Well, familia, I'm sorry for the silence of the last few weeks... I thought I'd better send a quick update and some pictures or before I knew it, I'd already be home! So off we go... Essentially, we're having a great time, keeping busy, and doing and seeing a great deal. The sixteen students are absolutely wonderful in every way. I could not have asked for a better group: they're smart, kind, thoughtful, open, empathetic, and have a wonderfully positive attitude. They've also really reached out to Isabel and have shown her so much love and kindness. What's even better is that because they've all made a pledge to speak only Spanish at all times (and they're really keeping it!), Isabel is forced to speak Spanish and she's doing a great job! I love hearing them all converse in Spanish on the bus or at my house. In our second week, classes began and we all attended a couple get togethers with the Mexican university students, both on and off campus. On the students' first Friday (Aug. 23) we attended a soccer game, Gallos (Querétaro's team) v. the Chivas (from Guadalajara, and a national favorite). While we were waiting to go in, a couple TV stations (including Fox Sports international) interviewed us and, as we were informed later, we were all on TV. There was even a little interview with me. A couple days later, much to my surprise, the cab driver who picked me up told me he recognized me from the interview and said he saw us on a couple different stations. So I guess I'm a local celebrity now!! At the end of the students' first week (our second), we took a day-trip and traveled to the Peña de Bernal, the world's third largest monolith, for a hike up the mountain and an enjoyable meal of gorditas in town. Thankfully it was a cloudy and cool day, so the trek up didn't kill me, though I will admit my hips are hurting! I've included quite a few pictures below so you can get a feel for the place. There's also more on the WIM webpage as well. During the students' second week of school I met with several of them individually at the house, usually for about 2-3 hours each, to learn more about them, about their families back home, and how they were doing here in Mexico. It has been a real blessing getting to know them and to hear their stories. They continue to bless me daily. We were also invited to one of the students' home for comida (the main meal of the day, served around 3:00 p.m.). I love these invitations because we always get great food and I don't have to cook or wash dishes, though in truth, Caitlin takes care of the bulk of this responsibility in our house! At home Isabel has impressed me with her scholarly activities. In an effort to convince me to home-school her, she has dutifully already finished her history text (from the states) and her biology book—taking notes, writing essays, and organizing it all in lovely notebooks. To supplement the textbook, she's gone on-line and added numerous topics with explanations and pictures for biology. I didn't think she was actually learning the material, so she told me to test her. I asked her to explain the difference between DNA and RNA and much to my surprise, she did a beautiful job! Like her dad and brother, she seems to have a photographic memory. When she's not working, we play cards (don't ever take a bet from Caitlin!) and laugh a lot. All in all, we've had a wonderful August in Querétaro. I hope you enjoy the pictures from our first few weeks here. Just move the cursor over the photo to play the slideshow... Dear ones, I promise I'll fill you in on our last week, but for now I'm skipping ahead to the present moment. Thanks for you prayers for Isabel yesterday and today. She's having a very hard time with the school situation. And that's putting it mildly. The Thomas Jefferson school, where she had to take the long exam, didn't work out. Basically they met with me last Thursday to tell me they weren't going to accept her. I had a gut feeling the day we left the exam that it wouldn't be a good fit, so I certainly wasn't surprised. I was a little disappointed that it took a whole week for them to give me the news, which means she's now missed about a week and a half of school. Needless to say, Isabel was elated to not have to go to school last week! Last Friday, we visited a new school, Maxei, to see if that would be better for her. It's very close to the university, and I loved the place (small, intimate). Isabel, however, hated it, primarily because the facilities were very run down and she thought it was "ugly." I told her the reasons I liked it, but also said we'd visit 2 more schools and then we'd decide together between the three. So Monday we toured Maple Grove (pronounced by all as "Mop-lay") and Colegio Celta (Celtic Academy). Both are private, bilingual Catholic schools which, interestingly, also have French as part of the curriculum. They both seem great, but in very different ways. Iz immediately was drawn to Maple Grove because it's new and smaller, but also liked the fact that Celta had a pool, a swim team, and a weight room located in a beautiful glass room overlooking the pool where parents can come any time to work out. Needless to say, both schools are for Querétaro's wealthy elite. Both schools have been very accommodating: they will waive the entrance exam and allow her to visit for a day or two to see if she likes it. So, Wednesday we scheduled a full-day visit at Maple Grove and Thursday we were to see Celta. As you all know, Iz had major panic attacks Tuesday night—when I sent the email—so I told her I would stay at the school (in a little conference room she was familiar with) and she could come see me if she was having a hard time. This definitely calmed her down. Well, I feel like God has really blessed me with patience, grace, and words to say to Isabel during these times of stress. I have also been blessed by my students. Wednesday afternoon I decided to share with them about the situation (and found myself tearing up