Welcome to the expat life!

I'm going on my second international relocation as a wife. We moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, about 3 years ago and now we're moving to Mexico City, Mexico.
As I know very well relocating is not easy but it is a choice. So, even with all the issues we have I'll try to make the best out of it!

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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

New Year's Celebrations

We're heading to Florida to celebrate New Year. We'll be meeting some friends there.


But how is the New Year Celebrated in Mexico? It is a lot like in Brazil, but Brazil is hot and Mexico is cold this time of the year.


People in both countries are very superstitious. They carry some of the same superstitions too: They use new underwear on this day and the colors are used to attract different vibes - for love, pink; for money, yellow; for peace, white; for passion, red. They also eat 12 grapes at midnight, representing the 12 months of the year. In Brazil they make a wish for each grape they eat. In Brazil, if you're by the beach you also have to jump 12 waves, throw flowers to Yemanja - Saint Barbara - for good luck and eat lentils to have enough money during the year. Most people also dress in white. They never wear black on New Year's eve. I don't know the dress code in Mexico.


Having the whole family and friends for supper on New Year's eve is also a tradition in both countries. Cod fish is a common dish served in both countries (Bacalao in Mexico, Bacalhau in portuguese.) Champagne is also served.


Fireworks are a tradition too. But in Brazil, particularly Rio, the fireworks are unbelievable!


We also spent a New Year in Angra dos Reis, a city in between Rio and Sao Paulo, that has 365 islands. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my whole life. There, if you have a boat - or friends who do - there is a boat procession where people dress up their boats and they follow a boat carrying a Saint form one island to a chapel in the city. It is pretty and fun.


No matter where you are your New Year celebration should be fun.


So, I wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Celebrating Christmas Abroad


Hanukkah is celebrated the same way and on the same day in the U.S., in Brazil and in Mexico. But the way Christmas is celebrated is different in the 3 countries.

We all know how it's celebrated in the U.S., but in Brazil the malls and the streets start being decorated around Halloween. That's right! Brazilians don't celebrate Halloween (well, they are starting to celebrate it because they love the party) or Thanksgiving like we do in the U.S., o people get really excited about Christmas. The houses don't have a set date to start being decorated but it usually happens in the beginning of November. They put up the trees, the nativity scene, Santa Claus', and even fake snow. Christmas there happens during summer and, believe me, it is super hot! It is really weird to experience a hot summer. On our first christmas in Brazil my kids asked me: -"Mom, is Santa coming this year? There is no snow outside"! So be ready to spend the holiday by the pool. It will be a unique experience. 

In Brazil they celebrate Christmas eve as well as Christmas day. On Christmas eve there is a big dinner with the whole family, then the kids go to sleep. As soon as the kids wake up, in the next morning, they open the presents. They go wake up the adults and open all the presents without following an order. It is pure excitement. Around noon more family and close friends arrive for Christmas dinner. Usually the dinner is held at the family's matriarch home. The meals are similar on both days but the meat that is served changes form one day to the next. They serve 2 salads, one green and one like a potato salad with more ingredients, white rice, farofa - the brazilian equivalent to our stuffing -, turkey and/or ham, gravy, potatoes (roasted or mashed) and vegetables. There's fruit salad, walnut cake or flan (pudim de nozes), chocolate and coffee - cafezinho - that is served in small cups and almost as strong as an espresso. It is a delicious meal and a great party.

In Mexico the celebration starts 9 days before Christmas, on the 15th of December. Like the Brazilians, Chistmas eve already counts as Christmas. This celebration is called Las Posadas. It has this name because it is a reenactment of Joseph's and Mary's search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. Their search took 9 days.  Each evening of the posadas, neighborhood residents make their way to a designated home, where they seek food and hospitality. There is singing, readings and celebration. A pinata, filled with Christmas sweets is broken, and everyone enjoys tamales, buneulosand a hot chocolate. For adults who want something with a little more kick, there is a hot punch this is made of blends of seasonal fruits and a shot of wine or spirits. On Christmas dinner the traditional meal is bacalao a la vizcaina - a dish that includes salted cod that has been dried, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, olives, capers and red bell peppers. Like in Brazil, friends and family are invited to the party. And in Mexico people start decorating the malls, the streets and their homes after the celebration of the Dia de Los Muertos - November 2nd, another catholic holiday.  But it is winter there and Mexico City can be pretty cold this time of the year.

