Adios Tenerife, Buongiorno Italy- and now to Israel

 These months really fly by!

Our last two weeks in tenerife we really felt settled in there, the kids started having playdates, we went to other people's homes and socialized with locals, and we really treasured the beauty of the place.  The weather was warming and the ice cold sea felt tolerable to swim in.  We missed Lily and her family, but also experienced the island through new lenses.  

Jacob's parents visited our last week there and we booked a whale watching tour- at first all of us thinking about whale watching in cape cod where it is quite boring on a big ship and then you finally see a whale in the distance but its too far to really know what it looks like- were skeptical.  But we boarded a small speed boat with a marine biologist as captain and were sooo close to these whales/dolphins.

The kids really appreciated the Kaleide school they went to.  At first shiloh said he wasn't learning much, but soon became more accustomed to the democratic school's way of learning- more self directed.  The teachers were so warm and nurturing, the class size was small and mixed ages, and the kids spent much of the day outside climbing trees and jumping on trampolines.  There was a farm next door and there were cows that often popped their heads over the fence.  The kids really started learning more spanish, adira had some playdates with kids who didnt speak english and her spanish rolled off her tongue! The last week of school the kids voted on a trip and decided they wanted a sleepover at the school with the teachers- and that is what they did! Adira's first sleepover without one of us! On the last day they invited families to join and I cried from joy- it was just such a magical feeling to be part of such a loving and positive school.  I feel so fortunate we got to experience it and that they all welcomed us for just two months to join them.

Jacob and I continued our weekly hikes in the area and ate at little tiny local restaurants, and we just really enjoyed our house there and the ease of it all.  But we were ready for the next adventure!

Italy

Sardinia-

When we first decided on sardinia, i was like why are we flying all day to just go to a different beach- we have so many in tenerife.  But when we arrived i realized.  This place was gorgeous- i mean see through salty water you just float in, set alongside the sounds of sacadas in the grass.  I took shiloh on a stand up paddle board tour where we had dolphins swimming right by us in the open ocean- the guide was so impressed by shiloh's stregnth and endurance that he said he would hire him if he wants to move there! Our favorite day was a boat we hired to go around the smaller islands and take us to secluded beaches- we jumped off the boat, went snorkeling and stand up paddle boarding and truly felt grateful.  We were in Sardinia with jacob's parents and it was so wonderful to see the contrast of a 4 year old and a 92 year old both exploring the world!  We have been so fortunate that many members of our family have met up with us along the way this year.

 The kids were in heaven mostly because they were in love with the kids club there and soon after we arrived jacob and i were squirreled away in our room trying to figure out what to do this summer- in two weeks we were meant to be in Israel and the war with Iran was underway.  Should we go, no we thought not, so what would we do? We were supposed to go in two weeks and we had no back up plans- our apartments and camps were booked.  We decided to try to postpone the trip and stay in Italy longer- the camp in piemonte agreed to let us stay for another week and our airbnb was available to extend the trip- so we booked a flight a week later that was refundable.  But what if a week wasn't long enough- our visa was ending and so we called a lawyer to see if we could have a case for extending longer- there was a war, we had two small kids- but apparently no that wouldnt work- we could go back to the US says the lawyer- so we couldnt extend further-This just pushed off the israel decision but we were so tired of making decisions and planning at this point that it felt best to do this.

When we flew from Sardinia to Milan we contacted a friend of Jacob's that I also became friends with while we lived in DC- Victoria- who we hadn't seen since we left DC in 2013 but who we knew lived in Turin because of social media.  She was so generous and offered for us to stay with her when we flew in- even though they were moving houses that weekend! The kids had a blast connecting with her daughters- adira was in heaven playing dress up with their clothing- and although it was boiling hot- we loved reconnecting with her and her husband and learning about life in Italy for them.

