It's not just the ketchup

To be honest, this past week was very difficult for me.  As many of you know, both Dave and I are experienced travelers having been to 35 countries between the two of us.  I've backpacked through Europe and Dave backpacked through southeast Asia.  I've slept outside a train station, been transported by camel, and have walked in the Amazon jungle by night.  Dave has had even more intense experiences.  But none of that prepared me for bringing my two babies to this big city.  Now mind you, this isn't exactly "roughing it,"  but there are some things that we are going to have to get used to, and its not just the difference in ketchup.

There are suburbs around Sevilla that are quieter, cleaner, and aesthetically prettier.  But we chose to live in the city center, where all the action happens, where you hear cars and buses and sirens 24 hours a day.  The air pollution is more than we are used to and everyone seems to be smoking.  There are motorcycles and scooters everywhere, and I feel like I am going to be hit by one someday.  The grocery stores are tiny, so the one brand of (insert any food item) is what you get.  The girls have no car seats, so when we ride in taxis and buses we just hope for no accidents (Isa does horribly not buckled in, she feels the need to stand and screams when I sit her in my lap...mommies, you know how extremely frustrating that is).  Even though I am fluent in Spanish,  there are many words that are different than my "Colombian" spanish.  So I often find myself guessing when looking at the menu, asking the waiter, and then still getting something different when the plate arrives to the table.  Everything is extraordinarily expensive.  When I had my mini nervous breakdown on Monday I wondered if all this money we are spending is worth the experience.  But Dave and I sat down and had a long talk and he gave me some advice that a woman had given him in India.  If you focus on all the negative aspects, the noise, air pollution, the rudeness of some people, being out of your element, the cost of everything... you end up missing out on what you came here for.  In order to stop and smell the roses, you have to look for them.  

Now that the girls are in preschool everyday, it is getting easier.  And yesterdays trip to Ikea was mentally soothing.  We even met another expat from San Francisco who moved to Sevilla with his wife over a year ago, and he said that when he feels homesick, he goes to Ikea.  How funny is that?

-Ali