What Are We Doing?

Well, we've been in Chile for over a month, and in a few days we'll reach the one month mark in our apartment. The boys are now settled in a preschool/daycare that is right across the street from our apartment. I love both of their teachers! They are so sweet and affectionate with both boys and I can tell that they really do care about them.

Tyler
Ty is now saying hello and goodbye with a kiss on the cheek and he is also saying "hola" and "chao" in addition to "hi" and "bye bye". That paired with his dance moves indicates that he is well on his way to embracing the Chilean side of himself. It is too cute! He has started saying a lot of his words in both languages (water/agua, juice/jugo, shoes/zapatos) but he also is saying new English words that he doesn't say in Spanish, like "book", and I'm sure he's saying Spanish words at school that he doesn't say in English, but I just haven't heard him say it yet at home. His favorite thing to do at the park is run up to the birds and scare them so that they fly away, and he gets the most upset when we don't let him push the button to open the elevator door. God forbid Nico pushes the button before he does!!!

Nicolas
Nico is also doing really well. It has been harder for him to embrace some things because he gets really shy, but when you catch him in the moment and he doesn't know that anyone is watching, he follows suit with everyone else. He's hysterical because although he is advancing with Spanish and already producing more than ever before, he still thinks and plays in English. Therefore, he'll be playing in the park with his new school friends and he just talks to them non-stop in English, and when they speak to him in Spanish, he just looks at them and says, "I don't understand Spanish, so I don't know what you're saying" and they just keep on playing like nothing happened. Then, he'll walk up to his friend's mom or dad and start talking to them non-stop in English. He's being super polite (in English), but no one has any idea what he's saying, but they smile and nod and he just moves on to playing some more with his friends. The funny thing is that his entire day is in Spanish. His class, teachers, friends, everything! So...I'm just waiting for the day that he busts out in full conversation in Spanish! haha!

In Nico's class, he's learning to write his numbers and letters. He's also learning to identify words that start with certain letters. He has had homework two weekends in a row, but we don't call it homework; I've just called it craft time because he is excited to do all of the activities. I don't want it to seem like a chore. Since all of his letters, numbers, and words at school are in Spanish, I've been doing activities at home in English. Tonight he asked me if we could spell some words and make some sentences. It's so interesting because he is doing that at school in Spanish, it is obviously interesting to him, and then at home he is asking for more, so I just do it in English to reinforce both languages. Tonight he read the sentence "The dog is fun". And he read the words "Dog", "Cat", "Yes" and "Man"....which are all words that he picked out to spell and read. I have no idea what is age-appropriate, but I'm excited because this is new for him! I'm so proud of him!

Jessica
On my end, I am teaching English classes for a company that offers private personalized English classes. I have a pretty full schedule now, so that is good. I just finished my 2nd full week of working for them and I think I'm about to take on my last class before my schedule is full. I currently teach a neo-natal doctor, an endocrinologist, a non-profit agency director, a physical therapist, a technical engineer, the Syrian consulate, his wife and son. I meet with the consulate's wife and son every day and I meet with the other people two times a week. It has been very interesting so far and I'm happy that I was able to start working so quickly.

David
In many aspects, David is still in a holding zone as far as work is concerned, so I won't go into much of that right now. But, last week we had a big scare with David's health. It turns out that he has a kidney stone in his left kidney and he's been on medication all week to help him pass it. Last Thursday night some severe pain set in and traveled up his back. Unfortunately the pain was so intense that it caused his body to tense up and restricted his breathing and mobility. It was very scarey at first because we did not know what was wrong and he went to the emergency room at 11:30 at night. Thank God we had a friend that could stay at the apartment with the kids so that I could go with him. Once the pain subsided, then he could better identify where it was originating from and a MRI confirmed the kidney stones. Since he was discharged, he has been doing really well and we believe he's passed some of the stone without any pain.

David got his Chilean driver's license (the one from the States is only good for 3 months) today, and he got our Chilean bank account (checks and debit card) a few days ago. We are also in the process of doing the kids' citizenship paperwork for them to have dual citizenship. Since we will be here longer than 3 months, we have to do legal paperwork to stay here. Once the kids' paperwork is submitted, we will file my paperwork to get a visa or residency. In addition to taking care of all of our "business", David has also been working with him brother who just bought out the business next to him and expanded his small business. It's been great for David to be a part of that with him.

This past Tuesday David's mom came to Santiago to stay with us for the first time since we've been here (She lives 2 hours away). She sayed Tuesday night and David and I went to a 10pm movie, which was a lot of fun. We are looking forward to visiting her at the end of the month and also in November because she has a big garden and Nico is going to go to her house when they pick all of the vegetables from the garden. He will also help them plant the new vegetables for the next season. He is so excited! I'm anxious to spend more time with her because I want her to teach me how to cook some of the traditional Chilean meals. One of my goals while we are here is to learn certain parts of the traditional culture so that I can help carry on some of those things in our home in the States as our children grow up.