Friday Morning Thoughts

It's a misty-moisty morning in Berlin, after 8 am and the sky is just graying.  Almost all the snow has melted out of our backyard, leaving a yard full of dog doo-doo mines.  Today is an open day - no appointment or schedule, but the hausfrau within me has a long list of ought-tos.  Everything from toilets to laundry to mopping to yard cleanup (although that rightfully belongs to the official dog owner, our 12 year old).  My France Christmas 5 pounds says I should go running.  My stash of yarn says I should hunker down and knit.  I wonder who will win?  Place your bets.

2011, really?

Well, it's been a few years and several life experiences since I last posted.  We are now living in Berlin, Germany (since August 2010).  After the past two years in Zambia, homeschooling in the sun, Berlin is a big change!  Our lifestyle has also undergone a major transformation since Doug's triple bypass in April.

Our first few months here in Berlin have been very happy.  I have indulged my new hobby of jogging in the enormous woods/park just behind our house, the Grunewald.  Who knew there could be miles and miles of woodland right in the middle of a capital city?  Since the snow came, running has been a bit trickier.  The ice can make it dangerous, but I have been doing my best to stick to it.  I have also been diving into knitting since the cold descended.  Today, I attended my first all German knitting group.  My German is still non-existent, so I depended on the kindness and education of the women in the group and was immediately rewarded.  Some people find Berliners cold, but I have been welcomed and helped over and over again.  This morning was amazing, as we shared our projects.

For you knitters out there, I brought one of my current projects, socks, which I am knitting on two circular needles at the same time (two socks, that is).  I brought the book and they were all fascinated.  One lady copied a pattern chart from the back and we managed to translate the stitches by me demonstrating each code.  It turns out that none of them had ever done the SSK (slip, slip knit) decrease, but always use a SKP (slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over) for a left slant decrease.  So, in my small way, I had something to contribute that transcended language.

So, finally, I find myself with a real reason to learn German.  Most days, it is so so so easy to make do without and enjoy all that life has to offer.  I am quite afraid of the intensive course - I suppose afraid that my brain has dried up and I will no longer have the ability to learn.  I know it is false, as I have learned so much food vocabulary already & use my brain everyday - for knitting!  Still, I don't have a good ear and pronunciation seems very difficult.  I will have to just try.

Great Weekend

We had a super fun weekend! Saturday was the school International Day, called Kermess here. We had to be super effective in the morning -- as we packed up the car for a long weekend. At Kermess we all had a lot of fun volunteering in our booths and participating in all kinds of ways. Aidan got to march at the head of the parade carrying the US flag -- a very special cub scout privilege! The biggest difference from last year was how the kids met up with their friends and went off on their own to enjoy the festival. We are so happy they have made good friends -- although it is sad to look ahead to more goodbyes.

By mid-afternoon we were on the road toward the coast. An hour and a half later we were in the small town of Algarrobo on the Pacific Coast. We had booked a two bedroom apartment at San Alfonso del Mar, a somewhat surreal place right on the ocean with the biggest pool in the world between it and the ocean. If you check out the link, our apartment is even in the pic! Anyway, we spent almost all of Sunday in these heated salt-water pools. The kids have been working on their swimming and they very much enjoyed the increased buoyancy! Aidan even got the hang of his snorkel and decided that he prefers swimming that way!

On the way home, our transmission wasn't up to the first hill and we had to wait three hours for a tow-truck. We were very happy it happened before we hit the big road and while we still had nice places to wait. The tow folks gave us and our stuff a lift home, but now we are car-less for an unknown amount of time. This really sucks -- I was hoping to work a half-day today (for Maggie's birthday), but am out all day due to lack of transport. Oh well.

Tonight -- we celebrate Maggie being 9! Unbelievable. I better go downstairs and start on her cake!

Overflowing life

I know, given that I am not blogging regularly at all, I have probably lost all readership, but just in case....we have lots of exciting news: Zambia, Patagonia, and visits from Mom & Dad, Connie & Steve, Bruce & Helda & Marcos.

We are all super happy that we heard on Halloween that we will be going to Zambia for our next post! I am super happy and I think it will be fabulous. If you have interest and any time at all I recommend checking out this site: http://www.zambia-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=170. The author has uploaded most of his travel guide to the internet and it is VERY readable and interesting. In the last week I have decided that while we are in Zambia, we absolutely MUST do several things already: visit Victoria Falls (of course), go on a canoe safari through the lower Zambezi River, and go on a walking safari in South Luangwa National Park. Those are just the start though, as I am sure we will want to explore other places in Zambia and also other countries near Zambia. We may even manage to make it to South Africa for the world cup! Who knows?

Knowing where we are going also makes us suddenly aware of how little time we have here. We hope to leave Santiago at the end of June (after the school year is done) and have home leave in Michigan for the month of July. We will probably spend two weeks in Washington and then we hope to arrive in Lusaka in time for the start of school at the American International School of Lusaka -- which starts on the third Monday of August. The kids had such a better start here in Chile this year than last year. It was infinitley harder last year having missed the first quarter of school. Aidan will be starting middle school and we really, really hope we can make it so they both get to start the year with their peers. Of course, this totally depends on the government and who knows? We are not "entitled" to leave here until October, actually. We shall see.

