… I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet!
Note: I’m finally getting around to posting this two months after I wrote it and four months after we arrived in Ciudad Juarez. Better late than never!
I kept telling myself I’d write something once I felt more settled in. Two months later, and I think I finally feel settled in!
My weekly routine includes going to work part time in the mornings. Osito either goes to daycare at the school I work at or he stays home with our nanny. My outings around Ciudad Juarez include trips to the grocery store and restaurants on the weekends. I cross the border to go to El Paso a couple times a week, generally on Wednesday afternoons for Osito’s bilingual music class and Sunday mornings to go to Target to avoid the long lines while everyone is at church. I meet with an online Spanish therapist tutor once a week, I have tennis lessons one night a week, and we have a regular babysitter so we can get out for dinner.
The relative normalcy of my weeks belies the struggle it took to get there. I spent my first couple weeks anxiously adjusting and trying to stay afloat. Patience isn’t my strong suit and I really wanted my new normal to magically arrive without any of the hard work. Little by little I claimed new victories and created new routines. In the beginning it was navigating the traffic on my first trip to the grocery store, testing the best bridge and time to cross the border to avoid long lines, and learning to communicate with Osito’s daycare workers in Spanish as he adjusted to a new routine. It’s one thing to have your infant refusing a bottle at daycare, but another to try to explain how to get him to drink it in a foreign language. The tasks that felt monumental my first weeks are a breeze now, albeit it a hot, dry breeze with tumbleweeds dancing by…
It would be easy to say “I did it!” and pat myself on the back, but the truth is that I’ve had a lot of help. The consulate community offers as much help as I ask for and we were set up with a social sponsor who has been really helpful. I’m in no position to turn down friendliness, even if our sponsor is obligated to hang out with us! I was able to find my job through a contact at the consulate (more on that here) and there are always events that help us meet people- the Easter party at the Consul General’s house, her pool party, as well as book clubs, tennis lessons, and various other clubs I can’t always join because life is tricky with a baby. I am extremely grateful to the EFM’s (eligible family members… aka spouses) that reached out to me for tea, lunch, whatever. Beyond the consulate community, the single most helpful person has been our part time nanny/household helper. She keeps the desert dust off our floors, helps me find everything I need in Juarez (an evening gown, patio plants, party decorations!), and has unwavering patience with my Spanish (or she’s just a mind reader). She’s also a great mother, a professional employee, and my first local friend here.
With only two years at a post, you are forced to adjust quickly and I think we’re on the right track! Our HHE (household effects) arrived just shy of two months after our arrival and the maintenance folks came by last week to hang all of our pictures. The guest room is ready, so if you’re up for a visit nuestra casa es su casa!
Oh, the Places We'll Grow! 