After having my blog come up first when I googled FM2 renewal IM feeling a little more pressure to get this post done well. The last renewal post I read didnt have a lot of the formalities about the process that I normally put in. So I plan to give you the details first of what you need then Ill go into my personal story of how it went for me.
For the Renewal you go online to
http://www.inm.gob.mx/index.php/page/Solicitud_de_Estancia
and fill out the form, be sure to save it and copy it. You need to be able to read in Spanish to get this done. If you can not be sure to have someone help you.
We filled out two letters of intent that were given to us by the Immigration office
They also gave us a form to fill out with instructions on getting another photo for the new ID. They will be giving a card ID now instead of a booklet.
Full copy of passport
Copy of info pages from my FM2 book
Pictures for the ID
Issacs ID (this is because my FM2 is familial under him)
We had to pay 2,800p at a Banamex and bring a copy of the receipt. (You have to get the form for the payment from the Immigration office)
we also had to have check stubs or a letter from Issacs Employer, we got the letter. Again this is because my FM2 is familial.
We also had to do an address change. We needed much less this time around.
We had to fill out and print off a form from the same website I posted above.
Full coyp of passport
proof of address
and a letter of intent, they actually gave Issac an example so he was sure to put everything on there.
It took us three days to be sure we had all the documents correct due to little errors and details. By the time we got to go to the office to turn everything in I had to go alone. Due to the fact that Im nursing the baby and havnt started bottles yet I had to bring her with me. Wile I waited for my number to be called I finished little angels for Alanas class. When I got to the desk and handed over my form and my passport copy the lady asked me what year I was born. "1980" I say. Your form is wrong she says. My husband put his year of birth instead of mine. The lady told me there was a computer across the hall that I could fix the form and then come back to her. She said I didnt have to wait with another number which was a relief. I did have to wait for one guy to get done with his document and then I was on. I had to change both of my forms and the first went almost without a hich. It was a touch screen and there are a lot of pull down menus so I kept hitting the wrong things because I dont have nails. By the time I got to the second I had people behind me and the baby was waking up and crying wanting to be fed. Needless to say I rushed through it. I then wrote down my numbers and went back to the lady at the counter who printed off my forms. At this point Im feeding the baby so she took my whole stack of papers and put them in order instead of asking for one at at time like the normally do. I was thankfull for this. She stamped everything and had me sign a copy of the print off that tells you how to check the status online. I grabbed my papers and finished feeding the baby as I walked out to the car. After I got home and handed my husband the papers he says, "Oh honey." with a bit of a sad sigh. Im like, "What!!!!"
I had put on the address change that I was from Estonia, which is right below Estados Unidos on the drop down list. I of course had to be calmed down by him and he said he would go in the next day to ask about what we needed to do.
They acted like it was no big deal because it was just the address change. They said they would just deny it and in Jan when they reopen we will have to redo it. This is not a big problem because it was late already and we were already going to have to pay the fine.
Thats it for now until I go top pick it up. I hope this information ends up being useful.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
The unmarked path is exciting and scary
First off I want to say that yesterday I was googling FM2 renewal because its that time of the year again and guess whose web site came up top of the list. Oh yeah that would be me, Borders Aside was the first page to come up. I laughed because here I am looking for any updated info and my page came up. Anyway that process is for another post when its all said and done I just wanted to brag about finding myself on google like that. lol
So about that unmarked path. Well when we got this job offer it seemed to good to be true and so we committed it to a lot of prayer and asked others to do the same for us. Issac and I both felt that moving and taking this job were the right thing to do. And we still do. But let me tell you it hasn't been as clean and clear as we had expected. Like most things in life I see this as Gods way of helping me to see where my faith lies. There have been many changes in just the two months since we stared. We are doing more than teaching which is all we expected at first. We are both doing a lot of soliciting, and are both writing a curriculum for different classes. I actually dont mind this Iv always wanted to try my hand at new things. I worked in the healthcare field at 15 1/2 and aside from a pizza job on the side for 6months its all Iv ever done. The other change is that sometimes... well... more than once we have have not gotten paid on time. And we know that the person who is suppose to be financing this program is more than a month late on paying. This is pretty stressful if you can imagine especially with the new move and new baby. On top of that our transmission is going out on our truck and we cant drive more than 40mph most of the time. We need a new vehicle anyway because we need more room and more seatbelts. Anyway I wont go on an on about that I think what Iv said can show you that this can be quite a stresser for us.
Im writing this because I want you all to be witness to the goodness and personal care of God. Christ is not only my Saviour he is my friend and doesnt like to see me stress. Especially when he has gotten me through so much in the past. Im sure it breaks his heart. I tried as much as I could not to stress but it happened anyway. My faith filled and always calm husband prayed over me and helped me through that day. He reminded me of all the tough times that God has pulled us out of. And his peace helped to sooth me. I cant be more thankful for what God has given me in my husband. So the Sunday after Lily was born and during the peak of all these (and a few more) issues we went to church. Yes she was only a week old but I was feeling good enough so we went. We tithed out of our past check even though we had still not received the new check (over a week late), because we had both prayed about it and we knew God would see us through. But let me tell you I didn't do it without a little fear in my heart. The sermon was perfect, he was talking about how we should respond to things that we do not understand. He spoke of Mary the mother of Jesus, and how imperfect she was. He had to go into this of course because living in Mexico even if you are not Catholic you may have been raised putting Mary into a higher place than she should be. Anyway I cant even imagine what her life must have been like raising him and knowing all that she knew. Anyway there is a verse that says that "she put all these things away in her heart." So even a women who had been spoken to by an angel and raised the Christ child didn't understand why God had her where she was. And when she didn't understand something she just tucked it away knowing that some day God would shine his light of understanding on it. so after church I told Issac that I am going to work on filling up my box and tucking it away to give to the Lord. God always knows the words we need to hear and gives them to us. Not always through a sermon, sometimes through the rustling of the trees or the words of a child, husband or friend. Later in the week here is a devotional I read (thanks Rebbecca Im reading Streams in the Desert and its perfect timing for it although you gave it to me like a year ago)
I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)
Lead me in a straight path. (Psalm 27:11)
Many people want to direct God instead of surrendering themselves to be directed by Him. They want to show Him the way instead of submissively following where He leads. Madame Guyon.
I did skip a couple post that I still want to write and hopefully I ll have time for them this weekend but this one seemed more important.
Much love.
So about that unmarked path. Well when we got this job offer it seemed to good to be true and so we committed it to a lot of prayer and asked others to do the same for us. Issac and I both felt that moving and taking this job were the right thing to do. And we still do. But let me tell you it hasn't been as clean and clear as we had expected. Like most things in life I see this as Gods way of helping me to see where my faith lies. There have been many changes in just the two months since we stared. We are doing more than teaching which is all we expected at first. We are both doing a lot of soliciting, and are both writing a curriculum for different classes. I actually dont mind this Iv always wanted to try my hand at new things. I worked in the healthcare field at 15 1/2 and aside from a pizza job on the side for 6months its all Iv ever done. The other change is that sometimes... well... more than once we have have not gotten paid on time. And we know that the person who is suppose to be financing this program is more than a month late on paying. This is pretty stressful if you can imagine especially with the new move and new baby. On top of that our transmission is going out on our truck and we cant drive more than 40mph most of the time. We need a new vehicle anyway because we need more room and more seatbelts. Anyway I wont go on an on about that I think what Iv said can show you that this can be quite a stresser for us.
Im writing this because I want you all to be witness to the goodness and personal care of God. Christ is not only my Saviour he is my friend and doesnt like to see me stress. Especially when he has gotten me through so much in the past. Im sure it breaks his heart. I tried as much as I could not to stress but it happened anyway. My faith filled and always calm husband prayed over me and helped me through that day. He reminded me of all the tough times that God has pulled us out of. And his peace helped to sooth me. I cant be more thankful for what God has given me in my husband. So the Sunday after Lily was born and during the peak of all these (and a few more) issues we went to church. Yes she was only a week old but I was feeling good enough so we went. We tithed out of our past check even though we had still not received the new check (over a week late), because we had both prayed about it and we knew God would see us through. But let me tell you I didn't do it without a little fear in my heart. The sermon was perfect, he was talking about how we should respond to things that we do not understand. He spoke of Mary the mother of Jesus, and how imperfect she was. He had to go into this of course because living in Mexico even if you are not Catholic you may have been raised putting Mary into a higher place than she should be. Anyway I cant even imagine what her life must have been like raising him and knowing all that she knew. Anyway there is a verse that says that "she put all these things away in her heart." So even a women who had been spoken to by an angel and raised the Christ child didn't understand why God had her where she was. And when she didn't understand something she just tucked it away knowing that some day God would shine his light of understanding on it. so after church I told Issac that I am going to work on filling up my box and tucking it away to give to the Lord. God always knows the words we need to hear and gives them to us. Not always through a sermon, sometimes through the rustling of the trees or the words of a child, husband or friend. Later in the week here is a devotional I read (thanks Rebbecca Im reading Streams in the Desert and its perfect timing for it although you gave it to me like a year ago)
I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)
Lead me in a straight path. (Psalm 27:11)
Many people want to direct God instead of surrendering themselves to be directed by Him. They want to show Him the way instead of submissively following where He leads. Madame Guyon.
I did skip a couple post that I still want to write and hopefully I ll have time for them this weekend but this one seemed more important.
Much love.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
advent calander, tree decorations, messy house.
Well I'm glad that sometimes when I think of something I want to post about I save a title and leave it at that if I dont have time to make the whole post at the time. I love to share about our advent activities. Today I will do it with pictures, here goes. Oh in case you were not around last year we do advent a bit different, I make it my own. We have a calendar that I made last year with pockets for each day. On a piece of paper I write a bible verse and an activity usually pertaining to the story we read. The girls also get a piece of candy with each activity, this usually keeps them quiet long enough to hear the story. We start with creation and move through the bible chronologically for the most part up to the birth of Jesus which we talk about on Christmas eve.
Sorry I had to delete the pics off my blog, I have decided to keep my blog public no matter how many hateful comments I get. If I made my blog private it would defeat the purpose so instead I will just delete the pictures and refrain from using names in attempt to keep things safe for us.
Sorry I had to delete the pics off my blog, I have decided to keep my blog public no matter how many hateful comments I get. If I made my blog private it would defeat the purpose so instead I will just delete the pictures and refrain from using names in attempt to keep things safe for us.
Getting moms med care
When my mom said she wanted to come but was worried about her medications I began asking around about it. I had many people who live here tell me that it would be no problem. I even went as far as going into a pharm simi to ask a doctor if she would write the scripts if we needed them. Everyone told me it would be no problem and that it would not be difficult to find her medications. Let me tell you they were all so very wrong. Thankfully my mom told us a good two weeks before she was running out of anything and we got started right away. First we had to look up the names of all her medications in Spanish, this turned out to be the easiest part of the process. It was all very confusing and I didn't understand why some pharmacies had what we need and others didn't. In the long run when we asked my OB about the issues we had, he explained that in Mexico the pharmacies are owned by the drug companies. So if a drug you want is from a competitor drug producer that pharmacy will not carry it. Considering my mom was on more than one medication that still had no generic this was a big problem. Also as we were visiting all these different places we found out that three of her medications had to have a written prescription. One that was for anxiety and one that was for sleep we were told by one doctor had to be written by a psych doctor and only a psych doctor. Thankfully this turned out to not be the case. Because I was in my last few weeks of pregnancy and seeing my OB often we brought this whole issue to his attention and he agreed to write the scripts we needed. So we showed him her pill bottles and the names of the drugs in Spanish and he wrote them out. This happened the day he gave me the small dose of pitosin to induce my labor ( he was expecting it to take a while to work). Well I went into labor less than 4 hours later so Issac didn't go to fill moms scripts till the next evening. When he did he found out that all the medications had to be written on their own personal script and not all together the way our doctor wrote them. So my OB was kind enough to rewrite them. And again the next day Issac went to get them filled. This is when they informed us that her pain medication was not to be found here in Mexico. So three days after the baby was born and my first day home Issac brought my mom to a doctor to have them write her something that would help her with her arthritis pain. The doctor at pharm simi was kind enough to write this one and we were able to get it filled and it did end up easing her pain. She ended up needing another script written for her sleeping meds because they didn't give us enough for her entire stay the firs time. But again I was going back for my one week OB appointment and our doctor was kind enough to write it again. In the end we got it all figured out and for sure next time it will be easier but gees what a pain in the butt it was. We spent at least three night going from pharm to pharm, and in the state I was in just before and after the baby it was frustrating to say the least. Really I just wanted to write this post in case any of you have family that will be visiting for a long time you will know what to expect better than I did. It is a better idea for them to explain to their doctor and insurance that they will be on a prolonged stay in Mexico and need extra fill on their meds. If the insurance or doctor will not do this be sure to visit your pharmacies and doctors and be very very clear with them what medications you will be needing and if they will have them. Well that is that... Im trying to get my blogs up to date today so I can spend some time reading others this weekend. :)
Having the baby
Lilian Andrea was born Saturday November 27th, she weighed 3kilos and was 51cm long. I had gone in that morning around 9am and was given a very small dose of patosin and sent home. By noon I was admitted to the hospital and she was born at 245. She came fast and I was so glad and ready for her. To be honest my whole labor and delivery process was so much closer to what I wanted with the other two. Issac was allowed by my side the whole time and every one attended to what I asked for as far as when I was ready for different things. Heres some pics.
Friday, November 19, 2010
My moms first couple weeks
Once again I started this a few weeks ago. So some of it may be a little out dated. Things like that Im no longer pregnant and we have a new member of our family around. Ill post about that on a different blog hopefully tonight. ;)
My mom flew in on the tenth of November. She made it through all the checks well but did get the red light. She said she was ok with it because they had reassured her that her family was on the other side of the next set of doors. As soon as she got through my girls were in her lap in the wheelchair and the attendant pushed them all out to the truck. My mom was only here two days one of which Issac and I both worked before more family showed up. Issacs sister came on that Friday with her husband, son and dog, and his mom came in on Sat. They were all here for about 3 days and although it was fun I was way stressed. Everyone and more are coming back for Thanksgiving but I think Ill do better this time because my mom has had some time to get use to the place. Really his family are the best to have around they cook, buy food, clean and everything its just the constant commotion that got to me.