Village Forest School and Piemonte

Back in Costa Rica when we were planning our summer I found this camp in Italy run by a school called Village Forest School.  The camp runs in one week increments with different themes (we did food and farm and survival weeks), is run in English, and attracts an international crowd.  As a waldorf school its all outdoors, and when we first arrived for the meet an greet the sunday before camp started and the kids ran into the meadow my jaw dropped- this is what childhood should be about is what i thought.  The school has deeply rooted nutritional values: from their website: The snacks and lunch they are given are prepared largely following the Nourishing Traditions philosophy developed by Dr Weston A. Price, which emphasises the use of organic, natural, non-inflammatory and unprocessed foods to provide a balanced diet which recognises the importance of a healthy digestive system to physical and neurological development.

This obviously really grabbed me- a school invested not only in the education of the minds but the nourishment of the body! The camp is set up so that the families are also given ample opportunity to connect with one another- and since most dont live there people are really open to meeting others and it felt like a true community.  Every morning J and I did a HIIT workout called hyrox  with another couple from upstate NY that we became friends with- in some open field.  The fields here looked like a classical italian painting with rolling hills and hay rolls.  We then spent the rest of the day doing work while the kids were at camp learning, making, creating and playing- and after camp we would go for a swim, go to ice cream and get dinner- usually with a bunch of other families.  We became friends with an israeli family, a family from Hong Kong, England, Dubai- it was really quite beautiful.  And I loved that most people had similar values due to the waldorf style- low tech, mostly nature and nurture. 

                                (Adira in the doctors office- she had an ear infection, and it was 100% free!)

When I found this camp we were living in LaEcovilla and I realized that Celia, a friend there, had lived in Italy so I asked her if she knew about it- and low and behold this camp was her kids school! and they were moving back!! So when we got here we reconnected- and as she had in CR, she did acupuncture on me that my body just melted into.  It was so wild to reconnect with someone we met at the beginning of our journey- and felt comforting in some ways as most of the connections we have met felt so temporary.

We had one weekend in piemonte and decided the day of to go to Lake Maggiore- and it was such a great decision.  It was a vacation from travels as we stayed in a sweet hotel overlooking the lake.  We spent our one day there swimming and then taking a boat to a tiny touristy island with just 20 inhabitants on it and met up with Jacob's old babysitter Adrianna who happened to be nearby in switzerland! All together we stumbled upon an art gallery walked up these narrow staircases and learned about an artist who lived there and created sculptures after melting plastic he found in the lake as a sort of act of advocacy against pollution- and unfortunately ended up dying from inhaling the fumes.  This was a great reinforcement for my kids about why plastic is so terrible for us and for the earth and why we try to avoid it- as difficult as that is!

On our last day in piemonte we went with Nava and Bryan (our HIIT buddies) to the most incredible restaurant for lunch- set it in a majestic building with beautiful murals and impressive food- i'm still drooling thinking of it.  And that night we headed up to the Milan airport to stay in a hotel before our flight the next day.  Marta, one of our former au pairs met us there for a meal and it was the perfect send off!

Marta and her mom!

The next day we flew to paris at 650am and got to our connecting flight at which point they said- sorry the flight to israel is canceled.  Now this was our second flight canceled to israel, and we already had some cold feet about if we should go, and our visa! and so this felt particularly stressful.  So we are in the airport and i'm trying to tell the attendants at the gate that we cannot leave the airport because of our visa and they are like its fine your flight was canceled- and i feel like no one is listening- so i start to really panic, and jacob and i begin to fight and the kids are running circles around us and punching my stomach and it all feels terrible.  I run to the bathroom and realize that i got my period- in my ONE pair of underwear i have because our luggage is on some imaginary plane to israel- and its kind of comical but mostly unnerving.  But we get out of the airport after a police officer essentially extends our stay a day, and head to the hotel that airfrance puts us up at- which essentially feels like you are living in a submarine. And after a few hours of the kids having pillow fights we manage to get ourselves together and take a train one hour to the Jardin Luxembourg.  Where its just the perfect place to spend the afternoon- they kids race these antique toy sailboats, go on a carousel and play in a wonderful playground (that you have to pay for!! this is def not the socialist part of western europe)- while I go shopping for new underwear and keep being directed to lingerie shops that dont have anything nearly suitable for having your period.  But after two chocolate crepes and a successful cotton underwear purchase we headed back to the hotel in time to get some sleep before the next flight the next day.

