My family is here!

My family is here! Ok, so they've been here for three weeks, but it's been a little hard to sit down and write. Within minutes of their arrival, it was like they had always been here. Except, I forgot how much they chatter! As we were driving home from the airport, they were chattering about their spirit animals and what kind of animal did I want to be? I was like: Kids, take a look outside- it’s China!

They were so excited to see their rooms- the first time they have had their own bedrooms. Our stuff arrived 4 days before they did, so I worked furiously to get their rooms organized and decorated. It was so worth it! They were delighted and disappeared into their rooms immediately.

Within an hour, M was furiously reading in bed, and by 3pm L was knocked out. But the jetlag didn't hit them too badly and they adapted to China time within a few days.  

The kids had about 1.5 weeks until school started, but they spent most of that time inside or at the pool. To be honest, it’s so incredibly hot and humid here that I can’t really blame them for not being interested in “exploring.” Daddy dragged them to the mall with a grocery store (it’s a lovely 15 minute walk through the park when it’s not 110 degrees out) a few times though.

We've had a challenging start of school, though! On the first day, my son said he felt strange, but we didn't really take him seriously. A few hours later, we heard from the school that he had a fever- which proceeded to rise to 102.5, last for 2 days, and leave him weak for a few more (Daddy got sick, too). Then, when he was finally well enough to return, I discovered that the kids had lice for the first time in their lives! Oh my word what a nightmare. We shaved M's head and sent him back to school on day two, and spent the rest of the week combing out L's hair. Crossing fingers we find no more nits, because Daddy is starting work this week!

First day of school- 3rd and 1st grade!

Much to my disappointment, we haven’t done much sightseeing yet. Now that I'm finally over my intimidation and shyness about Chinese, it's gotten a lot harder to get out! The first weekend, we needed to work on the HHE mess. And during the second weekend, well, the boys were sick. We did make it to Grandview Mall, which blew us away. Shark tanks! Amusement park! Dozens of restaurants! Transformer exhibit! Lights everywhere! We were exhausted when we came home.

Today I took them to Shamian Island, which is a nice initial outing for newcomers. Although they grumbled at first, they had a great time in the end. We are becoming more comfortable and L even sang as we arrived home, "It's great to live in Guangzhou, China!"

One year: changes are coming

Yesterday was our year anniversary at post, which was a little funny since I’m still in London. I spent some time reflecting on it, though, because it’s an important date. It’s also strange since in many ways, it feels like our tour is almost over: we have our new assignment, which we’re thinking a lot about; we’re planning for the holidays and then it’s the New Year; everyone says your last six months fly by and I can see that happening with my friends who are leaving/left already. Suddenly there isn’t enough time to go to that favorite place one last time. But on the other hand, we are exactly 50% through our first tour, and I truly don’t want the time to rush by. I’ve always wanted to live on a Caribbean island full-time! I love my colleagues and friends. We have great managers. We have a beautiful apartment with views of the sea. And we can go to the beach or pool whenever we like! Wow, as I’m writing all of this down, I’m getting sad…I don’t want to leave yet.

Luckily, we still have another year, which won’t be exactly like last year for a few reasons. D was hired by the consular section and will hopefully start working in the next few months. He is excited about joining the Mission formally and being more a part of things. And the job will position him for future jobs in China.

But that means that we need someone to take the children to and from school each day. The kids will be attending their same schools this year, which was something D and I debated – he feels it would make our lives easier to send them to the school next door, so that the nanny could walk them there. He is right, it would be easier, but I feel it’s more important to provide continuity in their schools whenever possible, since we will be moving around so much. It would be one thing if they were struggling at school, but they are both happy, adapted, and bonded to their schools. So now we’re hunting for a new housekeeper.

It’s been a rough year with and for our nanny/housekeeper. She lost her only daughter to sickle cell anemia last year, so whenever I get too frustrated at her absences, I remember again- she lost her only child- and I feel guilty about wanting to fire her. We’ve kept her because she is trustworthy, kind, and bonded to our children. But her attendance has been spotty at best. Now that D is going to work, we need someone here much earlier (6:30am) who is 100% reliable. We would certainly give her a chance, except for one complicating factor: she is pregnant, and already having attendance issues. There’s just no way we can continue to employ her. I feel terribly about that.

So when I get back from London, we’re going to start frantically interviewing every lead we can find, in addition to searching for a driver, since almost no nannies drive. We have a driver we can use temporarily, if necessary, so I’m not too concerned about that. I’m a little worried about the kids adapting to all these changes, but we’ve come a long way in a year.

We’re looking for a live-in nanny/housekeeper, since 6:30am is pretty early to arrive from the poorer suburbs where most live. That means a) we have to clean out our storage room, and I don’t really know where all the stuff will go, and b) we’ll have to adapt to having someone here all the time. It will be different.

So like I said, lots of changes, but things still the same. L will have the same wonderful preschool teacher this year. M’s best friend will be in his class again. We’re looking forward to a great year.

Hopskotch

More blog posts coming soon. But for now, for the grandparents, my little girl playing hopskotch at her school.

First day of school

Much to our surprise, our son quietly said goodbye to Daddy this morning and bravely stepped into his Spanish-only kindergarten (or pre-primary, as they call it here) classroom. How did he get so big!? Apparently his favorite part of today was going to the English-only classroom (in his bilingual school, they spend about 3 hours in each classroom). When I saw him tonight, he said he had a fun day. Fingers crossed that this positive outlook will continue.

little imp wanted her pic taken too

In weather-related news, Hurricane Irene passed by Santo Domingo but did cause flooding and destruction in some parts of the country. We barely had any rain at all, but the wind was impressive. We have been watching the projections, thinking of the rest of the Caribbean, and worrying about the East Coast.

I started on the visa line yesterday and today interviewed 42 people. It felt like 150! The norm for our post is probably 85-100 so we are not as busy as some. My colleagues are great and I'm really enjoying getting to know everyone and grateful for their patience with me.

Tomorrow marks two weeks at post!

Starting school

Today was the open house at my big boy's new school. My new boss was nice enough to give me the day off. We had planned to take the whole family, but L woke up at 6am vomiting. Poor little sweetie. She perked up by 9am, but we thought the school would appreciate her staying at home. We haven't found a school for her yet, not that we've been able to look. M's school does have a 3yo program, but we wanted to look around before committing. Since M is starting real school (kindergarden, or pre-primario here), we had to make a choice before we arrived.

The school we chose is bilingual- they will spend part of the day in the Spanish classroom and part in the English classroom. His English teacher grew up in Washington Heights, where I lived during grad school. It's funny how intertwined my life is with the DR. I loved the teachers- they were all warm and smiley and kind. M started off clinging to me and refusing to talk, but within an hour he was playing quietly. I hope the other kids will be kind to him. I don't know yet if he'll be the only foreigner in his class.

After visiting the classroom, I spent like 3 hours trying to get him registered. I thought we just had to turn in a few more forms. I'm not sure if it is just the DR way of doing things, or if registering a kid in real school takes more time/effort than I realized. Perhaps a little bit of both.

Most of the expat kids here go to a different school, but since that school has no Spanish instruction and caters to the Dominican elite, we chose to go a different route. There are many to choose from and it's scary to make this decision from so far away. Today, it felt like the right choice. I hope it turns out that way.