Decisions

We’ve made a decision, to keep our children in the school where they’re currently at. At peace with the decision, we now can move on to other decisions.

I think that making decisions is the most energy draining activity, and we are in a time of having to make many. Even simple things like choosing a cellular phone takes more time; evaluating the four phone companies, all the various plans they have to offer, understanding the terminology in Spanish all take time and drain us quickly.

Anyway, back to the school. The children have settled down, have made friends quickly, we have gotten into a routine. B looked at another school close to home yesterday, and while it was bilingual and offered an excellent (British) program, I didn’t have peace about it. Our oldest is heading into some challenging years, and here, things that we consider immoral are accepted as a way of life for young adults. I wouldn’t want my children to have to live under such peer pressure.

Another reason that was brought to our attention yesterday by an Argentine who has been involved in education for many years is that respect for teachers is at an all time low. He was telling us that not much teaching is happening nowadays as much as crowd control. He affirmed what we had already felt, that an Argentine education standard and curriculum are as good (and he said, even better) than that of the States, but that with the difficulties that the lack of respect bring to the classroom, the educational experience is lacking, both in public and private schools.

He recommended we leave our children where they are, and if we feel we need to make a change in a couple of years, to do it then. BAICA is in some transitional years and hopefully will come out stronger and better able to provide a great US and Argentine education.

Things I’m realizing again about Argentina…

I didn’t forget the mosquitoes, but I sure didn’t miss them while I was in CO.
This is the greenest city I’ve ever visited. The trees and flowering plants are a delight.
“Standard” doesn’t exist.
For every name brand (IPod, Nike, Izod, etc), a hundred pseudo brands exist, much cheaper and more accessible.
Look the opposite way when crossing the train tracks. Trains travel like the cars in Britain, the “wrong” way.
Trash pickup every night, hence, small kitchen trash cans.
Sensational news; they don’t just tell you someone got shot, they’ll show you the body and all that entails.
Disgusting advertising: how do ladies wearing nothing sell clothes?
Purchasing food at individual markets (butcher, fruit & veggie stand, deli, bakery, fish market, chicken market) is cheaper than at the supermarket.
Trying to get more than two things done in a day is just not possible. So don’t try.
Visiting with friends cannot be accomplished in less than three hours; plan on at least four, if not more.
One o’clock in the morning is a great time to start saying good-byes. Good-byes take at least an hour.
No neighborhood consists of cookie cutter homes; all houses are unique, not only in style but in color and building materials.
We really love BA and are once again have come home.

Quick Update

Have I really skipped almost a week? I sometimes store blog thoughts in my head, and forget that I haven’t written them down. So here goes a quick summary…
Wednesday we had over some missionary friends, wonderful time until chico slammed his head into the gate and came running into the house, bleeding. Flashback to park with M in CO…with same panic comment, “Where’s the hospital?????” Fortunately he didn’t need stitches, which he was most glad about, more so than even his mom.

The weekend was spectacular! We had our first asado, and our second the following night! The first was with our missionary friends, good to be back in touch with them and get caught up. The second was with the leadership of our church, at the home of one of the elders. What a wonderful time of sharing and getting to know one another better. We hung out until late at night, our kids fell asleep on the couches and we continued to talk. Ah, the night life of Argentina, how I missed it!

Monday I spent the day complaining about mosquitoes. They’ve finally found me, and I’m all chewed up. No, we’re not living in paradise, and I never expected this to be the perfect situation. I was anticipating mosquitoes again, didn’t like the idea, but will put up with them. Actually they’re a blessing in disguise for now; since we have to keep the windows closed to keep them out (although some find their way in), we are running the air conditioning, and are feeling great!

Tuesday, our oldest turned 11. We’ll have a party next weekend, invite the kids in her class, but since most of them don’t live anywhere near here, we don’t expect many to come. Tough celebrating a birthday in a new place so soon after moving. We gave her the day off of school on Wednesday, took her to the used (English) book store and she was delighted, chose half a dozen thick books and has already read two of them.

My Hero...for the day

Bus trip accomplished, got my nerve up to tackle the task at hand. The driver wanted to charge me for a different zone, more expensive, but we finally understood each other, and he told me he’d let me know when to get off, if I reminded him to tell me. I sat right next to him to keep me on his mind. Feel more confident to take the bus in the future.

