Last Updated on June 9, 2020 by Natalie
Sometimes, a day or even a series of days turn out to be so fantastic that you look back with much fondness. Last month, I had a series of those wonderful days. I had four in a row, to be exact. Lately, I’ve had a few more. It’s one of those few instances where I know I’m currently live my best life, while I’m living it. What made these days so great?
Expat Life In Mexico
Though it still feels surreal to be living in Central Mexico, life has still managed to have a pleasant routine. There are things about Mexico that are just so easy. Of course, there are others that are difficult. Adjusting to life here has had its up and downs. What are we doing that is making the transition easier?
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We Have Friends
We made more friends.
Remember when I said that I joined a gym to make friends? It worked. In fact, I met a mom who lives in my neighborhood whose kids are close in age to mine. The topper? She lived in the US for a few years and her older kids are bilingual and speak English. Our kids can play “minecraft in real life” together for hours.
The weather here is beautiful, it’s also worth noting. It’s creeping up on late autumn and we’ve had a few days where the high was in the mid-80s. We spend our afternoons playing with our friends in the neighborhood park.
More Traveling
We are traveling a little more. In late October, we attended two parties (one for Dia de Los Muertos), went trick or treating twice, and played with our friends. We visited craters and a place that looked like Minecraft in real life. November brought more parties and more travel. December will see us taking an international trip back home!
Appreciating My Kids
I’m appreciating the kids. In fact, whenever we struggle, I try to make a point to calm myself and tell them, “I love you.” They respond so quickly when I’m acting like I appreciate them. It’s too easy for parents to get in a rut with their kids and start believing their kids are purposely trying to annoy them. When I stop and I look, I see that I’ve misinterpreted many things. I yelled at my son for putting his nerf toy in my lap again, but a split second later, I realized why. He remembered that I liked to make the little wheel attachment move on that toy. He was trying to help me feel better.
Spending Time Outdoors
We make an effort to spend time outdoors daily. Most of the time, it’s with our friends in the neighborhood. We also bought bikes for the kids and they are busy learning to ride! Winter time is an especially great time to be outside. Though we can have temperatures in the mid 30s F, the days are usually sunny and pleasant.
Like Minecraft in real life!
Life feels really good right about now
We all still have ups and downs. You know, normal life. Following those four great days, I had four days where I really struggled. Now, we are back on an even keel again and still having some wonderful days.
When I found out there was a three day weekend in November (November 20 is a major holiday here), I booked a trip to Xilitla (he-leet-la). After paying for the hotel (which I had to pay in advance by wiring money), I realized it’s a 5 and half hour drive. I thought it would be about 3 hours! However, that’s a good distance for a 3 day trip. It isn’t so far that we are completely wasting two days on driving and yet, it’s not so close that an overnight trip would be sufficient.
We are also planning to fit in a beach trip before our US visit. I’m excited about both.
I celebrated my birthday in November, too!
More and more wonderful days
These wonderful days have turned into wonderful weeks. I’ve been grateful for the upswing in satisfying days. I’ve been grateful to have children who are happy and tired at the end of the day and fall to sleep with beautiful dreams. Okay, it sounds corny, but it’s true! Life here is being very good to us. It was worth the stress and really crappy early days to get to experience the things we are doing now.
We are meeting locals and friends from all over the world. We are learning another language, eating wonderful food, and have opportunities to do a lot of travel inside our current country (which is vast and different from place to place). Our interactions are gaining depth, as we figure out how to understand friends and also be understood.
It’s Everything I’d Hoped to Find
Moving to a new place can be lonely. As a family, I think we all felt some version of isolation. We were no longer part of “home” and we hadn’t been able to connect to our new home yet. It didn’t feel good to have to totally rely on just a few expat friends to entertain us.
Now, we have a schedule that fits us just right and more people to enjoy. We are outside a lot and it’s almost always sunny here with gorgeous blue skies. I marvel daily at the weather.
I’m happy. I feel we have made the right move, even with the things that gave me pause early on and missing our families. I’ve long had a vision of my life that involved doing exciting things, such as more travel. Currently, I feel like I’m fulfilling that ideal. We are having some wonderful days!
Have you ever made any huge changes that were initially difficult but worked out eventually?
