School options?

Breakdown on Day Five, Guanajuato: The night before Todd arrived and After a very long day of looking at almost every school in Guanajuato, the exhaustion and fear crept in and gave me a violent shake. It was the school thing....The previous day I was high on all the amazing culture, architecture, people, cool old baseball field in the center of town, Casa possibilities etc...yet to date, I only visited one school.

The Waldorf School which was 15-20 minute drive outside of town. Through my westeren eyes, I saw a complete lack of beauty at this dusty campus, and the cock fighting business adjacent to the school didn't help my impression, but my heart really sank when I sat in on the 6th grade class And the teacher belabored the syllables in el-e-fan-te (all in spanish)for what seemed like an eternity. I just imagined Tommy sitting next to me in this cramped little classroom of 7 kids wondering what the heck was he doing here and that he was right, his parents did make a huge mistake in moving to mexico and this was crazy. Yet I had put that fearful thought out of my mind after that first morning realizing the Yeccan Waldorf school was not going to be the place for the kids, I had so many more schools to check out and I would find the right fit for my boys....it was out there, i just had to keep looking and questioning.

Monday morning arrived, David a bilingual friend of the innkeepers pick me up at 8am and we headed out to check out every colegio school in a 15 minute radius of town center. There was La Salle- the established Catholic school at the end of Le Presa, Insituto Guanaguato- the progressive montessorri like school outside of town, Colegio Valenciana- the prestigious
bilingual school on the top ot the hill above GTO and a few other schools that did not have any buzz to them (based on my contacts) but I would check them out anyway. Quickly,I had learned that everything was like a treasure hunt in this town, never quite sure what you may stumble across.

By the end of that day, I was burnt out from all the sputtering of Spanish I had manage to let tumble out of my mouth during the 7 visits We made (thank goodness for David in clarifying my questions and filling in the blanks) and my enthusiasm and spunk were zilch. When i finally reached my room, I just crumpled down and cried. There was no perfect fit...the fact that my boys did not have a command of Spanish was going to be a huge challenge for all of us. And I didn't have an ounce of energy to creatively think of a solution. Restless was my sleep

Bienvenidos!

It's 4:09 am Mexico time its pitched black and I'm bright eyed after having slept a few hours. Propping myself up in bed,I grab my iPad and it's bluish glow illuminates this simple room. I'm Intoxicated with excitement over what has transpired in the last 30 hours here in Guanajuato, Guanajuato
Todd dropped me off at Orinda Bart Thursday. Perfectly clear fresh California day and I was SFO bound to catch a plane to Leon Mx. My assignment was to take 10 days to check out two cities- visit schools, scout out housing for long term rent and explore the town through the eyes of us all or at least to attempt to. The answer will be clear on whether we are going to live in Guanajuato or San Miguel de Allende. Todd arrives Tuesday and he is going to get an ear full (in a good way)
After 24 hours in this vibrant university town of Guanajuato,the birthplace of Mexican Independence (our Boston) I am in love! This dynamic, colonial town is a beehive of life and the people I have encountered range from the cabbie who insists I own a shampoo company (Sampou: yes we were conversing in spanish obviously not very well due to the lack of clarity about what i do), to the innkeepers setting up arrangements for me to get across town using a sorely out of skew turista map with lots of finger pointing to the online "americans who lived here" friends I,ve made. These four gals are available by the touch of a phone, generous with information, masters at multitasking and genuinely excited for us.
I visited one school and two homes today, serendipitously met a mom in a park while contemplating el mappa. She actually was the mom of the little gringa girl i met in the waldorf 3rd grade classroom today(she helped with translation between me and her teacher) Daughter like mother, they were both charming. I became a barnacle and followed Alex(mom)around for the next two hours while she showed me favorite spots in the city: The colonial Instituto de Musica where her 5th grade boy takes viola to the baseball field where you just show up on Sunday morning and you are on a team: No try outs, age breakdown or organized uniforms....this was a goldmine! I cant wait to show the boys! The day finished up by taking in the amazing hillside views at dusk of this colorful city and grabbing a bite to eat and dos cervecas at an outdoor cafe. Viva la vida