Week One

All travelers in their new homes! Typical for me, having more going on rather than less, is my coping style. So, getting Fede introduced to the neighbors, some school friends and church friends was first - so Sunday was filled with extra people around! Took Eleanor to the airport Monday, which was moderated for me by having extra people around (another girl was going on the same plane on her way to Brasil, my folks came and ET's friend Dale), and having had all my big feelings the week before, was just exciting. (Lee, however, spent the morning chopping wood from the BigStorm.) After the airport, we drove around looking for someplace to eat lunch, which in Iowa on a holiday is more challenging that one might think. We ended up at Blueport Junction, which is a biker bar/eatery near us, complete with lots of neon stuff hanging from the ceiling, wood branch cowhide covered furniture. Fede's eyes light up, "Just like what we see on tv!" Yes, you are really here, and stuff can really look like what you see on tv. Did I mention that our friends, Steve, took him on a 52 mile bike ride in the morning?? Yes, they road from Davenport to Maysville, saw a car show, ate at a pancake breakfast at the firehouse and road back. Other than the hills (which we do have here in Iowa) and the sausages, he had a great time.

Tuesday was time for school, and he was nervous. His class at home is 36 kids, and they are together the whole 5 years of high school; teachers go from class to class. Lockers? Never seen them. Combination lock on locker? Never seen them. 2200 kids in one school? never seen it. Cafeteria? never seen one. After getting set up with classes, I left him to go to the last two of the day. When I came back to get him at the end of the day, the poor guy road home in silence and sat quietly the rest of the day, pretty much. I think it hit him, he was really here, and some things might not be so easy...

Some of Fede's discoveries: we really do have mailboxes on posts at the road. Some people seem to think Mexico and Argentina are the same thing - I have made a blanket apology for Americans for the coming year....

For us, as a family, we are playing more board games together, which both Fede and Nat enjoy, so that gives them a way to connect. Lee comes home at a better time, and has eaten dinner with us more. We have enjoyed watching and talking politics with someone who is new to our system. I enjoy looking at our life here with new eyes. I have enjoyed having someone around who asks questions, listens to me answers (!) and is curious.

Eleanor has her own blog, http://eleanor-argentina.blogspot.com/
so you can read about her experience there. As a mom with someone far away, I am so thankful for email, blog and a little skype. I sometimes expect her to come home from work, etc. but, weird to say, the hole around her has filled in, leaving me excited about what she is experiencing, eager to hear whatever she'll tell me, and hopeful that we will get there next summer.