The best part about having a husband who makes a career out of being a student has to be the travel opportunities. We had the chance (but had to pass) to spend this year in Spain. Which would have been wonderful! And we’re holding on to the idea that maybe we could do that in a few years.
But as of today, it looks like we’ll be spending most of the summer in Guadalajara, Mexico! Woohooo! Husband got accepted last month and today I gave the official Okay. We had dinner tonight with his friend and her family who went through the same program last year. And they answered all my questions and got us all 5 incredibly excited about this summer. I wanted to know about beds in the rooms, safety, proximity to bus routes, parks, etc. Husband wanted to know about work load. Kids only had one question – “Is there a pool?” They were a little bummed that there was no pool where we will be living. But got on board when other activities were mentioned (horse-back riding, giraffe-feeding, amusement parks, art classes at the local book store, etc.) And the icing on the cake was the giant TV in our suite, with multiple channels. They looked at us with big eyes. I nodded a resounding yes. Yes, if we are going to spend a month in Mexico you can watch loads and loads of TV. It will all be in Spanish. So I will call that educational and leave it at that.
So for very different reasons, we are all 5 very excited about our summer. Husband is excited about the apparently easy classes he will be taking. And the fact that we will be traveling. (He looooooooves to travel.) Kids are excited about the TV. Period. (I’m glad they are easy travelers.)
I am excited about some time away with just the five of us. No schedules at all. Loads of time to hang out together and play games and just keep it simple. There will be limited packing space for books (Gulp – the one thing I dread), so I’m guessing I will get a lot more sleep. There’s wireless internet in the hotel where we will be living, so I’m guessing I’ll be blogging about it lots. And my Spanish can’t get any worse while we’re there, huh?
This summer should be a great “trial run” for next year, when we hope to spend an even longer time living in Guatemala. This will be a test to see how we all do in different surroundings. And a test that doesn’t have the emotional journey that Guatemala will have for our kids. So I think the timing is perfect.
Lots of excitement in our house tonight!
