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| Carolyne with a Chocolate Chip Starfish - Sea of Cortez 2009 |
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| One of her favorites - nori rolls. Mexico 2008 |
With Tim off to study in the States, we are down to only one baby bird in the nest. And she quickly took over the larger lower bunk that her brother left behind. I, on the other hand, quickly discovered we have SO much more storage space with the top bunk now vacant!! Yay for me!
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| Jelly suit - for sun and jellyfish protection. Mexico 2009 |
Carolyne is now completely proficient in Spanish - a huge accomplishment since she spoke virtually not one Spanish sentence upon arriving to her first day of Mexican school last August. Yes, we had Spanish Studies in both kid's home school program, but it was a total disaster in Carolyne's case. She simply refused to learn it and made Spanish learning an agonizing chore. I finally gave up - threw my hands in the air and said to her in my best Jewish mother accent, "Fine. Fine! You want to be a ignoramus with no hope for the future for the rest of your life? Fine! I'm not going to kill myself. I'm not going to kill myself inside and out trying to teach you Spanish. Instead, you are going to help me with
my Spanish and everyday we are going to study
my flashcards." It sort of went better after that. Sort of.
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| La Pirata - La Paz, MX 2013 |
Going to an all Spanish speaking school changed things for Carolyne. She didn't have a choice anymore - she had to learn the language. And I can attest, this was a far better venue than me trying to teach her. For both of us!
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| Carolyne and friend Cris |
I wish I could say that Carolyne has made long, lasting friendships - but it would be a lie. Although the local children have been loving and kind to her, Carolyne does feel like an outsider. Whether it is partially her personality or whether she just doesn't feel that she fits in, she has only made one really good friend, her teacher's daughter, Cris... who speaks some English.
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| Carolyne with her teacher, Pina, and friend Cris |
And in a few weeks Carolyne will be starting school again for the interim. Secondary will be much more demanding than Primary and she will have many subjects to juggle. But she is a smart girl and Jim and I feel she needs to continue with her language studies. She is very good that way. And I don't have to be the one who teaches her. In fact, now she corrects me... and I love it!
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| Carolyne's new haircut - La Paz, MX 2013 |
:)
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