So wherever you are, enjoy your Christmas!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Husbands and the Relo

Have you put yourself on your husbands shoes? Of course this whole process is not easy on us, but it is not easy on them either.


First they have the thrill of being offered an oversea assignment, likely with a promotion. The salary increase, the benefits and the pride of having their bosses and companies trusting them to get a tough job done. Yes, overseas jobs are usually tough. But they will have to leave behind the comfort of their current jobs, pack their bags and up route their families. In their minds there is always the taught of "what if this doesn't work?". They know that someone will replace them once they're gone, so they can not tell the company: - "Oops, things didn't work out as I expected so I want to go back". To men this is a huge failure. Do you know any men who is ok with failing at anything? 


Plus, as the providers - even if you have a job you will likely have to quit to relocate - they feel a lot of pressure on making the new job work. And like us, they need to adapt to the new culture and learn the new language. They need to be able to communicate what they expect from their employees who can't speak english sometimes. And getting over the cultural differences is not easy.


In Brazil, for instance, people won't say "no" to you. No no's. They will tell you what they think is what you want to hear. You will only know the truth once things go wrong and no one can fix them. Same in Mexico. And the meetings will also drag on forever. People will arrive late to the meetings, then coffee is served, then water is served, then it is time to ask about how you spent the weekend or if you have plans for the following one, ask about the families and all, and then the meeting start. During the meetings everyone in there think that they need to say something about all the subjects and most time what they say is irrelevant. And there is always more people invited to the meetings who have no business being there. And the offices hours are different too. In Sao Paulo people tend to work late hours. If you ask my husbands it is due to inefficient use of time. But it is what it is.


So on top of that they have the pressure of keeping the family happy. This is not an easy task. 


During this relocation my husband had to be away from the family for a very long time and he had to take care of our dog. He would wake up at 5:30 am to walk the dog on the cold fall of Mexico City, then he would jog and leave to work before traffic got too bad at 7 am. Not an easy task. When he got back home he would have to walk the dog again. It was nice that he had some company but it was also hard work. On top of that he had to learn spanish, hire new people and come up with a plan to start turning profit for his company. Meanwhile, I was taking care of the cats and the kids, but at least on the weekends I could go to the pool with friends. He had nobody to hang out with. So we all had our hard times.


I remember a family who could not go thru all this. The husband was offered partnership at a company to go to Sao Paulo. The wife was constantly complaining. She never had anything nice to say about Sao Paulo at all. So the husband ended up having to go back home without becoming a partner. His career was jeopardized. Everything he worked so hard to get just slipped thru his fingers. 


So sometimes we just need to take a deep breath and not complain to them about all our problems. We just need to give them a nice kiss and tell them how much we appreciate what they are doing. In the end we all know we are doing this for our families. A happy marriage makes happy kids and happy families. And this is all that matters.

The Decision To Relocate

Is this going to be a nice adventure or is it going to be the biggest mistake of my life?


This is a very tough question to answer. It doesn't matter how much we prepare for this experience, only by living at the new place we will have the answer. And this is something that will affect the whole family.


Usually the pay is good and so are the benefits and many times there is a promotion involved. So it is hard to say no to all of this. Can we not support our spouse?


So what do we do?


We take the look and see trip, we start taking classes of whatever language is spoken on the country we're moving to and we start researching how life can be in this country. So things seem pretty simple when all of this is in place. But no one prepares us for the challenges that will come.


The cultural shock can be huge! Things that are considered normal in a culture are not in another. For instance, in the U.S. people are used to keeping their personal space and to greet with a handshake. In Brazil there is a complete disregard for personal space and people will greet with 1 or 2 kisses on the cheeks. And in Mexico too. There is a respect for people's time in the U.S. - time is money, right? But not in Brazil or Mexico. In Brazil people tend to be late for their appointments, and in Mexico they are even later. It is hard to get used to this. And in Brazil people will respond to your e-mails with accurate answers but not in Mexico. It is extremely hard to get a yes or no answer out of anyone there. Getting directions to get to places are also a problem in Mexico City. A few mexican friends told me that the people are embarrassed to say they don't know the directions for where you're going so they will tell you the first thing that comes to their mind. And this happened with our driver twice in two days. He did not want to tell me he did not know how to get to a development ant to a restaurant so we ended up getting lost and I was late for my appointments - a two in one!


You will have a hard time communicating and adapting to the new culture. But if you can endure it you can have a great time!


