Favorite Things

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I never realized that all of my favorite movies including Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and The Wizard of Oz all have children learning that they can get through a difficult time or find happiness by tapping into something that they love dearly. In Peter Pan, flying requires thinking about something that personally brings you happiness. In Mary Poppins, you have to laugh and not take yourself seriously in order to have tea on the ceiling; humor allows you to overcome the laws of gravity and figuratively any great challenge. In The Sound of Music, Maria helps the kids to conquer their fears during a thunder storm by remembering their own favorite things. Dorothy and her friends defeat the Wicked Witch of the West because of singular desires; for Dorothy, the deep connection she has with her farm and family in Kansas allows her to conquer her greatest fear. Glinda shares that in actuality what each of them seeks is actually within them all along. For us, too, our strength to overcome challenges lies within us by relying on the people we love and the joyous experiences we have had before moving to Santiago. Just being in a foreign land and feeling so overwhelmed at times makes this advice feel so wise. The love of our family has been a very powerful grounding force as each of us pushes our edges to the limits in facing the challenges of the recent death of Rich’s father, navigating new jobs, speaking Spanish, being new at school, and forging new friends. We keep reminding ourselves that we have the love of each other, our extended family, and friends back home. Max said that Monday, his first day of school, is a day that he has been dreading for seven months. Rich is about to teach an IB tech course and a design class and his 3D printers have not arrived yet. When the five of them do arrive, he has to build them first. As an instructional coach, I have teachers approaching me about beginning coaching cycles. We have a secondary launch on the 7th that I am leading without a plan, and I am coaching a novice teacher in a Chinese literature class who has to teach Jane Eyre and The Stranger in Chinese as a first year teacher. How can I set her up for success?

At the same time, we are having unbelievable experiences all over Santiago at outdoor markets, parks, and restaurants. We are deeply connected to new friends. Rich is going to be in a musical at the school. I joined a book club, and we are reading Where the Crawdads Sing. The main character Kya has almost nothing and lives in a world apart in a marsh outside town. Yet, when she sells her mussels for the first time and can buy grits and gas for her boat, she feels incredibly satiated. I am relating in a real visceral way at the moment. We are making progress every day. We are in an empty house, but we feel blessed as we begin to create our home. Furthermore, Tate leaves Kya these gifts that are incredibly personal and generous; gifts she cannot reciprocate. She feels unworthy and guilty. At the moment, we are receiving so many gifts including invitations to peoples’ homes, electric blankets, and problem solving assistance- a lot of it. Today, a friend dropped off a pesto dinner complete with wine and gluten free pasta. Like Kya, I feel unable to give anything worthy in return at the moment. But next week will be different. I did successfully make a chicken cacciatore this week; perhaps I can make another batch and share with our new friends.