Uber Power: Adventures in Coronavirus

Today, was another day full of uncertainty and wildness.  My husband arrived safely back from Spain but is now staying at an airbnb in quarantine for 5-14 days, depending on whether or not school closes.  If school closes, we'll get him home and hunker down together.  If school doesn't close, we might have to extend our airbnb situation.  Nothing is easy right now.   So before he got there, I had to drop off some stuff for him, and ordered him a lot of food and supplies for the next week.   I had to pick up the key from a dodgy patch of grass/ shrubbery, as the owner of the airbnb didn't want to be in contact with the new arrival from the airport either.  Fortunately, I left my child with some dear friends, and uber-ed around in the pouring rain.  When it rains, it definitely pours.  Nevertheless, I took him some clean clothes, and stuff he needed so he could still work. 

Still, throughout this day, I took 4 Ubers.  We don't have a car in Argentina and if there were not torrential fall rains, I would have probably walked or run to let out stress but that wasn't possible at this particular moment.  So bless the Uber drivers, because they are out there, doing a job, for us paranoid people who don't want to take public transport or don't have access to cars.   These Uber drivers are champions because they are risking their lives to move people around safely and that's something admirable in a time when things are so volatile.

So cheers to the Uber Drivers. 
#SOL20 #Day14

13 Things I am Grateful for on Friday, March 13, 2020

1)  My gorgeous son, Pablo, and his joy and emotions, and enthusiasm for life.
2)  My nanny, Vero, who has helped tenfold since Andres has been traveling and is a good role model and example to Pablo.
3)  Argentine ice cream, literally makes everything better for everyone.
4)  Argentine wine, cheap, cheerful and plentiful, makes everything better for mamas.
5)  Resilience: seeing my community work hard, be dedicated to learning how and keeping their game faces on as much as possible.
6) SOL community: it's been great to support one another around the world through these coronavirus ups and downs.
7) Friends to laugh and cry with whether in person or over facebook, whatsapp, etc.
8) The Temporary Closure for Educators Facebook page
9) My grade 2 book clubs who are in a groove and have done some really successful work around life lesson, character inferences, story elements recently.
10) Netflix and the series of both educational and cheesy series and films I can watch to let go.
11) Amazon, kindles and the availability of beautiful books at our fingertips
12) Drinkable water without bottles, filters, etc.
13) Positive stories like this one that show the world working together hand in hand to get us back to living our lives fully. 

It Breaks My Heart

Today, my husband called and after being away a long time, said he was coming home early.  This was around 5:00 pm on my run.  One hour later, I received a text message from a colleague whose daughter was due to arrive tomorrow from Europe.  It said all flights had been suspended for 30 days between countries/ places such as: the United States, Japan, Europe, South Korea, Iran, China, etc.  My heart literally shattered in the seconds that I read that message and I started to cry slowly and softly because my son is sensitive to it now.   He asked me "Why don't you feel well?" And I couldn't bear to tell him as I had told him the news just earlier that his father was coming home early.

#SOL20 #Itbreaksmyheart #stopcorona #day12

Love for La Lucila

My little neighborhood in Argentina is called La Lucila. 
It's a cross between Eureka Springs, a small hippy town located in Arkansas and the 1950s.
In the 4 blocks that it houses, there is everything you could ever want and more.

• 4 restaurants: An Italian, A Mexican and 2 cafes
• 1 bar
• 1 gluten free store
• 3 beauty salons
• 3 natural food stores
• 1 chain grocery store
• 2 fruit and vegetable shops 
• 4 bakeries 
• 1 pizza shop
• 1 sushi shop
• 3 butchers
• 2 glasses/ optician shops
• 1 toy shop
• 1 art shop
• 4-5 knick knack shops

The best thing about La Lucila is its love for Pablo, my 2.5 year old son.  In every store, he enters, people shout out his name or give him something free, or first bump him or whatever, that brings a smile to his face.  He is happy to be in our neighborhood and free.  We will miss the charm and attention they give him.  

Yesterday, we went to the cafe, and he had a typical 2.5 year old irrational meltdown because I wouldn't buy him a bottle of water as we were trying to get some croissants to take away.  So the manager, got him a little glass and gave it to him.  