The good side is that you may meet some great people, travel to great places, learn a new language and have a good time.


I know people who couldn't survive in this environment for a year, but the vast majority of people I know love having this experience. And I think most of it is because of our attitude. If we are willing to deal with some hardship we can and will survive. But if you just want to compare and complain about everything you will be miserable. And you won't have any friends.


So the best attitude is to just take it as something temporary and look at the glass half full. A positive attitude will only help you. And if you're happy you can make your family happy. After all, it is only for a couple of years and time goes by really fast. So why should you miss an opportunity? 

Sunday, December 19, 2010

My Emotional Roller Coaster

If you've read some of my posts you've probably noticed I've been on an emotional roller coaster ride. There were times when I was very exited and there were times when I was on the verge of a nervous meltdown.


There is a lot of excitement when we face a big move. And there is also quite a bit of frustration. When we decided to move I first taught: Can I do it? Is the company going to help me? Is the school good? Is my husband going to have to travel a lot? Can I be happy in this new place? Since I answered yes to most of these questions, I knew it was time to move to the next step.


The next step is the look and see visit. Well, at least it should be. In my case it wasn't. We had to accept the assignment before I took the trip back in August. During the look and see trip you realize that you will have to compromise - sometimes a lot. There will be things that you taught you could never live without that simply won't be available at the new country. But if the company provides a car that can fit your whole family, a housing allowance that can get you a house equivalent to what you have and if you like the school it is all good.


To me, it was on this second step that things started to go wrong. First, I wasn't too happy with the school choices. Than, for us to rent a house the company had some requirements that no one knew - or wanted to - fulfill. And third, I was used to having 2 armored cars and we were being offered a non- armored car. Sounds silly but if you live in Sao Paulo or in Mexico City this is a necessity.


Transporting all of my pets was also a big deal. The H.R. in Mexico couldn't have cared less about the whole issue. But my pets are part of my family. Until we had this issue figured out I was very stressed out.


On top of that, my husband had to move to Mexico in the middle of September for what we taught was going to be a 45 to 60 day stay - 8 weeks - to get his visa done. It took him 90 days to get the visa ready!! 12 weeks. If you're by yourself taking care of your kids it is a long time!! Ok, I had the housekeeper taking care of the house, but I was the only authority n the house. And it gets really tiring being the sole person to discipline them. And they are kids, so the way they show that they're missing daddy is by acting up. And try keeping them entertained all the time....


Now add to this mix doing all the inspections on the car, painting the house and changing its carpet, canceling the bills, putting the apartment on the market for rent, selling the car, taking care of the paperwork to fire the maid, going to the school recitals and the other school functions and packing the house.  My friends were extremely nice and helped me keep it together. Particularly my best friend from childhood and my friends from Denmark.


So in a way I feel lucky my husband wasn't around. We could be sharing the burden but we could also be arguing a lot. It is inevitable to argue with your husband during the relocation process. I don't know a single couple who hasn't. My husband also took the time he was away to focus on his new job. It would have been hard for him to do so if he had to worry about the family's adaptation and all the other issues. Mine had to hire new staff, learn how to speak spanish and lots of other things. He also had to take care of our dog - remember I brought the dog to Mexico City in October?


Yes, it is not easy on us but it is not easy on our husbands either. And there is nothing like opening a bottle of wine to talk about all the issues we're having. Even if it's over the phone. It gets to be like a long distance date and you end up talking about the issues in a lighter way. So I strongly suggest you try it. If you don't drink wine try doing it with a cup of coffee or tea.


Now I'm sitting at our temporary house, with the whole family reunited - pets and all - waiting for my container to arrive  to our next house so I can make it home. And this is a nice feeling. I think my roller coaster ride is over.





Friday, December 17, 2010

So back to the school subject.


Why do I only want my kids to go to an American school?  It’s because it is the only thing they have to hold on to as we move from country to country. It brings them a connection with home. It’s a place where they celebrate all the American traditions.
4Th of July? Check. Halloween? Check. Thanksgiving? Check. And on the other hand the schools also celebrate the local traditions. In Brazil the kids would celebrate Festa Junina and they loved it!

But why an accredited school? Because this way I’ll know that it is not just a bilingual school pretending to be American. For the schools it is important to be recognized as an American school for the prestige or to fulfill their missions. And for us parents it is important to know that the school is accredited so we know that they will follow the American curriculum and calendar.

