First day of school at EARJ, a success!!

While we need to catch up on news and photos from our travels in July, we want to take this brief pause to rejoice in how successful Diego's first day of 4th grade was!!  We have been working up to this point for some time now- talking about it, visiting the website, turning in paperwork for admissions, then visiting when we first arrived on June 22.  We remember the feeling then- what a cool school, what a big school, and isn't it far away?  

The Escola Americana de Rio de Janeiro is located on the edge of the Tijuca rainforest within Rio and at the top of some of the biggest stone hills in the city.  Rocinha and Gavea are the closest neighborhoods, that wind up, up, up into the hills.  http://www.earj.com.br/.  

Last week we attended orientation, Jim and Debbie met other new parents and Diego met other new kids, as well as the HeadMaster's son, who is also in fourth grade and is such a nice kid.  We left that visit feeling really excited about the school, all the way to the amazing food in the cafeteria.  

And today was the BIG DAY!  We are used to riding our bikes with Diego to Rosewood and then picking him up down the street from our house at Shandon Pres.  Today, he rode the school bus, which we know doesn't sound like a huge deal but it seemed like it was, at least to Debbie. School is in full swing here and we're living on a road, Rua SãoVicente, with lots of cars, buses, motorcycles and bikes climbing and descending the hill, especially getting kids to school.  There are several schools on this road, as well as apartment buildings and shops.  By 7:15 we were on the street in front of our apartment waiting for the bus- Escolar- that would take Diego to school.  There were A LOT of school buses!  Diego's stopped right in front and a young woman, Yasmin, got out and said Diego's name.  We knew this was the bus for him to get on.   He seemed so confident as he stepped on that bus, ready for 4th grade.  We were a little teary-eyed but also so proud of him.  

Diego and Jim, waiting for the school bus (with Debbie snapping the photo)

And there goes the bus

Diego gets out of school at 3:25 (except on Wednesdays, when school ends at 2:45).  Since this was his first day, Jim and I wanted to meet him at the EARJ and walk home with him.  We had an excellent 25 minute walk straight uphill to get to the school (and it was great for getting to know our neighborhood even more).  When the bell rang, students of all ages started to pour out of the buildings toward the bus and car exit.  We were perhaps the only "walkers".  Diego bounced down the steps with his teacher and he was SMILING!!   His first day was great- he loved art class (and using a technique he'd already practiced in Ms. Carson's class) and Portuguese (which he'll take everyday); he had a positive experience with his teachers and with other kids in the class; and liked the food in the cafeteria.  Who wouldn't? It's filled with awesome Brazilian food, including flan for dessert.  As we walked together back down the hill, he seemed bouncy and confident.  This is everything we had hoped for and more.  To celebrate, we went for a special treat of frozen açai (a-sai-ee), a true Brazilian delight (and the very best part was when Diego corrected our pronunciation of the word).  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A7a%C3%AD_palm

Happy boy!

Pick up point at EARJ