First Day of School

Here are the photos of the first day of class, Monday Feb 29!

Kids started happy, but they were reluctant to take photos, that is why some of the faces when I tried to do so.

The school is about 15 minute drive and we have to drive about 5 min in the highway. There is an alternative road, a mud road full of potholes, that we might be able to take once we have our car (which will be 4x4 and hopefully very useful).  The school is called Altos Los Robles. It is a private school but not bilingual and not all day. It is from 8 am to 2 pm, a bit shorter than Media. They also have pre K, so the three kids go to the same place, which is nice and convenient and a beautiful shared experience. 

It is too early to tell how it will all work. It is certainly an average school, nothing fancy, probably not the highest academic standards, but it seems there is a respect for the human aspect and a feeling of family and community. Sofia and Ignacio, my mom's cousins, send their two girls there and they are very happy. Another friend, Valeria, is also a new parent in the school. I recently met Valeria through a common friend and she has home-schooled her daughters here in Argentina for the past three years - which is very unseen. She decided on this school to send her kids back to school. 

Time will tell. 

Nothing can go really wrong. It is all part of the learning experience. 

This is Teacher Valeria. Mora's new teacher

Mora is just below the box, to the left! The teacher was asking them to guess what was inside the box. She gave away bags of a colorful cereal, kind of like fruit loops (but shaped like little balls). Mora did not like them, the little foodie snob!

She was shy and quiet! Good thing that the first day, it was only an hour with the parents around. There are lots of kids in her classroom, I think around 25. 

Here are some of the kids in her class! Mora is the only one using an old recycled uniform that my mom's cousin gave me! We start brand new with hand me downs!

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Here is the teacher with Zach and Fede, who came to the first day of class to witness the beginning of his nieces and nephew! Of course, Mora is in love with her Godfather, Fede!

This is Luci's classroom! She is sitting to the left, can't see her face, but you can see her pony tail!

Here is Luci's teacher: Senorita Camila! Luci seems to really like her!

This is Nico's classroom, from the hallway window. We did not want to disturb the classroom, as parents were not supposed to wander around too much! 

Here is the school entrance and main hall. Facilities are a bit more modest but kids seem not to notice or care too much, so far, which is great! Same with us. 

Should I stay or should I go

It is so hard to find time to write, as much as it is hard to find time for anything else. But it is not the fact that we are dealing with the challenges of Argentina, which are a lot. It is more the fact that I am struggling with my emotions as much as I did after the surgery and while preparing the move.

Clearly, I am in a process of purging emotions from my past and redefining myself after my cancer diagnosis and my breast surgery. This is affecting my present and my ability to make decisions. It feels too much of a challenge to deal with daily things that otherwise would simply be that: things to do. And in the middle of this spiritual / psychological roller coaster, having to drive to three different ATM’s to get cash (under a sun of 95 degrees) because barely anyone takes credit cards (and the one widely accepted is VISA and we have MASTERCARD), simply does not help. That was the case this morning while going food shopping.

These past weeks we have been dealing mainly with deciding whether or not to stay in this house. Here is the dilemma: the house is an old country home built around 1940, nestled in a gorgeous piece of wooded land, with tall, old, bushy trees and a swimming pool. It looks great in photos, and it’s perfect for a summer vacation. It’s half a block from my mom’s house and from the one room house we own, which Zach is using as his office and it is working perfectly fine for him. Location is real good, too, as I can walk to a few small stores to get veggies, meat, eggs, etc. It is a few blocks from the train station, the one restaurant and coffee shop in town, and the town’s green and plaza. Kids can bike everywhere. Martin and Laura and Connie and Jose left theirs bikes here before moving to Colombia so Nico, Luci and I are using them all the time. That is great.

But…

There is a but.

The house has issues. All things that can be dealt with, but we feel that the owners should have done a better job before turning the house to us. There are mosquito screens missing, and the ones in place have holes, the water pump works erratically, which make the supply of water and the maintenance of the pool difficult, bathroom and kitchen sinks have leaks, there are ants (the ones that eat and leave little dusty pieces of woods behind them), and the list is longer but you get the point.

