Monday, December 5, 2011

Marathon and more...













Our good friends Jenny, Jon, Solana and Frances, who are from Minneapolis and living in Mendoza, Argentina this year, were back for a visit and so Jenny could run her first marathon this weekend. She was inspiring. She finished 3rd place in her age category and in under 4 hours!

It's a beautiful run along the ocean. I joined Jenny for a quick 5 km at km 32 in case she was hitting a wall. Far from it, she was cruising and ran ahead for the last 5km (42 km in all). Check out her exciting finish here in the video!!!

Other weekend highlights included "onces" at David and Cecilia's home where we saw Nury and Mario and kids as well, time at ReƱaca beach, where the marathon finished up, and then later at the hotel pool. Jon took the kids to some puppet shows, we caught our friend's live outdoor music concert on the pier, and some of our party visited nearby Pablo Neruda's house, now museum, la Sebastiana.

We won't see the Dicus Breen family again until July 2012, when they return from their year abroad. We're so fortunate that we all ended up "neighbors" (Mendoza is an 8 hour bus ride away). Our families are sharing many similar experiences and its been wonderful to mark our progress and support each other. This was true with our friends from NYC, Keith, Becky, Stefan and Jules, who lived for a year in Valparaiso as well. Its so helpful to find other families that are wanting an immersion experience, not a very common breed of travelers. We've helped each other navigate packing lists, visa requirements, choosing a school for the kids, how to find corn tortillas, etc. And of coures, it's always good to know that you aren't the only one with this crazy idea of living abroad with the kids.

Hope you all had a great weekend too.
Sincerely,
Laura











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