Around the World in 80 Days

One interesting aspect of living the expat life is deciding what to do when the time in your current country has expired. We had originally signed on for a two year contract and though not really sure of what to expect, we figured we would spend two years and then probably head back home. This way, when we looked back on our lives, we could say we did something interesting, and I could check off that all important ´´international´´ assignment box on my resume.

About 9 months into our time here, Novartis, like all big multinationals, went through restructuring. Since then life has been a bit of a whirlwind in trying to figure out what happens with us. There was a chance that we would end up staying in Mexico longer because I would get some expanded job responsibilities, so mentally we prepared for that. But alas, I did not get the promotion, so then it looked like we would be heading back to NJ (where I still would not have a job) around March of this past year. So we mentally prepared ourselves for the possibility of returning home just when we finally felt completely settled, and with no house and possibly no job. . . .

Before that plan was finalized, a number of POTENTIAL opportunities arose. It felt like everyday was a new prospect: first in Brazil, then in New Jersey, and for a little while it even looked like there might be something in Australia (yes all the way over there). Finally, I was told that we would be staying in Mexico at least until the end of this year and that I did not need to worry about what was next because something would “surely” open up for me, and that discussions would start in October or so. Again we prepared ourselves to stay for a bit and make the most of our time here, and to simply let fate play itself out. That lasted for about a week.

Out of the blue, I received a call from a senior finance head in another one of our divisions, discussing a potential opportunity to stay in Mexico for an additional two to three years. When I expressed a lack of interest in remaining here, in order to move to Europe, I fully expected the conversation to come to a screeching halt. Instead he replied, “Sounds good, let’s get you over to Europe,” and promised to call soon in order to discuss.

Alas, we are now we are back to where we were six months ago: no concrete plans for the future, mentally traipsing all over the world looking for jobs, but physically living here in Mexico.

So for anyone asking where do we go next or when do we come back to New Jersey, let me just say this, I wish I knew what was next. This is one of those times I am just hoping that destiny takes care of my family and me. I just wouldn’t mind destiny moving things along right about now.

And for anyone thinking about going overseas with a large company: just be mentally prepared for this part of the adventure. I think we were prepared for a lot of contingencies, so things have gone smoothly overall. I just did not expect the uncertainty of our future to be such a big part of the adventure.

A Bit of This and That

Since it has been some time since most of you have seen me, I thought I would update you with my recent goings-on. Aside from going to school each morning, we really have not been doing anything too exciting from a toddler perspective. A few weekends ago I went with M&D to a going away party for one of Mommy’s friends/colleagues on the Newcomers Board. She had been living here in Mexico for something like 4 years, and is now returning to Palo Alto. So we went to a despedida for her family, where we ate tacos & tamales, got to see a lot of Mommy’s friends, meet a huge and fun German Shepard dog (even though she was locked upstairs for most f the party, and even though I did wonder aloud, “Is she going to eat me?” I did enjoy meeting her), and meet a few pre-teen girls whom I tried to follow around but who were not very interested in entertaining me.

Actually, now that I think about it, the day after Melissa’s despedida, we did go to a birthday party at my pal Isabel’s house. It was her sister Lucia’s first birthday and they celebrated in a uniquely Mexican-American way. There was pizza and cupcakes for the kids, lots of cool toys (Isabel has an exceptional collection of toys and fun activities at her house, I must say) and a piñata. I am a bit embarrassed at having to admit that I absolutely hate piñatas. I know, I know – how can I possibly live here and not like the idea of candy falling out of a large object, followed by a free-for-all collection spree? How can I possibly call myself a toddler? Truth is, it is the hitting of the object (in this case, Winnie the Pooh) that I hate, making my eyes well up with tears and ask in a shaky voice, “Why are they hitting Winnie? He’s gonna get hurt.” This fear of the piñata is a relatively new phenomenon – back in October I went to 4 parties with piñatas and loved them – so I think we are going to steer clear of them for the time being.

Really there is not much else to report, so here are some of my likes & dislikes these days (which are sure to change by the time I come home next month).

Favorites:

--Color: blue. Or pink. Or green. Or light yellow. Anything that I deem “pretty” in a particular moment

--Food: pretzels; M&M’s (who do you think started that habit?) Cake of any kind (so I take after my Mommy); Broccoli; Peaches

--Song: Alphabet song, Wheels on the Bus

--TV show: One, Two, Three, Count with Me (Sesame Street)

--Phrases: “This is for yooouuu, Mommy” (when handing over a flower or a piece of garbage); “Where we gonna go? What we gonna do?”; “I’m not a baby anymore;” (except when refusing to brush my teeth when I am known to say, “I’m a baby more.” )

--Toys: anything princess; beads for making necklaces; feathers; pots & pans and real uncooked pasta for

cooking; water; bubbles, tricycle; colorful pens; toilet paper.

--Hobbies: climbing things; picking up trash; making beaded necklaces; coloring or drawing; running into

corners and pretending to hide; picking out fresh flowers; playing dress-up.

--Clothes: tank tops, flowing skirts, flowery dresses; colorful t-shirts.