So far all we have gotten to do is go to an art sale and listen to an orchestra band in the park. My mom loved it and Ill post some pics, shes the gringa redhead in the middle and Issacs mom is sitting next to her. My mom had a great time and regardless of the language barrier she actually made some friends. We will be going back this Sunday because we ordered a painting she wanted to have made for the girls.
We also went to a parade which was lot of fun for all of us.
A few of the things my mom has noticed that I forget about is how everything is built so close to each other. She is now telling me how I need smoke detectors in the house and I'm trying to explain how everything is concrete and fires dont spread like in the states. To be honest she hasn't seen to much except wal-mart because we still needed so much for the house and although we were dealing with it my mom wasn't willing to. Which is great because it was those things that makes life so much easier.
Even no weeks later I haven't been able to get her out much because I had the baby last weekend.
For work now I'm staying home and writing a curriculum for a medical English class. I'm glad I have something I can work on from home and still get paid during my maternity leave.
Sorry I had to delete the pics off my blog, I have decided to keep my blog public no matter how many hateful comments I get. If I made my blog private it would defeat the purpose so instead I will just delete the pictures and refrain from using names in attempt to keep things safe for us.
My mom flew in on the tenth of November. She made it through all the checks well but did get the red light. She said she was ok with it because they had reassured her that her family was on the other side of the next set of doors. As soon as she got through my girls were in her lap in the wheelchair and the attendant pushed them all out to the truck. My mom was only here two days one of which Issac and I both worked before more family showed up. Issacs sister came on that Friday with her husband, son and dog, and his mom came in on Sat. They were all here for about 3 days and although it was fun I was way stressed. Everyone and more are coming back for Thanksgiving but I think Ill do better this time because my mom has had some time to get use to the place. Really his family are the best to have around they cook, buy food, clean and everything its just the constant commotion that got to me.
So far all we have gotten to do is go to an art sale and listen to an orchestra band in the park. My mom loved it and Ill post some pics, shes the gringa redhead in the middle and Issacs mom is sitting next to her. My mom had a great time and regardless of the language barrier she actually made some friends. We will be going back this Sunday because we ordered a painting she wanted to have made for the girls.
We also went to a parade which was lot of fun for all of us.
A few of the things my mom has noticed that I forget about is how everything is built so close to each other. She is now telling me how I need smoke detectors in the house and I'm trying to explain how everything is concrete and fires dont spread like in the states. To be honest she hasn't seen to much except wal-mart because we still needed so much for the house and although we were dealing with it my mom wasn't willing to. Which is great because it was those things that makes life so much easier.
Even no weeks later I haven't been able to get her out much because I had the baby last weekend.
For work now I'm staying home and writing a curriculum for a medical English class. I'm glad I have something I can work on from home and still get paid during my maternity leave.
Sorry I had to delete the pics off my blog, I have decided to keep my blog public no matter how many hateful comments I get. If I made my blog private it would defeat the purpose so instead I will just delete the pictures and refrain from using names in attempt to keep things safe for us.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Finding our OB and clinic
Gosh I just saw this under my unfinished posts and I suppose I should go ahead and write it.
It was a little hard finding the right place to go, more so because of all the options than anything. Everyone at each hospital and each doctor we visited were friendly and helpful. Our choice came down to convenience and cost. Luckily the closest hospital and doctor happened to be the best priced. My doctor is great, and takes his time on our appointments. He is responsive when we have to call him and has given us an alternate doctor to call in case he is ever unable to be reached. He is a young guy which at first I wasn't to sure about. I say young meaning hes prob about my age, 30, but that's young for an OB. But its actually great because he is so excited about it all. During one of my ultrasounds the baby had the hiccups and he just sat there and laughed and watched the babies stomach for awhile. After being at the IMMS for my last one this was a breath of fresh air. The hospital stay and medications will cost close to 8,000p and the doctors are about 10,000 so with the last few doctor visits and the exchange rate it will cost us about 2,000usd. Mexico is totally wearing off on me and we haven't even enrolled and started our payments... I'm 37weeks now. So this week we plan to go by the hospital and be sure they have my name in the system and start a payment. Here in Mexico you have to pay everything before you get discharged so we also have to start pulling the money out of my account so its ready when the time comes. I'm so ready to have this baby but to be honest we haven't even taken my maternity pics yet. We plan to get a few done today and then some more next Monday. With both my others I had them done by the time I was 8mo along.Anyway I'm healthy and my boss isn't letting me do any work outside of home. This is working well for us. This post sat for so long I feel like I'm leaving a lot of info out so as always please ask if you have any questions.
It was a little hard finding the right place to go, more so because of all the options than anything. Everyone at each hospital and each doctor we visited were friendly and helpful. Our choice came down to convenience and cost. Luckily the closest hospital and doctor happened to be the best priced. My doctor is great, and takes his time on our appointments. He is responsive when we have to call him and has given us an alternate doctor to call in case he is ever unable to be reached. He is a young guy which at first I wasn't to sure about. I say young meaning hes prob about my age, 30, but that's young for an OB. But its actually great because he is so excited about it all. During one of my ultrasounds the baby had the hiccups and he just sat there and laughed and watched the babies stomach for awhile. After being at the IMMS for my last one this was a breath of fresh air. The hospital stay and medications will cost close to 8,000p and the doctors are about 10,000 so with the last few doctor visits and the exchange rate it will cost us about 2,000usd. Mexico is totally wearing off on me and we haven't even enrolled and started our payments... I'm 37weeks now. So this week we plan to go by the hospital and be sure they have my name in the system and start a payment. Here in Mexico you have to pay everything before you get discharged so we also have to start pulling the money out of my account so its ready when the time comes. I'm so ready to have this baby but to be honest we haven't even taken my maternity pics yet. We plan to get a few done today and then some more next Monday. With both my others I had them done by the time I was 8mo along.Anyway I'm healthy and my boss isn't letting me do any work outside of home. This is working well for us. This post sat for so long I feel like I'm leaving a lot of info out so as always please ask if you have any questions.
finding a place to worhsip
Our first Sunday in town we decided to join some friends of ours at their church. We had actually stopped by once when we were in town looking for a place to live so we knew where it was. El Camino was a great church and had a little class for Alana. We enjoyed the worship but didn't feel a pull from the spirit to make it our home. Also it was about 25 min to get home after ward. This is a long time when you have two tired and hungry kids. We hope to get to visit down there from time to time if they have an event or something but as far as every Sunday we decided pretty quickly that wasn't the place for us.
Thanks to some good friends who live in Tototlan (who we met while living in Tepa) we were put in contact with some missionaries who live here in Guad. Due to them having a hectic schedule at the time we haven't been able to meet in person but I know the day will come soon enough. They were able to suggest a church to us that is not even five min from our house. Well we love it so far. To be honest its a little more charismatic than any other place Iv called home but is something I can get use to. They are not flashy or showy about it but from time to time you might see someone fall out during prayer. There is so much we love about this church and I'm going to tell you now. ;)
1 They have a wonderful class for Alana, she actually comes out telling me what they told her about Jesus. She gets to go to a class when we do our class (this was an accident actually, we thought the service started at 10 and actually it was Sunday school, we liked it so much we plan to go at that time every week). During the class Issac and I sit in the nursery with Joslin which is right behind the sanctuary with a big glass window so you can see out there. They also have a huge screen TV in the nursery so you can hear and see the class. This is nice because Issac and I can kind of chat about what the guy is talking about when I dont understand well.
2. We pick Alana up for praise and worship and everyone joins in. There are so many youth at this church and I get teary eyed every time I look at the whole group of them praising God. I love for Alana (and Jos soon enough) to see us singing to Jesus and showing him how much we love him. They do up beat and slow music and let it all be led by the spirit. For example this last Sunday we ended up not even having much of a sermon because the praise session cut way into the sermon time.
3 Ok here is a great great great part to. During the sermon they have these little head phones they give me where someone is translating the whole sermon live. So last week I got to hear my first full sermon in English in over a year. Yeah I know this will cut back on my Spanish practice a bit but seriously people that's not why I'm there. ;) During the Sermon one of us (Issac or I) have to sit with Jos back in the nursery but my headphones work back there so we have decided to just take turns every other Sunday.
4 speaking of the nursery.... Its clean!!!! and safe!!!! And in Alanas class they were sure both Sundays to ask our names and who would be picking her up. They dont let any kids leave the room with out having made eye contact with the parents first.
5 people are so friendly and ready to chat. There is a little dinning area where I give the girls a snack between class and sermon and every week we have been able to meet someone.
I think there is more but I cant think of it right now. The best part is that to be honest we had decided we could go with out all these wonderful things in our church life but God has given them to us anyway. We feel so blessed. We are pretty sure at this point that this will be our church home but for now we are going to plan to go a few more Sundays and continue checking it out.
Thanks to some good friends who live in Tototlan (who we met while living in Tepa) we were put in contact with some missionaries who live here in Guad. Due to them having a hectic schedule at the time we haven't been able to meet in person but I know the day will come soon enough. They were able to suggest a church to us that is not even five min from our house. Well we love it so far. To be honest its a little more charismatic than any other place Iv called home but is something I can get use to. They are not flashy or showy about it but from time to time you might see someone fall out during prayer. There is so much we love about this church and I'm going to tell you now. ;)
1 They have a wonderful class for Alana, she actually comes out telling me what they told her about Jesus. She gets to go to a class when we do our class (this was an accident actually, we thought the service started at 10 and actually it was Sunday school, we liked it so much we plan to go at that time every week). During the class Issac and I sit in the nursery with Joslin which is right behind the sanctuary with a big glass window so you can see out there. They also have a huge screen TV in the nursery so you can hear and see the class. This is nice because Issac and I can kind of chat about what the guy is talking about when I dont understand well.
2. We pick Alana up for praise and worship and everyone joins in. There are so many youth at this church and I get teary eyed every time I look at the whole group of them praising God. I love for Alana (and Jos soon enough) to see us singing to Jesus and showing him how much we love him. They do up beat and slow music and let it all be led by the spirit. For example this last Sunday we ended up not even having much of a sermon because the praise session cut way into the sermon time.
3 Ok here is a great great great part to. During the sermon they have these little head phones they give me where someone is translating the whole sermon live. So last week I got to hear my first full sermon in English in over a year. Yeah I know this will cut back on my Spanish practice a bit but seriously people that's not why I'm there. ;) During the Sermon one of us (Issac or I) have to sit with Jos back in the nursery but my headphones work back there so we have decided to just take turns every other Sunday.
4 speaking of the nursery.... Its clean!!!! and safe!!!! And in Alanas class they were sure both Sundays to ask our names and who would be picking her up. They dont let any kids leave the room with out having made eye contact with the parents first.
5 people are so friendly and ready to chat. There is a little dinning area where I give the girls a snack between class and sermon and every week we have been able to meet someone.
I think there is more but I cant think of it right now. The best part is that to be honest we had decided we could go with out all these wonderful things in our church life but God has given them to us anyway. We feel so blessed. We are pretty sure at this point that this will be our church home but for now we are going to plan to go a few more Sundays and continue checking it out.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
The New Job (first few weeks)
Really at this point its the first month. The first couple weeks were pretty laid back and involved the trip to Zecatecus that I wrote about before. After that its been kinda crazy but we are making it. We are trying to recruit our students and at this point dont have any. I know things always come through at the last min around here and I am keeping the faith that it will. To be honest I dont believe God would have put this opportunity in front of us if it wasn't going to work out. In the way of work we have been spending our days driving all over Guadalajara promoting our program to nurses at hospitals, schools, and scrub shops. At the small IMMS that only have a few nurses we are giving invites to bring them in for a meet and great and others who are willing we offer a presentation to be done at their hospital. So if any of you know of any nurses who would like to have classes with an actual instructor for passing their TOEFL (English test), and NCLEX (nursing boards test) send them my way. Our program also includes helping them to get a visa and a job in one of the countries that our company has an office in. Sorry I'm so in promotion mode I could go on all day. It really is such a great deal for these nurses. Seriously if anyone does have more questions about it please feel free to ask.
Our boss is great and although extremely busy with a lot on his plate he is obviously strongly committed to this project. Its nice because he is easy to talk to and likes to have us all hang out after work. He is good at keeping work at work and hanging out as hanging out. A couple weeks ago our whole family got to go with him to his club and let the girls swim and have dinner. We had a lot of fun and its good to get to know the people we work with a little better.
Last week I was sent to Dallas which is where the base office is. I realized while there that there isn't much I miss from the states any more. I was surprised by how groomed everything is, I think I had forgotten what a difference mowing and trimming a long the highways makes. ;) Aside from that it was only the first day that people thought I was strange because I had to think for a while before I spoke. I kept trying to think of what I wanted to say in spanish, then have a little you dont need to do that conversation in my head, then remember to actually talk to the person I was looking at. I was able to meet my supervisor who created the curriculum I will be using to teach my class. We were able to sit and really hash out how the classes should go and basically planned out my first couple weeks of class. I was also able to meet all the people at the base office that I have been communicating with via the web and that was nice. I of course had to make a trip to Target and the Dollar tree while there but for the most part of the trip it was all work. Oh but I got some good ice cream, got to eat a Sonic, and got to eat at this awesome Indian/fusion restaurant that is owned by my supervisor and her husband. Food is always important on a visit to the states no matter how short.
As for our immediate future Issac will be doing a lot of work from home the next couple weeks and I will be continuing our promotions with other people at the school. Its been tough keeping or getting the girls on a good schedule and keeping my house in order. But really my husband is so wonderful and and is doing his share. We just haven't quite fell into our niches yet. And really we cant, there is so much that I cant do around here right now. It seems like we will be getting a big change every couple weeks now for the next few months. For example my mom shows up next week and this will help us a lot. We are so excited to see her its been a year for me and Issac hasn't seen her other than the web cam since he moved here four years ago. Then a couple weeks after that the baby is due. Then comes the holidays and in January we will actually be teaching and not just doing the promotions. Then my mom will be leaving two weeks into January. I sure hope Issac and I ready to do three kids and both working by that time. lol We will be I know but its and interesting thought.
Our boss is great and although extremely busy with a lot on his plate he is obviously strongly committed to this project. Its nice because he is easy to talk to and likes to have us all hang out after work. He is good at keeping work at work and hanging out as hanging out. A couple weeks ago our whole family got to go with him to his club and let the girls swim and have dinner. We had a lot of fun and its good to get to know the people we work with a little better.
