It's a Small World After All

Written on March 2, 2012

Last week we got to have dinner with THREE groups of friends from Missoula! We are exhausted but happy and satisfied!!

Every day from 9 until 12:30, and then again from 2:30 until 4:30, the boys are in school.  My routine has slowly morphed into the following: return home to wash dishes, make beds, sweep, mop, clean the bathroom and take a shower.  By 9:30 the grocery store and fruit stores are open and I can go out and buy the fresh fruit and vegetables for that day’s lunch. Finally, I return home to prep and start lunch. If I have a few extra minutes, I get online, but I find that by the time I throw in any extra task - wait in line at the bank for 20 minutes because they only employ ONE teller, or take the boys’ pants to be taken in at the waist because they need “slims” and the provided elastic waistband is  too generous (never-mind that the entire outfit is sewn by an actual person) - once I throw in travel time I must quickly run up the street to fetch the kids.  

For the past two weeks our washing machine has been broken, which entailed the occasional trip to our friends’ house where they thankfully allowed the use of their washing machine and sunny patio for line drying.  Now I can do this at home and, although the convenience is appreciated, it also means that on laundry days I must shower with my clothes, as the lines to dry them are in the shower.  Although our bathroom does have a window it does not get any sun, and jeans need over 24 hours to dry.  Regardless, the return of our washing machine yesterday has been a blessing. 

Today I washed and hung two loads of laundry, went to the bank to pay my rent, packed our bags for Salamanca and cleaned the apartment (thank goodness, because the doorman and water meter-reader came by today and since in Spanish lore this hombre or the gas meter-reader is the person who one would suspect if your child did not look like your spouse, I was happy to leave a good impression. ;D I will add that, although he seemed like a nice enough fellow, I was not tempted.)  As soon as the kids got out of school we ran home to dump backpacks before riding the subway and light-rail to the train station; we had to accomplish this feat in one hour and fifteen minutes.  
 The three of us handle these situations so very differently.  When Hugo is rushed, he turns into a petulant zombie-slug.  When Atticus is rushed, he can match any dictator in command, loquaciousness and ruthlessness.  I keep my eye on the prize, all other stimulation is not allowed to compete with my quiet focus: Must.Accomplish.Goal.   I will admit that I do not love these moments, however, I am quite proud of myself that I have learned how to rapidly and efficiently move the three of us and our luggage from point A to point B without cussing, belittling or smacking anybody upside the head.  In these moments I am so grateful for Love and Logic and the other gazillion parenting classes I've attended and would like to acknowledge the amazing resource that is Families First in Missoula - please consider supporting them if you don’t already: Families First Montana (And Sara P., you know how much I appreciate you!)

Atticus loved the train's bathrooms: in order to open the curved door, one must push a button to open and shut the door, just like on Star Trek!

Lucas and Hugo with matching haircuts

Montana excursion

We are currently on the train on our way to Salamanca, excited to see old, loved friends and familiar ground.  Before leaving, we got to spend some unexpected time with the parents of some good friends from Valencia. About one year ago in Missoula, these friends welcomed their first son.  Shortly after Lucas was born and in the dead of winter, both sets of newly-minted grandparents came to Missoula to meet the baby and spend time together.  Because it was still frigid and the streets were covered in snow, they did not wish to rent a car as their plan did not include tourism.  Upon learning that they were going to spend their entire two week trip without leaving town, Hugo and I grabbed the car, picked them up and headed out of town “de excursión.”  Crammed into our Sequoia like sardines, we visited Flathead Lake, the Bison Reserve and the Flathead Reservation Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, joyfully passing our trip with jokes, songs and stories.  One of the couples was passing through Madrid last night and called us up; we spent a beautiful evening in the park together. Kind, joyful, interesting and fun, we were left wanting more of them, but grateful for our time together and for our gigantic bag of fresh oranges off the tree.   For the boys to spend time with them - as well as three other sets of friends we know from Missoula (Gorka & Helena, the Langleys and Jody, too!) - but this time on the other side of the big marble, was yet another wonderful reminder that the world is, indeed, small after all.