Israel

We arrived in Israel greeted by my parents in the airport and went straight to our apartment in Jerusalem that we were renting from a friend of my sister who was in the states for the summer.  The kids were in heaven with having their own bedrooms- which has been rare this trip, and having some toys here to play with.  We were supposed to be in Jerusalem because my good friend Maital was coming and our kids were going to go to camp together, and Jacob was going to study at Pardes- well those two things got canceled, and so now we were here but didnt really know anyone or have a purpose for coming particularly here.

The kids started camp at All Stars Israel- and it was a 180 from their waldorf camp in italy- they served bread and nutella for snack every morning, and gave them ice pops in flimsy plastic they were told to bite on to break open! My heart was sinking- was two weeks of nurishment enough to cancel out two weeks of terrible nutrition and microplastics everywhere? The kids adapted well, but said there was very little hebrew.  I was struggling a bit, our apartment had a beautiful huge balcony- but on the other side was an extremely busy loud street.  I missed the peace and quiet of piemonte. The beautiful drives in the rolling hills.  There was english everywhere and I felt like i was on the upper west side.  My kids came home and shiloh asked for a kippah since most kids were religious here, and adira didnt seem to notice still asking for her belly shirts :) 

But i remembered that a friend from residency moved here and connected with her- we met up at the most incredible playground i have ever seen at gan sacher- and our kids played beautifully while we ate at the yummy cafe overlooking the playground.  It was a special night and helped me realize a bit about why we are here- the next day we visited my aunt who lives 40 minutes to the other side of the city.  She hadn't seen me or my kids in 7 years- so it was a treat for them to meet and to see her and my uncle again.  For most of my life I came to israel every year, so seven years is a really long time.  So much has changed in this time for me in my life, for this country and the people here...

Tenerife- 6 weeks in

 It feels like a lifetime ago that i wrote the last post, over the past month our lives have shifted and we have grown in feeling like we were hesitatingly accepting tenerife to falling in love.  We fell into a rhythm in Santa Cruz, during the week Jacob mostly bunkered down by the kids school while i stayed home working and started cooking some homemade meals that we all were craving.  I took up boxing with Lily a few times a week and got a much needed haircut.  When i went for the hiarcut was oen of the few times on this trip I have felt judged for my nomadic composure- i would say I rarely wear makeup, wear the same Lululemon outfit and have let my hair run wild.  The hairdresser must have asked me a hundred times if i ever brush my hair and brought over the 3 nearby hairdressers to see what a mop my hair was- i was like dude just chop it off- and he did! But I'm loving the short hair, no matter how wild i must look now without any hairgel or anything in it.  Over the weekend our routine begain as we spent one day as a family exploring and one day with Lily and Jose going to a different beach.  Our families immediately meshed together- so much so that the kids referred to their kids as their cousins and I had to explain that they were friends, even though it feels like family!  Adira in her adira ways even coaxed Lily to take her home with her when she was going to shower for dinner- and then Adira proceeded to tell Lily she was going to take a bubble bath while Lily showered and got into the bath:) Since hanging with them we all also began to try new foods- such as tiny clams that you pop into your mouth that the kids find so fun! 

                                                            

Adira in the bath at Lily's

After a month in Santa Cruz we packed up our white washed apartment, stored our belongings in Lily's apartment and headed to visit a nearby Island Lanzarote and its sister Island- Graciosa.  If Tenerife is lush, with many microcimates and like a tiny continent of desert, beach and mountain- lanzarote is like the moon- brown, sandy, volcanic- and other wordly.  We spent the first day on a 3 hour hike to a volcano crater- which while i was proud of the kids for doing, totally wore us all out and i was so cranky afterwards (I dont know it was worth it with kids in tow).  That afternoon we went to these incredible caves that are designed by a local artist who has installations throughout lanzarote- it was one of the most creative pieces combining nature and art I have ever seen. 

                                                Middle of Hike

                                                        END of the Hike!

