Last night I had the pleasure of watching the end of term show put on by pupils of the local village school which my children attend. I had the most lovely time and this morning whilst sorting through the hundreds of pictures I took, it occurred to me how lucky we are to live in this environment and just how easy it is to take for granted the every day things around us which make life here so enjoyable. We live in an area where there are still as yet only a few expats compared to some other areas in Spain and although there is a British school nearby the decision was made to send the children to a Spanish school in the village when they arrived 6 years ago. Their classes are a maximum of 8 per class and even for such a small village there is quite a cosmopolitan mix of children, Italian, French, Romanian, Brazilian and more depending on the time of year. So the children have a wonderful opportunity to meet others from different parts of the world with different cultures and backgrounds and they are all able to converse through their common knowledge of Spanish. Their teachers are very caring and attentive and because their classes are so small they tend to know what each child is up to most of the time. Teachers and parents are on first name terms and of course everyone knows everyone (not always a good thing agreed, but I have to say that when my adopted family experienced a terrible tragedy several years ago the whole village and school rallied around and looked after them in their time of need). Maybe this is what village life is all about and I didn’t experience it when living in UK, although I was brought up in what we called a village, 2 pubs, church, post office, primary school and village green, but it would be considered a town in comparison to this Spanish village.
Life here is very different and I wonder if I would ever be able to settle back into the UK. I read the papers , I watch the news and the endless documentaries about community life in the UK or rather the lack of it, the behaviour of the youth, the abuse of the children, the dangers on the streets etc, etc, etc and that brings me back to the point of writing this in the first place. Last night I was able to watch happy, smiling, children and their parents, their grandparents, their great grandparents, their aunties, their uncles, their cousins, their 2nd cousins, their friends and so on and so on all coming together for this annual event held in the park with a make shift stage and PA system...wow big occasion getting a proper PA system .........the last 4 years I have been here they have used a ghetto blaster which would have done Del Boys market stall proud.......... but it blew up last year when a hail storm erupted mid show . The park is on the edge of the village with a magnificent back drop of the mountains so the setting is idyllic. Chairs are provided for the older members of the village who turn out in force not only to see their little relatives but because they too once trod the boards at this historic event due to the fact that most of them would have at one time or another attended that same village school. The atmosphere was fabulous, much greeting and oohs and aahs going on. Youngsters who inadvertently sat in ‘ THE’ chairs quickly vacated them when faced with one of the elders needing a rest and not a word of disrespect passed their lips as they gave up their seats. Anyone who dared to stand in front of the pensioners thus blocking their view of the proceedings was promptly and loudly asked to shift pretty damn quick and they did, again without any back chat or lippyness. The word respect comes to mind. The children performed their little hearts out on the stage, the sun shone and a hundred cameras or more were clicking away constantly as proud parents and onlookers captured these moments forever.......... and there the crux of the matter lies, cameras, schools and parents.
I don’t know how I would feel if I were to attend a school function like this in UK (not that it would be like this unfortunately) and not be able to take photos of my little ones. I have read and heard so much about the situation with photo’s and schools in UK lately that at first I felt uneasy, but I soon got over it and remembered where I was, there were as many cameras as there were people and not one person was concerned. I know there are terrible, nasty people in this world and I understand the reasoning to a certain extent regarding cameras in schools in UK, but, isn’t it just awful when you have to live with that hanging over your head all the time and cannot just enjoy the most simple things in life........... of which the best is seeing your kids enjoying themselves and then managing to get a picture of them doing so. A picture, a memory captured forever, something tangible that you can show to your friends, display on your lounge wall, put in a photo album or just put away in the drawer to get out and look at several years down the line when you are feeling a bit nostalgic. Something spontaneous, something interesting, something pertinent to you and yours, not something someone in authority has decided you would like and should have, I refer here to the official school photos of sports days (and there lies another subject, how much longer will children enjoy the challenge and fun of sports day) Nativities, plays etc.
I may not be at the sharp end of life, be in the middle of where it’s all happening or have cutting edge technology all around me but what I do have is peace of mind, I feel secure, I feel part of something and I know my children are learning by example about decent people, with decent values and a decent community life. They experience first hand how these ordinary people look out for one another with no hidden agendas, no ulterior motives they just do it because that’s how it has always been done. I hope these examples will help my children become caring members of their own communities in the future whether it be here in Spain or in the UK if they so wish. But I worry would they adapt in UK........, would they get street wise quick enough..........., would they change........ and I don’t mean for the better...................!! They can remain children here for as long as they should, they don’t have to grow up too quickly, they can enjoy the good things in life without too much peer pressure. I’m not saying that the Spanish kids don’t moan and groan, they do, they can be lazy, they push and they shove, they are noisy and unruly, their table manners are awful, but................... from what I know of the UK now, which I admit is just from hearsay, it’s more than kids being kids and I worry for the future. Life won’t go on the same here forever, villages merge with towns and these communities are lost forever, but I hope that for my children and their friends they will at least be able to enjoy a few more years of life as it is now. As for the older generations here they will carry on regardless and I will do my best to ensure that we as a family follow in their well worn footsteps.