Yes, the curriculum may vary as the methods of teaching also vary, but the general ideas are there.

The Graded School in Sao Paulo is a fully accredited school. There are other fully accredited schools in Brazil. But the 2 schools I looked at in Mexico City are NOT fully accredited now. They are both (ASF and Westhill) accredited under Advisement.

If a school is fully accredited you know that they are meeting all the requirements of the Accreditation Board. It includes, but is not limited to, having a certain number of native teachers (Americans and Canadians), meeting curriculum requirements and scoring enough points on the SAT’s.

Well, the Graded is not the best school in the world. I had plenty of problems there, including a teacher hurting my daughter on the first year we were there. But they’ve changed the superintendent and added a co-principal to the lower school who is very committed to doing what’s best for the children - and by that I mean changing the curriculum and focusing on protecting the wellbeing of the children and not the job stability of teachers who have been hurting (emotionally and physically) kids there for over 15 years. But my kids also had great teachers over there. Teachers who are young, knowledgeable, motivated and who want to make a difference in their student’s lives.

So if all this happened at a fully accredited school can you imagine what could happen at a school that is Accredited under Advisement? Being Accredited  Advisement means that there is a problem with those schools. They won’t tell us what it is. What they say is that they have one or more areas in need of some attention. This was enough to raise my eyebrows.

Oh, I am looking at schools accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools only.  That’s the association that accredits most of the American schools overseas.

But I'm still not done talking about schools yet.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Driver, The Driving and The Cars

On my way from the airport to the hotel in Mexico City I was chatting with the driver and he told me some fun facts about Mexico City - and yes, the driver does speak english and I observed some things:

  1.  The traffic in Mexico City is really bad in the mornings - between 8 and 10 O'clock - and in the afternoon - between 6 and 9 O'clock.
  2. When we say traffic is really bad, we mean it. When the cars move people drive very aggressively;
  3. Anyone can get a driver's license in mexico as long as they are 18 years old or older;
  4. There is no driving test required for a person to get a license;
  5. There is no eye test either;
  6. Even tough people are required to wear their seat belts only a very small minority does it;
  7. The majority of the cars on the street are really old - 10 + years;
  8. There is a mandatory test for cars older than 3 years to check its level of pollutants;
  9. This test is done every 6 months;
  10. Car insurance is not mandatory, therefore most people don't have it;
  11. If you're in a car crash it is likely that the other person won't be able to afford the repair and other costs if they caused it;
  12. There is a complete disregard for all the traffic laws we're used to - people don't stay in their lanes, no one uses the blinkers, people turn left and right as they please and they honk their horns all the time;
  13. If an ambulance or fire truck is coming your way, watch out. There will be 3 or 4 cars following it to beat traffic.
It is quite an adventure to drive in Mexico City. Even for me, and I'm used to drive in the Sao Paulo traffic. So buy car insurance, pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe and be super careful! then let me know how it goes.


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Getting out of Brazil

Boy, It wasn't easy...
After the Sean Goldman case it is extremely hard to take a child out of Brazil with only one parent. And we did have a very hard time doing so.
At the last day we had several issues.

  1.  The moving company got only authorization for the cats to leave the country;
  2. My daughter needed a notarized document signed by me authorizing her to leave the country with my husband;
  3. My son had the same document but there was a little mistake on it.
So here we go:

