What I would like to say is that for those of you that are still there, thank you very much. I am going to start communicating regularly and hope you will stick with us!
The good news is that we are still here and with each passing day, settling deeper into our new lives together. We feel blessed to be here, for having the opportunity to start fresh and for the community we have landed in. The parents at the girl’s school are not only caring and kind but also very, very intelligent, successful, generous, creative, ethical and inspiring and above all, kind. On that last point alone, it is often overwhelming to me how kind people have been to us since we arrived almost a year ago. For all of the hardships we have experienced in connection with our decision to move here, the community has provided us with so much in so many ways that even in the darkest hours, it works as a powerful reminder that there is goodness on this earth and that this choice of ours has been the right for us.
Add to that the breathtakingly beautiful natural surroundings and we can do little else but count our blessings daily.
What have we been up to in these past few months? Quite a lot it seems. The girls are growing like weeds. It is incredible. When I first met them almost two years ago, they were closer in height and weight to each other than they are now.
The area that we live in is rich in cultural traditions. As part of the school's philosophy, many different types of festivals and rituals are observed. Some we are familiar with and others are new. For example, Dia de los Muertas or the Day of the Dead is a very important Hispanic celebration that takes place each November. It is the Latin America's All Soul's Day celebration and it is a very big event indeed.
It was celebrated at school, where children were requested to bring in pictures and stories of those that have passed. I have to say Sven and I were not sure about this school event, for a host of reasons not least how it might effect the girls. When we discussed it at dinner one night, we were surprised to find that Aurora had already made the decision to bring in a picture of her paternal great, great grandfather and tell the story of his horse. Allegra had decided to tell the story of her other paternal great, great, father arriving in Colombia from Great Britain with his motorcar! It never occurred to us that they would have worked it out for themselves and in such an amazingly simple way. For a celebration that seemed altogether too somber and sad for our purposes, it went off without a hitch.
It was celebrated at school, where children were requested to bring in pictures and stories of those that have passed. I have to say Sven and I were not sure about this school event, for a host of reasons not least how it might effect the girls. When we discussed it at dinner one night, we were surprised to find that Aurora had already made the decision to bring in a picture of her paternal great, great grandfather and tell the story of his horse. Allegra had decided to tell the story of her other paternal great, great, father arriving in Colombia from Great Britain with his motorcar! It never occurred to us that they would have worked it out for themselves and in such an amazingly simple way. For a celebration that seemed altogether too somber and sad for our purposes, it went off without a hitch.
The Chinese New Year of the Tiger was celebrated at school, at Symphony Hall in San Francisco and pretty much everywhere else. The school held a mini precession through town with second graders taking turns in the head of the dragon. This picture shows Allegra’s legs when she was in charge!
Dan Fost, one of the 4th grade class parents, ignited a big debate in the press and the local community. Dan has been a journalist reporting on the tech industry for over 10 years and came out in March 2010 with a powerful article on media, child development and Waldorf education. I would really recommend having a read through it. If you copy and paste the link below, it should open up directly to the article itself.
Music has come back into our house with a vengeance. My viola has been returned to me after a 20-year absence and I have started playing it again with great joy. My brother Isaac, who is living in California as well, is a very accomplished fiddle player, specializing in Irish Folk music. He has been teaching Aurora, Allegra and I a few folk tunes on our instruments of choice. Not only do we have a great, great time playing together but thoroughly enjoy learning to play this different kind of music. It brings variety and gives the girls added motivation as it is so much fun. Aurora loves playing folk tunes and they really resonate with her.
The impact of being exposed to this new genre of music was best demonstrated by Aurora who selected a piece taught to her by her Uncle to play for her visiting Godmother. Nothing like a bit of Irish tinged Bluegrass to make a great performance and on the cello!!
The remainder of the time has been filled with class plays, seemingly endless parent meetings and school functions, searching and finding work and the task of just living. And of course, the relentless devotion to our kittens, who really live the good life. Please stay tuned….
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