Today it rained. Poured. Flooded the streets. And it started just as I had to head out to get the kids. Reminder: we have no car, we walk 10 minutes on each side of a 20 minute train ride. The deluge was moving north, so as I walked to the train, with a broken umbrella, I got soaked. Along the way, crossing the tracks, I ran into B, who didn’t see me, so I turned him around to accompany me. So now there were two of us under the broken umbrella, leaping over huge rivers running down the sides of the streets.

B is my hero of the day. At one point I tried leaping a river, and left my flip flop in the flow. I was laughing hysterically when I finally got to the sidewalk, only to turn around and see my hubby running after my flip flop, trying to stop its mad rush with the umbrella, scooping up water and missing my shoe every time. By now I was bent over in laughter, the deluge finally reached us, which made us laugh even more. He finally reached down and plucked my flip flop out of the water and returned it to me, complimenting me on my “smooth move.” Hey, not everyone is as coordinated...The rain didn’t abate for hours, although it was much lighter, thank heavens. We also thank our new friends who live four blocks away and have a car, who offered us a ride home. You bet I’m making a delicious something to express my appreciation!

Supermarket Shopping

One of my first goals was to find a supermarket that home delivers the groceries. I’ve asked around for locations of different supermarkets, Bryon has walked to an Express to pick up some items, and we’ve had people graciously offer rides to help out.

Last Friday we determined to find the supermarket, and set out, missing the train barely…which actually turned out to be a huge blessing, because I had forgotten that I told a friend to come and see me that afternoon. We returned home and she was waiting for us, about to leave.

Then the weekend was upon us, and we just don’t do those kinds of tasks with the children. They couldn’t have survived all the walking around. Yesterday was a lovely time with all the church people having a picnic and pool party. I enjoyed talking with everyone, getting to know them a bit better, but I was left totally drained. Four o’clock in the morning our neighbor’s alarm goes off, waking us up and destroying any hopes of a good night’s sleep.

Today B and I are exhausted, but we set as a goal to find the supermarket! We dropped the kids off at school, took the train back and got off one stop early, and found the Coto, rather small, but a supermarket nonetheless. Fortunately I asked before filling a cart, because they don’t do delivery, just taxi. I wasn’t about to pay for a taxi to take me home, knowing there are stores that will deliver for free. We purchased a few essentials, toothpaste being one of them (I don’t ever remember a time when we’ve had less toothpaste!), and headed out again to find a different store.

Walking down the main avenue we saw a huge sign for Carrefour (France’s version of WalMart, located conveniently all over Buenos Aires), pointing in one direction, 500 meters down the road, and pointing in another direction, 400 meters down a side street. Turns out there are two different stores, within 4 blocks of one another.

We shopped at one, an Express, which turns out is smaller than the other one. Go figure. We walked back and forth several times just to get most of our listed items, and finally finished, returned home to await the arrival of our food. Hopefully it will come soon, because I’m hungry, tired, and just want to crash.

I’d take a rest, but we have the painter here, and I have to cook lunch for him. It’s finally getting hot here, and muggy, what a Buenos Aires summer truly is. We’ve been fortunate up until now that the weather has been nice.

As much as I feel that I’ve accomplished enough for the day, I have yet another task ahead of me. Terry and I are going out for coffee, and I have to take a bus to meet her. I never got used to the bus system before, and so today will be a challenge for me, one I hope I’m up to!

Second School Day

Second day of school was better for some, not as good for the chico. Andres cried for us at some point in the day, saying he missed his mommy and daddy. It's all part of the adjustment. His teacher told me about it after school, adding that he liked chapel. “No, I didn’t” he said. She assured him that he will. “No, I don’t think so.” Pursuing the matter, she guaranteed him that when he knows the songs, he’ll like it, but he’s not convinced. I just laughed.

Emily's Spanish has finally clicked on, praise God! She said that her teacher in English class told her to speak in English not Spanish. Emily had been helping a little girl understand, who doesn't speak any English! So all it took was someone needing her help for it to turn back on. I'm sure she'll still struggle with understanding for a while, but at least she now can speak it, and that will improve as the months go by. We were just worried that it would have taken her a lot longer to remember it.