Last week I was sent to Dallas which is where the base office is. I realized while there that there isn't much I miss from the states any more. I was surprised by how groomed everything is, I think I had forgotten what a difference mowing and trimming a long the highways makes. ;) Aside from that it was only the first day that people thought I was strange because I had to think for a while before I spoke. I kept trying to think of what I wanted to say in spanish, then have a little you dont need to do that conversation in my head, then remember to actually talk to the person I was looking at. I was able to meet my supervisor who created the curriculum I will be using to teach my class. We were able to sit and really hash out how the classes should go and basically planned out my first couple weeks of class. I was also able to meet all the people at the base office that I have been communicating with via the web and that was nice. I of course had to make a trip to Target and the Dollar tree while there but for the most part of the trip it was all work. Oh but I got some good ice cream, got to eat a Sonic, and got to eat at this awesome Indian/fusion restaurant that is owned by my supervisor and her husband. Food is always important on a visit to the states no matter how short.
As for our immediate future Issac will be doing a lot of work from home the next couple weeks and I will be continuing our promotions with other people at the school. Its been tough keeping or getting the girls on a good schedule and keeping my house in order. But really my husband is so wonderful and and is doing his share. We just haven't quite fell into our niches yet. And really we cant, there is so much that I cant do around here right now. It seems like we will be getting a big change every couple weeks now for the next few months. For example my mom shows up next week and this will help us a lot. We are so excited to see her its been a year for me and Issac hasn't seen her other than the web cam since he moved here four years ago. Then a couple weeks after that the baby is due. Then comes the holidays and in January we will actually be teaching and not just doing the promotions. Then my mom will be leaving two weeks into January. I sure hope Issac and I ready to do three kids and both working by that time. lol We will be I know but its and interesting thought.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The Move
Ok its taking me forever to get this out. Here is your warning that I am not going to read over this before I post it. If something doesn't make since just ask. lol
Its over but was not even close to being smooth. Seriously I know that patience is a vurtue that I need a lot of work with. Since moving to Mexico I have done much better with this, but I am still challenged to my brink sometimes. Let me tell you if what happened to us after me posting my last post had happened two years ago I would have been physically ill with stress. And although I wanted to reach out and rip a few heads off I actually tolerated it pretty well. Its not always about how you feel or what you want to do but what you actually do. ;) This is a change that can only be attributed to the work God has done in my life. Basically I just kept reminding myself of how he has never... ever... ever let me down or left me in the streets. And that kept me as cool as I could be.
The evening that I wrote my last post we got a call from our lovely reltor friend to say that the papers we had were not enough. Right away we told her to forget it all and we would look for another place. We told her we would need what we had given her so we could use it somewhere else. She told us to call next time we were in Guad and she would meet us to give us the papers back. At this point we were waiting on the call from the truck guys who were to help us move. We just figured we would let them know it fell through and that we would get back to them when we needed them. We also had a good friend and a cousin of ours "on hold" as far as helping us with the move. Around 7pm the relater called back and said as long as they could get a copy of my FM2 papers everything would be ok. We were a little skeptical but told her we would go with it. The truck guys called us at 8pm and agreed that 10am the next day was best for them anyway. I then called our friend who was on stand by and he also agreed. So as late as 9pm the night before we realized we were really moving the next day. Issac and I spent the next few hours packing last min items and tapeing up all the boxes. (we had left most of them open in case)
The movers were actually there early and had almost everything loaded before any of our other help showed up. On the lunch break one of the guys said, " its really rare we show up and people have everything packed up and ready to go." Then the other guy looked at him and said,"Actually, it hasn't ever happened before today." Issac and I found this amusing.
Thankfully I then went with our friend in his truck and had the movers follow me to the house. We actually only had to turn around one time and it was within the neighborhood that we were moving to. We arrived with all our stuff at the house around 2pm. This is also when Issac arrived to meet with the reltor to get the keys and sign the contract. She called him when he was about 15min away and said the contract wouldnt be ready until 5pm. He explained to here that we had hired people waiting at the house and could we have the keys to let them put our stuff in the house. The answere was no and that we couldnt have keys until the contract was signed. To say the least Issac was livid, they also informed him that he needed to get another copy of the fiodors ID. So Issac then had to turn around and head to a different part of Guad to get that copy made and proceded to the notaries to see if he could convince them to bring the keys. They were stuborn about the keys but gave us the ok to have our truck unloaded into the parking area of the house. Our movers put my entire house in the front yard basically of this this house and long story shorter, lol, we sat outside until 630pm when they land lady showed up with the keys. By this point I had meet a lot of the neighboors and found out there is a guy that kind of works the area and has for many years. He along with my friend who had stuck with us through all this ended helping move all our stuff inside. We simply set up the beds and crashed that night. We then had the whole weekend to get things together at the house and my first day of work was that Tuesday.
So thank God we are done dealing with the reltor and only have to deal with the land lady who is actually a very punctual and nice lady. The only issue we had witht he house was that the water wasnt working right but it has an underground resivour and a pump that we used until we figured out how to get the water service connected. Now we have our net and water and are happy campers. Im so thankfull for everyones prayers and well wishes. Somehow God was able to give me that peace that passes understanding during all this. A lot of it was because he provided me with fellowship during the wait. Our friend who helped us is a fellow Christian and it was good to have him around. Ill post about the job in a different post and pictures are to come later maybe not till next week of the house.
Its over but was not even close to being smooth. Seriously I know that patience is a vurtue that I need a lot of work with. Since moving to Mexico I have done much better with this, but I am still challenged to my brink sometimes. Let me tell you if what happened to us after me posting my last post had happened two years ago I would have been physically ill with stress. And although I wanted to reach out and rip a few heads off I actually tolerated it pretty well. Its not always about how you feel or what you want to do but what you actually do. ;) This is a change that can only be attributed to the work God has done in my life. Basically I just kept reminding myself of how he has never... ever... ever let me down or left me in the streets. And that kept me as cool as I could be.
The evening that I wrote my last post we got a call from our lovely reltor friend to say that the papers we had were not enough. Right away we told her to forget it all and we would look for another place. We told her we would need what we had given her so we could use it somewhere else. She told us to call next time we were in Guad and she would meet us to give us the papers back. At this point we were waiting on the call from the truck guys who were to help us move. We just figured we would let them know it fell through and that we would get back to them when we needed them. We also had a good friend and a cousin of ours "on hold" as far as helping us with the move. Around 7pm the relater called back and said as long as they could get a copy of my FM2 papers everything would be ok. We were a little skeptical but told her we would go with it. The truck guys called us at 8pm and agreed that 10am the next day was best for them anyway. I then called our friend who was on stand by and he also agreed. So as late as 9pm the night before we realized we were really moving the next day. Issac and I spent the next few hours packing last min items and tapeing up all the boxes. (we had left most of them open in case)
The movers were actually there early and had almost everything loaded before any of our other help showed up. On the lunch break one of the guys said, " its really rare we show up and people have everything packed up and ready to go." Then the other guy looked at him and said,"Actually, it hasn't ever happened before today." Issac and I found this amusing.
Thankfully I then went with our friend in his truck and had the movers follow me to the house. We actually only had to turn around one time and it was within the neighborhood that we were moving to. We arrived with all our stuff at the house around 2pm. This is also when Issac arrived to meet with the reltor to get the keys and sign the contract. She called him when he was about 15min away and said the contract wouldnt be ready until 5pm. He explained to here that we had hired people waiting at the house and could we have the keys to let them put our stuff in the house. The answere was no and that we couldnt have keys until the contract was signed. To say the least Issac was livid, they also informed him that he needed to get another copy of the fiodors ID. So Issac then had to turn around and head to a different part of Guad to get that copy made and proceded to the notaries to see if he could convince them to bring the keys. They were stuborn about the keys but gave us the ok to have our truck unloaded into the parking area of the house. Our movers put my entire house in the front yard basically of this this house and long story shorter, lol, we sat outside until 630pm when they land lady showed up with the keys. By this point I had meet a lot of the neighboors and found out there is a guy that kind of works the area and has for many years. He along with my friend who had stuck with us through all this ended helping move all our stuff inside. We simply set up the beds and crashed that night. We then had the whole weekend to get things together at the house and my first day of work was that Tuesday.
So thank God we are done dealing with the reltor and only have to deal with the land lady who is actually a very punctual and nice lady. The only issue we had witht he house was that the water wasnt working right but it has an underground resivour and a pump that we used until we figured out how to get the water service connected. Now we have our net and water and are happy campers. Im so thankfull for everyones prayers and well wishes. Somehow God was able to give me that peace that passes understanding during all this. A lot of it was because he provided me with fellowship during the wait. Our friend who helped us is a fellow Christian and it was good to have him around. Ill post about the job in a different post and pictures are to come later maybe not till next week of the house.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
zacatecus
So this is like 3 weeks old but my first work assignment was to go with my boss to Zacatecus to a conference and present our program. It went pretty well and instead of writing about it I thought Id just post some pics. Zacatecus by the way is so pretty, you feel like your in a spanish town. Prob the best part of the trip was to get to know my boss better we drove there and back and got a lot of chat time in. He and his wife are Jesus loving, praying Christians. This helps so much to have a boss who is on your wave length with the basics. Its actually a first for me and I'm loving it. So here are the pics enjoy.
Last Seguro appointment and finding a new doctor
So I'm not sad to say we had our last appointment in the Seguro. Honestly the treatment wasn't bad and it was all up to date but the thought of having the baby without Issac or the epidural was scary. Also as to be expected with something that is free most processes are more of a pain in the butt. For my last dr. appointment there we ended up having to wait almost 2 hours and only the thought that this was the last time got us through it. It was a new doctor but after we explained everything she simply gave us our paper work and wished us luck. We also found out that Issac can still have his surgery done through them if we wanted so we plan for him to go back to Tepa one weekend to get it done. This way it is free and because we already have all the paperwork done through them we figure we might as well.
It didn't take us to long to find a good place to go here in the city. To be honest the first place we checked into was only 2min from our house and we thought it was to expensive. But after checking into a few other places we found that it was actually one of our cheaper options. So we already have our new doctor and have had our first appointment with him. He is young and its kind of nice because he still seams fascinated with the whole pregnancy thing. For example during the ultrasound the baby had the hiccups and he just sat and watched the stomach and laughed for awhile. Anyway he was very thorough and did a great job with our first appointment. He did approve me to fly on Monday to Dallas (Ill explain in a different post, its for work) but said that had we not had it all set up already he prob would have suggested I dont go. He only agreed because I'm doing well with everything and there doesn't seem to be any issues. Also with the statement that it should be the last time I leave town until after the birth. This we agreed to and we set up a date for our next appointment in two weeks. To give you all an idea of the cost here, for the rest of my dr. appointments (4or 5) and the hospital stay and all the meds and doctors during my stay will run close to 2,000usd. I feel like Iv left a lot out so for any of you that may be looking into needing health care down here if you have questions please ask. One thing I know I still have to look into that some of you may be able to answer for me is for my mom. She is coming down in November and is on several medications. I'm wondering if her pill bottles show that she can get refills will the pharmacies here refill them or will we have to get her a dr appointment and a new script. She will be here for almost 3 months and I dont think will be able to bring a full supply of all of them.
It didn't take us to long to find a good place to go here in the city. To be honest the first place we checked into was only 2min from our house and we thought it was to expensive. But after checking into a few other places we found that it was actually one of our cheaper options. So we already have our new doctor and have had our first appointment with him. He is young and its kind of nice because he still seams fascinated with the whole pregnancy thing. For example during the ultrasound the baby had the hiccups and he just sat and watched the stomach and laughed for awhile. Anyway he was very thorough and did a great job with our first appointment. He did approve me to fly on Monday to Dallas (Ill explain in a different post, its for work) but said that had we not had it all set up already he prob would have suggested I dont go. He only agreed because I'm doing well with everything and there doesn't seem to be any issues. Also with the statement that it should be the last time I leave town until after the birth. This we agreed to and we set up a date for our next appointment in two weeks. To give you all an idea of the cost here, for the rest of my dr. appointments (4or 5) and the hospital stay and all the meds and doctors during my stay will run close to 2,000usd. I feel like Iv left a lot out so for any of you that may be looking into needing health care down here if you have questions please ask. One thing I know I still have to look into that some of you may be able to answer for me is for my mom. She is coming down in November and is on several medications. I'm wondering if her pill bottles show that she can get refills will the pharmacies here refill them or will we have to get her a dr appointment and a new script. She will be here for almost 3 months and I dont think will be able to bring a full supply of all of them.
The process
First I have to start this off with something that has nothing to do with the post itself. I just find being a mommy so fun so I wanted to share that my 18mo old has found that she can stash things in her diaper, so changes have become so interesting. And the 4year old GIRL... MY PRINCESS... has some odd fascination with spitting. This is not something I thought I would ever have to deal with with Alana. I have even told her its gross, and that a princess would never spit and its not helping. The good thing is that Issac is no longer working 12 hour days 6 days a week so he is around all the time to help....AND HE DOES HELP. Hes such an awesome papi and really pulls his weight around here.
So in my last post I told you about the amazing jobs we got in Guadalajara. The next step was to find a house to live in up there. Our first trip up there we stayed at some friends house with the idea that this would help us get an early start each day in looking for a place. The good thing was they had a house phone and we were able to use that. We seriously put more min on our phones in three days than we normally do in a month and a half. The only bad thing was that these guys live (with traffic) almost an hour from where we were looking. We had got in contact with a realtor... well sort of. Here is how that exchange went. We e-mailed her on Thur saying we were interested in looking at houses the first of the next week and when would she be available. She wrote back that she would get a list together for us by then. Come Sat we hadn't heard back about an appointment so we called her. She told us to call her when we got to Guad on Monday and she would meet us. We called her when we got there on Monday morning and she said she had things to do all day and could meet with us that evening. We called her that evening and she said she had just rented all but one of the places she had to show us and it couldn't be seen till the next day. The good thing was we actually had a few things to do with our new boss that day and we had a place to go back to in town (sort of). We also managed to get some other appointments set up to view places the next day so it was semi productive. The next day we headed out looking for more numbers and viewing the places we had already set up. The realtor was finally ready for us to view the house around 2 that afternoon. We loved this house and it was the one we are getting but we spent another evening and next day looking at our other options. Its about 30min from work and we were not sure we wanted to be that far. Believe it or not my girls were so good during all this. We had toys and lots of food stocked in the truck and each day let them spend an hour or so playing at burger king. This is a big deal to my little country kids who only see burger king every so often when we visited the city.