in class) and they were amazing—they prayed for me and Iz in class and two have approached me privately about their own history of anxiety and offered to be a resource. They have already taught me quite a bit. What a blessing these students are to me! At any rate, we were here at Maple yesterday and Isabel only made it through one class period (40 minutes) before coming down crying and saying she needed to leave. I tried my best to talk her into staying for just one more 45-minute period—taking it hour by hour—but she couldn't do it. Four of the girls from her class also came down to escort her back upstairs and they were absolutely adorable. Although all of this relaxed her a bit and she felt better, she just couldn't go back yesterday. We talked and she promised she'd come back here today (Thursday) for a full day on her own. I was skeptical, but happy to hear it. As we were waiting for the taxi to pick us up, the girls came down again, this time with little notes to her telling her they hoped she'd come back to Maple Grove. The little signs are proudly displayed on our refrigerator. I was so touched by this gesture that I instantly knew this would be the place for Isabel. I canceled the appointment at Celta for Thursday. Last night Iz did much better, though she ended up saying she was sick and couldn't go to school. Still, the panic was minimal and she slept fairly well. This morning was a different story and I once again agreed I'd come to school today and sit in the little conference room. I also said we could take it hour by hour, but asked her to set a goal to stay until at least 10:45 a.m., and if she's doing OK, then longer. Of course, I said I'd stay as long as she needed. So I'm sitting here once again and freezing; these cement buildings have big windows and no heat and as we're up in the hills, it's arctic here in the mornings! Ah, a mother's sacrifice. Thankfully I brought my work and they gave me internet access. All I need (desperately) is some coffee, but hey, I'm not complaining. So what is the situation right now, at 9:55 a.m., you may wonder. I'm very grateful that they have allowed her to leave the room whenever she needs to and to come here to talk to me. From 8-9 a.m. she came down two or three times, in tears, saying it's too hard (they had biology this morning), she doesn't want to sit in the front, and she doesn't want to be here. She sobbed and told me how sorry she was. Each time I just held her close. When I told her I was proud of her, she looked at me perplexed and asked why. "Well," I replied, "it's hard to be in a new school in a new language and you're doing great. You're doing it! It's already 9 a.m. Let's see how the next hour goes, OK?" And with that she wiped her eyes and went back upstairs to the room.
About 15 minutes ago I saw a group of girls go outside, apparently doing a project as they were looking up at something and taking pictures. Isabel glanced at me sitting behind the window and smiled. Off she went with the kids, and then they all went back up to the room. It's now a little after 10 a.m. and Isabel just came down to my little "office" as the kids are going to "lonche." The biology teacher also came down and told me she enjoyed having Isabel in class, and that she would be happy to work with her individually on her biology from her California textbook. The teacher, by the way, is an M.D. who also studied in the states. Not bad, eh? I was hoping Iz would stay the day, but she really can't seem to handle it. I told her she had to go to lonche for 15 minutes and she reluctantly went off. I can see her now outside the window, and while she's physically close to some kids, she seems a bit alone, standing there in the cold, looking around. She just glanced at me with that look that says, "how much longer do I have to endure this?" A few minutes have passed and she's just returned. It looks like we'll be going home now. She made it until 10:45 today and tomorrow, hopefully all day. Time will tell. Please send the prayers. Our second week in Querétaro was busy indeed. Besides being with the students and helping them get settled in their homes and classes, I was invited by my dear friend Araceli Ardón to to a "bohemia literaria"—an evening of poetry, wine and food under the stars with Mexican poet Lilvia Soto and eight of Araceli's closest friends. Although I was exhausted (and a little nervous, to be honest), I knew I had to go. I knew Soto's literary criticism from her work on Pacheco, but was unfamiliar with her poetry. The purpose of this get-together was to listen to the guests read poems they had selected and to plan the program for a cultural event at the Museo de Arte the following night honoring Soto's work. I truly enjoyed listening to the poems each person had selected to read, but the highlight was definitely meeting Lilvia herself. I was lucky enough to sit next to her and we joked and laughed the entire night. Just when I was relaxing into the evening, Araceli passed me a 5-page bilingual poem full of tongue twisters and invented words and asked if I would do her the honor of reading it right there for everyone; needless to say my heart began to race, and more so when she asked me to participate in the program the following night. As you can imagine, I spent the next 24 hours reading and rereading that poem aloud. But thankfully all went well. Having that evening of poetry, which also included a spectacular guitar recital—interspersed between the poems—inspired and excited me about my literature class next spring. I will definitely incorporate Lilvia's verse in my courses in the future. If you're curious, I'm attaching the poem I read as well as one of my favorites, "Ciudadanía" ("Citizenship"), about the plight of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. By the way, Dr. Soto is from Chihuahua, Mexico. She was a Fullbright Scholar and has taught at Harvard and U Penn, amongst others. She's now retired and living in Arizona.
