By the Hair of our Chinny, Chin Chin!

Ayla and Naiya hitting the town in Usaquen

First of all, welcome to my new blog. This way I can insert pics and have a running tales of our triumphs and woes (sorry, I'm in my Shakespeare unit and feeling the Elizabethan buzz).

A couple weeks ago, the Greenbergs were nannyless, penniless, carless and full of some fantastic parasites, but it seems as though we have emerged from our darkness and things are looking up. As you know, we were onto our 4th nanny in the last 8 months. Her name is Rubiela. She is a grandmotherly type with a great cackle and infinite patience and love for our children. So, needless to say, I was very much hoping to keep her around for a long time to come. We've had a few hiccups, but it seems we may succeed.

Her first day, she (according to our other, slightly jealous nanny) put her hand in the garberator and was about to turn the switch on when Diana (see above description) caught her in the act of taking off her hand and shrieked a scream akin to those found in classic horror films. Zoom in camera to the hand about to get mangled and phew! We almost had to support her for the rest of our lives!

Two days later, I was having dinner with the kids (Daniel was away on his trip with the grade 6's to coffee country) and Rubiela began to show me how she had cleaned the windows so beautifully. I told her they were lovely and lamented how difficult it was to clean the hard to reach windows. She proudly informed me that she had donned a harness and had gotten to all of them. As I tried to pick my jaw up off the table and bring my eyes back to a normal size, I gently questioned how she knew how to do such a thing. I did this while imagining this robust woman hanging from our building, in her nanny  uniform, all the while keeping an eye on our daughter who played quietly inside. My brain somehow couldn't wrap itself around this image. As Rubiela continued to confirm my understanding, I had almost accepted her commitment to keeping the house clean when I suddenly heard the word "muchacho" (guy) through her country drawl. Somehow, I hadn't heard her mention a guy and the whole thing had been lost in translation. She had watched as a guy cleaned the windows. Phew!

Now that things seem to be going well again on the nanny front, we have been sorting out the rest of our lives. Ayla has just started the interview process for K4, which she should be starting next year. After an initial interview with us, the parents, they put Ayla to the test. I'm not quite sure how that works because we weren't allowed to see the proceedings. We dropped her off and in she walked through the doors of assessment, while we anxiously waited along with the other parents, silently scrutinizing the competition. We were given a questionnaire to complete while she underwent a rigourous test :) As all questionnaires do, it started with mundane questions, but question #4 made us perk up. "Has your child been through any traumatic experiences recently?" (check all that apply). As we scrolled down the list, we saw divorce, death, adoption and then came the work that made me realize we aren't in Kansas anymore...KIDNAPPING. What??!?!? Is this actually something that still happens so often that parents have a box they can tick for it! Given our close relationship with the admissions head, I asked her whether this box was truly necessary. To my relief and grief, it WAS necessary, but only about 10 years ago. She thankfully said it should be taken off the list. Phew!

The last question was there almost as a tease. "Describe your child's personality and general traits." What does one say to this other than "musical, intelligent, curious, athletic, social, motherly, logical, reasonable, etc." I told Daniel, he should just write perfect and be done with it. After handing in the questionnaire, the time seemed eternal. As we killed time chatting, I started to think my nerves were getting the best of me. My chair was swaying and my equilibrium was off. Suddenly, a mother jumped up and yelled "terremoto!!!" It took a second for my Spanish to kick in when I realized she was yelling "Earthquake!!" Using all my survival instincts, I stood up in the surfer's pose, ready to take on the waves and after a few seconds, realized that the wave had come and gone and I was standing like a goof ready for nothing! It was a slight swaying, but I now can say, I've felt an earthquake. Daniel, who was sitting right next to me, calmly stated that he felt a little dizzy, but wasn't aware of the earth moving:) Phew!

The car fiasco seems to have finally drawn to a close after much time and heartache. After receiving our money back from the used car dealership (a miracle in itself), we ended up finding a car that fit the bill. It had 7 seats, lots of room, diesel, etc. The only thing was that it is a brand no one has ever heard of called SsangYong. After some research, we realized that this Korean car has great reviews and comes equipped with a Mercedes motor and transmission. After signing and fingerprinting about 12 pieces of paper, the car was ours and off we drove into the chaos of Bogota traffic. It felt great to be mobile again, even if we were in stop and go all the way home!

Elaine with the girls at the Usaquen market. 

Now we can plan for a weekend trip when my mother arrives and a weekend for just the two of us, which my mother has granted us. We are excited to officially hit the road with our new Korean/German beast! We've been fortunate to have had a lot of visitors lately. Daniel's mom, Elaine, was here helping out while he was gone on the Classroom Without Walls trip in Coffee country and my mother is arriving on the 19th. I head to Buenos Aires for 10 days mid march to present at a conference that is for the international schools in South and Central America and the week after I get back, we head to Panama and Equador for a week.

It's going to be a busy time, so forgive me if I don't write for the next few weeks.I will be assembling material for my next blog! (pictures of Ayla to come!)
Sending our love and hugs to everyone!
Emily, Daniel, Ayla and Naiya

Daniel in the Wax Palm Cloud Forest (Valle de Cocora)