So ya, I am going well here in the land of Pura Vida. It's been a whirlwind transition like any good transition is. On day two, Ivan and I moved into our tiny apartment. I am not going to lie: my Caracas apartment spoiled me. Moving into a very small, unfurnished apartment with no pool and tennis court almost did me in. I didn't cry, but I thought about it. It took about two weeks to get settled in and now I quite like the place; we've definitely made it our own. Before I arrived, I was determined to cook more and I am happy to report that, despite my tiny kitchen, I have made at least five full meals so far. Meals that included farmers market ingredients AND making necessary substitutes. #omgIamfinallyreallyreallyanadult.
Amazingly, and with the help from some incredibly nice co-workers, Ivan and I have purchased a MONSTER moped. Like, I didn't know they made mopeds this big. I know Mom. I can hear you now: BUT TRACEY WHY DO YOU NEED AN EVEN BIGGER MOPED YOU ARE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED. Calmate Mom. This baby is going to take us to the beach! It's definitely more of a bike for the open road, so it will get us around town and out of town for those oh-so-necessary beach weekends as well. For now, Ivan is the primary driver while I practice turning right and going over speed bumps, but I'll get there. I am very excited about our upgrade and for us to get comfortable enough to hit the open road. She is lacking a name though, so we are taking suggestions!
School is, well, incredible. I am absolutely over the moon about my department head Monica. She and I are a two-woman college counseling show. Monica is a Tica who has been making some stellar changes to the department since she came a year and half ago. Last year it was approved to expand the department by one full time person....and here I am! I think we will make an excellent team. I also adore my secondary principal and the superintendent. They are both very progressive, nerd out on things like Grit and Growth Mindset and Character Education (LIKE ALL THE THINGS I LOVE AND READ ABOUT CONSTANTLY JUST FOR FUN) and are like. so. crazy. nice. and. welcoming. In fact, everyone here is so nice and welcoming! Ticos are very concerned that we gringos are happy and enjoying ourselves in the land of pura vida.
Enjoying ourselves we have been. I have a great cohort of new teachers to get to know. It's not hard getting to know each other either- the majority of us all live in the tiny apartments together. Our building is nine units and each unit is a Lincoln School teacher! Since the building is surrounded by a wall, we have been referring to it as "the compound", but really it's more like being in dorms again. If you are home and accepting visitors, you just keep your door open. People stop by, chat, swap beers and stories. Friday night we have an impromptu 90's dance party on the balcony. In fact, right now I write this post from my "office"- a small table on the balcony overlooking the street and the yonder mountains. It is nice to be close to people. We can help each other out and it makes commuting easy. It also makes getting to know each other happen rather inorganically, as we can all hear what everyone else is doing at all times (even over the din of traffic). My wish is that we all continue to get along as well as we have been!
The location of the compound is stellar. It's only 4k from school, next to a discount grocery store and walking distance from a much nicer (abet more expensive) grocery store, a strip mall of stores and restaurants (including a drive thru only KFC), a community center (where I partake in free zumba on Mondays and Fridays!), an awesome, inexpensive year-round Saturday farmers market and a real, serious, fancypants mall! The Lincoln Plaza is a serious business mall that makes me feel more like I am in Miami than San Jose. It's way nicer than any of the malls I frequented in the US for sure! A little farther down the road we can walk or bus to a Walmart, an EPA (like Lowes or Home Depot) or the Tibas or Morovia plazas which are surrounded by a variety of stores. Ivan has found a number of great running routes and one of them is a nice 5k loop that I have walked a couple of times. Even though we are technically in the rainy season, the weather has been unseasonably dry this year so we are all trying to be outside as much as we can.
All and all, the last three weeks have been good. I do have my moments. Sometimes I feel that things are just so "easy" here. Like San Jose is Latin America Lite. Sure, people run on Tico time and peanut butter is like a million dollars, but besides a few weird prices and inconveniences it is remarkably easy and manageable to live here. But then again, my bar is living in Venezuela. And I may be looking at it with rose colored glasses, but I kind of miss the challenge of living in Caracas. It certainly kept me on my toes. And I left all I knew and love for adventure, not drive through KFCs after all:). I'm sure I'll adjust to the easy life soon enough and shudder at the thought of going back to jetting out of work at a moments notice because there is milk in the store. But for now, I am letting myself mourn the loss of waiting in incredible lines, not being able to find toilet paper and spending over $1000 on plane tickets to the US. No really, I am missing my balcony, my friends, never having to spend money and my little moped Cindy. She certainly couldn't get me to the beach but she could take those speed bumps like a little champion.
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