Over the course of January we approached the owners several times with requests, which were reluctantly answered or put on hold for later, so we were not sure how to take it. Is it us that we came with very high standards, or it is them that are trying to escape their responsibilities?

When the time came to pay the rent of February, we were back and forth about what to do: Put pressure and tell them to fix things before paying the rent or keep on waiting. I ended up staying late and wrote a pretty combative email, not my style at all, and sent it before checking with Zach, who had fallen asleep next to me.

I am not sure why I did end up sending it, but the next day, the owner called me and we had a 40 minutes conversation that was not really pretty. Too long to repeat all we said but basically she put the pressure back on me: Don’t like the house and how we respond to issue, then go. But I guess we both tried to understand each other and we listened and apologized for our attitudes and we decided to talk the following day.

At the moment, we did not have any better place to move to. There are many homes for rent in expensive gated neighborhoods, but we do not want to move into a private community. Here in town, there is not much.

But later that afternoon, I saw a neighbor coming into his house and because I had seen that house for rent in a website, I asked him about it. It is only couple of houses from this one, and we saw it and loved it, perfectly functional, but somehow small. Very pretty, but we still decided to give this one a last try.

First, the kids feel a little settled here, and so do we. Second, the views of the trees and the open land of this house are absolutely gorgeous. There is so much potential for a veggie and even fruit garden, and maybe even have a chicken coup! And also, we did not want to give in to our first big challenge, meaning both the house and the relationship with the owner, which is a woman who lives here and moves in some of the circles I might move as well.

So, when we spoke the next day with the owner, this past Thursday, we both seemed more calm and ready to start a new chapter. Her hubby actually came to fix a light and said a plumber will come soon to fix the sinks. They already came to fix the pump, but it still works erratically. We think it has to do with the supply of energy, which has nothing to do with this house or its owners. At night, the demand for powers goes up in the summer, with all the expensive home turning on their air conditioners, and the supply isn’t enough. But that is just a theory.

So, we are here and we will see how it goes from now on. This week, we will focus our attention to the other bit challenge: Trying to buy a car. 

I feel more adventures will come. 

First month

We have been here for a month today!

Things are well and we are certainly enjoying many moments, but there are many challenges as well.

I remember the words of my friend Clara when she moved to Brazil a few years ago after living in Germany and then in the United States for about 10 years: "The first three months were terrible but then we got used to the rhythm and we loved it." I should not quote her because I am trusting my memory, but that was the message.

Clara is now back in the United States (State College, PA, of all places) and she keeps sharing great memories of her two years in Sao Paulo. If my friend's words can be applied to us here, we should to be patient for two more months.

Here some photos of the pluses and minuses.

This is our closet. Booo...
We need to do some reforms so that we can hang some clothes.
Neither of us actually own a big amount of clothing and we are clearly not fashion oriented people, so not the end of the world but certainly room for improvement!

This is the main room of the house and the most beautiful one.
We decided to move from there to have it as a family/reading/play room. We dream to put a nice couch and light up the fireplace in the winter!
Our friend and neighbor Nora came to help the first weekend to move things around.

Here, Zach, Nora and her hubby Vernon are putting together the bunk beds for Mora and Luci.

This is the great view!!
This is our home from the back of the backyard. The trees are gorgeous!! I love them!!

Inside, the living and dinning room.
There are great windows and lots of light. The floor is old and stained but we might be able to make it look nicer with some treatment. 

Nora and Vernon have been helping us a lot move things and let us borrowed a fridge and a mattress until we get organized and buy our own.
I have known Nora Castagnino since my childhood. Indeed, this house in the past belonged to her sister Paula. The Castagninos have been around Manzanares for the longest time, just like we did. My mom is friend with their mom, and their younger brother, Juan, just moved to Manzanares in December and Nico and Luci have been playing with Juan's kids since we arrived. It is crazy to think they are the third generations of friends for these families. Nora is also an architect and she designed our little one room house we built three years ago. 

