El Colegio Saint Gabriels

I bought a loaf of bread the other day just because it was huge. It was a novelty, and seemed like a good idea. Twenty thousand grams of carbohydrates later, I realize it was an experience I should have passed on.

As we look back on the school year that is about to end, we remember that we enrolled the girls for the experience, and are glad we did. There have been challenges, like understanding the routine, deciphering the lunch menu to avoid eating pastel (casserole), and translating their homework. Mostly we’ve had fun.

There have been plenty of highlights: Sarafina has frequently used her smile and high-pitched squeal to coerce chocolate out of the headmistress; Margarita leaves class twice a week for extra ballet practice (priorities, the performance is coming up); and a language barrier doesn’t exist between friends who just run around and scream anyway. Sarafina has learned all the vowel sounds (albeit in Spanish) and when I asked Margarita if she ever does math she replied “I think so”. Should I be worried?


We are a bit of a novelty at school. Our unofficial name is “That American Family”. The older kids like to practice their English on me, and the parents just stare: Maybe they want to say something but don’t know the English words; maybe they question the intelligence of a woman speaking at a two-year-old level; or maybe they saw me eat that loaf of bread and are worried they’d lose a finger if they got too close.

Next semester I plan to homeschool. With any luck, my curriculum will be just as enriching. I figure we’ll read some (like the scolding notes from the building manager about playing on the grass and screaming in the halls), learn music (The Nutcraker, of course, did you need to ask?), and write a little (notes of apologies to all our neighbors for the aforementioned). Maybe we’ll even do some math. Now there is a novel idea.

Sisma