Aug 17
31
There’s no place like home!
Why Puerto Rico?
We get this all the time. What? Why? Really? And we get it. When you live in Northern California — where it’s the perfect temperature year round but you STILL get seasons; where you can hike in 1,000-year-old redwoods, snorkel with sea otters, bike over Mount Tam, surf at Mavericks, and ski all within a 3 hour drive of your house; where there are almost no bugs to speak of, except maybe an occasional spider. The best and most diverse/fresh produce and restaurants than anywhere else in the United States. Parks, green spaces, theater, museums, *monthly free admissions to theaters, art museums, kid museums, science museums, botanical gardens. A functional public transit system. Libraries – lots and lots of free libraries. WHY! WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THIS???
I get it. It’s pretty darn awesome here in the Bay Area. I will never EVER deny that.
But we have lived here for a glorious decade. Our kids are getting older and we can finally travel again.
– I know. I hear you. TRAVEL?!??! Why would you travel when you have it all right here? Camping and beach resorts. Cabins in the snow. Vistas of wine country. WHERE COULD YOU POSSIBLY GO?
But we felt like those lame sands of time were slipping through our fingers. That’s right! We turned 40 and started to panic that all those nights pleading with our sleepless kids to hurry up and grow up already so that we could get a night of sleep; was actually happening! They were growing up – we were sleeping – and time was marching on. So we threw ourselves in front of the marching sands and pleaded for just a few more years with our little ones. Our oldest was 10 and we thought now or never. Stand back Taylor Swift and that scary Young Adult section at the library. We were going to fight them all back for just a little more sweet time.
So we searched for our school. You know – the one we have been looking and looking for since my first kid was born. The one who appreciates each of my kids’ different picadillos. One where they all go together each day. They eat lunch together – the older ones can help wipe the little’s sand off her feet just the way she likes and feel like a cohesive team or…. family is the word I am looking for. The little school that grows their snack on the property, serves only water, no plastic garbage to be seen, doesn’t shows videos on Fridays and maybe one where we could all learn Spanish. And then two years ago while tootling around the western side of Puerto Rico we found it. We found it all. The surfers and coast guardies. The farmer’s markets and yoga studios. The french bakery and off the grid trucks. All of this surrounded by waterfalls and pristine beaches and a little school.
So we went. We packed up, sold our car, rented our house, donated boxes of things, shipped only a few precious items and went.
And we have to report it is magical. It is HOT! as anyone who spoke to me in the first week would know. We have struggled with our Spanish and have many funny stories to share. It has brought us closer together. And we found a school that holds our kids with love and kindness. We slowed down time. But as Grandma Paula always says… “don’t mess with Mother Nature.” She is a cruel cruel temptress.
After only a few short weeks of this enchanted experience Mother Nature showed up in full force. And although we have been tested and at times frightened; her strong force has caused us to hold on to each other more tightly.
We made it to our new home! Excited to move in – but nothing to move, in! We can’t wait to have friends and family visit. But we first need to find something to sleep on.