He regularly wants to rock up to the little bar because he knows he'll get free chips and peanuts and he is assertive enough to go ask for more. 

Little La Lucila has filled our hearts immensely for the last 2 years of our lives in Argentina and we'll miss it tremendously when we leave.   

#SOL20 #Day11

The Coronavirus Blues

So, as many of you frequent readers and friends may know, I am moving to China next year.   While in many ways, I am so excited about this move.  It will be good for my son as the ECC program he will go into next year aligns with my understandings and beliefs of what a strong, Reggio inspired program should be.  It will be good for my husband, as he currently has a number of Chinese clients, and is hoping to extend that circle and potentially open up an office in the Silicon Valley of Shanghai.  Finally, I am excited about this move for a number of reasons.  First, I will get to catch up with and hang out with a number of friends who currently reside in Shanghai.   Also, I am excited to work in a full implementation of the C3, really diving in, exploring and supporting teachers in building an inquiry model that incorporates workshop elements and also builds kids understandings and opportunities to make connections about civics, the economy, history and geography.  Finally, I am excited about all the food I will get to consume in China, after 2 volatile years in Buenos Aires, which includes eating the very best and worst of Argentina's offerings.    Still, there is a big cloud lurking over our heads known as the coronavirus.  It's not only causing problems with my potential move to China.  It's spilling over into my joy.   

To start off with, I was supposed to go to New York to the Teacher's College Climate Change Symposium.  I was so excited to get this future forward PD and really was looking forward to it helping me imagine some clear lines with upcoming C3 units I was to develop with my K-5 teams in Argentina.   This has been cancelled because of the Coronavirus and I am currently dealing with the repercussions of trying to get money back from various stakeholders, long on-hold calls, and also, the sadness of not getting to see some dear friends from New York that have recently had some big life changes (babies, house buying, etc).  

Coronavirus isn't killing only my travel joy but others too.  My best friend and her family are scheduled to visit us in BA in the first week of April for the Easter holiday and we are crossing out fingers that their flight does not get cancelled and that they are able to fly.   Both my son and I need our buddies, Heather and Lane, and their energy and love, to help finish out this tiring school year. 

Finally, Coronavirus is putting a kink in the momentum of our school.  After a rollercoaster ride of a year, the superintendent was finally gaining momentum with a number of initiatives: PD, a new mission, hiring of a new admin team, etc.  and now, we have shifted our focus to all things distance learning.   I know in the future we will look at these days and be thankful that they helped us prepare for such events with great detail but for right now, it's frustrating from a big picture perspective, that the school is getting held back in moving forward because of having to deal with the coronavirus potential crises. 

The last thing before I go is that my hubby is in Spain right now: one of the recently blacklisted countries that is currently adding new cases in the hundreds each day.   He has been gone so long and isn't feeling well and is frustrated with the socialized medicine in Europe, which is always so good, until these kind of catastrophes happen.   We just want him home and healthy, so we can snuggle and not miss papa anymore, in the words of my son. 

Anywise, enough complaining for today, I think I'll try to use this post as inspiration for a poem or song tomorrow to the tune of the coronavirus blues. 

#SOL20 #day10 

Moody Wind

The wind is hurried
Scurrying everything in
Its path
Up and away.

Uncertainty hangs heavy
Permeating the sky
Clouds divide
and come together.

The weather
imitating my mood
doesn't know what it
wants.
Salty, sweet?
Water with gas? Water without?
Workout? No workout?

I confront the wind
On my bike ride home.
Feeling tossed about
Tired arms and legs.

And all sorts of objects flying through the air
Is just another metaphor for the chaos of life at the moment.

#Day 9 #SOL20

Early Sunday Morning

The sun climbing over the wall covered in vainy leaves
Is creeping over the pool
Towards the house

We sit, almost still.
Me typing away on my keyboard
The lull of Pablo's Ipad on nearly mute.

The sweet, sticky smell of chocolate chip pancakes
Lingering in the air.

My head is craving coffee
and My body longs to be back in bed

But we'll go on.

There's so much fun to be had today
*Meet my new colleagues via Zoom
*Coffee and the happy park
*An afternoon swim
*An afternoon run
*Dinner with Leilani
*Reading time: with my current book, The Immortalists