Anyway, I was writing about our plans to enjoy Chile in the months we have left (which may be as few as 7 or 8). One plan we have made is to go to Patagonia for a week at New Years. We have purchased the tickets already! Our plan is to go to Torres del Paine National Park and backpack/camp with the kids for at least 5 days. Even though it is summer here at that time, it will still be cold there -- getting up to 60+ degrees in the daytime and down to 40 (or as low as freezing) at night. We hope it won't be too much for all of us! In the meantime, we intend to do a good bit of hiking and camping to try to get us and the kids in shape for a trip like this.

No less exciting is the prospect of visits from family! We are super excited that my folks have figured out a way to visit for a couple of weeks at the end of January and beginning of February. We are thrilled. I have just begun to make a list of ideas for what we can do and see together -- the mountains and coasts, maybe a bit of the desert and the northern end of the lake district? Who knows? Definitely some vineyards. The same goes for the Ferguson clan who plan to visit in March. It will be a ball to get the cousins together because it has been WAY too long since they have spent time together (2 years by March -- unless I am confused).

In the meantime, I mean to find better ways to moderate my work/family/friend schedule. I am working out the kinks and will learn to balance things better with a little more time, I am confident. Dear friends, please know I love and think of you often.

No News

We don't really have any news, but it has been a while since I blogged...

We have been having a ball welcoming our new friends here in Santiago. Anni likes to walk, which is nice for me, as I don't always like to walk by myself. Maggie and Iida are already fast friends and nearly inseparable. They ride their bikes around the neighborhood every spare moment. Plus, Anni is allergic to animals, so Iida likes to play with ours.

I will start my new job on Monday and I am a little nervous. I have already started a few things going: the knitting club met last week and will now meet every Sunday afternoon. The new book club will start this Tuesday evening at my house. They are small steps, but lots of people seem excited.

Aidan started his new swim lessons today. His occupational therapist recommended a swim teacher who specializes in patience and we think he is great. He speaks very little english, but Aidan's spanish is coming along and they can use body language too. Aidan did great with his first lesson today, spending a great deal of it with his face in the water and working on relaxing. It was amazing to watch. He is really making a supreme effort and the teacher really is gifted.

Doug and I are due at the neighbor's house 15 minutes ago, so I am going to run!

Snow is Falling!!!

Hooray! It looks so gorgeous and it is going to clean the dust out of the air!! I wish the kids were going to be home any minute, but they have activities today, unfortunately.... They will see it when they come. It isn't sticking on the ground in our yard, but it is sticking to the hills all around us.

In other news, I read that we had a small earthquake today, that I did not even notice. I guess it was a 5.0 and made the buildings downtown sway. Maybe we live in a particularly stable valley? I'm not sure.

Also, we have spent the last couple of days welcoming the new family at the embassy that we are "sponsoring". Over the weekend, we got food and house ready for them. Then, yesterday morning we picked them up from the airport and got them settled at home. I took them to the school for a visit (8 year old daughter is fabulous) and then they both came to dinner last night. This morning I helped with more needed items, a transportation contract for school, etc. and this afternoon we will take a trip to the grocery store. They are very nice and it is a joy to try to help them land softly here in Chile. It is also a bit of a shock to be reminded of how overwhelming it is to arrive in a new country and get started on a new life!

What else? Oh, I found a fresh cheese that makes fabulous paneer and we ate a very yummy reasonable facsimile of Malaviya Palak/Saag Paneer last night! I had the maid chop the onions and tomatoes and wash the spinach -- so it was even easy to assemble. What a cool thing.

Okay, gotta do a couple things before everyone needs me all at once!

Cliff-hangers and other forms of torture

Okay, now we are on page 502 and it is more and more difficult to resist the urge to read ahead. I think this one is really good. It keeps us filled with anxiety and laughing at regular intervals. If Harry weren't such doubting Thomas, well, then he wouldn't be Harry, but he wouldn't be half so annoying.

In addition to reading the book today, we managed to do the weekly shopping and do some preparatory things for the family that we are sponsoring. They arrive on Tuesday, so we walked through the house and made sure everything worked and wrote a short list of things for the housing folks to fix. We went to the store and got them their staples too. Tomorrow, we will get flowers, decent ice cream and make them a quiche. Tuesday, we will pick them up from the airport, drive them about (school, etc.) and have them to dinner. Wednesday, we will do more of the same and over the weekend too. We are pretty excited about this -- it is so nice to do this stuff for a new family, as we felt so well taken care of when we first arrived. We have all been looking forward to doing it for someone else.

On the other hand, did they have to arrive so soon?? And right in the middle of #7??? What were they thinking? Actually, it is Amazon's fault, as we got our book two weeks late! Usually, I am such a fan of a place that makes me happy on such a regular basis....

Our only other cliff-hanger at the moment is the List. More about that tomorrow.

Ah-ha -- my own cliff-hanger....