First Day of School

The end of summer comes a week early for Abby and Gabe. Today they started school at Erich Pohlenz Christian School…the school that had room and the one that seemed to want our kids.
The day began at 6 am…with the ringing of the garbage bell. In this neighborhood, a lazy rooster does not crow until after the cow bell rings. The cow bell signals those in the hood that the garbage truck is about to come by and you’d better be ready because they stop for no stationary bag at the curb. It’s a funny little reality. This morning was my turn. I heard the bell toll at 6 AM, rolled out of bed and shuffled down our stairs to the covered porch where I gathered our collection of garbage and waited at the curb. After doing this for a couple of mornings, I’ve learned that the truck follows the bell by about ten minutes.

This morning, as it was Monday and the end of the weekend, almost all my neighbors were up to deal with their trash. There was no dawn to speak of yet. The sky was black and clear. The birds had started in with their song, but the stars still sparkled. It’s a strange reality. All of us up, waiting at the curb, in the dark, one woman in her robe and slippers, another couple I haven’t met, snuggling at the corner, their large white bag of garbage, sitting at their feet. “Buenos dias,” we say in greeting, yawning, ready for the moment he drives onto our street. Sure enough, at 6:11 AM, the truck swerves around the corner and stops. I and the others carry our bags to the truck and chuck them in the back. On the first day, I kept waiting for someone to come and get my bag (how very American of me), but when I saw the woman across the street, struggle with her sizable trash container, drag it over all by herself and dump it in the back of the truck, I realized my error. Mind you, there are two workers riding/standing on the back of the truck’s bumper, but they don’t lift a finger. I’m sure it saves the city loads in workman’s comp complaints. No, we all carry our own garbage to the back of the truck and dump it in with a “Buenos dias,” and “gracias”. This happens every morning and that bell continues to ring throughout the neighborhood for the next hour. Just in case you didn’t wake up the first time, there are many opportunities…not necessarily for garbage removal, but for REM disruption. Since, Jason and I are taking turns with the garbage, I will ignore the cow bell tomorrow.

We woke the kids by 6:20 and got them going with breakfast. We left the house at 7:15 and walked up our street to Erich Pohlenz. That’s about a fifteen minute jaunt. The mornings here are cool and most pedestrians we met (parents and their school children) were wearing their jackets and sweaters. I even saw a woman in a down jacket. We gringos, of course, were sweating by the time we reach the school yard. On this morning, the first day, parents were allowed to enter the yard and watch the opening ceremonies…complete with marching girls, carrying the Mexican flag around their mini-plaza while all the parents and students saluted and sang the national anthem…at least, I think it was the national anthem. We also sang a few other tunes, none of which I knew. During all this time, Abby and Gabe appeared terrified. You could see how they were trying to fit in, and figure things out, but they looked completely odd and out of place.

The strangest sensation came over me when Jason and I left the yard. In the time it took me to walk home, I realized what I was feeling. It was exactly the same feeling I had experienced after dropping Abby off at Malcolm X for the first time, then later, with Gabe…that I was abandoning my children…giving them up and over. This feeling is difficult to describe if you are not a parent and I think it is particularly wrenching for a mother, although it was Jason who expressed how stressed he was for the children later in the day.

We picked them up at 2 PM, coming to the schoolyard gate, then hearing their names called over a loudspeaker. They emerged happy to see us, but more than that, they were clearly filled with delight in their first days’ experience. Both had enjoyed their classes, both had made friends, Gabe had scored the first goal in their lunchtime soccer game and Abby had found someone who spoke English and could translate some of what was happening in her class.

It seems too good to be true and we know that more difficult days and weeks will transpire, but the day was a gift. Gabe’s memorable quote of the day: “ I like this school better than school at home because you don’t have to pay attention.” We decided to let this one ride…Of course, we’ll want to help him pay attention in the future, since we do want him to learn…but for no it’s a concerning approach to his new learning environment.