Although the realtor was so frustrating to deal with this was only the beginning. Because we have never lived in Guad we had to get a fiador, or a cosigner who has property and a deed to prove it in the city. At the last min Issac found a friend who would do it for us but he was as difficult to get anything set up with as the realtor was and we actually never ended up meeting up with the guy in person and just went and got the papers from his parents at their house. This came during our second trip the first being a whole wasted day trip to Guad. The only reason that was a big deal is because we are running very low on funds. Issac quite a week and a half ago so we could get all this running done and I dont get paid till the end of this week. Considering we were living check to check this is cutting us to the grind. Thankfully my sister loves us very much and knows we are very close to not being broke so she has loaned us some money. I then decided it would be a good idea to throw 3-500p down the drain when I scraped up against a parked car (thank God it was in Tepa) and broke out their tail light. I was so upset and mad at myself I have never done something like that and am normally a great driver. My sister says I can blame it on being prego so I will. ;)Like I said I'm glad it happened here because we know a guy who we trust will fix it and only what we messed up and not over charge us. Also he is taking his time, I hate that for the other guy (they were actually really nice people) but for us its better to not have to pay it until I start getting paid from the new job.
So now we have turned in our papers, and the contract should be getting written up today for the new rental. (Ill explain the house better when I can post pics and stuff) Our hope is that tomorrow at 10am we will be loading up our truck and moving. I think I may have to work some on Friday but still not sure on that either. Ill post more about the job on a different post. Today we are waiting on the guy we found who has a truck to verify if he will be able to help us tomorrow and for the landlord to call and tell us for sure the contract will be ready to be signed and the keys handed over tomorrow. I guess I'm lucky they are letting us know today and not tomorrow. So here we go moving again, dont read my old posts because I'm pretty sure I swore we were not going to move again for 2 years after we found our current house. That was 4months ago, seriously God does like to keep us on our toes.
So far I have been able to focus on the fact that I know God is in all this and try to stay calm and have faith. Although I have to say I have had a few random outburst (in private of course) and the crying fit when I hit the car but all in all I'm doing much better with all this than I would have been 2 years ago. I just have to remember that this is a part of my refining process and hopefully when we get to the other side I can shine even brighter for the Lord.
We are so excited about what the future holds for us as a family and excited to be closer to some of our friends. Keep us in mind this week that things go as smoothly as possible being that we are in Mexico. lol
Thanks everyone for your great comments and although, I'm not on the computer as much right now with all this moving craziness, believe me I will be blogging again regularly soon. I have so many different things I want to write about and am making notes so I dont forget. But for now we are totally consumed with this move.
So in my last post I told you about the amazing jobs we got in Guadalajara. The next step was to find a house to live in up there. Our first trip up there we stayed at some friends house with the idea that this would help us get an early start each day in looking for a place. The good thing was they had a house phone and we were able to use that. We seriously put more min on our phones in three days than we normally do in a month and a half. The only bad thing was that these guys live (with traffic) almost an hour from where we were looking. We had got in contact with a realtor... well sort of. Here is how that exchange went. We e-mailed her on Thur saying we were interested in looking at houses the first of the next week and when would she be available. She wrote back that she would get a list together for us by then. Come Sat we hadn't heard back about an appointment so we called her. She told us to call her when we got to Guad on Monday and she would meet us. We called her when we got there on Monday morning and she said she had things to do all day and could meet with us that evening. We called her that evening and she said she had just rented all but one of the places she had to show us and it couldn't be seen till the next day. The good thing was we actually had a few things to do with our new boss that day and we had a place to go back to in town (sort of). We also managed to get some other appointments set up to view places the next day so it was semi productive. The next day we headed out looking for more numbers and viewing the places we had already set up. The realtor was finally ready for us to view the house around 2 that afternoon. We loved this house and it was the one we are getting but we spent another evening and next day looking at our other options. Its about 30min from work and we were not sure we wanted to be that far. Believe it or not my girls were so good during all this. We had toys and lots of food stocked in the truck and each day let them spend an hour or so playing at burger king. This is a big deal to my little country kids who only see burger king every so often when we visited the city.
Although the realtor was so frustrating to deal with this was only the beginning. Because we have never lived in Guad we had to get a fiador, or a cosigner who has property and a deed to prove it in the city. At the last min Issac found a friend who would do it for us but he was as difficult to get anything set up with as the realtor was and we actually never ended up meeting up with the guy in person and just went and got the papers from his parents at their house. This came during our second trip the first being a whole wasted day trip to Guad. The only reason that was a big deal is because we are running very low on funds. Issac quite a week and a half ago so we could get all this running done and I dont get paid till the end of this week. Considering we were living check to check this is cutting us to the grind. Thankfully my sister loves us very much and knows we are very close to not being broke so she has loaned us some money. I then decided it would be a good idea to throw 3-500p down the drain when I scraped up against a parked car (thank God it was in Tepa) and broke out their tail light. I was so upset and mad at myself I have never done something like that and am normally a great driver. My sister says I can blame it on being prego so I will. ;)Like I said I'm glad it happened here because we know a guy who we trust will fix it and only what we messed up and not over charge us. Also he is taking his time, I hate that for the other guy (they were actually really nice people) but for us its better to not have to pay it until I start getting paid from the new job.
So now we have turned in our papers, and the contract should be getting written up today for the new rental. (Ill explain the house better when I can post pics and stuff) Our hope is that tomorrow at 10am we will be loading up our truck and moving. I think I may have to work some on Friday but still not sure on that either. Ill post more about the job on a different post. Today we are waiting on the guy we found who has a truck to verify if he will be able to help us tomorrow and for the landlord to call and tell us for sure the contract will be ready to be signed and the keys handed over tomorrow. I guess I'm lucky they are letting us know today and not tomorrow. So here we go moving again, dont read my old posts because I'm pretty sure I swore we were not going to move again for 2 years after we found our current house. That was 4months ago, seriously God does like to keep us on our toes.
So far I have been able to focus on the fact that I know God is in all this and try to stay calm and have faith. Although I have to say I have had a few random outburst (in private of course) and the crying fit when I hit the car but all in all I'm doing much better with all this than I would have been 2 years ago. I just have to remember that this is a part of my refining process and hopefully when we get to the other side I can shine even brighter for the Lord.
We are so excited about what the future holds for us as a family and excited to be closer to some of our friends. Keep us in mind this week that things go as smoothly as possible being that we are in Mexico. lol
Thanks everyone for your great comments and although, I'm not on the computer as much right now with all this moving craziness, believe me I will be blogging again regularly soon. I have so many different things I want to write about and am making notes so I dont forget. But for now we are totally consumed with this move.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Big News
No, we haven't gotten our clarification ultrasound yet so this is not to tell you the sex of our baby. But because of what I'm getting ready to tell you we can now go get the ultrasound. God is so amazing and works in ways that we would never dream up or imagine (and I have a huge imagination).
Ok so do I have your attention yet.... are you curious? lol
Well here is how the story goes...
A little over a week ago I received an e-mail from a friend (who I meet through blogging http://wagamamawonderings.blogspot.com/). It was nice and simple and had a link to a job req on creigs list. She simply stated she thought of me when she saw it (we are convinced now that God put my name in her mind at that moment). Out of curiosity I clicked on the site. It was a job posting for a nurse to work in Guadalajara teaching nurses how to pass the nursing exam that is required in the US. That night I told my husband about it and we decided although we were not exactly looking for a job that since it was sent to us maybe we should check into it, in case it was from God.
Last week I sent in my resume and they quickly responded with an application for me to fill out. I did this, still not thinking much of this because as you all know I have been down this road before and it didn't turn out well. But I got another quick response, they wanted to meet me. It just so happened that the president of the co would be in Guadalajara the following weekend and wanted to meet me. He also would like to do a casual phone interview and see a picture of me before we meet in person. So I sent them my new majic jack phone number (thanks again Rebecca) and a cropped head shot of me. I talked to Issac about all of it and we decided we could head up to Guad on Sat after Issac got off work to meet them if I felt the phone conversation went well. We were a little unsure because just to make this trip we were literally going to use every last penny in our savings to get there. Needless to say the phone conversation went great and this guy was very friendly and open to options. He mentioned at the time that he was also looking to have an English teacher and if I or my husband wanted it that would be more money for us. This sounded great except that being in a new city we would want one of us at home and we planned on mentioning this at our meeting. Thankfully we were able to get Issacs aunt and grandma to come over and sit with the girls that after noon and evening so we were comfortable with where they were and we didn't have to tug them a long with us.
The meeting went better than either of us could have ever dreamed. And thankfully we were better than what they thought they could have found also. My husbands English is close to perfect and to be honest he knows the ends and outs of grammar better than I do. OK I'm sure you believe that you all read my blog. lol Not only am I nurse but I have a lot of experience educating other nurses and my Spanish is good enough to help me convey what I need to to these nurses in both English and Spanish. So there you have it we were both hired and told so that night before we even left. I will be completing all the paper work by mid next week and my start date is the 1st of October. The classes do not start until Jan 1st but the next few months will part time work recruiting nurses who want to enroll in the school. We will be traveling to conventions, hospitals, and schools to get our name out there and get our student enrollment up. Im so excited about all these opportunities. I get to go to Zacatecas with them for my first assignment the 1st of October. This will be a whole new experience for me and Issac because he will be staying with the girls. Speaking of which they were totally ok with being sure that our classes are spaced in a way that we will have plenty of time to switch of with the kids. Seriously we would have never dreamed up a more perfect situation for ourselves. This weekend we will be in Guadalajara looking for a house, bank, school for Alana, etc. etc. So all who pray shoot one up for us. I'm convinced that this is from God so I know he will help us to get all things in order by the right time but extra prayers are always good. ;)
Dios Sabe, verdad!!!!!!
I was telling a friend the other day, I wonder if God will always turn me on my head when I least expect it. Most likely the answer is yes, its called refinement, hes making me into his diamond and I'm loving it. Just seeing what he has done inside of me over the last two years even is amazing. The old Amanda right now would not be sleeping, Id be biting my lips, Id be fretting. But not now.. the what ifs are not coming.. the how will we such and such is not coming. I'm secure in the fact that God will carry us through this. Sure we have to do the leg work and investigation on things, but he will provide all things in the end.
Ok so do I have your attention yet.... are you curious? lol
Well here is how the story goes...
A little over a week ago I received an e-mail from a friend (who I meet through blogging http://wagamamawonderings.blogspot.com/). It was nice and simple and had a link to a job req on creigs list. She simply stated she thought of me when she saw it (we are convinced now that God put my name in her mind at that moment). Out of curiosity I clicked on the site. It was a job posting for a nurse to work in Guadalajara teaching nurses how to pass the nursing exam that is required in the US. That night I told my husband about it and we decided although we were not exactly looking for a job that since it was sent to us maybe we should check into it, in case it was from God.
Last week I sent in my resume and they quickly responded with an application for me to fill out. I did this, still not thinking much of this because as you all know I have been down this road before and it didn't turn out well. But I got another quick response, they wanted to meet me. It just so happened that the president of the co would be in Guadalajara the following weekend and wanted to meet me. He also would like to do a casual phone interview and see a picture of me before we meet in person. So I sent them my new majic jack phone number (thanks again Rebecca) and a cropped head shot of me. I talked to Issac about all of it and we decided we could head up to Guad on Sat after Issac got off work to meet them if I felt the phone conversation went well. We were a little unsure because just to make this trip we were literally going to use every last penny in our savings to get there. Needless to say the phone conversation went great and this guy was very friendly and open to options. He mentioned at the time that he was also looking to have an English teacher and if I or my husband wanted it that would be more money for us. This sounded great except that being in a new city we would want one of us at home and we planned on mentioning this at our meeting. Thankfully we were able to get Issacs aunt and grandma to come over and sit with the girls that after noon and evening so we were comfortable with where they were and we didn't have to tug them a long with us.
The meeting went better than either of us could have ever dreamed. And thankfully we were better than what they thought they could have found also. My husbands English is close to perfect and to be honest he knows the ends and outs of grammar better than I do. OK I'm sure you believe that you all read my blog. lol Not only am I nurse but I have a lot of experience educating other nurses and my Spanish is good enough to help me convey what I need to to these nurses in both English and Spanish. So there you have it we were both hired and told so that night before we even left. I will be completing all the paper work by mid next week and my start date is the 1st of October. The classes do not start until Jan 1st but the next few months will part time work recruiting nurses who want to enroll in the school. We will be traveling to conventions, hospitals, and schools to get our name out there and get our student enrollment up. Im so excited about all these opportunities. I get to go to Zacatecas with them for my first assignment the 1st of October. This will be a whole new experience for me and Issac because he will be staying with the girls. Speaking of which they were totally ok with being sure that our classes are spaced in a way that we will have plenty of time to switch of with the kids. Seriously we would have never dreamed up a more perfect situation for ourselves. This weekend we will be in Guadalajara looking for a house, bank, school for Alana, etc. etc. So all who pray shoot one up for us. I'm convinced that this is from God so I know he will help us to get all things in order by the right time but extra prayers are always good. ;)
Dios Sabe, verdad!!!!!!
I was telling a friend the other day, I wonder if God will always turn me on my head when I least expect it. Most likely the answer is yes, its called refinement, hes making me into his diamond and I'm loving it. Just seeing what he has done inside of me over the last two years even is amazing. The old Amanda right now would not be sleeping, Id be biting my lips, Id be fretting. But not now.. the what ifs are not coming.. the how will we such and such is not coming. I'm secure in the fact that God will carry us through this. Sure we have to do the leg work and investigation on things, but he will provide all things in the end.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
getting caught up
I finally responded to my comments from over 4 posts ago. My life went from looking for more projects to do at home to feeling a little busy. And of course the blog got put on the back burner. For this post I want to post some pics of our Independence week. We had a great time at Alanas school party and had visitors from Guadalajara for the grito and festivities. We have actually had a very exciting weekend since then and I will for sure be writing a whole other post on that. But for now enjoy some photos. ;)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
seguro: Seven month appointment
So this was to be the big happy easy appointment because my husband would be there with me. First I need to say that this one appointment with the nurse turned into another appointment with the doctor the next day due to me having some small issues (Ill discuss those issues later).This "easy" appointment turned out to be a bust. I found that after a few months of freedom of speech and understanding it was more frustrating to me to have him around. You see unlike Alanas teacher these people normally dont have a choice and must communicate with me. So speech is slowed and they let me take my time explaining things. When the nurse started talking I felt my head spin around in a circle she was talking so quickly. And because Issac knows how "well" Iv been doing there he was a little frustrated or confused about me constantly asking for translation. (He never said this but I could tell). And more than once I was stopped in what I was trying to say in spanish and told to let Issac tell them. GRRRR.... yes I'm showing my teeth...and squinting my eyes just remembering.
