Veni, vidi, vici!

The girls conquered Day 1 of school, notwithstanding a healthy dose of le farfalle nello stomaco (butterflies in the stomach) for all of us. Warm and welcoming parents and classmates made everything a bit easier.

As new parents, we were allowed to enter the school with the first-year students and their families. This included enjoying the tradition of the fifth-year students cheering for the doe-eyed newcomers as they made their way up the dramatic staircase. C was part of the flag-waving throng, doing her best to navigate the chaos of it all.

The Montessori section of the school is on the uppermost floor (yes, we’re getting used to climbing stairs!), and we arrived to find signs welcoming the girls to their classrooms.

The teachers and students were incredibly kind and attentive, showing us around the classrooms and helping the girls feel more at ease. The fifth-grade class even introduced themselves one-by-one, using the opportunity to struggle through sharing their names and ages in English.

Five hours later, we greeted our brave girls at pick up and were rewarded with shining smiles and (remarkably) still-shining white grembiule. 

All in all, a very successful first day!