Some of you already know that we are preparing for an adventure, but I need to catch everyone else up so bear with me. This summer we will head south of the border, to spend a year in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Just typing those words gives me heart palpitations…partly from excitement, but also a bit of panic because there is so much left to do before we go. AAAAAHHHH!!! I just received my flexible work agreement signed by me, my boss, and HR, so it’s all systems go!
We’ve been talking about this idea since we came back from our month-long trip to SMA in the summer of 2013. I loved the city so much that I made Ben promise we’d move there when he retires (5 years before me but not for 10+ years). As I thought more about it I realized that I really want to share that experience with the kids, and now is the time.
When I first mentioned the possibility of relocating for a year, Norah was ready to start packing immediately. That’s not a surprise, as she is probably the most adventurous of the 3 kids. She will be in 4th grade in SMA and will come back to 5th grade in her current elementary school. I’m excited that she’ll be able to spend that special 5th-grade year as a BWOC (Big Woman On Campus) in the school that we’ve loved for the last 8 years.
Adlani wasn’t completely opposed to the plan, as long as he could take along his electronic devices (technology overload will likely be the topic of another post). He will be in 6th grade in Mexico, and because he is one of the youngest kids in his grade we’ve decided to have him start middle school (6th grade again) when we return. He’s not overly thrilled about that, but he’ll thank me someday.
Aliya had just started middle school when I first brought up the idea, and she was not a fan of the plan. In fact, she cried whenever I mentioned it. I explained why I thought it would be such an amazing experience, but she was insistent that she didn’t want to miss a second of middle school. I figured she’d get past that and she has…at this point she’s actually excited about going, although she will miss her friends (as we all will!). She will be in 8th grade in Mexico, and will come back and start high school.
Some of you may be wondering WTF would ever make us want to move to Mexico…they burn cars there and kidnap people! What about our house, pets, church, friends, etc.? I will write more about all of those in future posts, but I will address the safety aspect now. It’s true that certain parts of Mexico are unsafe, due mostly to the drug cartels. Last Friday there were blockades in various parts of the country in retaliation for the government’s crack-down on these criminals. We will be watching the situation closely, and if we need to change our plans, we will.
Many areas of Mexico are safe and wonderful, despite the picture painted by the media. We have friends there who will give us the real scoop and I belong to several online groups of ex-pats – we can decide over the coming months if we should reconsider. But I’m not going to let the fear of what could happen be the driving factor in my life. Bad things can happen anywhere, and while civil unrest in the ‘Ham is pretty unlikely, I’m not going to hide in my comfort zone and miss out on what the world has to offer.
I used to write on this blog almost every day, and it really helps me to look at things in a different light and work through difficulties. While I write mostly for myself, my family, and my close friends, there are others who have said they want to follow along on this journey so I will post the link on Facebook when I write a new post.
I leave you with this poem, sent to me a year ago by my friend Elizabeth…
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