on Monday. Today I took them and found out that although school was not scheduled to be out for the year until the 7th of December, some testing of older kids or something has the young ones finishing today.
Surprise!
Things happen like that around here.
It’s not just the end of the year for Sam, but the end of his time in the local school. Starting in January, he’ll be going to the International School, and this is bound to be a completely different experience.
There are International Schools all over the world, but how affiliated they may be, I don’t yet know. This one is owned and run by the parents of students, so Mark and I will soon be voting, involved members active in our child’s education.
Kids at the school are from all over the world, and unlike at the local school, Sam will no longer be one of only three non-black children. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors and religions at the International School and I’m happy about the diversity he will now experience.
Although classes are conducted in English, many languages are spoken on the playground and in students’ homes, and that will broaden Sam’s experiences, as well. He’ll have friends from China, India, Pakistan, England, Germany, South Africa, the USA, Malaysia, Seychelles and many other countries. Although the kids do tend to come and go … many have parents working here on contracts that finish after two or three years … the base of permanent residents is large, so he’ll have the best of both worlds — good friends here and friends all over the world.
I’m taking the camera with me when I pick him up on this, his last day at his first school, and will do my best to document this big step. I admit to being more than a little sad, as I always am when a child of mine moves from one phase to another, and there’s a big part of me that wishes he could stay in the local school a bit longer.
He’ll be off to town every day starting next year, and that has such an ominous ring to it. I just know that next time I blog about this he’ll be driving!
Art by Sam Benoiton, with permission: Superhero School.
hello, i dont know where to post, but i have a question, maybe someone can send me an answer to this email.. siwadyfranco@gmail.com
im from honduras, my mom is an american citizin, from some reason she couldnt get me the green card, the embassy said i cant benifit because she remaried, before getting the paper of separation from my father, but she left him a long time ago, hes a drug addict, a friend of my grandfather, offered adopting me, but im an adult, is that possible?? iv been through a bone marrow transplant five years ago, and a coma from the meningites virus 2 years ago, im healthy thanks God, but i need care.. thats why she offered the help, i wanna know if its possible for a person to adopt me since im 21.. i would appreciate any information, thanks in advance, franco