Chloe's first day of classes

I just talked to Chloe on the phone. She sounds like she's having a good time. Today was the first day of classes, but she only has one class on Thursdays, I guess -- art -- so she didn't have much to report. They spent the time sketching out ideas for a project where they turn an ordinary object into an animal (I think that's what it is). She says she also signed up for history and science and some "doing things" classes -- hands-on activities, I gather.

Last night, a bunch of kids slept outside in tents. They're having good weather, but it still got pretty cold during the night. She said she and Ruby (a British girl who lives in Portugal) didn't get to sleep until about 2.

Over in Class 2 -- it's sort of her homeroom -- people are making or decorating Lord of the Rings figurines, and playing Dungeons and Dragons. Silas, a 12yo British boy, is one of the dungeon masters. I met his mom, Joy, when I was there. She said that Silas talked himself hoarse on his first day at Summerhill; he'd never been at a school before where nobody told him to be quiet. :-)

And it seems like they walk into Leiston with regularity. The drinks at school are "horrible" so they walk the eight blocks or so to the market and buy juice drinks there that they can keep in their cupboards. The universal favorite -- with very good reason -- is J2O. Very delicious stuff. My favorite is apple-melon. It tends to be a bit pricey, though, so they ration it out.

Michael, a former student or part-time staffer (Chloe wasn't sure which), is building a giant spiderweb on the school grounds. They've poured concrete and set poles and will be stringing big ropes. When it's complete, all the "spiders" will be allowed to climb on it.

Anyway, she sounded good. She's picking up the accent already and making friends with all the girls. (The boys, she seems less interested in.) So I'll try to stop worrying for a couple of days. :-)