So now I'm actually looking forward to my next appointment without him. Funny how and why your feelings about something can change.
Aside from the annoyances of language barrier the appointment went as usual sort of. Because she established early on that she wanted me to visit the doctor she did no vitals checks, or sized the baby. Basically my gall bladder has been presenting itself as more of an annoyance and because of that causing other minor irritations around the bum region. I wont go into more detail anyone who has been pregnant knows what I'm talking about. But apparently this is enough for me to actually talk to the doctor about. At first I wasn't really sure why but the next day.. yes you read that right they got me an appointment the very next day and in the evening no less SO THAT MY HUSBAND COULD ACCOMPANY ME!!! Ok really I'm glad they are so accommodating about having him come with me I'm just being and independent snob. We then discussed our birth control plan with the nurse. As Iv said before they are very preoccupied with this and we discuss it almost every appointment. Our plan is for hubby to have surgery. The nurse simply wrote up a requesto or a request for us to bring to the hospital for them to make Issacs appointment. She told us it would be best to plan it for the same time as I have the baby that way he gets some extra days home with me. This was such a great idea. She explained that he would only have pain for about a day but that the seguro can grant him 3 days off work. (so we are quickly adding it up and with his 2 days he gets for having a baby and his normal one day off in the week he gets almost a whole week to stay home with us. She scheduled the date for a few days after my due date (which is back to Dec2). And if it happens that I have the baby sooner or later he just has to go in to see her and she will change the date. She did tell us to come see her the next day after we talked to the doctor and fill her in how things went.
So the next day we visited the doctor she did all the vials and some measurements of the belly and poking around in other areas. She then wrote me some prescriptions. I see that this is the reason I was sent to her. She also further restricted my diet and now Im banned from red meats, and oddly enough things like tostadas. When they write you prescriptions at the seguro its not like when another dr writes you one and you think ok which ones can I afford to get. Everything they write you is give to you of no charge. My gosh we always feel like we just hit the jack pot when we leave the seguro pharmacy with loaded arms. For free I got a box of Metamucil, a cream, some suppositories, three things of vitamins, tylenol, buscapina (its an antiinflamitory that is geared towards you digestive tract and is a blessing to me). I stuffed my purse full of the medication and we were on our way. Oh I forgot to mention that we did go back to the nurses office after the doctor and didn't get much done back there. Because the appointment was so late the nurses secretary was already gone so they couldn't actually schedule my next appointment nor the appointment for Issac. She also wants me to get some blood work done but for her to fill out the requesto she had to know the date of my next appointment so they get me in before then. So I get to go back on Monday to set up my appointment and get mine and Issacs paper work to bring to the hospital for our blood work. Sometimes going through the seguro is a pain in the butt but I just have to remind oneself I'm not really paying them for their service.
When leaving we were excited to be on our way or so we thought, the truck was out of gas and after all that Issac had to walk to get gas. The good thing is I think this gave us both time to blow off our steam about the whole translations/language barrier thing. So there it is folks there should only be two or three more of these posts before I get to tell you about the hospital.
Oh some really good news is that I booked my moms flight and her passport is on the way. She will be arriving November 10th which will give her a few weeks to get adjusted before I will need a lot of help and she will be here till Jan 19th (the day after my birthday). We are all so excited about this. She will be our first family visiting since I moved here.
So now I'm actually looking forward to my next appointment without him. Funny how and why your feelings about something can change.
Aside from the annoyances of language barrier the appointment went as usual sort of. Because she established early on that she wanted me to visit the doctor she did no vitals checks, or sized the baby. Basically my gall bladder has been presenting itself as more of an annoyance and because of that causing other minor irritations around the bum region. I wont go into more detail anyone who has been pregnant knows what I'm talking about. But apparently this is enough for me to actually talk to the doctor about. At first I wasn't really sure why but the next day.. yes you read that right they got me an appointment the very next day and in the evening no less SO THAT MY HUSBAND COULD ACCOMPANY ME!!! Ok really I'm glad they are so accommodating about having him come with me I'm just being and independent snob. We then discussed our birth control plan with the nurse. As Iv said before they are very preoccupied with this and we discuss it almost every appointment. Our plan is for hubby to have surgery. The nurse simply wrote up a requesto or a request for us to bring to the hospital for them to make Issacs appointment. She told us it would be best to plan it for the same time as I have the baby that way he gets some extra days home with me. This was such a great idea. She explained that he would only have pain for about a day but that the seguro can grant him 3 days off work. (so we are quickly adding it up and with his 2 days he gets for having a baby and his normal one day off in the week he gets almost a whole week to stay home with us. She scheduled the date for a few days after my due date (which is back to Dec2). And if it happens that I have the baby sooner or later he just has to go in to see her and she will change the date. She did tell us to come see her the next day after we talked to the doctor and fill her in how things went.
So the next day we visited the doctor she did all the vials and some measurements of the belly and poking around in other areas. She then wrote me some prescriptions. I see that this is the reason I was sent to her. She also further restricted my diet and now Im banned from red meats, and oddly enough things like tostadas. When they write you prescriptions at the seguro its not like when another dr writes you one and you think ok which ones can I afford to get. Everything they write you is give to you of no charge. My gosh we always feel like we just hit the jack pot when we leave the seguro pharmacy with loaded arms. For free I got a box of Metamucil, a cream, some suppositories, three things of vitamins, tylenol, buscapina (its an antiinflamitory that is geared towards you digestive tract and is a blessing to me). I stuffed my purse full of the medication and we were on our way. Oh I forgot to mention that we did go back to the nurses office after the doctor and didn't get much done back there. Because the appointment was so late the nurses secretary was already gone so they couldn't actually schedule my next appointment nor the appointment for Issac. She also wants me to get some blood work done but for her to fill out the requesto she had to know the date of my next appointment so they get me in before then. So I get to go back on Monday to set up my appointment and get mine and Issacs paper work to bring to the hospital for our blood work. Sometimes going through the seguro is a pain in the butt but I just have to remind oneself I'm not really paying them for their service.
When leaving we were excited to be on our way or so we thought, the truck was out of gas and after all that Issac had to walk to get gas. The good thing is I think this gave us both time to blow off our steam about the whole translations/language barrier thing. So there it is folks there should only be two or three more of these posts before I get to tell you about the hospital.
Oh some really good news is that I booked my moms flight and her passport is on the way. She will be arriving November 10th which will give her a few weeks to get adjusted before I will need a lot of help and she will be here till Jan 19th (the day after my birthday). We are all so excited about this. She will be our first family visiting since I moved here.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Junta General
Yesterday was the meeting with the whole school to pick the board members and go over general stuff. Things started off well and the girls were sitting quietly and eating their snacks so I was able to keep up. My husband was of course there with me and if I didn't get something he told me. Basically the superintendent over a few of the schools was there and giving a bit of a lecture on how parents should be involved with their kids. Its a huge problem here that parents just dont talk to their kids about school and seem to not care if they are even going. She also explained what the board was and that it had to be all parents and not teachers. Part of that is to make the parents be more involved. Then the picking got started. Finding people to volunteer for the positions like secretary, and treasury were easy but when they got to the president things stopped. Absolutely no one wanted to do it. This was so upsetting to me because I would love to do it but cant. Many times the moms would suggest someone and that person would decline. Including my husband... yes one of the ladies from our class looked at him and said, "cant you do it." He said he wished he could but he works a lot and wouldn't be able to commit the way he should. Again a huge "sigh" from me (on the inside of course), and I was trying to remember his words to me after the last junta while I was in tears, "its only her first year of kinder, you'll be doing all the things you want to be in a year or so, just hang in till then." As they kept asking and the director and superintendent kept repeating what the presidents roll would be, Issac could see me squirming and whining inside myself. He finally said, "Well if I agree to do it will you do most of it but Ill just join at the meetings for the translations." I wanted to kiss him right then and there. I would have never suggested it because he really does work a lot and I know the last thing he needs is a school meeting every time he is off work. As we discussed it a lady finally agreed to do it. He just smiled at me with a "next year." look.
Oh but wait now they need a vise president and no wanted that one either. So my (handsome lovely night in shining armor) hubby stood up (and you could see some of the ladies relax a bit) and said, my wife and I could do it together, and my only day off is wed so meetings would have to held then or you would have to work with my wife's language ability. Everyone was shaking their heads yes and in agreement and then he went up front with the others that had been "elected". For now I of course stayed in the back with the girls but I'm so happy that we are going to be involved and know whats going on and have some say so in it all. For the rest of the meeting I was kind of in and out with the girls but I got the gist of what was going on. First they talked about payment for the school. So here we were thinking even though it was gov school we would still have to pay a hefty inscription and monthly payment (the private inscriptions are like 1-15thousand pesos and a monthly payment of 500p) Here the total payment is to be 550p. The issue is that sometimes people just dont pay when going to gov schools and others have to pick up the slack. A gov school can not prevent a child from coming to class if their parents haven't paid (whoo hoo for that, its not the kids fault). So there was like an hour discussion over all this and thanks to Issacs wonderful idea I think the left it where everyone was happy. He suggested that they could have a few payment plans, one is that you can pay the whole amount before mid December and if you do you pay only 500p. Then if you want they can split it up so that you pay little by little each month (50p), and if you dont pay by a certain date each month you will have to pay more (60p) and the amount you pay will keep going up until you pay. This was a great idea and I'm glad I'm not the treasury who has to keep up with it all. But she was even in agreement so I think its gonna work out. This money will go to hygiene, utilities and safety and we will get a read out of what all it is spent on.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that at the junta with the teacher she gave us yet another form to fill out about our children. This form had the normal personal info about name, parents, contacts ext but also asked in depth questions about the child's behavior and how the parents normally respond. Apparently the reason classes were only 2 hours the last couple weeks was because the teachers were suppose to have an interview with each parent after class and go over these questions. Instead we just got the paper last Friday and were told to bring it back filled out. The superintendent said she noticed this and that she was going to suspend the 3 hour classes for the next 2 weeks again and make them 2 hours so the teachers would do the interviews. Are the teachers going to do it? We dont know yet. Alanas teacher was still collecting the papers from the parents and stating that this is how she had done it every year. I wish she would do an interview because I think its a great interaction between parents and teachers but we shall see.
We were also informed that there would be a total of five holiday parties that would be held at the school and the total year cost of these classes is 150p.
We were also given their menu's which is the food we are to send with them each day. We will be getting these every Friday and the kids are expected to have exactly what is written or it will be taken away. They waited till after the first two weeks to do this just to see what the parents were sending. Sure enough parents were sending their kids to school with sugary snacks and chips. So now we get to be regimented, I'm fine with this though because now I dont have to try to get creative with her lunches. ;)
Total cost: 1628p
Parties 150p
School maintenance 500p
School materials 300p
pencil bag 20p
New book bag (Im not sure on the price yet, we have been using a small one she had but her book wont fit in it once she gets it so we will have to add this on later)
Uniforms:
Sweets (can only be bought at the school) 250p
shoes and undergarments (soriana) 185p
Falda or skirt (made by neighboor) 65p material 70p for 2 dresses made
2 pair socks (downtown) 12p
sweater (downtown) 95p
A few more things that were not at the junta. Today it looked like rain so I drove Alana to school. We picked up our new friends on the way (we have friends, lol). Then when I was talking to the teacher I was trying to explain that I wrote up some recipes for the moms and that I would bring copies sometime this week. She looked utterly confused so I laughed and said I was like talking to a kid. Well that's what I think I said, although from her response I think it came out more like, I'm like talking to my daughter. Because the teachers reply was that it was not at all like talking to Alana because Alanas spanish was really good. Although I'm laughing about this I kind of like dang my baby has already surpassed me I need to get on this.
Well I also picked up the same friend on the way home because I got carried away writing this post and left the house a little late and had to drive to pick her up also. On the way home my new friend explained how her sister lives in the states and her kids (my friends sobrinos) speak only English. My friends son wants to learn English so he can talk with his primos. I told her to come over any weekend for some coffee and we could let the kids play and let Alana tell him some words, and that also I had some videos that might help him learn words. I explained that after he learns some words then I would start communicating with him only in English and I would also ask Alana to do the same. But I feel he needs to have a grasp on some words before the communication starts.
Oh but wait now they need a vise president and no wanted that one either. So my (handsome lovely night in shining armor) hubby stood up (and you could see some of the ladies relax a bit) and said, my wife and I could do it together, and my only day off is wed so meetings would have to held then or you would have to work with my wife's language ability. Everyone was shaking their heads yes and in agreement and then he went up front with the others that had been "elected". For now I of course stayed in the back with the girls but I'm so happy that we are going to be involved and know whats going on and have some say so in it all. For the rest of the meeting I was kind of in and out with the girls but I got the gist of what was going on. First they talked about payment for the school. So here we were thinking even though it was gov school we would still have to pay a hefty inscription and monthly payment (the private inscriptions are like 1-15thousand pesos and a monthly payment of 500p) Here the total payment is to be 550p. The issue is that sometimes people just dont pay when going to gov schools and others have to pick up the slack. A gov school can not prevent a child from coming to class if their parents haven't paid (whoo hoo for that, its not the kids fault). So there was like an hour discussion over all this and thanks to Issacs wonderful idea I think the left it where everyone was happy. He suggested that they could have a few payment plans, one is that you can pay the whole amount before mid December and if you do you pay only 500p. Then if you want they can split it up so that you pay little by little each month (50p), and if you dont pay by a certain date each month you will have to pay more (60p) and the amount you pay will keep going up until you pay. This was a great idea and I'm glad I'm not the treasury who has to keep up with it all. But she was even in agreement so I think its gonna work out. This money will go to hygiene, utilities and safety and we will get a read out of what all it is spent on.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that at the junta with the teacher she gave us yet another form to fill out about our children. This form had the normal personal info about name, parents, contacts ext but also asked in depth questions about the child's behavior and how the parents normally respond. Apparently the reason classes were only 2 hours the last couple weeks was because the teachers were suppose to have an interview with each parent after class and go over these questions. Instead we just got the paper last Friday and were told to bring it back filled out. The superintendent said she noticed this and that she was going to suspend the 3 hour classes for the next 2 weeks again and make them 2 hours so the teachers would do the interviews. Are the teachers going to do it? We dont know yet. Alanas teacher was still collecting the papers from the parents and stating that this is how she had done it every year. I wish she would do an interview because I think its a great interaction between parents and teachers but we shall see.