That night we took a ferry out to Graciosa- an island that only allows cars for its very few residents.  Think fire island but in Europe- and we stayed at the end of the island with only 16 houses, no stores or restaurants.  The view from our house was totally incredible- we could walk right out to the beach with clear water- shiloh found some kids fishing and joined them- one of them while fishing caught an octopus who then attached itself onto the kids arm when they reeled it in and the whole family had to work on releasing her arm (which was unharmed) before they set out to roast and eat the octopus! We were living next door to a group of 9 men who come there every year for a weekend away from their families, and our kids loved popping over and hanging out with them because they gave them chocolate bars and enjoyed the spanglish banter they engaged in with them.  Shiloh borrowed one of their Stand Up Paddleboards and we set out for about an hour on the ocean.  The ocean gets very deep very quickly here, and the currents are strong, so I wouldnt let him go to far- but his ability to stably paddleboard for so long is pretty impressive.  At one point one of the men came out to check on us, and shiloh was like- we are fine, just enjoying the ocean, and his reply - "wow this is a strong kid" was pretty spot on.  We went on a short hike from our house, but otherwise just hung around.  Our last day in lanzarote, I was so exhausted from the travel and being cranky with everyone that I decided we should just go to the hotel and hang there.  The hotel itself was like being in an ethnography of working class middle aged british families- with big buffets, sterile walls, and fun accents-glad to experience it but mostly happy to head home :) 

View from our AirBNB in Graciosa

When we got back to Tenerife, we moved into our new home- in La Laguna, about a 20 minute walk from the kids school- into a passive house with a tiny pool and backyard- and we are in heaven.  The weather is much cooler than santa cruz so each dip in the pool feels like an ice plunge, but the open layout with views of the mountains and palm trees is amazing, and we are just about 10 minutes walk into city center which is a UNESCO heritage site, with charming pedestrian only streets.  Since we have been here Jacob and I have done some daytime date hikes to pretty incredible places, and as a family we visited some natural pools and farms.  The first hike Jacob and I went on we left our house without any jackets, and arrived 20 minutes later in the mountain where it was cold! When we got out of the car, we decided it would be torture to hike so we got back in and drove to a restaurant in a small town.  Upon arriving we pulled up behind a couple exiting to start a hike.  Jacob in his very jacob way charmed them with some small talk about being dutch and asked them if they knew where we could buy a jacket (knowing there was no where)- and they said well we do have an extra- and he was like really how amazing! Next thing I knew I was wearing a strangers sweatshirt (which he promised wasnt infested iwth bedbugs) and we were all hiking on a hidden path together with this couple on a cliffside hike.  We ended the hike eating fancy duck at the most adorable french restaurant in this teeny town- 

Our House in La Laguna

                                            The Hike in a strangers sweatshirt :) 

The kids are doing really well, the each have made a few friends at school, and are taking more to Spanish.  At night they often like to play a game where everyone says a Spanish word and tries to see if everyone else knows it.  They are also playing more together- the other day we were playing a board game and i turned to them both and said how cool is this- just a few months ago Adira couldn't do this!  Their favorite games by far are building forts and running around the perimeter of our house knocking on the front door and running away again.  Its been a blessing not having afterschool activities and not running around at all- we are just enjoying slower living.  I find myself now struggling to figure out how to find that balance back home in Brooklyn where the after school activities seem to be the best around, and yet I know our lives are easier without running around so much.  Its almost like living near the best bakery in town, figuring out not how to overindulge.

                                            Shiloh Surfing in Taganana

This past weekend was our last weekend with Lily's family as next week Jacob's parents come, and they have family coming.  We had an epic 24 hours together- we left the kids with a sitter and went out the 4 of us- staying out until midnight was sooo late for us and Lily was like that's it?? but we stayed up talking until 2am and the next day hung around and then went to the beach.  The kids surfed, played in the sand and in some natural pools and we ended with a lovely seafood small town dinner- as had become our tradition every sunday with them.  We have been more flexible about letting the kids stay out late, we are ok if they are a bit late to school and so is the school- and have less prepping for the week to do since we can go food shopping etc during the day as we have more time!  Our goodbyes were tearful- this is definitely the closest connection we have made as a family on our trip- Adira on the way home said "this is the saddest day of my life...even sadder than my birthday party" to which we all could not help laughing and still dont understand what she means- other than maybe that they were both so amazing and had to come to an end??  We will miss them and our weekly beach day trips so much- but are hopeful we can meet up together and travel in the future

