“Mom, it’s funny to think that not too long ago, I was SO wishing we were still going to Hillsdale.  And NOW, I love it here!” It’s worth noting, that is the sentiment today.  I am under NO illusions that this exchange will repeat itself tomorrow, or heck, even later this SAME day… That was a bubbly conversation with Caleigh

Waxing a bit philosophical today… reflecting on this thing we call “the human condition”… Arriving here, almost six weeks ago now, thousands of miles away from our familiar people, I felt acutely aware that we stand out as so different.  We felt very vulnerable; standing out as a visible minority made me feel that “blending-in” and belonging was an impossible

Some days you just want to make the clatter of sound and stimuli bombarding you stop. Sometimes you don’t want to have to try so hard.  Yesterday was a blessing of a day because I went for lunch with another expat Mom that I met at the school who is from Michigan.  Actually kind of a cool story that we

  Guess what!?!  We looked up one day and saw the moon, full and white-bright and stunning.  We were excited that the sky was so clear that we could even see some stars!! And what’s more thrilling was the moment when we realized that we are STILL on planet EARTH!!!  As far as I know, it was Earth’s moon –

Any change, no matter how positive it may ultimately prove to be, sets us grieving for what was.  We are such creatures of habit and we crave routine and “knowing”.  We stress when our world as we think it is or should have been is turned upside down.  Shifting gears from familiarity and safety is hard.  Stepping out of comfort

Did you know that meteorologists here have deemed this day to be THE coldest day of the year?  We were warned by numerous people yesterday that today would be VERY cold due to a massive cold front moving in over night (so they DO get dramatic about the weather here too – I guess all over the world we are

Ok, confession time – I’ve never enjoyed the process of creating lunches to send to school. Been at it for nine years now.   Always love the weekends or holiday times when we can just grab lunch when we need it and eat what we feel like in that moment.  However, the children’s cries of, “Mom…I’m a little tired of

Hilton’s logo is two capital “H’s” side-by-side.  One day, walking down the hill from school towards the hotel, we spotted the large ‘HILTON’ name and logo on the top of the building.  “There it is!” Caleigh exclaimed, more to celebrate almost being there and the walk coming to an end, than an expression of gladness over our destination. We started

Well these past two weeks we have jumped, both feet, into not only Mexican education, but thanks to Mansell, the health care system as well!  Moving into his first week of school, he was feeling a little off with what seemed to be a common cold.  He was excited and nervous and didn’t want a cold to slow him down

Today I felt like a criminal when I showed up at the kids’ school.  There I was, a well-meaning parent who showed up to help my kid and a torrent of Spanish fury was released on me…let me explain… Mansell texted me minutes after Aaron dropped him at school this morning, “Mom, can you bring me my bathing suit?” This