We're legal!

Woohoo! We have work visas! Heather, Colleen (sister) and I flew into Chicago yesterday morning, arriving at 5 am, drove downtown, ate breakfast, and hung out until our appointment at the consulate at 10am. (Colleen met up with a friend and roamed Chicago while we were in our meeting.) We were quickly at the desk of the man in charge and handed him our applications. He told us that he was goods friends with the HR person at the Columbus School, and that he is from Medellin and went to our school! He was great - he was eager to answer all of our questions about living in Colombia and was very straightforward (he pointed at me and says "you look American" (whereas Heather could pass as a Colombian). Just like Colombians are stereotyped as drug lords, Americans in Colombia (and many other places) are the stereotypical '"ugly American." He gave us some advice about traveling, told us about the neighborhood where we will be living, and was generally very helpful. We expected to not get our visas for a few days, but he printed them out right in front of us, used a glue stick to attach our photographs (joking about his use of technology), stuck them to our passports, and sent us on our way.

We are now in Indiana visting family, then at the end of the week we go back home for our final 3 weeks - just enough time (we hope) to pack and store the house and be on our way. More soon...

What's that like?

For those of you who don't actually know us, my (Sean's) family moved to Japan when I was in high school so that my parents could teach at an international school. My parents' experiences are where Heather and I got the idea to move to Colombia. What is curious to me today is the extent to which other people react to us upon learning that we are moving.
I remember being very frustrated in high school when I would tell someone in the US that I lived in Japan. They would usually ask "what's that like?" but not have any other questions. I kept thinking, jeez, this should be so interesting, why aren't you more interested?!
Now when I tell someone that we are moving to Colombia, they will most likely be overflowing with questions...what will you do there, how did you learn about the job, where will you live, what will you teach, who are your students, is that dangerous, what about your dog, etc, etc, etc. With many people, we could sit down for hours answering their questions.
So why does this dichotomy exist? Have we surrounded ourselves with people who are more open to this type of travel, or who are more envious of our decision to move? Is it the difference in culture between growing up in the Midwest, and now living on the west coast? Is it because I am an adult now, and so people think that they will get a better answer from an adult than from a teenager?
Any other ideas out there? Post a comment, let me know what you think. - sean

Climbing trip

So this doesn't exactly fit into the Colombia theme that we're going for in this blog, but I can make it work...my last overnight trip in the Cascades before we leave, etc, etc. Take a look if you are interested in reading about and seeing pictures of my recent trip with George to Colonial Peak in the North Cascades.

Saying Goodbye

Though we are excited to move on to new adventures it is hard to say goodbye. Today, the last day of school, was bitter sweet. Summer is always welcome, but saying goodbye to Lowell for a few years is extremely difficult. It is always easier to say good bye when it feels like you're moving on to bigger and better things. But Lowell is such a great place it is hard to imagine anything better. The kids are a dream, the parents wonderful, and fellow staff members simply amazing. I hope to keep in touch with all and look forward to hearing of my kids' adventures in second grade!
-Heather

Paperwork

We are quickly realizing the iminency of our trip, as Heather's last day of school is coming up tomorrow and we are preparing for our mini-trip to Chicago and Indiana. We now have completed all of the paperwork for the visa process, including: make copies of diplomas and teaching certificates, sending them to Blaine, WA to be translated into Spanish, taking all of the above to be notarized, and finally sending everything down to Olympia to be apostilled. After many nights waking up worried that we won't have everything ready in time, we now have all the paperwork in our hands, ready to fly.