On Tuesday, we explored the town of Orcoyen, just 15 minutes outside Pamplona, where our church here in VA has a sister church.  The pastor and his family were wonderfully gracious hosts to us! Their kids are about the same ages as ours, and we FaceTimed with our kids both nights, and the kids had a blast being silly together.

We visited the small evangelical Christian school there where the Marrone kids go, and really liked it.  It was about as close to homeschooling as you can get while still officially being in school.  The only problem is that they are new, and the highest grade they have this year is 4th grade, so the twins would have to fall back a grade.  However, several of the schools there recommended that anyway, so they can learn the language while learning easier academic content.  The other drawback is that it is a private school, and while it’s cheap compared to private schools here, 200 euros per month per kid when you have 4 kids in school adds up fast!  Interestingly, the director did mention that they’re looking for an English teacher, and that if I taught English, they could offer a discount.  I wonder what I would do with Cora in that case?

We took a walk up to the old church in Orcoyen and got to see the old part of town.  We stopped at the grocery store to buy bread for lunch and some treats to bring home.  I was so glad that the sun came out!  It was very pretty (and chilly compared to the southern towns we visited!)

We enjoyed lunch with Dom and Damaris’s friends from Argentina, and they even drove us to their small town in the suburbs so we could see what an even smaller town is like (they said less than 200 families live there!).  It was very pretty and quiet.

The biggest hesitation for me about Pamplona is the climate:  gray skies more than half the year.  They say it’s like living in Seattle.  I’m not sure I could remain emotionally stable in those conditions…