If you can't deal with bureaucracy, you can always clean up the creek

It is almost 1 am and it does not feel too late to start writing. In the US, I would have had a panic attack to even think about something so outrageous. Time here is so different. It is almost like everything is moved two hours later.

We wake up between 9 and 10 am, have lunch around 1 and 2 pm, snack is between 5 and 6 pm and dinner is never ever before 9 pm!!! Today I started to cook around 8:30 pm and it felt perfectly normal. This is one aspect of my culture which I now realized I missed. People are laid back about time and things work in a later schedule.

There are other aspects of the culture that are actually driving me nuts. Well, it is not the culture, it is the bureaucracy of the establishment that is driving me bananas.

This morning we went to the bank! Yes, we actually walked into the building. I had not set foot in a bank since circa 2005, when we went the headquarters of USAA in San Antonio, Texas (can't remember what for?)

We went to both Santander and HSBC, just trying to open a saving's account. Could not do it. I have the ID to do it as an Argentine, but I do not have a way to show I earn a legal income. They could not care less that I am a homemaker and my income comes from my generous husband, who was standing next to me and had his salary stub at hand. Of course, Zach, as a foreigner without proper ID, could not open an account either. Rules and regulations, f...those!

Without an account, we are not sure if we can get a car or if we can get insurance. By the way, neither Zach or I are legally allowed to drive my mom's car or any car unless is a rental car. Here, to drive somebody else's car, the owner of said car has to do some paperwork for you to carry a "blue card" (or so is called) which is you legal permit to drive that car.

What???? Sounds crazy but this is just the way it is.

As if we hadn't have enough by then with the banks, we left and got into the office of OSDE, the most popular and reputable medical insurance in Argentina. Like Blue Cross, Blue Shield, or something on those lines. Offices were just in the same strip mall as the bank so it seemed convenient.

Ha ha!

The lady in the reception explained to us that she could not give us a quote for coverage given my recent diagnosis and surgery, which of course, I mentioned. She said I have to go to the headquarters in the city, an hour from Manzanares, with copies of my medical records to have a meeting with an auditor to evaluate my case. Then the cost will be decided by a medical team and will be communicated to me via snail mail in a notarized letter!

Oh well...
The girl at least gave us the quotes applicable to "healthy and normal" people. Yes, she said that. "Este el precio para personas sanas y normales." Thank you, said abnormal and sick client, AKA me. When she heard the tone of my thank you and saw my face she took it back.  

So, after a day full of frustration and tireless thinking, trying to figure out what should be our next step in order to fully function as a happy and engaged family within this society, I decided to put the computer and the phone away and, with Fede and the kids, we left to the creek to clean up trash from the creek's banks!

That was a fun, and refreshing, and a meaningful activity to do after such a day. It was not that hot and we all felt great! That is exactly what I wanted to do and I did it. My old self would have stayed and tried to get things accomplished. I hesitated, but I realized what was truly important. Paperwork can wait. An afternoon with your brother, kids and dog cleaning up the creek, can not.

Poor Zach, not only he spent all morning doing frustrating and fruitless paperwork, but also he worked the afternoon and could not join in for the walk and creek fun. Hopefully, he will go for a run tomorrow!

I posted the photos that we took today in FB but they are still in my phone. Meanwhile, here are the photos of another little outing to the creek that Nico, Luci and Coni did with Santi and Florencia in our first week here. They had a great time, and of course Pakita went along and took a bath!

Loyal Paka, best dog on earth, comes along all the time and loves the kids!!

Coni, Luci and Nico, across the field walk to the creek!

Santi & Flor guiding the excursion to the creek. 

These guys love kids. 

Thank Goodness, they are expecting a baby for July!! 

We are all very happy. The news was just announced!! 

This time I will be close to enjoy this nephew or niece of mine from day one. Can not wait!

Tio Santi teaches the girls to fish

Time to rest and make a fire. Nico is in heaven.

Santi is a 37 years old monkey! 

