Preparing to Leave

May 1st we will leave Sabanilla for 16 days on the coast.

Goodbye to our CR home!

 We're renting a car and will do some exploring.

So begins the process of  closing down this chapter, while starting the new chapter in DC.

I finished classes at Mesoamerica. I left at an "Advanced" level. While I think I'm book-smart, and have a good understanding of all the rules, and the exceptions to the rules, I really am still speaking at a Beginner, -maybe, an Intermediate level. I came here hoping to leave fluent, with the realistic expectation of not reaching that goal. So the good news is I built a strong foundation and will continue to build my skills as I return to the US. I do believe living here was the only way I would have been able to make the jump from non-speaker, to speaker. As my friend Montzi always says, "Un poco a poco."

Came in at level 1, leaving at level 6!

It'll be difficult to leave our good friends (adopted family) here in Sabanilla, but the excitement of returning to our friends and family in the DC area really is helping to ease that ach.

I think Myles will miss Cristiana. His first BFF.

We are one lucky family to have the incredible support back home to help us transition us back to the US.

Both of Morgan's parents worked together to get our car shipped from Nanc's house to Mike's house. So we'll have transportation as soon as we land. I have a slight smile on my face as I write this, b/c not having a car has been one of life's luxuries I have missed the most while living abroad.

 

Myles has been accepted to a Immersion preschool in NW. We're super excited to work with this school as they seem to be a perfect fit. We're thrilled to have found a program that will nurture Myles's Spanish language development. I also have to mention it's very close to Guapos. So I'll be in the area every evening around dinner time if you want meet up at my favorite restaurant.  :)

My dad has offered us my childhood home as a place for us to live for the next year... or longer if we'd like. We fell blessed to have this house to transition back into the DC area. It's more than big enough for us and has great yard space for Myles and Kira and our new puppy to run and play.

Did you catch that last line? Yes we're looking into getting a puppy for Kira and Omar will have another companion to play with and hang with while Morgan, Myles and I go to work and school all day, 5 days a week. I'm super excited about expanding our family.

Omar has already made the journey across the country so we just need to get Kira to DC. I'm so anxious and excited to get everyone back together.

I'm happy to say I signed a contract with MCPS and have a job. I will interview with schools in late June and hope to know where I'll be teaching by the beginning of July. As many of you know, I've truly missed teaching, so having this job lined up is very exciting. I've already had dreams about my upcoming year teaching. I can't wait to get back into the classroom!

There are so many details that have to be thought through and planned for, but as I said, we're so lucky to have an amazing support system to help us get a few things (some of the most important things) in place before landing back on May 17th.

We'll spend the next two weeks traveling, exploring, and enjoying our last few days in the beautiful country. We look forward to meeting up with our friends Cindy, Roberto and Sunny.

It's all so surreal. I can't believe this chapter is coming to an end, all the while I'm very excited to move on to the next thing. I guess that's the best part... being able to look back with many fond memories, but at the same time looking forward with excitement. It helps to ease the pain of good-byes.