Stop and Hear the Parrots

Living in another country is full of challenges.

In Latin America, there is the challenge to remember toilet paper goes in the trash can not the toilet. That is really a thing here. The struggle to remember that is real! There is the challenge of a new schedule. Here the sun creeps over the mountains a little after 5am. In case you were wondering, that was not our normal time to wake up. It was definitely not Hannah’s normal time to wake up.

Here we are loaded up. Hannah is 30 pounds and our three backpacks are a little more than that in total weight. 

Even though there are many difficulties, there are great experiences too. In order to acclimate well, sometimes we just need to stop and smell the roses.

Take this morning for example, we are in the middle of rainy season which means the ants (hormigas) invade. A couple of days a week while I wait for hot water to boil for my coffee, I kill ants. It is me verses them. I’m not about peace treaties with them. I want them to die slowly so they can tell their friends. To be honest, they don’t bother me too much. I view it as a challenge to eradicate them. Since we have a fifteen minute walk to school, we put Hannah in a stroller (graciously given to us by a church before we left and life is easier with it). However, this morning, the ants found her stroller. Her stroller is like every other toddler’s stroller or car seat – absolutely disgusting. The ants found Hannah’s little buffet for them.

We were already running late so Katie put her baby carrier on and I loaded up with three back packs. We thought about catching a taxi to school but the traffic was pretty bad which meant we could walk about as fast as a taxi. Looking back, I’m so glad we walked. Because we were without a stroller, we entered into the school through a different gate which allowed us a new site and sound, parrots! As we approached the school, we were greeted with the screeches. Parrots aren’t exactly song birds!

Acclimating to a new culture is difficult but if you will live with the “glass is half full” mentality it gets easier. This was a good morning to stop, see, and hear the parrots. How glorious!