Hello, I’m new here…sorta

My family and I moved to Viña del Mar, Chile one month ago and we’re new here…sorta. This coastal city known as the “vineyard of the sea” was my home for six months in 2003 when I studied abroad as a senior in college. I lived with a host family in a two-story home in the hills of Viña that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. My husband was born in Chile and, minus a few years abroad, lived here long enough to complete his college degree. We married shortly thereafter, once in Chile and once in the U.S., where we have lived for the 14 years since. During that time, we have returned to Chile to visit family and friends on a semi-regular basis, even after our two children were born. Last year we managed a month-long stay over Christmas and we were sure that would be the most extravagant amount of time we could ever afford to be away, and it probably was between work and school.

And then in the middle of August, when summer in the northern hemisphere was coming to an end, when my youngest child was about to enter kindergarten, when my dad was going through a health scare, and when I was in the thick of early pregnancy morning sickness followed by the heartbreak of early pregnancy loss, my husband got a job offer in Chile – and we decided to take it.

Over the course of the next three months, we mourned a loss, started kindergarten and second grade, found out that my dad was OK, obtained several travel documents, sold our house, said a temporary goodbye to my husband who left for Chile a month ahead of me and the kids, moved all of our belongings into storage, and bid farewell to our dear friends and my side of the family (which conveniently aligned with Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving, as I could not plan or manage one more thing). Throw in a toe injury for my son that landed us a couple of visits to Children’s Hospital when I should have been packing, a long-awaited third tattoo for me, a last-minute adventure to NYC with my college roommate, and a solo flight with my two little guys from DC to SCL, and here we are in Viña del Mar, Chile, just in time for another summer.

And while this place is not totally foreign to us, this summer and our subsequent life here will be quite different than what we’ve experienced for the last 14 years. We will be nearer to family, but farther from friends. We will live in an apartment instead of a house. We will speak Spanish instead of English. Summertime is also Christmastime! Neither my husband nor I have ever lived here as a working adults and certainly not as parents.

In this space, I will write about our new experiences and share thoughts and ideas about living abroad with young children. I also plan to document some of my personal interests including photography, various crafts, home design and gardening. Most importantly, I intend to do so with honesty and openness about the ups and downs that accompany change, learning, and life in general. I’m here to tell the true story, and I hope you can relate.