Mendoza- Part 1: Arriving

We arrived to Mendoza at the very end of February after saying goodbye to Dad and Carrie and taking the short 1 hour flight West from Buenos Aires. We have actually been living here for two months! So the coming blog posts will be a retrospective of our time here so far, and the less than 2 weeks (!) we have left.

Mendoza is the third largest city in Argentina, following Buenos Aires and Cordoba. It's primarily known for its viticulture (wine harvest), nestled at the foothills of the Andes mountains. We primarily chose to live here for three reasons.

1) Schooling: We needed to find a place in the Southern Hemisphere where the school year would be beginning in February or March because finding the kids a spot in school mid-year (like we had considered in Spain) was going to be too difficult and without assurances they would get in. Kate was able to actually find a web-presence (Instagram) for the girls' preschool (Antisopa) here from back home in Burlington and get in touch with the school prior to our arrival- this made planning so much easier! Most kids in Argentina attend public preschool (which is free), but as non-resident visitors this was not available to us. Private schools are limited and most don't have any contact info except a phone number. Antisopa had at least an instagram account with some cute photos and information and Kate was quickly able to set up a video call with the school. Importantly, the school is also located near the center of town and walkable areas of the city.

("Antisopa"- apparently comes from the very popular Argentina-based cartoon Malfalda about a little girl. One of the themes in the comic strip is that she hates soup- "sopa" in Spanish. So this is a playful tribute to the beloved comic- the school being "anti-sopa"- the opposite of yucky: yummy & fun!)

2) Mendoza is a decent-size city with a good public bus system, which is important, because we do not have a vehicle while we are here and we wanted to be able to get around relatively easily as a family with young children. Also, that meant there would be amenities like shopping, parks, and perhaps public events to attend.

3) Mendoza is at the foothills of the Andes. This means relatively easy access to trail running that Eric hoped to explore, and to maintain this important outlet for his physical and mental health. And Kate had heard in her short time years 16 years ago in Argentina that Mendoza was a lovely city, so she'd always wanted the opportunity to check it out.

We arrived on a Thursday and made plans to visit the school on Friday, at the end of the day to have a sense of what to expect the following week. The girls were interested and curious. Overall, they have really enjoyed their past experiences of school, and I think they were excited to get to be spending more time with other kids, even if they were feeling a bit nervous about communication in Spanish.

We intentionally rented an Airbnb home within just 4 blocks of the school so that we could easily walk each day. It ended up being a very spacious home, even with a small courtyard in front and back of the home. Because we were staying for 6 weeks, we were even able to get the owners to install a washing machine- which is indispensable for us right now with the girls! Importantly, the home also had a third bedroom that Eric could set up as his office work space. Unfortunately, our rental there was only possible for 6 weeks continuously before there were other bookings, so we did have to move to a second, less desirable spot for this second half of our time here (more on that later).

Upon our first visit to the school, the girls were very excited to find a small mouse door and playful mouse-sized play structure outside the entrance to the school, photos of which they had seen on the instagram website- what a fun way to invite children in! (This we learned is a playful tribute to "Raton Perez" the mythical mouse equivalent of our tooth fairy that takes kids lost teeth and exchanges them for money). The outer walls of the school are adorned in beautiful bright colors. We were let inside by Anna- the owner and director who started the school some 30 years ago. It a is play based learning program and the building sits between two lovely patio spaces. They have a program for 1.5 to 3 yos in the morning and then a program for older kids age 3-6 in the afternoon. In the late mornings, older kids age 3+ can participate in various arts-based workshops (audio-visual-dance etc) and then stay through the afternoon when they are divided into their groups of 3&4 yo, 5yo, and 6yo. We noticed how efficiently the space was used for all the different groups of kids, with classes rotating with each other in and out of the various rooms & spaces, rather than each having their own dedicated room. We were glad to see there was some outdoor space the girls would get to use during the daytime. But, unfortunately, no real large play structure. Nell and Mae were excited to see how much of the space was used for arts and crafts and creative play.

After our visit we were all eager to start school the following week, only to learn it was a long holiday weekend- school would not begin until the following Wednesday for the girls! We took advantage of the long weekend to begin to orient ourselves to our neighborhood and the city. And though we were further inland and near the mountains, we had not escaped the heat of summer. The days were hot and (per the locals) suprisingly humid, despite the desert conditions. Nevertheless, Eric was able to get a long run into the foothills by taking a cab to a nearby trailhead and we were both able to explore the nearby Parque San Martin - the largest city park. We also found that our neighborhood had a sweet little playground within 4 blocks of our home, tucked into a small triangle shaped "plazoleta" (mini plaza)! This parque amarillo (because the playground is all yellow) became a real life saver during our time here, we have gone there at least 3-4 times per week, "descargando las pilas" (getting their energy out)!

It took about 2 weeks before the girls were really feeling comfortable with drop off at school. The first few days of school (at the request of the school and based on Nell and Mae's comfort) Kate stayed with the girls during the better part of the morning, leaving them briefly before picking them up again for lunch, walking home for lunch, and then returning for a shorter afternoon session from 1:30-4pm or so. This was a LOT of back and forth, and while meant to help acclimatize the girls, it was pretty exhausting for everyone!

(Above-going to first day of school! Below- I snuck a photo of the morning introduction circle and song)

A few days into the second week of school the girls no longer needed to come home for lunch, but could enjoy lunch time and free play with their classmates, and Kate was staying for an extended portion of the morning time at drop off.

Kate: Eric and I expected the transition into school to be hard, even at home in Burlington, starting a new year of classes and teachers has some transition time associated with it (more disregulation after school, some bigger emotions, longer delays getting out the door in the mornings, harder bed times). Because Antisopa wanted to have a step-wise transition for the girls into the school and me present for part of that, I was able to get a little insight into the school, which was insightful (even if tiring). For example, I could see how all the teachers tag-teamed to determine rotation of classes and spaces- rather than being on a set schedule this is kind of determined by the rhythm of the day. I also observed how the Directors Ana and Dani were actively involved in supporting teachers throughout the day, where ever the need was, or would actively bring kids into their small office space for quiet, alone time if needed. One morning, when Mae was not feeling good about drop off at all and having a prolonged meltdown, I took her out to one of the patio spaces where some of the toddler babies were playing. The teacher there warmly invited Mae into the space and encouraged her to play along in the dirt with the babies. Mae was happy to be allowed this time away from the bigger kid activity and after about 30 minutes was ready to rejoin the workshop group with her sister. Although the shared spaces and rotation of many little kiddos made the school feel a little hectic at times- this experience with Mae also demonstrated the warm, flexible environment and approach the school and its teachers have.

(Mae with her primary afternoon teacher, Tami)

(Nell with her primary afternoon teacher Noe, along with co-director Dani)

By the end of week two (finally!) the girls were able to spend the entire day at school (10am-5pm) with drop off at the gate (prolonged hugs and kisses, but Kate did not have to enter to settle them in). This was a huge win! And the girls for the most part have seemed happy at the school. There of course have been days where they have delayed wanting to go, or certain specific normal childhood tussles they have mentioned after school. But for the most part they have been happy at pick up, and been great at drop offs too. After school they often linger with friends on the large, wide side walk or playing with the Raton Perez tiny home and play set.