Last Updated on January 1, 2022 by Natalie
May you live in interesting times, the old saying goes. While it’s often attributed as a Chinese proverb or curse, there’s actually no such saying. The closest expression is “Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos.” And aren’t we all humans in a time of chaos? 2020 was YIKES, to put it mildly. That’s really being gentle about it. You know. You were there.
Even though the year was chaos and so much poo-poo, I decided to go ahead and write my year in review, 2020! Buckle up, Buttercup. Here we go!
Thankfully, I have started writing about year from the beginning. Reading back on it now makes me feel nostalgic. I do recommend to not move during a stupid lockdown.
January
We flew to Ohio on Christmas Eve and then back to Mexico on New Year’s Eve. For the first time in 8 years, I stayed up past midnight to bring in the New Year! We celebrated with friends, a fire in the fire pit, and an inflatable for the kids. It was wonderful, even though our family was tired from traveling and being awake since 5 am.
Starting the year in Mexico was fantastic. We relaxed on New Year’s day, which is always nice to be able to do after a travel heavy day.
Since we found out that we were being required to move to a safer city, January found me school and house hunting in earnest. I found a school I really loved, but they had a wait list. I wouldn’t even know until late February if there would be space available for my kids for next school year. One of the interesting things three schools did in lieu of an admissions exam was a multiple day school visit. I love this because then my kids would get a really good idea of what the school days would be like. Plus, they meet other kids. Another plus, is that it just shows that exams aren’t needed to determine the abilities of a child. Tests are stressful and unnecessary for kids. My kids happened to love a school that had exactly two spots available right now. We snapped up those spots and then started working on housing negotiations.
Our original top choice house fell through. Most neighborhoods have amenities within the area and they are included in the maintenance fee. This house didn’t have anything included. However, there were amazing amenities within the sports club that we could join that was very close. When figuring out the monthly rent plus the cost of a membership for a family of four, the house was basically out of budget. We made a lower offer and it was rejected, so we moved on. As the year progressed, I’m so thankful we didn’t get that place.
I scheduled another house hunting trip on the last day of January. We loved the first house and it happened to be the closest to the school. Perfect.
February
The move isn’t going smoothly. That first house wasn’t thrilled about signing our lease (my husband’s company provides one that is similar to leases in the US and different from the usual leases in Mexico). We needed to find a place to live and move by March 1, preferably. We looked at two other houses, which fell through and we ended up back at the first house. We finally got a lease signed about a week before that and moved at the end of February. It took me a long time to get used to the much, much smaller house. In fact, I really despised this house for awhile. We had several ridiculous problems with it early on, ones we couldn’t anticipate, given the newer construction. Something we still deal with are the crazy smells at random. The house just smells funny. During the lockdown, I did start to really appreciate the location of the neighborhood. We have a few restaurants within walking distance and could get easy pick up or inexpensive delivery.
Right outside the neighborhood, we have a strip mall with a great little tienda that sells fresh fruits, veggies, and cheese. There are also a few convenience stores nearby. Our new city is also much safer than our city and we can walk around here without fear.
Sadly in February, our sweet bulldog Rufus’s health went downhill. Rufus passed away on February 17, 2020 (born November 8, 2008). He was an incredible member of our family, even though his stubbornness occasionally drove me crazy. He was a gentle giant, deceptive because his small stature made you think he was a small dog. Instead, he was more like a small Mac truck. Though I don’t believe I’ll ever have another bulldog, I’m so glad we had Rufus. He was our old man, even when he was young. He snored, burped, and farted, and only moved as fast as he felt like moving. Rufus loved our kids, me, and most of all, my husband. And my husband loved that dog.
Even as time has progressed, we miss both of our dogs greatly (Allie, my black lab, died in March, 2019).
March
Early March, we found ourselves trying to get into the swing of things in our new city. Then, in middle March, the lockdown started. It wasn’t partially lifted in Queretaro until mid-June. This was a very difficult time for me. Our new neighborhood is much smaller than our neighborhood in Celaya and contained much less green space. We also have a significantly smaller house now. With the pool closed in our new neighborhood, there was very little to do during the lockdown. It was far more difficult for us than I’d anticipated.
It was shit. It was such shit that I’m holding back the swears right now.
I feel like skipping the next few months on this update because there isn’t much point. The world went through it, too, and we all weathered the same storm. Of shit.
PS – I cried so much the first few days after our move and hitting the lockdown so quickly after that didn’t help at all.
June
We joined our friends at an amazing boutique hotel and winery outside of Queretaro called Vinedos Puerta del Lobos. Three families in total, we were able to rent the 4 room space just for us. It was peaceful and also amazing. I highly recommend visiting Queretaro solely for the luxury of that space.