Eli had a good day, a lot better than Thursday. She has two girl friends in class, which helps. She did struggle during chapel, when she didn’t want to dance with the songs. The school director told her she better dance or she’d move her up in front of everyone. Eli was not happy, to say the least.

We found three boxes of donated books and toys hidden behind donated furniture. (Most of the furniture is ready for the garbage, but that’s another topic.) The bags, purses and backpacks are already filled with notebooks, toys, pens and pencils. The kids found some interesting stuff as well, including a magnifying glass. So they’ve been playing Nancy Drew, surprise, surprise.

First day of school

First day of school is over, and I’d call it a success because of the outcome, but based on the beginning there were doubts. School starts at 8:30 and we arrived just as the classes were lined up and going to their classrooms. So we didn’t get the girls to their lines before they left the library. We had to catch up with their classes, and that was problematic – Eli was so upset and I don’t blame her. Thinking about it afterwards I should have just waited until everyone left, then gone up to her classroom with her. But I felt rushed to get her with her class that I didn’t think it through carefully.

Emily was basically the same, but at least she knew a girl in her class, so she joined her. For her the difficulty was that the first class was Spanish and she didn’t understand anything. She has such a block, where she gets nervous and doesn’t understand because she freezes up. Eventually she’ll get her confidence back and be comfortable with it, but it might take more time than we thought.

Andrés was a card. He saw his friend whom he met two days ago, joined him in line, didn’t say good bye and had a wonderful day. On the train ride home I asked him what he did at school and he said, “well…I grew a moustache. Do you see it?” Never a dull moment!

We stopped at the school supply store on our way home with the class lists and purchased a ton of stuff! The attendant was very nice, even stacked up the supplies for each child and gave them separate bags. Eli is thrilled, and has spent the last hour playing with hers – like mother, like daughter! She’ll be content to play with them for days to come.

Knowing how stressed out I get easily, I have made a decision to accomplish one major or new thing each day. Today’s task was the school supplies, yesterday was going to the kids’ school. Tomorrow we have an insurance appointment in the morning. High on my list of things to accomplish is finding the supermarket, but rumor has it that it’s a train station ride away from here, not within walking distance. Fortunately all the grocery stores in Buenos Aires deliver, so I don’t have to walk home with bags of groceries. I was hoping to have accomplished this task already, but there hasn’t been time…we’ve been buying in small supplies and surviving.

New Beginnings

Well, we made it! After the longest trip of my life, we arrived tired and worn out, but happy to be here. The most amazing thing that happened during our journey took place on the descent into Buenos Aires. Emily said to me, “Mom, I’m so excited!” Imagine my surprise! After praying and hoping that this would be a good decision for all our family, and seeing her be so against the move, I despaired her ever wanting to be here.

The kids are totally enjoying the trampoline and pool. It’s been cool here, in the 80’s, which everyone is telling us is so much cooler than it has been the past month! Thank God for cooler temperatures! And for the pool!

Yesterday we spent time getting to know the house and church; the kids spent most of their time in the Sunday School room playing with the toys. I spent it going through the boxes of stuff that people donated for our use. I am overwhelmed by Tupperware! And am lacking in essentials, like a pot with a lid. Today I went to make rice, and there was no lid to the one pot I have. I have enough pans, probably eight, but only one pot. Go figure!

I also lacked a decent pair of scissors. Last night Jorge, who lives on the church grounds, offered to take us to Jumbo, my favorite supermarket. We purchased scissors (and pillows, as the house had none!), and when I got home, I discovered that they were attached to the cardboard and I couldn’t get them off! I needed another pair of scissors to cut them off!

I’m also lacking a knife, but figure I can borrow one until we get our stuff out of the port. Bryon goes tomorrow to start the process…hopefully it will be short!

Most of the house is no painted yet, which gives me the opportunity to make sure the colors are what we really want. I should have insisted they wait; the green painted in our bedroom is electric!! It will be interesting to find anything to go with it.

It’s now 9pm, and with daylight savings time, it’s still light outside. As of ten minutes ago, the kids were in the pool, and are now coming in, wanting dinner. We’re back on our Argentine schedule! I’ll write more tomorrow of my impressions of our first Sunday.