Since the sleepless in Guanajuato night, much has transpired. Much to my relief and excitement, Todd arrived and I gave him the grand tour of Guanajuato: Houses, town, meandering calles, las escuelas, mercados, hilltop vistas etc...HE LOVED IT!!! (of course!)But the burning question was what schools should the boys attend and how deep is the deep end? What is healthy immersion vs unhealthy immersion? What will the first 6 months look like in a full immersion mexican catholic school of 350+ kids where NO ONE speaks any english? Head of Primeria: Madre Josephina was absolutely fabulous and I knew within a millisecond of meeting her, that she was a divine human being....yet still the red hot question remained....
The following day we took off to check out San Miguel de Allende, the next Colonial town on the map, one hour away and a lot more famous/international town....It's on the must see of small cities list of Conde Nast travel site. San Miguel is magical in an entirely different and unique way from Guanajuato. Yet more gringos, more swank shops, top rated restaurants and possibly less Mexican? Dreams are funny in that way...It may be that we don't really experience authentic Mexico until we can speak the language fluidly and relax down to the slower pace of life and then it may unfold before us...And maybe "that" Mexico is EVERYWHERE across the country and we will just need to be patient, slowly peeling back the layers. There in lies the fabulous mystery of living and traveling to a different part of the world: Sounds, smells, light, and feel of the air is so new and fresh that it heightens one's awareness to an epic extent.
OK, back on the earth....findings on San Miguel:
NUMERO UNO: We found two fantastic schools in San Miguel and that pretty much frosted our cupcakes. The Waldorf school for Will and Marky and Vic's school for Tommy.
NUMERO DOS: We fell in love with an old hacienda style casa near centro that has a pool/yard perfect for kids and dog. Despite the fact that we don't know for sure if we will be able to rent for the year, I can't help to feel positive vibes that it will all work out.
Marky and Will are to attend The Rudolph Steiner School in the outskirts of San Miguel and it's totally worth the 15 min yellow bus ride out of town. High dessert foliage flanks the dirt road driveway to school and we arrived at an idyllic country setting with multiple small adobe classrooms, organic veggie garden and quaint rotunda performance hall. Each interior glowed with color washed interiors and ceilings draped in long swaths of cloth. Quintessential Waldorf Style. It was heart warming to see so many joyful children tossing bean bags while doing their times tables. The school is full immersion spanish with about an hour a day for English, which I think will become our kids favorite class (may even trump recess). A few of the teachers do speak english and many of the kids come from biracial, bilingual families. It was comforting to know that even though our kids would be learning in spanish, they would not be completely isolated in a difficult situation....they would be understood in their mother tongue.
Tommy will attend Victoria Robbins School that is highly unpublicized school (not even a single sign outside the door). Like many things in Mexico, only a vigorous hunt upturns treasures. And a treasure this is. We walked into a small interior courtyard filled with about 60 kids all middle school to lower Highschool. The kids were mostly speaking english yet I think everyone of them is bilingual and it's a flip flop situation to the waldorf school. Most of the day he will be doing his studies in english and an hour or two of spanish each day. Todd and I were welcomed to talk with all the kids in an informal way and we were so charmed and impressed with these young adults and knew that Tommy would fit in and thrive. When we asked these children about their bilingual experiences they shared much...most importantly they told us not to put Tommy in a full immersion situation in Guanajuato....that would just be too brutal...we listened and learned.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
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
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
Saturday, April 24, 2010
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
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
Thursday, March 25, 2010
It's official!
Well, It's happening! We are going to live in Mexico for a year- July 2010-July 2011! The dream of many many years to live abroad with our family is here. The time is now and we are seizing the moment with excitement, wonder, hard work and yes, a little bit of trepidation.
You know the discussion shaped up over last Thanksgiving dinner up in the farmlands of Oregon. We were celebrating at the Fisco's and Amanda and I began talking about taking the littlest kids out of school, (no big deal, right?)saving tuition money and heading to Mexico for a few months. The guys and Tommy would come down once middle school was out. Perfect solution to the wet days of Winter, fulfilling my desire to immerse the kids in a latin culture, explore the idea that we can live quite happily in a foreign culture where we don't speak the language (yet) and live day to day with a adventurous attitude among the warmth of Mexico and it's people. Well, you know once you start dreaming and verbalizing at the same time....inertia implements process!
