ICSL-Boys' school in Lima, Peru

We arrived on Monday night, bought the boys school uniforms Tuesday afternoon and they started school on Wednesday morning last week!  It was a whirlwind of craziness, but they had already missed the first 2 weeks so we wanted to get them started as soon as we could.

Brandon is in 5th grade this year, he hated the fact that he was missing the first 2 weeks of school, but when we went to pick up his uniforms, the boys in his class came running out into the hallway and called him over. They had been anxiously waiting for him to arrive, even though they had never met him before...they gave him high fives and invited him into the classroom to meet everyone...it was SUCH a special welcome and will forever be a good memory for us.

Jonathon is in 3rd grade this year.  He was able to get the last spot in the 3rd grade class as it's the biggest one this year; he was also very welcomed and made to feel special.  So far he told me he really likes school and really likes his teacher and class...what a blessing!

Nathan is my 2nd grader and my talker.  He has already gotten a "refocus" for talking...Mr. Social!!  He has a couple good buddies and I really hope he can make some friends who will be here for awhile. His teacher is new this year and I've decided to volunteer to be the Class Mom for 2nd grade...should be interesting, but I'm excited to do it and make it a good year for them!

Our commute from the Guest House right now is about 40 minutes each way by public bus.  The bus costs us 2.7 soles with all 4 of us (Sophia doesn't pay) which is about $1.00, and when I return home without the boys, I pay 1.20 soles which is about 44 cents...so round trip for $1.44 is pretty cheap.  If I were to take a taxi, it would cost us about 12 soles which is close to $4.40 one way.  We have tried looking for other people we could carpool with, but most parents live closer to the school than we do. It's a big chunk of my day to be on the bus/waiting for the bus for an hour and a half in the morning and afternoon, but hopefully I can learn to use that time more efficiently (like making my grocery lists or whatever) than just sitting there.

In all, we are super pleased with the boys school and I hope to meet many more moms and develop some good friendships this year!

Our new journey

Our journey of 18 months in the States is now over and we are back in Peru. It's so strange to be back...there are days that feel like we have never left, and days that feel like we've only just arrived in Peru for the first time.  After living in Peru for 8 years, this is our first time living in Lima, and boy are we in for an adventure.

We left the U.S. on August 15th with 13 suitcases to check in, a car seat, 9 carry ons, 4 kids, and our passports--both Peruvian ones and U.S. ones. We checked in at the Minneapolis airport around 7:30am and arrived in Lima, Peru around 11:50pm that night.  Aside from losing my camera in Concourse J at the Miami airport, we arrived with all our bags and kids!  I'd post pics...but um, that darn camera is still missing.