First day of school and other stuff

This is Elise.  The last couple of days have been kind of crazy.  There has been a lot of good and some bad.  The good news is that it rained.  For a country in a severe drought and a heat wave that's a big deal.  The temperature dropped to just hot instead of unbearably hot.  Just in time too because the water was out most of the day.  When the water came on, in the afternoon, the power went out for a few hours.  Luckily, we have a pool to cool off in, and today we used it to bathe in as well.
   I was nervous about the girls first day of school.  The first day of school is always hard but even more so in a foreign country at a bilingual school.  Some of the courses are taught in Spanish but all the teachers can speak English.  We really want the girls to learn Spanish so we felt that this school met our goals the best.  People speak highly of the school and of the people who work there. The other big advantage is we can walk to it in town.
   I was pleased and relieved when I picked them up at 3pm and they were both smiling.  They said the day went well and Zoe even said she had made a friend, who lives in the forest.  The little girl must live outside of town in the tropical forest that surrounds Granada.  The school doesn't have a purpose built facility so they have to go the park a block away to have recess.  Both girls said they felt safe at recess.  I only realized how important it was for them to have a good day when I felt how relieved I was to hear the day went well. I had to fork over over $600 in registration and tuition this morning so I guess that was part of it.  I have never had to pay directly for school before.  It is only $290 per month for both of them but with the registration fees it added up.

I have also been searching for a place to rent.  We don't love the rental we are in and would like to find something else.  The plan was to rent this place for a month while we find a furnished rental for a year, then figure it out from there.  We are having difficultly finding a rental available in the center of town for a year.  There are places on the edge of town but I wouldn't want to walk around as much then and would need a car.  We want to try walking instead of driving everywhere.  Plus, we would like a cute, colonial place with a pool and a yard.  Anyone who knows me know that I am picky about where I live.  There are colonials with yards and pools in the center of town in our price range but they aren't available.  We are going into the slow season so there is some availability but we are worried if we get a six month rental and get kicked out in December then we will have a really hard time finding a place in the busy season.
   I have been looking a places on my own while my husband is recovering from a fall.  Mike slipped and fell on the stairs just after getting out of the pool.  He landed on his back on the corner of the step.  He has been in excruciating pain ever since. He thinks he cracked a rib or two and since he broke ribs in the past he probably knows best.  We have the number of a doctor who makes house calls but we haven't bothered to call.  There is not much a doctor can do for broken ribs. I was able to purchase some codeine with a NSAID without a prescription.  It has been keeping the pain at bay while Mike recuperates in bed.  I have been walking around keeping us all fed, taking the girls to school, buying painkillers, looking at houses to rent, in 98 degree tropical heat. I still prefer walking to driving, at least I am burning calories.