We were all up a little earlier this morning ready for our day at school.  For breakfast Mrs Tinkler had ordered toast and jam for Mrs Parkin, however this request got lost somewhere in translation and Mrs Parkin ended up with a toasted ham sandwich. Mrs Tinkler’s Portuguese English needs some work! 

After breakfast we all set off walking to school. Today we went to a different school although it is in the same group of schools as the one we went to yesterday.  The morning started with tile painting. We were split into 3 groups and started our tiles. The students made 2 tiles each. One patterned and one with flowers. I think the disappointment showed on the staffs faces (especially Mrs Parkin’s)as they hadn’t got chance to paint any themselves. The staff were then asked if they would like to have a go. At last! We weren’t  to ask twice! Once we had all finished, the tiles were put to one side ready to be ‘fired’. We’re looking forward to seeing how they turn out. 

After a break we got to watch a traditional Portuguese dance. Our children are looking forward to performing theirs on Friday. We then all went outside to play Portuguese games and the croquet game we took. The games included knocking the tin can down, throwing hoops, spinning top and our favourite, ‘walking the plank’ game. It was our favourite because we had a staff versus kids game. We had a slow start but Mrs Brown who was the expert at getting us to walk in time whipped us into shape and we left the kids far behind. We’re not competitive in the least however...

It was then time for lunch. We were all a little nervous as to what we would be having to eat, however we needn’t have worried. We had soup, chicken with rice, salad and ice cream for pudding. 

In the afternoon the children all got together for a drumming workshop. They started off banging out of time but by the end they sounded like a real marching band. Mrs Brown was very disappointed there were not enough drums for staff to take part.

We had a fantastic time in school. New games, new challenges and new friendships formed.

We then left school for a walk down towards the river. We had tea whilst we were out and about. We have to confess there were tears at the table. However they were tears of laughter. Jasmine was literally crying with laughter at Mrs Tinkler’s singing.. then Josh was laughing/crying at Jasmine laughing/crying at Mrs Tinkler. This then put us all in a singing mood. I think most of Barreiro would have heard us playing a singing game on the walk back to the accommodation. 

We’re having an early night tonight as we’ve a very busy day ahead tomorrow in Lisbon.