Mom Mamma Mama'

In America we take shopping for granted. I don't know if I've ever given it much thought. If I want something I can head head to one of my 3 favorite stores plop Miss. K in a cart or simply order it on Amazon and wait a day for it to arrive. This is not the case in Bolivia. In Bolivia if I say I would like a television stand for example, I will be carted to an entire street full of furniture vendors. This at first seems like a great place to shop, that is until you realize that every single shop on the street carries the exact same products, just with slightly different prices. So after you've been in the 3rd store you know number 4-7 are not going to have what you're looking for. And so does your kid who is over walking and looking at the same piece of furniture again and again. When you have searched all seven stores to no avail but happen upon the exact piece of furniture you were envisioning on day 2 of the hunt it's like finding gold! Which makes it hard to ...

We have been here in Santa Cruz, Bolivia for just 2 days and though not everything is how I expected our transition from one home to the next has been smoother than one would have imagined. I have gone many places and have even lived abroad before, but never have I introduced my child to a new home, let alone life in a country not her own.   I have to say I am very proud of our little family and our ability to go with the flow. The past few months have been all about downsizing and saying goodbyes to everyone and almost everything she has ever known.   Now that I have the time to reflect I can say my kid has handled all of this with more grace and calmness than most adults I know.   Nothing against us adults but we tend to get attached to our things and our way of doing life, where as my kiddo has been able to hold on to her sense of excitement and adventure through it all. I was fearful at times of starting fresh in a new country with a 3-year-old, especially wit...