Vigo has only about two more weeks of school left. Next week is his big class trip: three days in the woods. All the kids at school are buzzing about this. One difference between school here and in the US: children are allowed and encouraged to bring their pocket knives. They will be put in the care of one of the teachers, who will pass them out to the kids at the appropriate moments, and teach them some proper knife handling skills. Luckily for Vigo, he found a battered old Swiss Army knife on the street a while back.
Yesterday we went to Vigo's portfolio presentation, where he showed us his work and explained the marks he had given himself on his self-evaluation. I found that he was a bit hard on himself in some cases. He's doing well in school, despite having missed three full weeks (not in a row, at least) over the past month or so. He had a tough time recovering from the strep germ that caused his scarlet fever. He seems to be doing fine now, at last.
Vigo is struggling a little bit right now with the fact that his best friend Edward is moving back to Ireland at the end of the summer. Another good friend of his, Ruby, is leaving to go back to the US this week. Being in an international school, the families tend to be a little more mobile than in other schools. Hopefully as the school matures, the student body will become more stable. The picture attached to this post is from the little good-bye dinner we had with Ruby's family on Wednesday night. Ruby and her sister Lucy are the two blondes next to Vigo. On the Left are Sam and Katherine. Sam and Katherine's family live right around around the corner from us and Erik has become very good friends with their father Guy.
I bought a cheap tent while I was in France last week and Vigo has it set up in his room. He's been sleeping in it since Sunday. Sam seems to like to sleep in the tent, too, and Vigo is delighted to have her with him.
For most of the summer, Vigo is going to be going to the school summer daycare program, where he'll see a lot of his friends. We're also getting ready to spend a week in Dessau, camping out and helping Iris to pull the roof off her new house. I'm eager to try out the snorkeling gear I found in the basement in Paris in the small lakes of Dessau. Vigo is adament about going "mountain climbing" one time this summer. He still says that Vermont is his favorite place in the whole world so far. I think we should be able to figure out a long weekend somewhere mountainous enough to satisfy him.
For most of the next two months, though, we will be home enjoying Berlin. We encourage everyone who can to come sleep on our floor and enjoy it with us. It's beautiful, hot, and the sun is up both late and early.