Summer love and the pool affair

Tomorrow it will be three weeks since our arrival. 21 days.
Of course, it feels like we just arrived and I think we all feel like we are still in vacation. We are in the middle of the summer here and that adds to that feeling. Also, our annual trips to Argentina were about three to four weeks, so we are still within that time frame to feel anything else but a vacation affair.
It has been hot but not awful. It has barely rained and the dryness of the land is beginning to be felt and seen all around. We need rain soon.
Thank goodness we have a pool in the house and that has helped with one important aspect: having fun!!
But there is a lot more than fun to having a pool. There is maintenance!
Zach spends thirty minutes to two hours every day working on the pool. And still we always feel in the verge of the disaster:  the water becoming green and dirty, which would mean emptying the pool to clean it and fill it again. That would be A LOT OF WORK!
We had no idea of the amount of chemicals a swimming pool sucks and all the steps to keep it nice and clear. It is not just chlorine, you also have to measure the acidic level of the water, because if the PH is too low or too high, the chlorine does not work. So, we have a PH test kit, and we get hydro-chloric acid (muriatic acid), to level the PH.  Then we also got the alguicide, to prevent algae, and "decantador" for the dirt to accumulate at the bottom so you can vacuum. Then there is the re circulation and filtering of water, vacuuming the bottom, and knowing when and how much of each of the chemicals to put on. As you might know, chlorine gets inactive with the sun! So, it has to go in at night!  All would be easier if the pump and all the accessories would in working condition, but...there are not. The pump is erratic and inconsistent, and sometimes just simply does not work. Same with the vacuum. And then, they work. Just like that. Same with the pump that pumps water from the earth to the house! Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. The owners sent an electrician twice and he did some changes but the pump continues to work inconsistently. It is an old pump, in a old house, in a neighborhood that has not updated its power lines in a long time. Demand for energy has grown exponentially and everyone's theory is that there is not enough energy to make things work fine. Makes sense, given that other people living near have appliances working inconsistently, too, and we can see the lights inside the house blinking at night when it is hot and people, specially in nearby private and wealthy neighborhoods, turn on air conditioners. We do not have air conditioners in this house but so far, we have been okay.

The kids are enjoying the pool the most! They swim everyday, morning and afternoon. The pool has been the anchor to our sanity. When we feel we still have miles to end this process of settling in, we just go in the pool and get a break!

The cousins all together!! Martin and his family visited for the Holidays and my nieces Jose and Cony played with Nico, Luci and Mora! They all got along pretty well, specially Cony and Luci!

Mora is in love with Fede! She calls him Fese. She knows he is her Godfather and she makes sure she demands lots of attention. Fede adores her and teaches her to swim. All three kids love all their uncles, they are devoted and fun! 

It has been hard to find time to relax with so much going and the constant demand of the kids and the never ending social interaction! Everyone is excited with our arrival and tries to help, visit, want to spend time with the kid, etc.. I at least tried every day to sit for a few minutes and breath in, look around and enjoy the view and remember how lucky we are to have this opportunity!

Recycling this blog once again

It is me, from Argentina! 
How is everyone doing? 

I am here to tell you the stories and share the roller coaster of feelings, experiences and anecdotes I am going through since my arrival back home. I want to keep up with all of you back in the U.S, show you photos, let you laugh and cry with me, stay as close as I can so we walk together this path of returning to my home country after 14 and a half years. To that end, I am recycling this old blog in which I used to write in Spanish. Now it is English.

I feel also like I need to write in English to stay connected with my "gringa" self. After living there for so long, there is a chunk of me that is United-Statian now. All I learned and what I became while there is an undeniable part of me. So this is the secret goal of writing this blog: Unite me. Make one of my two parts. Past and present. Argentina and United States. Come up with one Mariana for once and for all. I know I am one persona, but some parts feel disconnected and I need to put together my identity puzzle. 

So, to these objectives I write! 

Welcome to those of you reading. Enjoy and gracias for being there. Without you, I could not be here.