Changing Places Week 160 W/C 15th March 2009

The Evening Standard - London's evening paper has been taken over by Russians and they, with the editorial staff have made a conscious decision to celebrate what is good about London and Londoners and be an unashamedly `good news' paper.  There are always two sides to every story and a decision to celebrate the upbeat version of events is something I wholeheartedly support. There are doom and gloom stories that are hanging in the air in our valley - mostly to do with the difficulty in paying mortgages and how the seasonal employment isn't starting till much later this year.  This of course has repercussions for so many workers so it is a little tricky to find the positive slant on the story.  Unless that is you were on the beach last Sunday enjoying the beautiful weather and the beach for free.  At least not working allows a little more family time and the buckets and spades were out in force.

Relocation has changed our family, in the past any visit to the beach would have had the children in the sea.  A bit of sun and  the very English children would consider it warm enough to be paddling at the very least.  Not so now, this week they watched in horror as some hard men tourists stripped off and raced into the sea.  It was a beautiful warm day but the sea was like ice - it is only March after all.  The children were genuinely worried that the reckless swimmers would need the services of the doctor as they got out of the water turning blue.  The beach filled up with friends and children and was the inaugural day of the community centre that is the Repic beach in Soller.  Jay and Matthew and all their friends plus many children can be found there any Sunday between now and October.  What a fantastic playground with the sea at their feet and the mountains as the backdrop.  This is the sort of day we joined for when making our relocation plans.

Kate and Emma's life is Mallorca centred and their friends open a Spanish world that their lives in North London would never have met.  We have just had a long conversation about the reasons behind having a First Communion.  This is becoming a big subject for Kate's' Spanish friends as they are taking their preparation lessons ready for the big occasion in a couple of month's time.  Rites of passage, a family celebration were all easy to understand but the concept of a declaration of belief wasn't.  Kate was struggling with the notion that it was all well and good declaring your belief in God and religion but what if you change your mind - are you allowed to change it once you have had your first communion?  This is a discussion that will run on and be overtaken on the day by the pretty dresses and the party but knowing my 8 year old granddaughter we'll be back to the serious questions again very soon.

Kate is now into her sixth week of the Pauline Quirke Academy and is enjoying the drama, singing and dance that take up her Saturday afternoons.  All roads seem to lead to Portals on Saturdays with the morning and afternoon sessions for sixty children keeping the excellent staff busy.  Kate's day leads from there to Centre Stage and the patience of Conway Jones where rehearsals for the performance of the Mikado are gathering momentum.  The kimonos were due to arrive this week and the excitement of the performance at the Auditorium is now building.    There are some great opportunities on this island for children who like to sing, dance and act.

Emma is not to be outdone in all this - she may be only four but her school are performing a Catalan version of Hansel and Gretel and she has a starring role as a blue bird.  Yes I know that until now we didn't understand just how significant the bluebird was to the story but all will be revealed in April. It's hard to make your mark when your big sister is out there taking the world by storm but her time will come and the blue bird costume will do for now.   
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