Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

We have a new nanny, Anna, who is 20 years old, and very nice. Today was her first true day, so my friend, Tuty, and I came home from work early and helped orient her. Tuty was great as she is Panamanian, and knew exactly what to say to Anna in order for her to feel comfortable. This language barrier really sucks, and I'm really hoping to up my game in this area. But Anna is patient and speaks slowly, both of which help a great deal.

It's been amazing to watch Max get used to another new person. He likes Anna as well, and maybe it's just obvious how much he has had different people in his life taking care of him. He trusts her, isn't shy or hesitant, stays with her without complaining, and is basically happy to have he around. I'm so impressed; o.k., maybe I'm a little biased too!!

While Carolyn and I were driving to pick up Anna, the power steering in my new used car went out. That's the second thing that went wrong with this car in the last two weeks, so I basically gave the car back for a full refund. So that's been a bummer, but, as luck would have it, one of the owners of the school, Maggie, has a car that she ca loan me for a while so I have more time to look for one without having to rely on Carolyn to cart me around everywhere. I know it'll all workout! But that damn car seat is heavy, and I'm sick of trying to keep track of a different set of keys!! :)

I've been trying to sink my teeth into work, but am currently without a work computer. My official title is Director of Strategic Development, but at this point, I am still trying to find my way around campus. I did spend some time in 2nd grade last week, which was so fun, and I hope to do more of that this week.

It's wonderful to hear from our family and friends, so please keep the emails, phone calls coming. We're really not that far away!!

Its REALLY hot!

Wow, I am just boiling, and Dummy over here decides to bake banana bread in the middle of the day.  It better be worth it! Both Max and my bedroom are air-conditioned, and I moved the majority of his toys in his bedroom yesterday, so at least when he's home, he has a cool place to be.  Luis, Carolyn's helper, also hung a cool chair from the ceiling, and Max loves to swing, hide and climb all over that thing. Very fun.

I have a maid. Yes, I do! Laura is 18 (!!) and comes from a part of Panama that is about 1hour outside of the city. It's amazing to have someone to clean and help you cook, and basically be at your side the whole time. If I want her to play with Max, off she goes. Or maybe, she prepares dinner so I can play with Max. It's also o.k. to take your maid to a playdate for them to take care of your kids while you actually get to talk to the parents.  We did that last night, and it was more of a "normal" play date than one might think. The ratio of child to adults was higher for the adults, though, which was funny!

Max really likes Laura, and over this week has become quite attached. I feel good leaving him with her and can tell that they are quite the pair. He keeps asking why Laura doesn't eat when we eat, and why he can't eat in her room!! That part is hard for me. You entrust them to take care of your kids and basically be part of your home, but the lines of separation are very strong. Laura caught me doing dishes the other day, and the look on her face ... :)

AND here's the bad part, Laura is leaving again because she has a 3 month old baby that is being taken care of by her mom. She thought she would be able to work, but then changed her mind. I feel so bad for Max who has needed to make so many new adjustments, but he will adjust again to someone else.  Carolyn and her friend Ericka (also my language coach!!) already found a new nanna, Anna, who will start tomorrow.

You usually don't advertise here, you basically just ask around.  So we were lucky that someone else was available because Max only goes to school half day, and is home with the nanny after 12:00.  It'll take some time to adjust but it will be so worth it in the end.

Wednesday, 8/3

We are doing well.  Here are some highlights:

• Our boxes arrived yesterday. All 18 of them! Some of them looked like they had been through a tornado. How they made it to Panama I'll never know! Wait until you see the pictures. But I'm happy to say that all the things I had professionally packed made it just fine. I haven{t unpacked all, but so far, nothing is broken.  Truly, a miracle!!
• We still don''t have hot water, but honestly, that hasn't been as much of a problem as I thought it would be initially. Max is a trooper with taking cold showers. That process is a mixture of laughing and crying. Quite funny!
• I bought a car (Hyundai Santa Fe, 2006), which, hopefully, will be ready today. We went to pick it up the other day, but when I drove home, the airconditioning wouldn{t work. Well, that's just not an option, so back it went. 

(as I'm writing this, there is a torrential downpour going on right now. It's raining HARD, and in 10 minutes it will all be over, but the street will be flooded and crazy!)

• He is also doing so well in school. His school is called El Jardin de la Cuadra, and his teachers' name is Teacher Angélica. She truly is an angel. She was a psychologist before, and now is a teacher. Max loves her, she speaks a little English, and really has made an effort with me and him. He loves going, especially now that he's being picked up by his school bus and Señor José, his bus driver.  So great!
• He's picking up some small Spanish words, like gracias and por favor - a great start! 
• I have started school, and doing some observations of classes to get to know the place a little first. My schedule is from 7:00 until 3:00, which is nice because then I can run errands before going home.  But quite honestly, school has been the last thing on my mind as I've spent most of my time setting us up here. So now that we're settling, everything else can start taking shape as well. 
• Driving is a little crazy - you have to be somewhat aggressive and not afraid to use your horn. Quite different from quiet and peaceful Seattle!! :) And I{m getting better about learning the streets. I can pretty much get myself to the places I need to get to: my school Max´s school, the park, the pool, the grocery store, therapy, etc. I know I'll get lost at some point, which might actually  be good! Traffic is horrible, especially during rush hour, but my route to/from school is against traffic, which is great. 
• We live just a few minutes from a large park that has an outside path (pretty and green - a little like Green Lake) with a huge playground as part of it too. I can imagine spending a lot of time there!! But I don{t think I can walk to the park, which is too bad, because parking there is crazy. The sidewalks are in such poor shape. When I tried to walk with Max in the stroller, it was like going 4-wheelin'! Quite an adventure. Maybe we'll have a better time when he's not in the stroller anymore. We'll see.
• Today, I meet with a friend of Carolyn's. Ericka and I walk La Cinta, and speak Spanish. It's a great way for me to practice speaking Spanish and getting exercise at the same time. She is wonderfully patient with me!!  

