So... Mexico?!

Flower crown in El Centro when we first arrived in town

A beautiful view during our trail ride via horseback for Calliope's birthday

Early morning hijinks while waiting for the school van

Spontaneous affection between my two. They've spent a lot of time together this summer
and I think it's mostly made them closer. 

She did not get this from me!

One of our best finds in San Miguel de Allende is this circus class. It makes my heart split open to see
how happy she is in the gym. 

Born flexible. Again, not from me!

So, as you may have surmised from my last post... we made it to Mexico!

Third time was the charm and we FINALLY got our visas approved in NYC. Phew. The second half of the visa application process is done in Mexico. We are using a lawyer (turns out this was an uneccesary expense but all the other expats do it too so I was intimidated) and she's submitted all our paperwork and photos. We go next week to get fingerprinted and then wait for our visa cards to arrive in the mail. Yay!

Life is grand here. The girls started school last week with a four day week. This week is a regular week. It hasn't been without challenges -- tears from both the first day, and just from Amelie the rest of the week. Now that they are a bit more settled they are riding a van to and from school because I don't have a car and cabs are expensive. Turns out, saying goodbye at the van is actually easier for them then saying goodbye at the classroom door. Before school started, Calliope was thrilled with life -- lots of audiobooks and drawing. Amelie went from asking anxiously if she had camp that day -- she had gone to camp for two weeks in Brooklyn so I could pack -- to actually requesting camp. She needed more routine. But the transition is still tough for my not so big three year old. I have no doubt she'll be loving it in no time.

They are attending a lovely Waldorf school outside the city limits. I went to a parent meeting before the school year started and was shocked to hear that there had been a sort of coup by the land owner and a couple parents and the school had lost their property rights and all their belongings inside the buildings, many of which they had built themselves.

That was concerning but the way the school community came together and even spoke of this wrongdoing in such a loving and respectful way impressed me beyond measure. And the new property -- which they found in a matter of days -- is lovely and the grounds are actually even nicer than the old space. Lots of giant old trees and grass with copious shade, whereas the old space was shrubs and cactus and dry dirt, though lots of space and easy access to the outside from every classroom.

It's my second week of being home without them and I feel like I'm finally beginning to relax and also catch up on my to do list after weeks of being with them every moment. I'm surprised I'm not filled with energy already. It's easy for me to forget that I also had many months of constant stress with preparing for our move. I never could have imagined how much work it would be. But I got us onto an airplane with all our belongings in seven suitcases. Sold the car, emptied the apartment, putting the furniture and 27 boxes into storage, the rest being donated or trashed.

Today I had an interview for a part time, remote job as a pediatric health care advisor. It sounds perfect for me, a combination of writing and babies and medicine. Fingers crossed it works out!

I miss my dear friends from back home and weekends feel a bit too empty but people here are lovely and welcoming and I'm cautiously optimistic we will soon find our tribe and have our weekends filled. Tonight we are having our first ever, and hopefully weekly, Shabbat blessings and weekly singalong with two other families from school, one of whom is the song leader at the local Jewish center. I don't need Judaism for me but Calliope loved her monthly Jewish class at home in Brooklyn and I'd like to continue having something that connects her to religion. There are two other SMC families in town -- and we now have a standing Saturday night date with each other, sans kids -- and we've met a couple of great families from school.

Finding Our People in Mexico

Yet another Tuesday, September 11th. That world feels a lifetime away.

After a rough Monday morning the day before -- our first Monday morning of a full school week -- the girls were thrilled that I rode in the school van with them. It's the small things in life.
I dropped them at their classrooms -- Amelie didn't cry! -- and went to the first of the weekly lecture series for parents. I felt very pleased with the progress in my Spanish -- I could understand nearly every word the lecturer spoke as long as I remained completely, attentively focused on his every word. I managed it for short stints, at least. But when I asked an English speaking parent what one word meant -- esferas -- and she explained the lecturer was discussing the different "spheres" of a Waldorf school and how they corresponded to the different elements of the human body, I realized how much I was missing on a deeper level. I had understood when he talked about bones and minerals but had completely missed the larger metaphorical connection.

Still, I'm glad for the opportunity to learn. When my English speaking friend publicly apologized for not having a translator available, I told her I was glad they didn't. I am aware of how much privilege I have. It's only right that I be forced to learn the language of the country I have adopted.

I took a break at one point to go outside and eat my breakfast sandwich. It's funny, in the United States I wouldn't hesitate to eat during a parent meeting at school. Indeed, at our school, we always served coffee and danishes and bagels. But at this meeting, no one was eating. I didn't know -- was this a coincidence or is this a cultural difference? Do Mexicans not eat "on the go" as we Americans tend to do? Not knowing and not wanting to stand out, I went outside.

While I was out there, I met a father I hadn't seen before. He introduced himself as Ivan and I realized he was the father in the family sharing a house with our other new-to-Mexico friends from the States, Terezca, Tom, and their lovely daughter Francesca. I had eagerly waiting for this family to return to Mexico because I knew from Terezca that Ivan's daughter would be in Calliope's class at school. From her reports, Calliope hadn't interacted much with the other children in her class and I imagined that meeting Micah and hopefully hitting it off with this other English speaker who boost Calliope's confidence tremendously. Imagine my delight when Ivan mentioned that their son, in Amelie's class, was having some trouble transitioning to school and could Amelie come for a play date that afternoon? (I later saw a message from Terezca inviting us for a play date as well so perhaps this excuse was manufactured by Tom because he knew I was hoping Calliope and Micah, his daughter, would hit it off.)

Regardless, the girls and I cabbed over to their house that afternoon and all had a wonderful time. Amelie stripped off her shirt -- in imitation of her new friend Teo -- and dunked her head in the fountain. Francesca generously followed Amelie around when she went off exploring. Calliope and Micah drew and built with Magna Tiles and generally got along famously. I sat and had tea with Terezca and Pamela, mom of Micah and Teo and wife of Ivan.

I feel like I've found my people! We've been missing our tribe at home -- our nanny share family at home with two kids my kids' exact ages -- and now we've found a new family with nearly the same ages and best of all, they go to the same school (unlike our closest friends at home)! The parents of both families seem amazingly cool and bent on integrating into the Mexican culture but also maintaining our own values (such as continuing to teach our kids to read, in English -- apparently Waldorf frowns on them reading at the tender age of newly seven!) and speaking English at home.
Fingers crossed they are as excited to build community as I am.

We also met a lovely Worldschooling (homeschooling while traveling) family at circus class, Calliope's new favorite thing. They asked for a playdate for their two sweet girls.

And I just connected with a dad from school who is a Jewish songleader (we first met when we visited San Miguel last spring and went to the Jewish Center for a Friday night service) and he and another mom are interested in doing weekly get togethers on Friday nights for Shabbat blessings. I'm not so invested in Judaism myself but Calliope seems to really crave a touch of religion in her life. And Amelie will be crazy for anything involving challah and guitar playing.