Businesses started opening at less capacity on June 17, 2020 here in Queretaro and what a bright day that was! I could finally buy clothes and shoes for my kids. Somehow, those weren’t considered essentials items. Can you believe that? My kids didn’t stop growing just because the government said we didn’t need an essential item.
We spent another weekend back in our old town with our friends (one of the same families as before) and both events were huge in lifting our mental and physical health. We spent more time outside and walking around. It will be a long time before I underestimate the power of talking to friends face to face. My kids, while mostly doing really well during the isolation, were still really bored. I think they will also appreciate face to face play with their friends for a long time.
Please note: Restrictions were slightly lifted and then returned to a restricted state and have basically remained there since around September or October. Children basically can’t go anywhere – not to stores, not to the mall, etc. In fact, only one family member at a time is allowed into stores of all varieties. This country is going to extremes to combat this wild sickness and we are told there are still incredibly high amounts of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. I hope this information gives you something to think about.
I still have deep concerns for people, since I actually enjoy alone time and not having to go places regularly. I feel if I was suffering from the isolation, then there are so many people and families who fared far worse than I. My prison was also really nice and yet, I suffered. Others weren’t quite so lucky and I still feel concern for those in worse situations.
Also, I was finally able to buy clothing and shoes for my growing kids. In fact, that was a turning point after a rather difficult week. I think not being able to provide something essential for them was also weighing me down. Clothing wasn’t considered an essential item here for some reason – so grocery stores that had clothing items weren’t allowed to sell them. Luckily, even though one child grew out of her newish shoes, we had some other options even if they were less comfortable.
July
In January, I made a New Year’s resolution to read 12 books in 2020. By July 1, I’d finished 128 books. I’d started reading in January and remembered how much I loved it. So, I continued to read. Even though I was packing up my house in January and February for our end of February move. Yes, I was procrastinating! Once we moved, I didn’t know anyone and continued to read. Since the lock downs started in mid-March, it prevented us from meeting people in Queretaro.
I continued to read. I’ve read something on my kindle for 25 weeks in a row now and I’m on a 145 day reading streak.
The year continued
The lock down restrictions were somewhat lifted in mid-June. However, our neighborhood didn’t open the pool until late September (because there was a downgrade to yellow for a short time – we’re close to red again, they tell us and the state has enacted more rules to help “stop the spread”). Though the neighborhood kept collecting money for the maintenance, they hadn’t maintained it. It took around a month for it to be properly cleaned and treated. We’d signed up a few times early on and did get into the shallow water. Afterwards, I was really worried that we’d end up with some sickness from the gross water. Luckily, we didn’t.
Our school year started a few weeks earlier than normal and with totally online classes. As for many people across the globe, online learning isn’t as awesome as we’d all hoped. One child is doing fine with it and the other is struggling. Online learning will be continued for the remainder of the school year here in Mexico.
My quality of life has sucked this year. My kids’ quality of life has also sucked, though I’ve been trying to make it as normal as I possibly can for them. In Mexico, my children cannot go to stores and aren’t allowed in some parks. This has continued well into 2021, too.
I’ve started to really focus on maintaining our physical health and improving our mental health. Everything is still worse off than last year at this time.
Yearly Stats
Books read: 246
Just couldn’t read four more. I couldn’t do it. My original goal at New Year’s last year was 12, so I guess I did well. This year, I aim to read 100. I’m hoping to work on my own fiction novel, so I don’t want the pressure to try and read another 200+ books.
Miles walked: 212.1
I wish I’d written down what I’d tracked in 2019, but I didn’t. That’s only the miles counted in the app I use when I set out specifically for exercise, not casual walks to the pool and back.
Singalongs with Andrew Lloyd Webber (and John Legend): 1
You can see it here. It definitely was a highlight of the year, because there is no other way something like that could ever happen for me. I love to sing, but I’m not particularly good.
Final Thoughts on 2020 and Looking to 2021
I really doubt travel will be “back” in the foreseeable future. It unfortunately won’t look the same and the frustrations around it will be tenfold. It’s a terrible time to be a travel blogger. It’s unlikely that I will be traveling much for a very long time. In fact, I don’t believe I’ll be able to return to my home country this year. It totally depends on whether Americans wake up or not. I’m betting on not, sadly.
If you’re looking for a message that 2021 will be better, I guess you didn’t find it here. May your 2021 be much better than 2020, much luck to you and here’s to the return to freedom!
How was your 2020? Please leave a comment!
