“Mom,” Simone said about a week after she started school, “I had a great day.”
We were at Mega, a supermarket next to her school, picking up some folders, paper towels, and milk.
“I met a boy,” she continued, her face shining, “who plays chess!”
She had, of course, come prepared for this exact situation. She and her new friend had been playing chess on their phones. The next day, Simone brought her chess board. While many of the kids at her new school had played chess online, not many had chess boards. She had to show them how to set up the board even though they knew how all the chess pieces move.
She has continued playing chess with friends at school. Apparently, a significant group is playing with enthusiasm.
“I went by the classroom where Simone was playing with her friends,” Marie told me last week, “and I wanted to tell all of them that chess is NOT the World Cup.”
Going to school in a new place in a different language is not easy. Some big feelings have been had. But all of them are saying “my friends” now to refer to some of the other kids at school. A few friends is all that I hope and pray for them.