First 2 weeks in Santa Cruz Tenerife

 We made the decision to come to Santa Cruz in Tenerife in November when we did a "scouting trip" to Costa Rica and felt pretty unsure of going there for the whole 8 months.  In our small hostel room - yes jacob and i stayed in a hostel one night- we called Lily, a dear friend of my dear friend Tamar- who lives in Tenerife and asked her if we should come there- and well she is a very good spokeswoman for the Island...i keep telling her she could have a side hustle.  Her life sounded idyllic and she had kids around the same age as us and was pretty convincing that we should join her!  So while we knew almost nothing about the canary islands, we knew that we would be on an island with lots of nature, spanish language and culture, and a european feel.  So here we are...

          

View from a hotel down our street that we snuck into to use the pool!

                                  

Parque García Sanabria right next to our house

We entered our airbnb that we rented for the first 5 weeks and it was a complete 180 from our home in costa rica- its completely white washed, with no art on the walls, its an apartment on the first floor with two patios that are enclosed.  Apparently this is a thing in europe that is common for ground floor apartments but it was news to us! Essentially we dont see the outside world at all from the apartment, unless we look up from the patio and can see the sky throough the whole that goes up 5 flights.  I went from a work station with the jungle and mountains surrounding me to a work station facing a white wall.  BUT- everything was new and working, there was a microwave and a dishwasher- both of which we missed in Costa Rica! And there were no critters!

The apartment is right on this beautiful city park with two brand new playgrounds and a botanical garden like feel to it.  But as soon as we arrived Shiloh was pretty sick with a high fever- and this lasted for 8 days! This made the transition pretty rough- he missed the first week of school, one of us stayed back with him at all times while the other was mostly taking adira to and from school and circling for parking.  The kids school is in another city just 20 minutes away in La Laguna- its called Kaleide International School- to learn more watch this video.  We chose it because it was bilingual, had an alternative curriculum and was really focused on nature and outdoors- which is what I think their education in Brooklyn is lacking.  Adira jumped right in and found friends pretty quickly, her demeanor has reverted back to Brooklyn Adira, skipping down the sidewalk, exuding happiness and confidence.  

I asked Adira if she missed costa rica and she said "No, it was too hot, there were not enough playgrounds, and i had no friends :(" All of these statements are in fact true.  But I missed it, i missed the ease of the community, just walking to the pool, constantly meeting new people, and always being in nature.  Here we were in a city, no one talked to us, we didn't see the same kids at the playground every day, and we weren't among all expats- so I really started to feel my low level Spanish.

I also realized how lovely it was to exercise every morning and not have to think about it, i just showed up!  Now I had to plan my workout, and the 20 minute HITT classes i pulled up on my phone just didnt feel the same as the in person classes surrounded by neighbors I knew.  But I have done it in the park and just this week I joined Lily in her boxing class :) 

One of the first things I do in every new place we are in is go grocery shopping- i both love it and hate it.  I love seeing how each culture emphasizes importance on different foods- here there are aisles and aisles of canned fish and olives! and ham, oh do they love jamon.  But peanut butter- there is one, and its easy to miss it on the shelf :) Food has certainly challenged the kids on our journey, nothing tastes like home and so it takes a while for them to find what they like.  Just today i found baby carrots- which they havent had since leaving the US and shiloh was jumping for joy- until he ate them and realized they didnt taste the same.  But before costa rica they did not eat beans or lentils, and now they ask for them- so we will see what they take from here!

The other reason the transition was tricky was Lily arrived a week after us and then her family came down with COVID so we didnt see them until we were here for about two weeks.  But the first time we met them we went down to the south of the island to a beautiful beach with dramatic coastlines  and amazing freezing swimming holes - and spent the day together- the kids hit it off right away, and I told Lily I felt like i was meeting someone i had been texting with on a dating app- but we feel like lifelong friends already.  This has been particularly amazing for Shiloh as he hasnt quite hit it off with friends at school, and was pretty dysregulated our first two weeks here- but having Ari fulfills his friend needs and then some.  I love hearing their conversations as they walk and talk away about everything from what are fair screen time rules to how hard it can be to make friends in new situations.