  1. The cats had to fly on separate flights - remember the 2 pets per cabin rule? - so we needed 2 authorizations from the Ministry of Agriculture to be able to board the plane. Of course, dealing with all the last minute problems I could not go to the airport to get another copy of this document. The airport in Sao Paulo is an hour away from where we live. I called the moving comp[any, flip-out and demanded that this got done. It was a Saturday and nothing really works in Brazil on Saturdays. They got it done. But my stress level was high.
  2. On Friday we had to go to a Brazilian Cartorio - public notaries there are not like in the U.S. , there is a lot of bureaucracy involved in trying to do things right in Brazil - but the place was totally packed. They told us it would take 6 hours to get the document stamped. We didn't have that kind of time to waste. So we decided to go to the airport together and I would authorized my husband to take my daughter out of the country. Easy, right? But no, they said that I needed a document stamped at the cartorio for that. I was there, saying it was ok, but my word was not good enough. Finally I talked to a Sheriff (delegado) from the Federal Police (Policia Federal) and he stamped the freaking document and said it was ok for them to fly.  Stress level: Super high.
  3. Sunday! My last day in Brazil. I stopped by the pool at our development for the last goodbyes, got back to the hotel, had an awesome lunch with my son and our housekeeper - who cried all day long with saudades, and we'll miss her too! - packed our bags, put the cats in the crate and we were ready to go. As we got to the airport and I showed the damn authorization paper to the Delta representative they said my son couldn't leave the country with that authorization. The phrasing of the notary just wasn't right! Can you believe it? So I tried the federal police and they told me tho go talk to the inspector of immigration. I talked to the guy and he told me that the police had to authorize it. So I was running around with a little boy and 2 cats trying to get the permit to board the plane. About an hour before the plane's departure I just had a melt down. I was crying my eyes out, and so was my son, right outside the police's office. One of the sheriff's there felt sorry for me and started to look into the case. I can't thank this guy enough!! About a minute before check-in was over we got our tickets, we were the last ones to board the plane but we've made it! Stress level: About to have a heart attack!!
So the people from Delta Airlines were not helpful at all. And when we landed in Atlanta we found out that our flight had been cancelled and we would have to wait for 3 more hours and board the next available flight - COACH!! At this point and as stressed out as I was and with one child and 2 cats coach just wouldn't do it!! So I found the one nice person who works for Delta - a manager at the gates in Atlanta and explained my situation to him. I told him I did not want a refund for my ticket but that I needed my seats on business so we could all be accommodated reasonably well. We had to keep the 2 crates under our feet during the flight. But this wonderful guy put us on the wait list and we've made it to Miami.

And you would think that's all right? But no, our luggage didn't show up. But at this point we were all exhausted and we could't care less about the bag. It was time to go home! Even tough I knew I would have to go back to the airport the next day to get the bags. It was time to rest. And try not to end up at the hospital - or a mental institution!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Documents for leaving Brazil

OMG!! I just spent the last 3 days trying to put together all the documents we will need to leave the country. And for our furniture to enter the U.S.. The list is so loooooong. So I'll list them in parts:


For the cats:

  • A letter from the vet saying that their vaccine is current and they are in good health;
  • Vaccination ceriticate;
  • A document from the Ministry of Agriculture saying that they are allowed to leave the country;
For the kids:
  • Their passports
  • A notarized letter authorizing me/my husband to take one of the kids out of the country without the other parent;
For the move:
  • The inventory;
  • Insurance papers;
  • Power of attorney to the moving company;
  • certified copies of documents;
For Hubby and I:
  • Passports;
  • e-tickets.
We've been working really hard but I think we got all done now. And it feels good!



Thursday, December 9, 2010

Last Goodbye Party

I'm getting ready for my last goodbye party. And this will be a big one! We - and by we I mean my family and friends - are very happy we're moving to Miami for at least 6 months!


This afternoon I had my last lunch en-petit-comite. With my brazilian friends. This time it did not feel like a good-bye. All of my brazilian friends go to Miami often and lots of my american and foreigner friends do too. So I know I'll be seeing everybody soon enough. Not too many of our friends would have gone to Mexico City to visit us...


But still, reality is sinking in and I am realizing that I'll be gone in 3 days!


I was a nervous rack for a while. Actually, for quite some time. Not having an answer from the school, not having a house and my husband not having a visa was driving me crazy! Now he has his mexican visa but we don't need to worry about it for the rest of the family because we're move back to the U.S.. And buying or renting a house there will be easy. And the fun of buying a new car! And going to a good PUBLIC school!! And the school has to have a spot for my children. And it is much better than the private american schools in Mexico City.


My life will be so easy there!! Yes, I won't have a driver or a housekeeper but I will have security, good hospitals, good education and the icing on the cake - I'll speak english! Or sort of - it is still Miami!


So now I am getting ready to go have some caipirinhas and say see you soon to all my friends.  Next time we'll be having cosmopolitans!



Sunday, December 5, 2010

American Schools (Lost?) Mission

If you're like me, when you move abroad you need an american school for your kids. And how can we choose the best school for our children?


I don't know, anymore. Long time ago, when the first american schools were founded overseas their mission was to provide american education to the kids of big corporations employees who were expats. These school followed the american curriculum and the american calendar and they were funded by this big companies - like GM, Ford and also the American Chamber of Commerce.


But I feel that sometime along the way the schools became big money makers. The rich people of the countries where there are american schools started putting their kids in there so their kids would have a bi-lingual education. And this turned the school into status symbols. 


