Got a copy of the guarantee form today. Now we know the school Chloe will be going to, the name of her first host father, and the address where she’ll be living. Also included was a copy of the photo page of a passport. No notes or explanation, just a photocopy, which is a good idea (especially if there’s not a common language between the parties) because it contains a picture, birth date, and address. It’s for a girl who’s a year younger than Chloe. She has the same last name as the host father, so we’re assuming that she’s a host sister.
The school is San Cernin, a Catholic school that, according to the Web site, sounds progressive and inclusive (and it looks like uniforms). She starts school el 6 de septiembre de 2004 (Labor Day here) and finishes el día 17 de junio de 2005 (our lesson for the day: months aren’t capitalized in Spanish). I’m guessing that means she’ll be leaving before her September 1 birthday. The school day is from 8:30 to 14:30 (2:30 here), and then back on Tuesdays from 16:20 (4:20) to 18:15 (6:15). Since she’ll be so close to school and there are probably not too many farm chores to perform in a seventh-floor flat, she could get up around 7:30 instead of 5:30 like she does now.
According to the address of her host family, she’ll be living in an eighth-floor flat in the middle of Pamplona (population about 200,000), near several large parks. It looks like the school is just a mile or so away – I haven’t found the scale yet (one map site says 12 feet, but I’m pretty sure that’s not quite accurate). From what we’ve been able to infer from the little information we’ve gotten, it looks like just about everything will be 180 degrees from what Chloe’s used to, which is even more exciting. I spent most of the afternoon Googling (let go - it’s a verb now) (and trying to figure out how to read Spanish addresses) and can’t imagine what this was like before the Internet. But, back then we didn’t expect any more. We’ve gotten so used to being able to find out just about anything in minutes that we can’t remember what it was like to wonder about things.
There’s also a phone number for the host family, but no e-mail address. Chloe e-mailed the head of the English department at the school, explained that she’d be a student there next year, that she’s just now learning Spanish, and asked if she’d be willing to answer a few questions. Chloe’s also going to have her Spanish teacher help her write a letter to her host family.
Neither Anna Rae nor Andy have gotten their guarantee forms back yet, although Anna Rae’s heard from her host sister. We’re really curious to see how close Andy and Chloe will be living.
One station closer on the reality train.
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