So The kids & I are heading back home tomorrow... Which gets confusing when I tell people that now, because we have lived here, in Mexico, long enough to call this home.. Because most of our household furnishings are are here... Because we are all here together & because finally, we all have friends here.. 
So 'home' remains to be where we came from, where we left our wonderful support network of family and friends and all that has been familiar to the kids all their lives, and gives them the feeling of home..

The kids don't know it yet, but home is where you are, it is where you are living with your heart, where you invest yourself.. In a community or a friendship, in a city!  As I look back at these 10 months that we have been here, I can see that we have made a new home for ourselves, here in Santa Fe, Mexico City
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We, the kids and I are "invested" at school.  Me, not as much as I was in Michigan, not as much as I would like, but as much as I can be for now, and a lot more than most parents.   The staff knows me by sight & name, the principal makes time for me without an appointment. Yesterday, as we were leaving school, friends were crying, saying goodbye to Kirsti, even though she is just leaving for summer.. But she has invested herself, her heart, she has made great friends, she has made a new home here, and I am so proud of her for stepping out into the scary unknown of high school, and emerging stronger & more confident!  This experience, has been difficult, leaving a great network of friends & cousins, but she is proving to herself that she is resilient.

When taking this assignment, we thought long and hard about the impact on Zach, the boy who does not like changes.  We finally decided, that he had to learn to adapt, as life IS change, and the sooner the better, and if we were together as a family we could help see him through.  My motto for Zach has been, "if Zach can do this, he can do ANYTHING!"  Well a change is exactly what Zach got when we came.. A change to middle school, 3 different apartments in 3 months, different class schedules every week the first month at school because his grade had a  major influx of new students & extra staff was suddenly needed.  Of course there were the known changes, like language, food, culture.. And I have to say, Zach has amazed me.  As the year has progressed, he seems to have gotten calmer, less anxious about, well, everything!  Zach has made a really good friend, and that has been such a good experience for him!  Zach actually cared enough to want a friend, to care what that friend liked, even though its very different from his own likes.  Zach's Boy Scout troop has shown him parts of Mexico City he may not have otherwise seen, like the beautiful hikes or the poverty of the girl's home he helped to paint & repair.  So Zach is invested in Mexico City, he is certainly a convert to traditional Mexican tacos, if nothing else!

Danielle has surprised us, having the most difficulty with the adjustment to her new "home."  In retrospect, I see now that she has never really been faced with the challenge of change before. She is our child that has had the benefit of staying at the same school from grade K until NOW!  So she has had the same kids and those same parents always in her life. So this has proven to be more difficult, moving away & accepting change & then making the situation a positive rewarding experience.  Danielle has always been our most head-strong child, she will do things on her terms, so until she decided to make the best of her circumstances, life was a bit rough.  To her defense, she was thrown head first into classes taught solely en español, half day, every day- which was overwhelming, and depressing really.  Despite that, she did make friends, and one in particular, who lives so close to us, became a source of comfort and made everyday life tolerable for the girl who wants to know: what are we doing today? Who are we seeing?  What's for dinner?  She always wants a plan!  So, finally, Danielle is invested in a life here too!

Patrick had a good friend here, before we moved here, and this year would not have been managed as well without the friendship of this family!  Bhavani & Aravinda & the kids are our family in our home in Mexico City!  We are sad to be leaving them for 2 months.. But that is nothing compared to the sadness we will feel when they leave us at the beginning of next year when they move back to Michigan.  With their help, we have made friends with others, seen places, done things and gotten to the hospital as needed, LOL!  We are invested in this wonderful friendship & grateful to know that when our time is done here,the Thota family will be in MI waiting for us!
 
So we are heading back to our Michigan home - leaving behind for the summer some things that have been our "norm"... Like crazy drivers that make horrible sweeping turns that cut you off or run red lights (confession, I have run a red light too!), all the bill boards that line the streets, even the plasma screens that are like watching TV while waiting at a red light (sometimes we do this in the mornings, lol). Don't think I will miss the daily rain shower of late.. The rainy season & the cold that comes with it will be in full force when we return in August.  Parking underground has its advantages, you never have to worry about needing an umbrella, and jackets are less necessary.. But I will certainly not miss paying to park everywhere I go!! Or tipping the grocery bagger or the parking garage attendant!  And bringing groceries into my house thru the service elevator in a grocery cart is both great, and a slight annoyance... So a change of scenery is good, I am sure it will make me see all the things I have come to love here.  One thing I do know... I will miss Paty for sure & I know my house in Mich will not be as clean as my house here!! Paty is just amazing!