Classmates

Here is a picture of Katrina in her classroom of the AUI-French-Embassy-No-One-Actually-Knows-Who-Is-In-Charge school. Next to her is Mehdi, a rather infamous classmate who delights in poking and harassing the girls on either side of him. Next is Aicsha, a Moroccan-German friend who also lives across the hall from us. One other girl in the class is American but otherwise the children are all Moroccan.

Katrina is in C.P. - the French equivalent of first grade. On the other side of this classroom is C.E. 1 & C.E. 2 (second and third grade) - so the class has little desks, medium-sized desks, and big desks! In the back is Katrina's teacher, Emilie, who has done a fabulous job of making Katrina feel comfortable and who constantly works above and beyond expectations for her students.

Katrina walks the 200 steps (Gerald counted . . . ) to and from school every day by herself now. The hours are 8 - 12, home for lunch, then 1:30 - 3:30.
This is Kendra is her preschool classroom at a little private school called "Le Sepain." The name means "The Fir Tree" as well as "The Christmas Tree" which explains why they have a little dilapidated Christmas tree year-round in the entryway.

Kendra's teacher, Maria, is a very kind, loving woman who makes sure each child has been well-kissed Moroccan style as soon as they enter the door. The other teacher Kendra calls "the potty teacher" but I'm sure she has another name too! The teachers in this school generally do not have any teacher training at all, which is a hard one for me to stomach. Don't be fooled by all the art supplies in the back. In the year that either Katrina or Kendra have attended this school they have painted twice! But the main point of Kendra going is to learn a little French and to have Moroccan friends, so it works just fine.

The reason Kendra doesn't go to Katrina's school is that there they insist she goes to school all day, every day. Here they are flexible and so she only goes three mornings a week.