Second Part of One Year

(continued from ONE YEAR, previous post)

By the time we got better, it was time for Spring break and we were all anxious to do another trip! We headed South and explored the wonderful area of Tlacotalpan and Los Tuxtlas. The very edge of the real jungle, but not too much left of it either! The trip seemed short, but we all enjoyed it (even Kiwi, the dog!). We also really enjoyed the fact that all of us were speaking Spanish proficiently and our stomach had become acclimated so we could eat anywhere!
But somehow, my stomach was not doing too good… and then the surprise came… for someone who is pre-menopausic it comes as more than a surprise, more like shock, to learn that she is pregnant. After 9 years we found we had another little one on the way. Jevon was in shock, but elated. The boys were in shock and confused.
The shock subsided just in time to go back to school, and we went back to our routine as much as we could… yeah, I was kind of nauseous most of the time. I had become a very avid walker in the past year, walking at least twice a day to downtown Coatepec and twice a day to school, suddenly walking did not feel that good anymore.
Just a couple of weeks into school, I started to miscarry. Not a very happy time for anyone. It was very painful both physically and mentally, but we were lucky to find a doctor that gave us hope. It took over 5 weeks of bed rest and a hearty hormone treatment to make sure baby stayed in place. Needless to say, I stopped working for good. Even after my period of bed rest was over, I had to be no less than 60% on my waking hours laying down. OK, it was incredibly hard for me to really slow down… I couldn’t even cook! But all the sacrifice and patience and tears were all worth it the first time we saw the little one move around in the ultrasound!
So our life changed again, we were already looking up-North, but now we were faced with a new variable to add to our decision process. It would be almost impossible for me to make a move to the US… but we were also already wrapping up our year in Mexico.
The boys’ situation at school was rapidly deteriorating. With a teacher that spoke no Spanish and had no experience, and no counseling for the loss of their prior teacher, Diego’s second grade class was having really bad problems. Armando’s class had always been a tough class, but with the administration gone and the chaos with the core of teachers, it only got worse. The whole school was facing a really tough time and I was totally incapable of helping. The boys were very ready to change school by the end of April.
As it happens with any disability, the whole family dynamic had to change. The boys missed me at school, but were thrilled to be able to spend loads of time hanging out with me at home. They also enjoyed the fact that we had lots of Pizza delivered! Jevon had to stop traveling and became mom and dad at times. By the time May came around we were exploring the idea of staying in Mexico at least until the baby was born. We were (and still are) very happy with our doctor, the health care costs are 90% lower than in the US but still high quality, the boys felt comfortable in Mexico now and we had a good support system. And traveling thousand of miles to set up a home in the US seemed impossible to me.
We found another school for the boys, which they seemed happy and anxious to move to, and we started to look for an “easier” life. Coatepec is charming and quiet, but you still have to drive for a while to get to most high quality services, including hospitals and the new school. So we set our sights on moving to a more central location from where all of us had less need to travel distances to get things accomplished. It would still be a move, but only 10 miles up the road.
So we said our goodbyes to Coatepec while we searched for a Xalapa house, which was again stressful. We realized most of the things we were going to miss the most of Coatepec we had stopped doing months ago, when I went into bed rest! Our walking became minimal and no one wanted to be far from home for extended periods of time since they wanted to be close to me.
We wrapped up the school year on a sad note. Although the Principal came back from her exile, the school was in such chaos and disarray that it remained an impossible choice for us to even consider again. It was sad because of all the wonderful people, teachers, parents and kids, that we would not see on a daily basis, but the boys were ready to move on. We also had decided that they needed a more stable environment at school as well as a stronger academic background that could prepare them for a future move up North.
So, to Xalapa we moved. It was a little bit sad to leave our Cloud Forest, but we were all relieved to move on… we were ready for the next step.
The transition to Xalapa has been rather easy. The boys are elated at their new school and have quickly made lots of friends. It is still a school that foments team work more than competition, but now their focus is more on research and use of information in all areas as well as scientific experimentation. They are excited and happy. They are also taking swim lessons in a very cool new pool close to their school.
Jevon is getting back on track having had a part in an exhibition with the architecture firm he was working with. He is spending time driving more than anything, but he enjoys the time he shares with the boys and he is still making sure I move as little as possible. He also has to watch that I don’t overdo anything, which I tend to do when I feel well.
I am now very sedentary. I still have cramps once in a while and I get really scared. The move was stressful and that got me really tired, but it was a good move. The house is pretty comfortable and everyone seems to feel very content here. Kiwi keeps being my closest companion and warms my feet on my bouts of bed rest. I am now spending more useful time on the computer.
We are all getting to discover new places around the area we moved to. We just discovered a Sushi restaurant that delivers, two pizza places and even the supermarket delivers. There are a few parks we haven’t been to yet, so they are in the list of things to do. Medical facilities are closer and we finally got a pretty good pediatrician for the boys who is also an allergist (mostly for Armando). Life does seem different, but we don’t miss the no-see-ums of Coatepec and I surely don’t miss the bumpy roads that made me feel awful!
As for our families back up North: neither my parents nor Jevon’s are thrilled about us staying here. There are really concerned about my condition. We try to make them feel better, but the distance factor does not help. We are confident we have pretty good medical attention and a very good quality of life, but they still would prefer us around the corner.
We are, overall, happy, living one day at a time, learning about zen and concentrating on making the most of the time we have left here. My main focus is my boys, all of them: Armando, Diego, Jevon and the little one that still grows inside of me (yeah, another boy). We hope for a great time for the boys in school, a productive time for Jevon and a calm time for me, but most of all, we wish for a healthy birth in November!
We miss our friends and family up North, I specially miss them in this time of uncertainty and hope, but we are sure that we will see them soon. We miss our friends in Coatepec, since we can’t see them in a daily basis, but we know they are close. We have grown and we have changed and we realize how really small the World can be. Our friends everywhere have always made sure to make us feel at home anywhere and our little, growing family is grateful for all of those friendships that will go on no matter time or distance.
We miss you all, and we thank you for the love and the time you have given to our lives.
I will proceed to write as much as I can in our blog (xalapacalli.blogspot.com) and share photos of our new discoveries (flickr.com), you can always access it through our website (www.calli.us).