We were also informed that there would be a total of five holiday parties that would be held at the school and the total year cost of these classes is 150p.
We were also given their menu's which is the food we are to send with them each day. We will be getting these every Friday and the kids are expected to have exactly what is written or it will be taken away. They waited till after the first two weeks to do this just to see what the parents were sending. Sure enough parents were sending their kids to school with sugary snacks and chips. So now we get to be regimented, I'm fine with this though because now I dont have to try to get creative with her lunches. ;)
Total cost: 1628p
Parties 150p
School maintenance 500p
School materials 300p
pencil bag 20p
New book bag (Im not sure on the price yet, we have been using a small one she had but her book wont fit in it once she gets it so we will have to add this on later)
Uniforms:
Sweets (can only be bought at the school) 250p
shoes and undergarments (soriana) 185p
Falda or skirt (made by neighboor) 65p material 70p for 2 dresses made
2 pair socks (downtown) 12p
sweater (downtown) 95p
A few more things that were not at the junta. Today it looked like rain so I drove Alana to school. We picked up our new friends on the way (we have friends, lol). Then when I was talking to the teacher I was trying to explain that I wrote up some recipes for the moms and that I would bring copies sometime this week. She looked utterly confused so I laughed and said I was like talking to a kid. Well that's what I think I said, although from her response I think it came out more like, I'm like talking to my daughter. Because the teachers reply was that it was not at all like talking to Alana because Alanas spanish was really good. Although I'm laughing about this I kind of like dang my baby has already surpassed me I need to get on this.
Well I also picked up the same friend on the way home because I got carried away writing this post and left the house a little late and had to drive to pick her up also. On the way home my new friend explained how her sister lives in the states and her kids (my friends sobrinos) speak only English. My friends son wants to learn English so he can talk with his primos. I told her to come over any weekend for some coffee and we could let the kids play and let Alana tell him some words, and that also I had some videos that might help him learn words. I explained that after he learns some words then I would start communicating with him only in English and I would also ask Alana to do the same. But I feel he needs to have a grasp on some words before the communication starts.
Friday, September 3, 2010
First school meeting
Today was the last day of the second week of school and we and the school are finally getting some info. Wednesday when I dropped Alana off I saw a poster up that said Attencion. Thankfully as I was reading it I heard another mom asking about it because it kind of didn't make sense to me. Apparently it was written weird and even those who know spanish well were a little confused. So I listened in on her questions to the director (I guess that's what I should call her)and I got what I could out of it. I then approached the ladies who have sort of "taken me in." They live right on my block and helped me find someone else who lives on our block to make Alanas uniform. Also they are always sure to slow their pace if they know I'm behind them or ask me if we want a ride if they see us walking to school. One of these ladies actually has a daughter in Alanas class so she explained things to me and offered to come by and explain to my husband just to be sure I was not misunderstanding anything. This was a major relief to me. Well she wasn't able to come by and explain things to my husband because she came down with a bug and here is how things played out.
From what I could understand we were to have a junta (meeting) with the teacher on Thursday morning at nine and the kids would be having class that day, and then next Monday the whole kinder would have a junta with the director. Thursdays are a very busy day for my husband and we decided I would go and do my best and hopefully our neighbor could fill him in on everything. I hated the idea and so did Issac but we didn't have much of a choice. Walking to school that morning I was a little nervous but had my pen and paper and was ready to do what I could. But when I showed up the teacher handed me a paper and "reminded" me of the junta tomorrow. Opps I got jueves and viernes confused again, I do this a lot for some reason. But the good thing is that it was no big deal for Issac to switch to evenings for Friday so he could go to the meeting with me. The paper she sent home with me was one to fill out information on Alana. It was all information that we had already filled out for her inscription, and on her first week of school that I gave again to the director. I'm assuming this is the teachers personal copy of the info on each kid. It was simple things like the CURP, ht, wt, domicillo ( address)with this they want to know not only the street you live on and your house number but the streets that you live between also, I find this odd. Anyway also they ask for the parents names and jobs and phone numbers. I also find this interesting considering so far I had not been asked for my phone number. We did give it to them on a piece of paper the first day of school but that was our own idea and was not requested. In a lot of cases I like the laid back style here but in this one I feel it was dangerous for all those kids to be at school for two weeks without any emergency numbers on file. Anyway I came home and filled it out, mainly just to prove to myself I could do it, and because I was annoyed at the fact the teacher specifically told me to have my husband fill it out. I know I should be able to let this stuff go knowing how my spanish isn't great but being the independent person I am it gets to me. So once I had fluffed my ego by filling it out I had Issac check everything on it the next day ( I did good!! lol)
This morning we got there a little before nine and the teacher told us to go on in with Alana. When the bell rang they had only the parents go into the class room and brought the kids out and the teacher had some class time with them during the first part of the morning. I was expecting this to all be a brief overview of what they do in class and a quick vote on if we should buy the materials individually or give the teacher money. Oh boy was I wrong and completely unprepared (we didn't bring diapers for Joslin nor food). I should have known better from reading blogs such as Leslies.
First we sat through about and hour and a half of lecture and questions on proper nutrition. I'm so glad they did this because its one of my pet peeves down here. I'm also glad they did it because it gave me a new perspective on things. I thought people just ate and feed their kids the way they did because well they just dont care or its just the way things are or eating right is just to much of a hassle. But seriously these ladies seemed like it was the first time they were hearing any of this information. I realize I take my education and my quest for learning for granted. What I didn't learn in school I have self taught through many hours of reading. I actually told a few of the ladies I would bring in some healthy recipes because they were talking about how they wanted to try to eat right but didn't know how. They actually asked the nutritionist if they could make it a school project to get recipes together to send home with the kids. So there appeared to be a real interest and this was exciting to me. During my years of nursing, teaching this type of thing was drilled into my head and the importance of jumping when you see the willingness to learn. So I'm ready to jump and I hope I can help in the way I want to be able to. I'm thinking about putting the food guide pyramid on the back of the paper I use to type up the recipes. Most of the women were doing their best to jot it down during the lecture but I could tell they were not quite getting it. I couldn't believe some of the questions that were being asked and how many of the mothers were agreeing that they didn't know these different things. But again I'm just excited to see that they were eager to learn and were listening with interest. During this whole thing the few things I didn't catch Issac was sure to whisper to me and no one seemed to mind.
Next the teacher came back (apparently the class was now watching a movie with another class) and was ready to do her part. I missed a lot of this because due to a wet diaper and a hungry belly and it being nap time poor Joslin was getting a little restless so I was standing outside the door rocking her in the stroller and Issac was standing near enough to explain things to me randomly. Basically the teacher went over that at times she had to be fuerte (strong) with some of the kids if they didn't listen that she intends to not grita or yell at them but that she does sometimes talk strongly to them. I'm thinking well no kidding but some of the moms seemed like they were not sure this should happen and asked to be sure she didn't hit the kids. The teacher explained that she nor any other teacher in the school hits the kids and mothers who had other kids that had been at the kinder a couple years agreed with her. She then talked about the uniforms and dates that we had to have them by, thankfully we have till the 13th because the lady who is making Alanas has not let us know they are ready yet. And of course the debate about materials. Issac and I were all for her taking money up and the teacher buying it all herself. This would insure all the kids had the same stuff and that one person didn't end up supplying for other kids. After her explanation of the same thing and lots of questions everyone agreed on collecting money. The teacher didn't want to be the collector and one mom agreed to do it. So we have to give her 300p before next Friday and the teacher will go to Guad over the weekend and buy all the stuff. Other than that all we have to buy is a clear pencil holder or bag and put Alanas name on it. And finally we got the fun part and talked about the fiesta for Independence. I have to say that getting to be involved in this kind of stuff is one reason I'm so glad Alana is in school. We have missed out on a lot of the culture over the last couple years because we cant ever figure out whats going on. Here is the best part, since hubby was the only dad actually inside the class room (their were two others but they were hanging around the door and in and out the whole time) and he was also a good participant the whole time he got asked to dress up for the party. I'm so excited and for sure you all will see pictures. Seriously my husband is the best man I know, he accepted with a smile and will love doing it. And here comes the worst part. None of the women wanted to dress up and I told Issac I could do it. He proudly said, "Mi esposa puede." And all the women looked at me and were excited. But then the teacher is like, that might not be a good idea. She explained to Issac that there will be a short camio for whoever dresses up. While Issacs explaining this to me the teacher is explaining to the rest of the moms that my Spanish sucks. Ok I know that's not how she put it (shes very nice and works well with me when I do talk with her) and I know the horrific scene of 15-20 moms shaking their heads and doing an "oh ok we see now" face prob wasn't as bad as it seemed... but... well... I have no words. I know this is only the beginning and I'm trying to brace myself but the more I think about it the more I'm getting irritated by it. I'm a doer, I'm involved, I'm active... and damn it I cant be now. As we were picking up Alana from the movie room Issac suggested that Monday I should stay at home with the girls and he could go to the meeting alone. I know what he was thinking was for the girls sake but this hurt. And of course instead of saying anything, I got snippy with him on the way home and just briefly mentioned that the language barrier sucks. Iv since talked to my sister and and I think I need to be at that meeting. I need to feel that I'm doing all I can to understand and be involved even if I have to tote along the girls and ask Issac to explain constantly.
I really cant explain to you how bad it sucks to not be able to jump in and say what I want and be as involved as I want. It may be prego hormones and it may not be but I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. I'm hoping after writing this post and talking some more about it with my husband (poor guy) that I will be able to walk back into the school with a renewed since of confidence on Monday.
I'm starting to feel that my Spanish needs to move to the next level but I'm not sure how to get it there. I do really well with a one on one or two conversation now but if there is more than two people I just cant keep up unless its people who know me well and make sure that I do (like Issacs family). I cant expect people to cater to me forever and I need to step it up... but how?
All in all the meeting went well and we got all the information we needed. I hope I added enough of that in with my sob story for those of you who may be looking to enroll your kids someday. If I left anything out about the school you want to know please ask!!!
From what I could understand we were to have a junta (meeting) with the teacher on Thursday morning at nine and the kids would be having class that day, and then next Monday the whole kinder would have a junta with the director. Thursdays are a very busy day for my husband and we decided I would go and do my best and hopefully our neighbor could fill him in on everything. I hated the idea and so did Issac but we didn't have much of a choice. Walking to school that morning I was a little nervous but had my pen and paper and was ready to do what I could. But when I showed up the teacher handed me a paper and "reminded" me of the junta tomorrow. Opps I got jueves and viernes confused again, I do this a lot for some reason. But the good thing is that it was no big deal for Issac to switch to evenings for Friday so he could go to the meeting with me. The paper she sent home with me was one to fill out information on Alana. It was all information that we had already filled out for her inscription, and on her first week of school that I gave again to the director. I'm assuming this is the teachers personal copy of the info on each kid. It was simple things like the CURP, ht, wt, domicillo ( address)with this they want to know not only the street you live on and your house number but the streets that you live between also, I find this odd. Anyway also they ask for the parents names and jobs and phone numbers. I also find this interesting considering so far I had not been asked for my phone number. We did give it to them on a piece of paper the first day of school but that was our own idea and was not requested. In a lot of cases I like the laid back style here but in this one I feel it was dangerous for all those kids to be at school for two weeks without any emergency numbers on file. Anyway I came home and filled it out, mainly just to prove to myself I could do it, and because I was annoyed at the fact the teacher specifically told me to have my husband fill it out. I know I should be able to let this stuff go knowing how my spanish isn't great but being the independent person I am it gets to me. So once I had fluffed my ego by filling it out I had Issac check everything on it the next day ( I did good!! lol)
This morning we got there a little before nine and the teacher told us to go on in with Alana. When the bell rang they had only the parents go into the class room and brought the kids out and the teacher had some class time with them during the first part of the morning. I was expecting this to all be a brief overview of what they do in class and a quick vote on if we should buy the materials individually or give the teacher money. Oh boy was I wrong and completely unprepared (we didn't bring diapers for Joslin nor food). I should have known better from reading blogs such as Leslies.
First we sat through about and hour and a half of lecture and questions on proper nutrition. I'm so glad they did this because its one of my pet peeves down here. I'm also glad they did it because it gave me a new perspective on things. I thought people just ate and feed their kids the way they did because well they just dont care or its just the way things are or eating right is just to much of a hassle. But seriously these ladies seemed like it was the first time they were hearing any of this information. I realize I take my education and my quest for learning for granted. What I didn't learn in school I have self taught through many hours of reading. I actually told a few of the ladies I would bring in some healthy recipes because they were talking about how they wanted to try to eat right but didn't know how. They actually asked the nutritionist if they could make it a school project to get recipes together to send home with the kids. So there appeared to be a real interest and this was exciting to me. During my years of nursing, teaching this type of thing was drilled into my head and the importance of jumping when you see the willingness to learn. So I'm ready to jump and I hope I can help in the way I want to be able to. I'm thinking about putting the food guide pyramid on the back of the paper I use to type up the recipes. Most of the women were doing their best to jot it down during the lecture but I could tell they were not quite getting it. I couldn't believe some of the questions that were being asked and how many of the mothers were agreeing that they didn't know these different things. But again I'm just excited to see that they were eager to learn and were listening with interest. During this whole thing the few things I didn't catch Issac was sure to whisper to me and no one seemed to mind.