Todd pondered this "I (Jen) can take the two little ones down..." and didn't want to miss out on an adventure nor split the family up for more than a few weeks. So further date nights led to further discussion about our dreams and desires. "The time is now" was on the tip of both of our tongues. So let's live abroad for a year and leave this summer. By January I was telling everyone who's path I crossed we were going South. Come February, Todd still had to break the news to Mom, Dad and his work! Our styles are opposite, yet intent united.
So that was the beginning. The dream has been given light and nourishment. No longer a passing wish or whispered joke. We will rent out our home for the year, take the dog, leave the cats and chickens, have Sue look after our yard, be the hired house cleaner and we'll go from there. Todd will continue to work via internet and occasional travel. It is amazing what he can accomplish on his laptop with a hookup...The decision is made. Where we would land was the next question.
After reviewing stacks of travel books, .com sites, stories of others adventures we decided to narrow it down to move to the state of Guanajuato where the beautiful colonial towns of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato are located. We are leaning toward San Miguel but Guanajuato is still an option. I have been twice to both of these towns and know they are fantastic places to bring one's family. Once I go visit the schools and rental options, I think the answer will be clear.
Spanish classes began in January, I am taking a daily course at Diablo Valley College and loving it although its a boatload of homework. The kids are already learning spanish at school and we have a spanish tutor coming twice a week. It's brain aching to learn a new language!
The boys are mixed about all the hub-bub. Tommy is definitely against the move and thinks it's for the most part a stupid idea. Marky is moody about the concept- happy one moment, grumpy the next and Will? He mirrors the moods of all yet pretty upbeat. As for responses of friends and family.....definitely a mixed bag of "you're CRAZY..." to "that is FABULOUS!" It's all very interesting and reminds us how very alive we are!
We will keep you posted with all the ins and outs of stirring up the pot as we plan our move to Mexico.
You know the discussion shaped up over last Thanksgiving dinner up in the farmlands of Oregon. We were celebrating at the Fisco's and Amanda and I began talking about taking the littlest kids out of school, (no big deal, right?)saving tuition money and heading to Mexico for a few months. The guys and Tommy would come down once middle school was out. Perfect solution to the wet days of Winter, fulfilling my desire to immerse the kids in a latin culture, explore the idea that we can live quite happily in a foreign culture where we don't speak the language (yet) and live day to day with a adventurous attitude among the warmth of Mexico and it's people. Well, you know once you start dreaming and verbalizing at the same time....inertia implements process!
Todd pondered this "I (Jen) can take the two little ones down..." and didn't want to miss out on an adventure nor split the family up for more than a few weeks. So further date nights led to further discussion about our dreams and desires. "The time is now" was on the tip of both of our tongues. So let's live abroad for a year and leave this summer. By January I was telling everyone who's path I crossed we were going South. Come February, Todd still had to break the news to Mom, Dad and his work! Our styles are opposite, yet intent united.
So that was the beginning. The dream has been given light and nourishment. No longer a passing wish or whispered joke. We will rent out our home for the year, take the dog, leave the cats and chickens, have Sue look after our yard, be the hired house cleaner and we'll go from there. Todd will continue to work via internet and occasional travel. It is amazing what he can accomplish on his laptop with a hookup...The decision is made. Where we would land was the next question.
After reviewing stacks of travel books, .com sites, stories of others adventures we decided to narrow it down to move to the state of Guanajuato where the beautiful colonial towns of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato are located. We are leaning toward San Miguel but Guanajuato is still an option. I have been twice to both of these towns and know they are fantastic places to bring one's family. Once I go visit the schools and rental options, I think the answer will be clear.
Spanish classes began in January, I am taking a daily course at Diablo Valley College and loving it although its a boatload of homework. The kids are already learning spanish at school and we have a spanish tutor coming twice a week. It's brain aching to learn a new language!
The boys are mixed about all the hub-bub. Tommy is definitely against the move and thinks it's for the most part a stupid idea. Marky is moody about the concept- happy one moment, grumpy the next and Will? He mirrors the moods of all yet pretty upbeat. As for responses of friends and family.....definitely a mixed bag of "you're CRAZY..." to "that is FABULOUS!" It's all very interesting and reminds us how very alive we are!
We will keep you posted with all the ins and outs of stirring up the pot as we plan our move to Mexico.
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