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.