Next the teacher came back (apparently the class was now watching a movie with another class) and was ready to do her part. I missed a lot of this because due to a wet diaper and a hungry belly and it being nap time poor Joslin was getting a little restless so I was standing outside the door rocking her in the stroller and Issac was standing near enough to explain things to me randomly. Basically the teacher went over that at times she had to be fuerte (strong) with some of the kids if they didn't listen that she intends to not grita or yell at them but that she does sometimes talk strongly to them. I'm thinking well no kidding but some of the moms seemed like they were not sure this should happen and asked to be sure she didn't hit the kids. The teacher explained that she nor any other teacher in the school hits the kids and mothers who had other kids that had been at the kinder a couple years agreed with her. She then talked about the uniforms and dates that we had to have them by, thankfully we have till the 13th because the lady who is making Alanas has not let us know they are ready yet. And of course the debate about materials. Issac and I were all for her taking money up and the teacher buying it all herself. This would insure all the kids had the same stuff and that one person didn't end up supplying for other kids. After her explanation of the same thing and lots of questions everyone agreed on collecting money. The teacher didn't want to be the collector and one mom agreed to do it. So we have to give her 300p before next Friday and the teacher will go to Guad over the weekend and buy all the stuff. Other than that all we have to buy is a clear pencil holder or bag and put Alanas name on it. And finally we got the fun part and talked about the fiesta for Independence. I have to say that getting to be involved in this kind of stuff is one reason I'm so glad Alana is in school. We have missed out on a lot of the culture over the last couple years because we cant ever figure out whats going on. Here is the best part, since hubby was the only dad actually inside the class room (their were two others but they were hanging around the door and in and out the whole time) and he was also a good participant the whole time he got asked to dress up for the party. I'm so excited and for sure you all will see pictures. Seriously my husband is the best man I know, he accepted with a smile and will love doing it. And here comes the worst part. None of the women wanted to dress up and I told Issac I could do it. He proudly said, "Mi esposa puede." And all the women looked at me and were excited. But then the teacher is like, that might not be a good idea. She explained to Issac that there will be a short camio for whoever dresses up. While Issacs explaining this to me the teacher is explaining to the rest of the moms that my Spanish sucks. Ok I know that's not how she put it (shes very nice and works well with me when I do talk with her) and I know the horrific scene of 15-20 moms shaking their heads and doing an "oh ok we see now" face prob wasn't as bad as it seemed... but... well... I have no words. I know this is only the beginning and I'm trying to brace myself but the more I think about it the more I'm getting irritated by it. I'm a doer, I'm involved, I'm active... and damn it I cant be now. As we were picking up Alana from the movie room Issac suggested that Monday I should stay at home with the girls and he could go to the meeting alone. I know what he was thinking was for the girls sake but this hurt. And of course instead of saying anything, I got snippy with him on the way home and just briefly mentioned that the language barrier sucks. Iv since talked to my sister and and I think I need to be at that meeting. I need to feel that I'm doing all I can to understand and be involved even if I have to tote along the girls and ask Issac to explain constantly.
I really cant explain to you how bad it sucks to not be able to jump in and say what I want and be as involved as I want. It may be prego hormones and it may not be but I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. I'm hoping after writing this post and talking some more about it with my husband (poor guy) that I will be able to walk back into the school with a renewed since of confidence on Monday.
I'm starting to feel that my Spanish needs to move to the next level but I'm not sure how to get it there. I do really well with a one on one or two conversation now but if there is more than two people I just cant keep up unless its people who know me well and make sure that I do (like Issacs family). I cant expect people to cater to me forever and I need to step it up... but how?
All in all the meeting went well and we got all the information we needed. I hope I added enough of that in with my sob story for those of you who may be looking to enroll your kids someday. If I left anything out about the school you want to know please ask!!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Christmas in August
The longer I live here the less I think about what I miss from the states. The great thing is that even though I dont miss things when they do show up I'm so excited about them. For example Issacs mom sent us a huge jar of Jiff PB. This is sold in the larger cities in Mexico but around here all you can get is some junk called Aladine or sometimes they have a very small container of Jiff that is so over priced its not worth buying. So that was supper exciting we got it about 3 weeks ago and its almost gone. But then about a week ago I received a care package from my sister. I have the best sister in the world, in case I hadn't said that before. She has sent me things and done more running around in the states for me than anyone should ever be expected to do. We decided that she should try out the regular mail service this time around because we seem to have a lot of bumps in the road with the other mail services. Also we found out recently that packages go through the same random red light green light as people do as they cross the boarder. So I'm thinking the smaller and less conspicuous (because I still doubt the randomness of the red light green light) the better. So she got the Medium flat rate box and packed it tight and sent it on it its way. I GOT IT 5 DAYS LATER!!!!!! That is so much faster than any of the mail couriers we have used. She sent me two prego shirts, some magazines, shorts for hubby, fun bath markers and color changing tabs for the girls, happy meal toys for the girls, cars for the new baby and other random things for the girls. We are loving all of it and is so nice to have quality cloths from the states. I do really miss Kohls. Then this weekend we were privileged to have our friends Rebbecca her hubby and their son stay with us at our house. She comes in like Santa and gave my girls all kinds of toys, cloths and shoes and all new stuff. I was so shocked.. when she had asked for sizes I was thinking she was hitting up some yard sales which would have been great also, but these were all new. This is a big deal here, you see cloths cost about the same here as they do their except they are made cheaper and there are fewer sales. I refused to buy cloths unless they are on sale here because they are never even close to worth the original prices. Anyway the girls loved all their stuff and are still playing with the toys and are so excited about the cloths. She also brought me lovely books and magazines. I'm so excited because as usually this came just in time. I am currently reading the last book on my shelf that I hadn't read and its not one I'm liking all that much. One of the best things ever is that she helped me to set up a magic jack. A few months ago I went on a rant about not being able to connect with certain family members the way I wish I could. A lot of you wrote me with different ideas some of which I was already using. A lot of those ideas were just out of our cost range but this one was not thankfully. Thanks to this I have already spoken to a couple friends who haven't had time to sit in front of their computer to skype and I can communicate more frequently with my sister and mom. I cant imagine how much it could have helped and lightened my sisters load if we would have had this two years ago but hey its better now than never. Also because were pretty sure this new baby coming is a boy she brought us some of her sons old cloths. This helps a lot because I have girls and dont have boy anything.
During my walks to and from Alanas school I try to take that time to reflect on God and my relationship with him and so on and so forth. These last couple days of walks have just been full of thanksgiving. God has always put such great people in our lives and has always taken care of us. I'm so thankful for where we are in our lives and things are going so well. I actually love living here now. I love that before 10am I have said good morning and smiled at tons of people most of which I barely know or do not know at all. I love that I am getting to know my neighbors and feel so safe and cared for. Really this could go on for some times so Ill stop now and leave this blog with how thankful I am for the Christmas in August. ;)
Thanks Suegra... Thanks Burkharts.... Thanks Rebbecca and family.
During my walks to and from Alanas school I try to take that time to reflect on God and my relationship with him and so on and so forth. These last couple days of walks have just been full of thanksgiving. God has always put such great people in our lives and has always taken care of us. I'm so thankful for where we are in our lives and things are going so well. I actually love living here now. I love that before 10am I have said good morning and smiled at tons of people most of which I barely know or do not know at all. I love that I am getting to know my neighbors and feel so safe and cared for. Really this could go on for some times so Ill stop now and leave this blog with how thankful I am for the Christmas in August. ;)
Thanks Suegra... Thanks Burkharts.... Thanks Rebbecca and family.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Primer dia de Kinder
Today was the big day, Alanas first day of kinder and my first time leaving one of my kids somewhere with out me or a loved one close by. But really I must start this post with a story from yesterday. You see Alana was daily showing me signs that she was ready for school. We do a class time almost every day and she has been doing so well and learning so much. Yesterday I was laying on the couch while Joslin napped and Alana was playing quietly on the other couch. I knew she was looking at my scrapbook from our visit to the states and then I hear it.....
I wish you could hear this in her sweet voice, I hear her sound out the letters..." V-I-S-I-T," this part didn't phase me because she is always trying to read and often will sit and sound out the letters to words. But then I heard her put the sounds together and say the word, Visit. I could hear the surprise in her voice as I opened my eyes and we both got all excited. She read her first word all by herself and understood what it was she was reading. I cant tell you how proud I was and still am. She is so smart and and it was so cool to see the recognition of what she had just done on her face. I'm so glad that happened at home and not at school. I have frozen that moment in my mind and hope to never loss it.
This morning started out as every other morning does except that she had a dry bed which was a plus. So we all got chocolate milk and lots of whoohoos this morning. Then I sat and watched them play or held them while I drank up my morning cup of vitamin C (my coffee that is). Around eight we did our normal get dressed and clean up routine except this morning I had to throw together a little bite for Alana to eat at school and Tia Irma was here with us also. I find it funny that they want you to bring them a snack when they are there only two or three hours. I think its because most people here eat breakfast at like nine or ten AM so these kids are used to having something during the time they will now be in school. I was so thankful even last night that Tia Irma came to help. For one I wouldn't have sent Alana with food and two I would have sent her in an dress that would not have been as comfortable as what we later picked out. Also this morning before leaving she called us all together to pray over Alana and her first day of school. Which I think is a great way to start out the new school year but was to preoccupied to think of doing it myself. (Side note to Alice, I hardly ever used the word preoccupied before I learned Spanish.)
We headed out around 830 because like a true Mexican I waited till today to make a copy of the paper we got from the SEP office (thanks Theresa). I waited in the truck with the girls and did a cute little video of Alana while my tia made the copies. I went ahead and drove the rout we would have walked just to show Tia Irma where we would be walking every day. She agreed that it is almost an easier walk than drive because at one point you have to double back on yourself when driving. I know she will give Issacs mom the full run down so I was trying to show her everything. We got to the school a little early but the gate was open and we went to the building that was obviously the main office. There are only three buildings two of which are just one room classroom buildings. The principal (not sure if that's what they call them here, but the lady in charge) was a little gruff but totally helpful. She gave us a list of documents that I needed to bring copies of when I came back to pick Alana up today. She informed us that for the first two weeks class would only be from 9am to 11 instead of noon and on that third week times would go to noon. She showed us which building was to be Alanas class and told us to show the paper we had to the teacher so she could put Alana on her list. We walked over to the building (class room) and I fallowed Tia's lead. She not only has done this with her kids but also with a lot of kids from the childrens home. We talked to the teacher from outside the door while she was busy doing things inside the classroom. To me she didn't seem to be hearing much of what we were saying but did eventually take the paper we had and asked what the Alanas name was. We told her and she wrote it down in a little note book she had on her desk. Tia also explained that sometimes when Alana doesn't understand something she says, "no quiero." (I dont want to) I forgot to teach her to say no intiendo (I dont understand) until like a week ago and for some reason she keeps switching them up. I didn't want the teacher to think she was being a little brat when really she just didn't understand what was going on. We also were sure to tell the helper because like I said the teacher seemed a little to preoccupied to pay any attention to us. During all of this Alana kept saying, "Im ready mom!" Finally when we were all let in the classroom Alana found herself a cubby for her jacket and backpack as if she had been doing it every day of her life and picked a chair at the table and sat down. She then looked up at me like, "Oh your still here?" So I reminded her again to listen to her teacher and to be a good girl, and that I loved her and could I have one more kiss. SHE GAVE ME HER CHECK!!!!! (Seriously what am I in for). My Tia was waving me that it was time for us to leave so I gave Alana her peck on the check and hugged her tight and walked out. At the door I turned to wave at her and of course she wasn't looking my way so I said, "Adios Alana." And she turned and beamed at me like she was totally in her element.
Tia Irma and I headed from there to see Papi at the store so she could relay everything and be sure I didn't miss something. Papi was a little sad but after seeing Alana beaming in the pictures I took his spirits were lifted. You just cant be sad about something that your child is so dang happy about and ready for. I ran Tia for a couple errands and dropped her off downtown so I could go make the copies of Alanas paperwork. I did come home and try to look online for Alanas CURP number which is the only thing I'm missing but didn't have any luck. Issac will have to look it up and print it off for tomorrow. Joslin fell asleep on the way home so when I got home thankfully I only had about thirty min before I needed to leave to go make the copies and pick her up. After keeping myself busy on face book and being sure I had all the documents I needed, I put sleeping Joslin in the stroller and headed out. One quick stop at the papalaria for the copies and we were on our way. Its only about a 13 min walk with Alana is with me so it only took me ten to get there. I was happy to see I was not the only mom there 20min early. When we showed up the kids were playing outside and I was trying to be sure and find Alana so she didn't see me. I found her sitting under a tree watching the kids play. I was kinda sad but then she quickly got up and started chasing some of the kids around. All the kids are from our neighborhood so they most likely already know each other. I know it wont take her long though it never does. Then they bell rang and for the last 15 min you could hear the kids singing a song in the other building (which is the third year kinder) and Alanas building was pretty quiet. I dont know how these teachers do it there are at least 30 kids in Alanas class. During all this wait I'm feeling more and more like an outcast because all the moms seem to know each other which I'm sure they do. And I couldn't catch up with any of the conversations quick enough to try and jump in. So I just sat there and talked with Joslin. Right before the wait was over I saw a familiar face coming towards me. It was our old pastors wife (this was the church we went to before we moved). We got to talking and their youngest son will be in Alanas class. Issac and I are both a little unsure about this because this is the most unruly kid you will ever meet. Alana not playing with him every Sunday was one of the upsides to us moving and finding this other church close by. I'm really not exaggerating here this kid listens to no one including his parents. Maybe being in school will calm him down a bit we shall all see. But it on the other hand it is nice to already know one of the other moms. I was happy to find that instead of letting the kids all just run out and find their parents the teacher stood at the door with them and called out the kids name. The parents then went up and got their child. Alana came out happy to see us and tell me what all went on. I was the only mom there with a camera but I didn't let that stop me, as you will see below. Im sure this wont be the first time. lol
We walked over to the little park and I gave Alana her bubbles and a doughnut as a first day of school surprise. Our walk home was actually kinda crowded with others who live in our neighborhood. I ended up asking one of the moms about how they got the little girls uniform and was able to chat with them a bit. The funny thing is that once they realized I was "not from around here"... actually once I said, "perdon me español no es muy bien." The one lady was like Oh I know who you are, your friends with my friend .... yep I cant remember her name. This lady apparently knows one of the ladies I go to church with. Im so bad with names anyway and no living here its worse so I'm not sure exactly which lady. Well one of the ladies knows of a lady in our neighborhood who will make the dresses for cheap. She is going by there tonight and was going to ask how much fabric I would need to buy and how much to make the dresses. So all in all I think we all did a great job today, and I still might let a few tears fall tonight. ;)
I wish you could hear this in her sweet voice, I hear her sound out the letters..." V-I-S-I-T," this part didn't phase me because she is always trying to read and often will sit and sound out the letters to words. But then I heard her put the sounds together and say the word, Visit. I could hear the surprise in her voice as I opened my eyes and we both got all excited. She read her first word all by herself and understood what it was she was reading. I cant tell you how proud I was and still am. She is so smart and and it was so cool to see the recognition of what she had just done on her face. I'm so glad that happened at home and not at school. I have frozen that moment in my mind and hope to never loss it.