Dislikes:

--Eating most things

--Going to bed

--Brushing my teeth

--Dirty hands and clothes

-- The dark

--The Lion King movie (something about the first 5 seconds scares me so badly that I scream and cry in terror)

--Being ignored

--Wearing anything with long sleeves.

Tango & Milonga

There isn't much that I can say about Buenos Aires that hasn't already been said by someone else, and probably a lot more eloquently than I could manage. So I figured I would simply post some pictures of our trip, and state only that we really loved the city. It reminded us a lot of Manhattan, but with more European architecture. We enjoyed walking around the different neighborhoods, watching the street tango performances, attending a tango dinner show and even visting a couple of milongas (dance halls) the locals visit.

Nature's Call

I don’t like nature. For as long as I can remember, I have longed to live in a city, vacation at resorts and, at all costs, avoid the great outdoors. I don’t hike, mountain bike or white water raft. I even recall being bored at Yosemite National Park (and cringing at the port-a-potties, to say nothing of the bugs, rodents and other inconvenient species out there) during a family vacation when I was 11. As a teen, I rebuffed my parents’ several attempts to take a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park, wondering why on earth anyone would want to see bison roaming around in the middle of nowhere.

So you can imagine my surprise when over the past year a strange whisper began beckoning me to the wilderness of southern Patagonia, Argentina. I suddenly had this overwhelming urge to ride horseback across the Argentine pampas looking out at nothing but earth as far as the eye can see; to climb mountains of ice to get a glimpse of what the ice age might have been like; to look above and out at an epic sky, feeling a sense of isolation from civilization in knowing that the distance to the end of the world – Antarctica – was close within reach.

Finally last month, after spending a relaxing few days in Buenos Aires, Sonny and I did go to Patagonia – El Calafate – for a few days of quality time with nature. The first thought I had when we landed was that this is what Alaska must look like – the beauty being the raw and wild landscape, with little civilization for thousands of miles on end.

The main attraction of El Calafate is its close proximity (1.5 hours) to the Perito Moreno glacier, a mass of ice that is 200 feet high, stretching out 20 miles in jagged peaks. It is located in Los Glaciers National Park, and a trip to see it requires a boat ride across Lake Argentina through floating seracs of ice that have broken off the glacier, and a hike through the beautiful park national park to and from the actual glacier.

The highlight was the two hour ice-trek on the glacier, climbing up and down and around its peaks, valleys and ponds as the winds whipped across our faces and nearly knocked us over at times. That day we were lucky to witness huge blocks of ice breaking off the glacier with the sound of thunder, and then peacefully floating away in the frigid lake. There really is no way to fully capture what it was like trekking on that glacier - surreal and scary, awe inspiring and amazing, to say the least.

The day after, we visited a Patagonian ranch (estancia) where we saw a demonstration of sheep herding as well as sheep shearing, and ate an authentic barbequed lamb dinner (well, at least Sonny did – I stuck to the salad bar consisting of canned vegetables and white bread). Perhaps my favorite part of the visit was the sunset horseback riding expedition that brought to life my fantasy of riding through the wilderness under a vast sky and looking out at nothing but the snow capped Andes jutting up from the earth in the distance.



Our last day in El Calafate we took a 4x4 off roading trip up the side of a mountain, 3400 feet up, for breathtaking views of the Lake Argentina region and Chilean Andes, as well as a glimpse into the wildlife residing in the mountains.

Since I have never been a real nature buff, we did not plan to spend a lot of time in Patagonia, hiking to Mt. Fitz Roy and El Chalten, and visiting Chile like most people do on such a trip. But somehow I managed to fall inlove with the Great Outdoors in just the few days we were there - and regretted a bit not planning more time there than in Buenos Aires. On the other hand, I suppose it is an incentive to return to southern South America one day, hiking boots and all.

Our Photo Archive

We have been doing a bit of local traveling over the past several months, trying to soak up some sights in Mexico. Since M&D haven't gotten around to posting any pictures, I have taken it upon myself to pick up the slack, starting with our trip to Los Cabos way back in December. While the town is beautiful and the resort lovely (the pool, naturally being my favorite part), our trip was overshadowed by Daddy catching bronchitis and missing the entire wedding for which we took the trip. Mommy & I managed to attend the wedding just before she followed suit and caught a really bad throat infection, leaving both my parents practically immobile for 3 days. Luckily we had managed one good day before the illnesses set in when we took a boat trip through the Sea of Cortes and got to see lots and lots of sea lions. The rest of the time I spent being a very good girl for M&D, and hanging out with Daddy's cousins, to whom M&D were ever-so-grateful for helping take care of me.

Then, when we returned from our looong trip to the U.S. over Christmas we began taking a few road trips as well: to Puebla with my pal Isabel and her family and to San Miguel de Allende with M&D for a long weekend. Puebla and San Miguel are both colonial towns, the former famous for Mexican Talavera and more churches than any other town in Mexico, and the latter for its views and cobblestone streets, language and arts courses, and what seemed like more Americans per square block than New York City. We also went to Tepotzlan, a bohemian little town about an hour and half away, for a day trip (or more accurately, a long leisurely lunch and stroll through the markets).

M&D still have a number of places left on their “list” that are must-sees before we leave Mexico, so I keep telling them that we had better get moving.