Week 6: WTF

Another week of ups and downs. A week that started with a rescue mission from Costa Rica, continued with an emotional meeting in Colombia, four days in a magical cabin in the Swiss mountains, and ended with a clumsy attempt to feel at home. A story in three parts

 Part One - The Journey (recommended with pictures)

A 8:00 - Breakfast, folding laundry, packing

B 10:00 - Getting into the car, everyone hands in the air, good luck

C 11:30 - Just before the airport, we stop to buy zip ties for Toto's crate and balloons for Ofri's birthday

D 12:10 - Arriving at the airport, unloading and finding a cozy corner for Toto and the kids

E 13:06 - Arriving at the storage unit, unloading 10 suitcases and a crate all the way to the car (100 meters + a flight of stairs). Loading the suitcases into the car and setting off. I can't see anything in the mirrors, so every right turn is a gamble

F 13:50 - Arriving at the airport and starting to make my way with the suitcases to the kids. Toto sits quietly even though Ofri is climbing on him like he’s a horse, Michael on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Finished unloading, leaving the kids and heading to find the car rental agency. It's already 14:00. The flight is in two hours and I'm running around the airport looking for a Hertz representative.

G 14:30 - Finding the agency ten minutes from the airport. Now I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The agent asks when the flight is - at 16:20? It's all good, there's still plenty of time... he books me a shuttle back to the airport.

H 14:50 - There's no line because everyone has already gone through a long time ago... starting the longest check-in in the world. The attendant is very nice and efficient, but the amount of luggage is endless. At least once she took the luggage, we are guaranteed a spot on the flight. Michael and Ofri are attaching zip ties to each suitcase so we can identify them all upon exit

T 15:17 - We finished with the luggage, going with Toto and the crate to the elevator. I push Toto in. He has no idea where this is coming from. Tranquilizers were not found. Closing the crate with zip ties. We say goodbye in the elevator and hear the barking from behind the door. Slight sourness - a short flight is small for him

Y 15:45 - Going through passports and security, running through duty-free to the plane. We did it

K 20:00 - Landing. We exit the plane and watch the porters unload the luggage through the windows, maybe we'll see Toto. Wait, I forgot my hat on the plane! Ofri and I run back to the plane, the attendant is doing a tour inside, goodbye hat. Mati and Michael run to us and say - we hear Toto! We're walking through the corridors on the way to customs, hearing his barking echo throughout the airport. We arrive at the baggage claim area, 10 suitcases neatly lined up + a barking dog in the crate next to it. A short visit to the animal control officer and we head to Colombia.

L 21:00 - Yoela finds us - Marco found Mom

We find the van driver we ordered. He is shocked by the amount of luggage. We load everything and sit on top of each other. We set out on a journey to find Yoela's car rental company around the city. Finally, we drop off Yoela and Ofri and head to our cabin in the mountains.

M 23:00 - We find a dirt road at the end of the world on the left and drive up to the cabin in the mountains. We unload the suitcases and jump into the jacuzzi. Yoela will arrive in an hour and a half with the new car and lunch/dinner/night meal

N 9:00 - Heading out to pick up Ofri's birthday cake. The rescue mission is complete

Part Two - The Honeymoon

We wake up in the morning to a magnificent view. We arrived at a beautiful cabin in the middle of Switzerland. An hour's drive from Medellin. Green landscapes amidst a cloud of mist, cows and horses in the meadow, a jacuzzi and a cozy fire. What a sharp change in the weather compared to Costa Rica, cool and rainy (didn't they promise eternal spring?) We spend the next few days in wonder. Serenity alongside reality knocking on the window, and an ever-increasing burden of work and bureaucracy: need to find a house, buy a car, get residency, health insurance, and a school.

On the same day, we drive to visit an Israeli family in Medellin. Their children learn in classes with Mati and Michael, and the parents are teachers in school. The next day, I go to Medellin with the kids to visit the mall, to buy uniforms for the three kids. Three sellers are running around us, going back and forth with long and short shirts, with and without collars, pants, sweatshirts - measuring and exchanging. After an hour and a half and 2000 shekels, we leave with ten items for each child.

We decide to rent a last temporary house until we find our own. Looking for a big, pleasant house at a reasonable price. A place to settle down after a month of wandering and moving every four days. We book a house 5 minutes from the school for 10 days. If it's good, we'll extend it and maybe even settle down there.

Part Three - What We Were Thinking

We arrive at the new house. From here to there, a storm of lightning, rain, and cold starts. We're still in the short clothes from Costa Rica... we arrive at a thus disappointing house, although big and spacious with a large garden, but with old furniture, a filthy kitchen, and most of all - cold. There’s no air conditioning or heating and there’s a pitiful radiator to heat a massive house. My head starts to hurt from the cold and the disappointment. Yoela starts to have a meltdown from too many work and bureaucratic tasks. I send her instead of me to the dentist in Medellin with Ofri. She calls on the way: the doctor canceled, there's a flood in the clinic, Ofri fell asleep, I took the wrong way, I stopped on the side to cry. I'll be back soon.

I enlist the kids, turning this house into our own. Finally unloading the suitcases, organizing the closets, hanging pictures around the house, magnets on the fridge. Yoela arrives, the gesture is exciting, but the general feeling over the next two days is sour. It turns out the weather in the area near the school is a mirror image of the weather 20 minutes from here in Medellin. Cool and wet all year round. The current storm is indeed extreme, but if here we planned to live, maybe we need to rethink the route. Living in Medellin is problematic, the way to school is long and winding and it's hard to imagine doing it every morning twice - 7 am Mati and Michael start, 9 am Ofri starts. Understanding that Ofri is starting kindergarten in a new place where no one speaks Hebrew is beginning to sink in. I haven't run in a week, since we got here - no motivation in this cold.

Friday has arrived. I don’t want to write. How do you get out of the downer? I went out with the kids for a walk with Toto and then to Medellin. We arrived at the mall, good weather already improves the mood. We did some shopping for Friday dinner and I bought new running shoes for 700 shekels. A declaration of intent... We returned home, Yoela put on music for us and we started preparing dinner. By the time dinner arrived, the energy was already up. Kiddish, an honest and funny family conversation. We managed to finish the week on a good note.

one day at a time

See you next week