Now, most american schools have american kids as a minority group. The schools I researched consisted of 60% locals, 20% americans and 20% of other nationalities. And the 20% americans are passport holders, some of them are not native speakers. 


As I was looking for schools for my kids in both Mexico and 3 years ago in Brazil, I felt like the schools were treating me as if it was a privilege for my kids to join them and not as if these school were my only option. And we were on the top of their wait list - we are an american family being relocated by an american company.


In a way I feel like the american schools abroad are failing us. Instead of catering to people like me, who need to continue my kids education based in the american curriculum because we are going back to the U.S. soon, they are catering to the locals who have other options.


And this is just the beginning of the school problems. There is also the accreditation, bullying policies, special ed and advanced classes... But we'll leave it for later.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Frustrating Times

This relocation has been one of the most frustrating times in my life.


I am not a total control freak but I do like to be in control of my life. When we're relocating we have to hand out some -or most - of this control to HR. If your company has done it before or does it often there are better changes that they know what they're doing and that they will help you and make the transition smooth. That's not the case with us.


The HR director of our company has never done this before. I remember our conversation on the day I met her. She asked me how many times I had relocated and after I answered 5 or 6 times - some times we moved but did not relocate. Here is how our conversation went: 
HR: - "Well, this relocation is going to be really good."
Me: - "Or bad..."
HR: - "How come?"
Me: - "I know what needs to be done. You haven't done this before. I have my check list and I can help you. Just let me know what you need. But I do have high expectations."
HR: - "Well, I know what I am doing..."
Me: - "We'll see... But let me tell you that I need this to work out. And as you know I need to find a school for the kids and a way to bring my pets in asap!"
HR: - "When do you think you can be here?"
Me: - "If it's only up to us and you can get this 2 things figured out I can be here in 2 weeks."


This conversation happened in mid-August. It is december now and I am still in Sao Paulo. She had no idea what she was doing. She hired the worst relocation company to help her and I lost control of my life. I did send her my check-list. I did everything I could with the HR person here in Brazil - a great guy with lots of will to make this work - but nothing got done in Mexico.


What did they need to get done? The visa, rent the house that we had liked and give us clear instructions about the admissions process with the schools so we would have gotten and answer from the schools earlier.


They screwed up the contract of the house. They told us the visa would be done in 30 to 45 days and it took 70 days for it to be done. So they've created false expectations. And they've kept our family apart.


I know that they have no control on the school issue but they should had told me to bring the kids on my look and see trip back in August to be tested. They didn't, so the whole process got delayed. So do bring your kids to Mexico as early as you can if you are thinking of applying for schools there.


Mexico does have a slower pace. People there NEVER rush to get anything done. And this is why I am considering if I can be happy living there. I know lots of people who love living in Mexico. And I know some people who hate it. I would love to be part of the first group. But I think we may end up moving to Miami - this way I will avoid being part of the second group. In the end, I am a firm believer that we were put in this world to be happy. And this is what we're doing. In Mexico or in Miami, it doesn't matter. I just can't continue to live this frustrated.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Are Bad News Good News?

I've got an answer from the school 2 days ago. Finally! But it wasn't good. And it took a while to sink in.


Apparently there was a shoot out right outside a school in Monterrey and lots of companies are transferring families to Mexico City. And guess what?? These kids have the priority on the wait list at school. So there is no spot available for my kids.


My husband decided to take a look at the school that was our second option. He scheduled an appointment with the admissions director.  But she didn't show up. He waited for an hour. So what do we do now?? There are only two accredited schools in Mexico City. Accredited Under Advisement, but still, the ones following the american curriculum.


We're looking into moving to the US and doing the super commute. He can leave to Mexico City on Monday morning and come back on Friday afternoon. Not the best alternative but at least the kids will be at a good school.  


I am extremely frustrated and blaming H.R. and the relocation company! If they had told me, back in August, when I went on my look and see trip, that the test at the school was MANDATORY, I would have taken the children with me and we would have gotten an answer a while back. With enough time to put a plan B in action. Now, my house is packed, the container is ready to go but I don't know where to.


I'll have a tough day ahead of me trying to find a solution that will be good for the whole family. But let's be honest. After 3 years living abroad moving back to the US sounds pretty sweet! But keeping the kids and myself away from my husband doesn't feel that good. Even if it's only during the week.


Now my priority is to keep the family happy and together!! Time to think, talk to the right people and find a solution to this HUGE problem.