Jeff and the girls got me beautiful roses that went on the front table next to the masks and plastic gloves. In May, I definitely had to focus on my role as a mom in the midst of all the other things going on. Of course, I'm also still a Harry Potter fan, so I thought this summed things up pretty well too.
I also got to have some fun with Star Wars, since Monday was May the 4th. I worked with some of the other teachers to set up a Star Wars trivia contest for some of our students, complete with prizes for best costumes and best icon for the Google Meet. Since the group was mostly 15 year olds, there weren't a lot of costumes, but the icons were very Star Wars.
Our main source of easy food was the frozen section at Price Smart, and we had hit the shrimp bonanza there. Jeff had some horseradish sauce he had ordered from the U.S. pre-pandemic, so my special mother's day meal was shrimp cocktail, one of my favorites.
Our fabulous neighbor friends continued their sharing of cupcakes and brought over some from Cupcakery.
While Elena turned her nose up at my shrimp, she was more than happy to help with the cupcakes.
Vivian though has decided that she likes shrimp, so she has been sharing in the shrimp-fest. The Monday after Mother's Day (May 11), the lockdown was extended, but children six and older were given some freedom to go outside.
Basically, they were allowed out a maximum of three times a week, for no more than thirty minutes at a time and no more than 1km from their homes. Oh, and they needed to have a mask on the whole time. We took Vivi out for a walk on Monday, and she was so excited to get out of the house, but Elena refused to leave the house or wear a mask. Throughout this entire experience, Elena has been my biggest worry. Some of the other moms in her class shared the contact information for a lady in Cali who was making masks especially for children. Elena picked the Minnie Mouse one. It took a while to arrive, but she was willing to wear it, which was a major victory.
While we were waiting for her mask to arrive, a few things happened. The Colombian government kept extending the lockdown. Then, the U.S. government stopped Authorized Departure (AD). Jeff and I decided we were going to be okay, because the U.S. government had also said that people could start their Permanent Change of Station (PCS) June 1. We figured we could wait it out until June, and when the girls were done with school I might have to leave with them if Jeff still had to do work. Then, the U.S. government pulled the rug out from under us. They announced no PCS until July 1.
Jeff and I had to make a really tough decision. Did we keep the family together, knowing that Colombia was probably going to keep extending the lockdown measures and not allowing children outside, or did I take the girls home while we still could. Flights were selling out almost as soon as they were being made available, so we didn't have a lot of time to decide. Ultimately, it was Elena that tipped the balance. She needed to be outside. She needed as many adults as possible on board to help her through this. Jeff and I both had full time work commitments, and we knew we could count on my family in the U.S. to support us by spending time with her. Vivian had been wonderful through the whole thing. She was doing her school work and talking with her friends online, but Elena had been shutting down bit by bit.
So I bought plane tickets for me and the girls, and we started trying to organize as much as we could before I left. A couple days after our decision, a roving mariachi band came by to serenade our neighborhood. It was a nice memory to have.
CGB made arrangements for me to come and pack out my classroom, so I got a chance to say goodbye to the school, even though I won't be able to say a proper goodbye to my students. It was strange to walk around the practically empty campus, but I took some pictures to help remember the school and all the good experiences we've had there over the past three years.
The following week was all about clearing out the apartment and trying to get everything ready for packing. I had to take a picture of my grammar cupboards in the kitchen before cleaning them up.
Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Colombia. One of Vivi's friends dropped off a goodbye present for her in the morning.
The airport was surreal. Ours was the only flight. Everyone had to wash their hands and have their temperature taken. Everyone had masks on. All the stores were closed, and they had put our flight at the very first gate in the airport.
Luckily, the girls are such experienced travelers, they just rolled with it, masks on.
The flight took us to Florida, and then we had to get another flight. Of course we had to walk from one end of the airport to the other to accomplish that, but for people who have been stuck inside for months, a walk outside in relatively nice weather wasn't a big deal.
When we got to the next terminal I almost got in a fight with TSA about water in Vivian's bottle. I had specifically asked the one lady at the beginning of security if it was okay to have some water in the bottle. She said yes, then the guy on the other side said no. He also said he wouldn't just pour it out into the trash can right behind him. Instead, he made me go back through security, pour it out in the trash can there, then check my ID again, take off my shoes again, and then go through the scanning metal detector instead of the regular one. The lady said I had to go through the scan one because I wasn't with children this time. I said, oh, you mean the children right over there waiting for me? The part that really almost made me explode is that while I was doing all that, Vivi said some people came through security with a can of beer and the same TSA guy just threw it in the trash can behind him. ARGH! After security, we stopped off in the bathroom and there was no soap in the soap dispenser. That was when I let the swear words fly.
The only things open in the terminal were a Hudson News and a Starbucks. The girls had been really good during my meltdown, so I wanted to do something nice for them. I asked the lady at the Starbucks if she had something to make strawberry smoothies, and she said yes, so I got some for the girls and for myself. Then we found seats away from everyone else, so that we could take off our masks and enjoy our smoothies.
There were only about 20 people on our flight to DC, but while we were waiting a full flight arrived from Houston. When I asked my friend who's a travel agent why so many people would be traveling from Texas to Florida, she said the beaches in Florida are nicer.
Finally, we were home in DC, where my incredible family was waiting for us. It was so hard that we couldn't hug and say hello properly, but that didn't stop them from preparing an incredible welcome for us. My mom and sister met us at the airport to hand off a car for me to drive. My dad was waiting in the parking lot to make sure we had a good parking spot with all our suitcases, and my sister got the award for going above and beyond. She gave us her apartment for our two week quarantine and decorated the door for us.
Even though it was quite late by that point, the girls still needed to be fed and bathed, but luckily my family had also set us up with everything we needed for that too.
The next day the girls had fun playing together while I unpacked.
We've gotten outside every day and the weather has been cooperating so far.
And each day we get a socially distanced visit from my family where we sit on the front steps, and they sit at the top of the steps leading down to my sister's building. They usually bring us food too :-)
The girls have claimed the wooded area around the building as their own, and they play while the adults talk. Even though we miss Jeff, and it's hard being apart, we know we made the right decision.