This morning started out as every other morning does except that she had a dry bed which was a plus. So we all got chocolate milk and lots of whoohoos this morning. Then I sat and watched them play or held them while I drank up my morning cup of vitamin C (my coffee that is). Around eight we did our normal get dressed and clean up routine except this morning I had to throw together a little bite for Alana to eat at school and Tia Irma was here with us also. I find it funny that they want you to bring them a snack when they are there only two or three hours. I think its because most people here eat breakfast at like nine or ten AM so these kids are used to having something during the time they will now be in school. I was so thankful even last night that Tia Irma came to help. For one I wouldn't have sent Alana with food and two I would have sent her in an dress that would not have been as comfortable as what we later picked out. Also this morning before leaving she called us all together to pray over Alana and her first day of school. Which I think is a great way to start out the new school year but was to preoccupied to think of doing it myself. (Side note to Alice, I hardly ever used the word preoccupied before I learned Spanish.)
We headed out around 830 because like a true Mexican I waited till today to make a copy of the paper we got from the SEP office (thanks Theresa). I waited in the truck with the girls and did a cute little video of Alana while my tia made the copies. I went ahead and drove the rout we would have walked just to show Tia Irma where we would be walking every day. She agreed that it is almost an easier walk than drive because at one point you have to double back on yourself when driving. I know she will give Issacs mom the full run down so I was trying to show her everything. We got to the school a little early but the gate was open and we went to the building that was obviously the main office. There are only three buildings two of which are just one room classroom buildings. The principal (not sure if that's what they call them here, but the lady in charge) was a little gruff but totally helpful. She gave us a list of documents that I needed to bring copies of when I came back to pick Alana up today. She informed us that for the first two weeks class would only be from 9am to 11 instead of noon and on that third week times would go to noon. She showed us which building was to be Alanas class and told us to show the paper we had to the teacher so she could put Alana on her list. We walked over to the building (class room) and I fallowed Tia's lead. She not only has done this with her kids but also with a lot of kids from the childrens home. We talked to the teacher from outside the door while she was busy doing things inside the classroom. To me she didn't seem to be hearing much of what we were saying but did eventually take the paper we had and asked what the Alanas name was. We told her and she wrote it down in a little note book she had on her desk. Tia also explained that sometimes when Alana doesn't understand something she says, "no quiero." (I dont want to) I forgot to teach her to say no intiendo (I dont understand) until like a week ago and for some reason she keeps switching them up. I didn't want the teacher to think she was being a little brat when really she just didn't understand what was going on. We also were sure to tell the helper because like I said the teacher seemed a little to preoccupied to pay any attention to us. During all of this Alana kept saying, "Im ready mom!" Finally when we were all let in the classroom Alana found herself a cubby for her jacket and backpack as if she had been doing it every day of her life and picked a chair at the table and sat down. She then looked up at me like, "Oh your still here?" So I reminded her again to listen to her teacher and to be a good girl, and that I loved her and could I have one more kiss. SHE GAVE ME HER CHECK!!!!! (Seriously what am I in for). My Tia was waving me that it was time for us to leave so I gave Alana her peck on the check and hugged her tight and walked out. At the door I turned to wave at her and of course she wasn't looking my way so I said, "Adios Alana." And she turned and beamed at me like she was totally in her element.
Tia Irma and I headed from there to see Papi at the store so she could relay everything and be sure I didn't miss something. Papi was a little sad but after seeing Alana beaming in the pictures I took his spirits were lifted. You just cant be sad about something that your child is so dang happy about and ready for. I ran Tia for a couple errands and dropped her off downtown so I could go make the copies of Alanas paperwork. I did come home and try to look online for Alanas CURP number which is the only thing I'm missing but didn't have any luck. Issac will have to look it up and print it off for tomorrow. Joslin fell asleep on the way home so when I got home thankfully I only had about thirty min before I needed to leave to go make the copies and pick her up. After keeping myself busy on face book and being sure I had all the documents I needed, I put sleeping Joslin in the stroller and headed out. One quick stop at the papalaria for the copies and we were on our way. Its only about a 13 min walk with Alana is with me so it only took me ten to get there. I was happy to see I was not the only mom there 20min early. When we showed up the kids were playing outside and I was trying to be sure and find Alana so she didn't see me. I found her sitting under a tree watching the kids play. I was kinda sad but then she quickly got up and started chasing some of the kids around. All the kids are from our neighborhood so they most likely already know each other. I know it wont take her long though it never does. Then they bell rang and for the last 15 min you could hear the kids singing a song in the other building (which is the third year kinder) and Alanas building was pretty quiet. I dont know how these teachers do it there are at least 30 kids in Alanas class. During all this wait I'm feeling more and more like an outcast because all the moms seem to know each other which I'm sure they do. And I couldn't catch up with any of the conversations quick enough to try and jump in. So I just sat there and talked with Joslin. Right before the wait was over I saw a familiar face coming towards me. It was our old pastors wife (this was the church we went to before we moved). We got to talking and their youngest son will be in Alanas class. Issac and I are both a little unsure about this because this is the most unruly kid you will ever meet. Alana not playing with him every Sunday was one of the upsides to us moving and finding this other church close by. I'm really not exaggerating here this kid listens to no one including his parents. Maybe being in school will calm him down a bit we shall all see. But it on the other hand it is nice to already know one of the other moms. I was happy to find that instead of letting the kids all just run out and find their parents the teacher stood at the door with them and called out the kids name. The parents then went up and got their child. Alana came out happy to see us and tell me what all went on. I was the only mom there with a camera but I didn't let that stop me, as you will see below. Im sure this wont be the first time. lol
We walked over to the little park and I gave Alana her bubbles and a doughnut as a first day of school surprise. Our walk home was actually kinda crowded with others who live in our neighborhood. I ended up asking one of the moms about how they got the little girls uniform and was able to chat with them a bit. The funny thing is that once they realized I was "not from around here"... actually once I said, "perdon me español no es muy bien." The one lady was like Oh I know who you are, your friends with my friend .... yep I cant remember her name. This lady apparently knows one of the ladies I go to church with. Im so bad with names anyway and no living here its worse so I'm not sure exactly which lady. Well one of the ladies knows of a lady in our neighborhood who will make the dresses for cheap. She is going by there tonight and was going to ask how much fabric I would need to buy and how much to make the dresses. So all in all I think we all did a great job today, and I still might let a few tears fall tonight. ;)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Kinder
In February any child who will be going to kinder in August is suppose to get what they call here their inscription. I had no idea what I was doing and really no one was of any help around here. The problem comes in that there are tons of private kinders and at least 50 public or government kinders in my town. This is a good thing in a way because you are sure to find one close to home. I visited a few on my own and ended up with more questions than answers. Also in February we knew we would be moving before August and didn't want to put her into a school and then end up living far from it. Thankfully Issacs mom was staying in a town not far from here with his grandma and said she could get Alanas inscription for that town and when Aug came would could let the school know we moved but that she at least had her inscription somewhere so she should be let in. I actually just gave his mom Alanas papers and she took care of all of it for us. This was such a huge blessing. To prove how hard it is to figure anything out here my friend who is Mexican but not from this town was having as hard of a time of things as we were. About a month ago because we were now settled into our new house Issac and I decided we needed to check out some of the schools close by. Thankfully after all this mess from before Issac decided he should go with me this time. After the second school and our questions getting more precise a lady told us that there is an office that knows all the kinders, which have openings, and could help us to find one that is close to the house. We were thankful for this information and at the same time a little irritated that this was the first we had heard of this office. We quickly went to see the place and where told that we needed to wait until the second week of August and call for an appointment. She was helpful in telling us it was a good thing Alana had her inscription and that when the time came she would help us find a good school for her. A couple weeks ago we called the office and were told to show up on the morning of Monday the 17th at 9am. When I brought to Issac attention that there was no Monday the 17th he decided it must be Monday the 16th. So on that Monday he went into work at his normal time and then came to get me and the girls around 830. We had been told there may be a wait but when we got there it was empty. The guy told us it was the next day and that we should show up a lot earlier because there were a lot of people that would be in line. Well we knew Issac wouldn't be able to leave work two mornings in a row so I was on my own the next day. I showed up with both girls in tow at about 815 and the line was almost a block down the street. Around 9am when they opened they handed out fechas or numbers, I WAS 56, I cant imagine how long some of those people had already been waiting. Thankfully around 930 a friend of mine (the same one earlier mentioned) meet up with me there in line. She did go up and get a fecha which was 108 but stood in line with me so she could help me if I needed it. We waited in line outside until eleven. At the door we didn't mention her fecha and they helped us both. They simply asked what colonia we lived in and found that page. There are at least 10 Colonias and each page had at least five schools on it. They thengave us the school they thought was closest to our house. Thankfully me and the girls have been doing some walking every day and about a week ago had ran across the very kinder they picked for Alana. I was glad because this one is only a 12-14 min walk from the house. We dont have school buses here and although we have the truck its nice to know we can get there if something is wrong with it. We then were told to go sit in a row of seats and wait in line again. By about 1130 we were finally at the desk where they lady put the girls info in the computer and gave me a print out of the paper I need to bring to the school on Monday.
From what I understand on Monday Alana will be able to participate in class and I will be given the list of school items and what type of uniform to get her. I'm a little nervous about this because Issac will not be able to take off work to go with me. I have asked his aunt if she will be able to come into town to help me out but I'm not sure if that will happen yet. Anyway it was a headache and took more than three hours but in the end turned out ok and heres wishing next year will go smoother.
From what I understand on Monday Alana will be able to participate in class and I will be given the list of school items and what type of uniform to get her. I'm a little nervous about this because Issac will not be able to take off work to go with me. I have asked his aunt if she will be able to come into town to help me out but I'm not sure if that will happen yet. Anyway it was a headache and took more than three hours but in the end turned out ok and heres wishing next year will go smoother.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Seguro: Six month appointment
My appointment yesterday was set up at 330pm so my husband was again unable to go with me. Upon arrival they always give you your next appointment right away, I had to request a later hour and she said she could but that the date may be off a bit. Next month is my 7th month appointment and Issac is suppose to come with me so they can schedule him for his procedure. This was fine it ended up being only a few days earlier than it should have been and is at six in the eve so Issac will have no trouble making it. The girls and I got there about 320 and were not called in till almost five. They were nice enough to come out and tell us that there had been some emergencies and they apologized that they were running late. By the time we got in there though the girls were pretty restless and due to me not getting a nap that day I was pretty tired. I think this was all apparent and the nurse asked one of the student nurses to help with the girls and to get them toothbrushes to play with. There where two nurses in training and the one main nurse. She asked me a few questions and then I got on the table. The one male trainee who measured my stomach is the same one I dealt with last time. He also measured the babies heart rate and before giving it to the main nurse asked me if I had been exercising. I explained that me and the girls take walks every day and other than that running after the girls is exercise. Then he is like, no I mean just now. I thought, seriously!?!?!? Iv been waiting in the waiting area for the last hour and a half with a four year old and a one year old. Thankfully the more experienced nurse was feeling my frustration and asked for the heart rate. It was normal and she told him that. When he explained that my rate was faster than he thought it should be, she was quick to explain that I had been in the waiting room with two active kids. This would not be the first time I was thankful for her. This kid will be a good nurse some day due to his attention to detail but there is a time and a place for everything and being sensitive to where people are is a big part of being a good nurse. He then grabbed the teaching chart and I'm thinking Oh God not again. Normally Im all about the teaching and I like to hear what it is they are telling women. On this day I was just not up for it. He was reviewing what we had gone over the last time. Ok here is a part I didn't divulge last time because it could make some readers uncomfortable but I have to this time it was just to much. He read through a whole thing that was recommending agitating my nipples so they would not be to sore to feed when the baby is born. He also recommended and showed me a picture of a bra that had the nipples cut out of it to give room for swelling. The last time I was just sure I had misunderstood something and that the picture was meaning something else. Surely they dont expect women to cut up their bras. (I also dont agree with the agitating part either but I wont go into all that, I know some people even in the states feel this is a good idea). So when he got to that page he is like have you been doing this, and I lied and said yes. Then he pointed to the cut up bra and asked if I had done that and I said no. He then goes on to tell me to be sure and get an old bra or one I dont like and to be sure and do this. I'm thinking dude this is the worse time in the world for me to be wearing old bras. So not only does it need holes it doesn't matter if its supportive and comfortable. So I just nodded my head so we could move on. The next page was the food guide and he wanted me to repeat back to him what he had told me the last month. Ok like I said I´m normally all for this stuff, but for one I'm tired, two I had already been there an hour longer than expected and was getting hungry and with these two items I could not think clear Spanish. It was only after eating and telling my husband about this next part that I got the giggles about it. So although in the situation I was frustrated please feel free to laugh at this. He apparently wasn't excited about me simply saying that I needed to eat from each of the food groups and was asking me to tell him what foods I should eat with ice (hielo). Not until much confusion and him deciding to list the foods for me did I realize he was saying hierro (iron). As soon as he started with the legumes, spinach, red meats bit I'm like ohhhhhhh hierro. And he looks at me like Im crazy and says yes. I was to tired to explain what I had thought he was saying so I quickly called off a few other foods that had hierro. He then decides to explain to me why this is important and I'm sad to say at this point I cut him off and said I already knew. I haven't told them yet that I'm a nurse and I felt now would be a rude time for it but it was coming close to my lips. Thankfully when he flipped the page and asked if he had talked to me about baby care and I said no the other nurse stopped him. She said that I still have two more visits with them and that he should spread out his teaching. I hope she saw the gratitude on my face, and I explained that the next time would be better anyway because my husband would be there to help clear up any confusions. It was then my turn to ask questions and as always they were patient with my round about way of explaining what I needed to know. I was asking about the labor and delivery process. After talking to a few people I was starting to think I had some confusions about how things would go at the hospital. And I was right thank goodness. The labor room and recovery room are general rooms set up with up to 6 women. But when your actually ready to deliver they take you into a private room for the birth of the baby. So as long as we wait long enough Ill just go right into a private room until after the baby is born. This was a huge relief an I will be praying that God will help us to know the right timing. Let me know if I left anything out or if anything is confusing. I just wrote this in like 4 settings. I want this to help out those of you who may be needing the seguro for treatment in the future or now.
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