The apartment has two entrances and three bedrooms (the smallest, an office with a single bed that folds out from the wall, is the one the boys insisted on sharing, and within hours we had arranged a second single mattress so that their wishes could be fulfilled, and a meltdown avoided on this first day in our new digs -- it leaves us with a somewhat dark and dingy but relatively spacious "guest bedroom" -- anyone want to come visit???!!!) The kitchen is a decent size, and the living room has space in which to set up our "classroom" (stay tuned for a "before and after" blog post, coming soon...) There are also 2.5 washrooms, which is a luxury after the one washroom five of us had been sharing in the preceding two weeks!!! And a big, bright balcony overlooks what we think is a helipad in the distance.
(Allegedly there is a swimming pool and common area upstairs, too, but we have not yet explored that.)
Alex and Simon love to "sort" their things, so as soon as we agreed on who was sleeping where, the boys set to work arranging their belongings. "Unpacking" consisted of them tossing as many articles of clothing as they could into two drawers, and jamming the rest into a shelf in their closet. Then it was off to "set up" their books and toys for the next several hours, until we hauled them off to get some food and find a grocery store. (Following which we revisited the "unpacking" and -- with parental assistance -- did a more thorough job of organizing their clothes!)
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, and it wasn't until evening that the first real signs of homesickness reared their ugly heads: Tats was feeling a little lost at sea, and unsure of what to do with herself, and I -- as the family's primary communicator with my VERY limited Spanish and extroverted abilities -- I was exhausted from my lack of abilities with the cab driver, the cleaning lady, a fellow on the street we had stopped to ask for directions, and the fruit stand guy. (Note to self, start serious Spanish lessons ASAP!!)
The kids (by now the novelty to setting up their new room had worn off, and the lack of sleep from last night, along with the reality of being so far away from "home" was setting in) were also gearing up for a good meltdown: One boy in particular complained of missing his dad, and was consoled only a little by promises of a Skype session the next afternoon.
| Happily, they were both super tired, and so a little massage from Tatsy while I read aloud the first two Chapters of Lewis classic Narnia Tale (the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), followed by a little Liona Boyd on Mommy's iPad soon put them to sleep, and we were able to enjoy a whine-free few hours before heading to bed ourselves! Good night, dear friends, and stay tuned for more adventures tomorrow, as we head out to find the best rate on AR pesos in town.... |