I can honestly say I like living here. That hasn't always been the case of every place we've lived :) Of course, it might partially be due to the fact that both my kids are in school (yeah for mommy alone time!) and I have a maid who does all my cleaning, laundry and even unpacks suitcases. I also get once a week date night with my awesome husband while our maid/nanny watches the kids and puts them to bed for us while we're out. Oh, did I mention the weekly massages? Haha, sorry... don't mean to make anyone jealous but it is pretty great. It's funny how different people respond to living overseas. I have met quite a few Americans who hate it here and are counting down the days to when they leave. I have met others who are thrilled to be here and try to stay as long as possible. Everyone's different and adapts to things differently. I'm just glad I'm adapting well to this post! It's quite pretty and I feel comfortable in our apartment. Only downsides? Number one (and it's a huge one) is being away from family. Luckily I have a pretty amazing family and we stay connected through phone calls, web cam chats and visits. Second thing (and I've probably mentioned this before) the traffic and the constant honking while you're walking the streets. Why all the honking people? Does it really help you get anywhere faster? Anyway, I guess I can live with the craziness of being in a big city for a few years. And the trade offs are pretty awesome. Here are some pictures of what I see daily. These are actually pictures Mike had me take for a slideshow presentation his agency is doing on the different countries they have agents in. They are supposed to be the "authentic" stuff. It's actually more or less what I see on my walk taking Amaya to preschool, since that's when I took them "inconspicuously" with my iphone.
And here's my MyMy walking the streets with here mama. She got a popsicle for being such a good listener :)
Here she is another day with her buh-buh. This was taken right in front of our apartment building.
And this is the little pathway in the middle of the two streets in front of our building (our building is that red brick one on the right). The best part is we have floor to ceiling windows in our living room and they look out right onto the tops of these trees. It's pretty.
More pictures of our lives...
Amaya loves sitting in this drawer with all the kid stuff. She plays there for 20 - 30 minutes at a time! Best "tupperware drawer" ever.
I made burritos one night for the kids with black beans and a sort of taco mixture and they ate them SO well. Amaya had a whole bowl of guacamole with hers. This is pretty unheard of for my kids so I was excited :)
They both asked to play in the water in our bathroom sinks. Such cuties!
Running around like a crazy woman :)
Here are some pictures of one of the birthday parties Jay has recently been to. They are all pretty similar. All 25 kids in Jay's class are invited along with the parents and siblings (who are expected to come). They last about 4 hours and entertainment is provided for the kids as well as snacks, drinks and food for the kids and adults. In this picture they're doing the macarena.
It's Mario and he's headless!!!
Balloon sword. Every time one would pop Amaya about had a coronary.
Doesn't he seem excited? haha!
Took some pictures of MyMy in her room one day.
Looking out the window.
She loves this book. My mom and dad gave it to me for Christmas when I was just a year and a half old. It's called "Early Morning." Amaya actually has it memorized. I need to record her reading it sometime. It's pretty darn cute. Jay used to love it when he was little too. I hope it lasts for my grandchildren as well!