Picking up where I left off... When Isabel finished her test on Wednesday (8/14) she was so relieved and happy, and actually told me she wanted to attend the Jefferson School. My heart felt lighter, but to be honest I still had serious doubts if this was going to be a good fit for her. (Perhaps this was due to the fact that in 2008 she cried every day when I dropped her off and three staff people had to physically pull her away from me!) Still, I decided that I would turn over my doubts and anxiety to God and prayed that we would get clarity in the coming days. They told us they'd have the results of the exam in 5 days, so I decided to simply not worry (easier said than done, of course). More on that later... Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of our first week were filled with more errands and meetings: with Gabi (to go over schedules), with Héctor (to fix house stuff), with the cable people (to get our Dish TV, which we have never used even once!), and with the host moms. I'd arrive home at night exhilarated and exhausted, and the three of us would spend the evenings playing cards (Caitlin loves games!), laughing, and going to bed way too late. Saturday was our big day: the students arrived! At 10:30 a.m. sixteen Westmont students landed in Querétaro, then shuttled off to Gabi's school in the centro (historic center of town) where I met with them for an hour—speaking only in Spanish—before they were whisked away by their new families. On Sunday we enjoyed our traditional welcome comida with the students and their host families. Monday morning we had orientation at the university, and then that evening we had a dessert at my house where students could relax and share how things were going (in English). I'm putting up a Westmont webpage with all of the students' news and tons of photos, so you might want to check out that link for more updates. I'll send it along as soon as I finish it!
Our flight out of LAX was a bit of a nightmare: we had to deplane (due to mechanical errors), took off 3 hours late (at 3 a.m.), and barely—and I mean barely made it to our connection in time in Houston. The moment we landed in Querétaro, however, I felt instantly happy and at home. My dear friend Gabi was waiting for us at the airport and as we began chatting away in Spanish, Isabel began to tear up and I could tell that the two of us were emotionally in two very different places. Nevertheless, when we entered our beautiful home and she saw the basketball court in the yard, all tears disappeared and she was all smiles. We immediately went out to eat at the little place around the corner, a typical Mexican restaurant with an outdoor patio. The rest of the day was filled—and I mean filled—with errands. Looking back, I can't believe we didn't even stop to nap! We headed out (on foot, because everything is ridiculously close) to the bank, to get spare keys made, to the cable place, and to Costco (yes, Costco!). After taking a cab home with all the purchases, we were about to head out to the supermarket for more staples, when Héctor (the caretaker), stopped by to make sure all was well. I was so glad he did because I realized the pilot light to the water heater was out and there was a piece missing, making it impossible for me to light it. After about an hour of hard work, Héctor finally got it on (thankfully, because showers were definitely needed at the end of that day!). After Héctor left, we decided to head out again before we lost steam. Off we went again to the bank, the cable company (again), and to the supermarket, where we spent another couple hundred dollars on an enormous amount of items! We finally taxied home by 9:30 p.m. and had a light cena (supper) of salad, cheese and crackers. Around midnight I took a deliciously warm shower then headed to bed, having not unpacked a thing but too exhausted to care! The next morning I was up uncharacteristically early after rushing to answer the phone, only to discover they were asking if I'd like to consider a promotion on the satellite TV to include "adult programming." I declined. After a shower and several cups of coffee, the three of us decided we'd have a relaxing day. I postponed a meeting with Gabi until today, Wednesday, and we all hung out at the house, playing games, having a lovely meal, and shooting some hoops in the yard. Isabel and I made a point to "study" for her entrance exam, going over some math and language arts questions. In the early evening we all took a walk through our lovely park so Caitlin—the alum who is living with us—could familiarize herself with her new neighborhood. And then it was bedtime for Isabel and Caitlin, though I was up until about 12:30 unpacking (which I still haven't finished). Right now it's Wednesday morning. We got up very early to come to the entrance exam at Isabel's school, Thomas Jefferson, the same one she attended in 2nd grade in 2008. I must say it has been very traumatic for her. Lots of tears and anxiety and goodness, the exam is long!! Consequently, I'm sitting here outside her exam room and freezing; I must be in a wind-tunnel or something. They had come down to the reception to get me earlier because Isabel was in tears. I got her calmed down and convinced them to let me sit here in the hallway where she can see my head through the frosted glass in the window, which has relaxed her a bit. But I think she's exhausted and discouraged. My heart feels so heavy right now for her. Although my guess is that she'll be admitted, I may investigate a couple other schools to see if having another option is desireable. I'll write more soon (I hope), but for now here's some pictures of our first day here and the house we live in. |
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