More later!

A big day today

It was Max's first day of school today at El Jardin de la Cuadra. It's a cute school tucked away in a residential neighborhood about 7 minutes away from where we live. He is in a class with 16 other children and two teachers. Teacher Angelica speaks a little English and he as two students in his class who also speak a little English.

Soon, Max will get picked up by a bus, and driven to school by Sen. Jose, his bus driver.  As the pics indicate, he goes to school in a red shirt (all his classmates wear red - the color of his goup), and with a lunch box - of course, Spiderman! All the students also bring a toothbrush and toothpaste, and brush their teeth after they have had their luncherra (snack).

Max goes to school from 8:30 until 11:30, and gets dropped off at the house again by 11:45.

Then his nanny, Laura, brings him upstairs, he eats lunch, takes a little nap, and then playtime with Laura. Of course we can't do that quite yet because our stuff hasn't arrived yet, but eventually, it will work that way.

I, in the meantime will have to be at work by around 7:15, until about 2:30.

More later!!

First day of school in El Jardin de la Cudra. SO proud of the Spiderman lunch box!

At the Dinosaur Exhibit with our new friends, Tuty (mom) and Nicole, also 3.

Riding the dinosaur at the Dinosaur Exhibit. Spideman can do anything!!

Going on a train ride in the mall!

Our first night in our new home!

Tonight is our first night in our new apartment - what a significant evening! We spent the afternoon with a friend and her three-year old, and went to visit a dinosaur exhibit. Lots of noises, and sometimes too scary, but all was well, and everyone had a good time. Then we all went to the local mall (HUGE!!!), and rode the carousel and the train. Of course, Max was happy.

They dropped us off at our apartment, which I had spent the majority of the day preparing. Car, little David, Max and I went to the grocery store, bought a ton of stuff, and now it feels like we are home! Some furniture would help, but all in due time. We have beds and some tables and chairs. It'll be fun to set up our home from scratch.

We got a lot accomplished in the last few days: set up a local bank account (harder to do than I´d imagined), bought a car, got a cell phone, had my apartment connected to phone, internet and cable, bought TV´s and other electronics, went grocery shopping - Car and I are working off of so many lists, I can´t keep them straight.  Car also found a nanny, Laura, who will start on Sunday night. Looking forward to meeting her.

Had some wine with other school administrators and the owners of Colegio Brader, and I am so excited to join their team. They really are good people, with their heart in the right place. 

So now I'll enjoy my first night here in a new bed, a new apartment, in a new city, in a new country! WOW! 

Nighty-night, everyone!!

Week one and two

Here are a few observations of my first week and a half:
1. I have yet to meet a person who is unkind! Example: I was in the check out line of the equivalent of Best Buy, and struggling with Spanish (surprised??) when the guy next to me turns and says in perfect English: "May I help translate??"
2. I am taking Spanish lessons with a friend of Carolyn's. It's harder than I thought! My brain is tired after our sessions.
3. When a car needs a new battery, the battery place comes to your house and does it right there.
4. A personal trainer here costs about $15 per hour. :)
5. When you buy something from "best buy", you can't leave the store until they have unpacked whatever you bought and shown it to you for verification. Then, they pack it all up again, and load it in your car.
6. Everyone here is on a blackberry because texting is free with other blackberry users. So, no one emails anymore. Everyone texts! No iPhones... Ugh!! but I'm learning.

More later!!

Our new adventure: PANAMA

So much has happened in the last year. Max is thriving as a three- year old, growing like a weed, asking "why" 250 times a day, and exploring his, ahem, independent side. The major news is that we have moved ... To Panama.

As some of you might remember, my best friend, Carolyn and her family live in Panama. A great opportunity to work at a school in Panama came up, and I was ready for a new adventure both professionally and personally. So, I rented my house, sold my car, and bought two one-way tickets to Panama City.

I'll be working as a "Directora" at Colegio Brader, preschool through 12 th grade, about 1200 students. I've been hired to be the Director of Strategic Planning, and will work with the school to help them chart out their next few years while also helping them cement their systems and procedures. It will be very exciting for sure.

Max and I have a big 3- bedroom apartment in an area of Panama City called San Francisco, right on th end of Calle 50 and will hopefully move in August 1. In the meantime, we are staying at Carolyn's place where Max is enjoying being the youngest sibling!!

He will go to a small preschool,starting August 1. The school is mostly in Spanish but there are some English speaking teachers there as well who will hopefully ease his transition. In march 2012, once he's 4, Max will be at Colegio Brader with me,which will be great.

I am trying get us all set up here for the next few days, and of ocurse, would be at a complete loss if it werent for my friend Carolyn. She has been amazing in supporting us every step of the way, and trying to figure out all th details of starting up in a new and foreign city. But I can already imagine that it won't be foreign for long.

I am trying to learn Spanish which is very challenging at this moment. I had 6 years in school and some of it is comng back. Hopefully it will kick in soon!!!

I'll try to post more soon. Stay tuned!!