    

                          View from our Airbnb in Alcala -rooftop garden- those are the kids in the playground

Alcala Tenerife

This week our nephew Miles who studied abroad in Madrid came for a quick visit- it was super fun for us all! We went to the beach and did shabbat there friday and saturday hiked in a forest that looks like it belongs in the bay area.  We had intended to go see the volcano but it is actually 1.5 hours away so our late start this morning put a wrench in the plans but we discovered this forest!  The island of tenerife has many microclimates allowing it to have both tropical forests and pine forests, mountains, desert and beach all on one small island!

 

Portugal to Tenerife

 Portugal and arrival to Tenerife

After Seville Jacob and Shiloh joined us after skiing for 3 days and we all crossed the border to portugal where we spent a week with my family.  For a week we relaxed in the beautiful portugese spring.  The weather was pretty rainy which we are told is uncommon for this time of year, but my kids were on cloud 9 seeing their cousins and reuniting with my parents and sisters.  We spent 5 days in algarve and mostly just hung out with a hike and horseback ride thrown in there- and then went olive oil tasting as we headed up to Lisbon.  In algarve we did a seder all together, and the kids frolicked in the plazas.  Still in costa rica mode, we picked the most delicious oranges off the trees that sprouted from the sidewalks in the nearest town.  Jacob and I decided to rent an electric car because this trip is all about exploring and living differently, and well we learned that it isn't the best idea to rent a car for long trips that requires electric only power- and ended up at a gas station charging our car for 2 hours midway to Lisbon.  Luckily, portugal is extremely kid friendly and the gas station had a play area for kids and even mini kid potties in the bathroom! it was literally a better kids bathroom than disney- and this was just the gas station!.  In Lisbon we had one full day to explore, where we ate some pretty awesome cheesecake, took a tuk tuk tour of the city and got a family foot massage!  All in all it was just some pretty relaxed family time.

From Lisbon we said goodbye to everyone- this would be our longest stretch without seeing them- about 4 months for my sisters and the cousins- which is the longest the kids have gone in their lives and the first time in about 20 years that i have gone that long!

 Our trip this year has made me reflect a lot on my past travels and time living in other countries.  I've told the kids lots of stories on our car rides or walks about my prior adventures abroad- and it has made me think a lot about all of you that have been with me on some of these adventures (Israel, Argentina, Uganda, Ecuador, South Africa, Croatia- to name a few!)

Jacob and Shiloh flew to London to meet up with his Brother and our Nephew for a long weekend where they would watch a soccer match and see Wicked in theatre, and I flew with adira and my parents to south Tenerife.  Arriving in tenerife there were some butterflies in my stomach- would i like it here? do i really want to go back to first world living? We stayed with my parents at a beautiful hotel- overlooking a dramatic coast line, with mountains behind us.  It felt like a movie set.  But i recognized that this wouldnt be our day to day.

The sunsets here were a 10!

We were moving to the city- to Santa Cruz-

Costa Rica to Spain

Our last two weeks in Costa Rica were the perfect end to our time there. We got about 5 days at the beach in nosara with our friends summer and gabe and Thor kids max and Sophie who were visiting from Colorado, and the time there felt like such a vacation treat! Summer and I did yoga at the retreat hotel next door, our kids went to camp and loved hanging out with each other, and we were within a short walk to a wonderful beach! We soaked up the warm water, knowing that in Tenerife it will be freezing ocean, and had some very special moments. Unfortunately Jacob misjudged the depth of the sand and dove into a wave with shiloh, scalping himself a bit (lucky for him he has a doctor on call who mended the wound and two weeks later it is about healed!).

We came back and although we wavered about if we should send Adira to school since it was such a tough social situation for her, we encouraged her to go without forcing anything and I was proud of her finishing so positively. 

Our last night in Costa Rica we hosted about 5 families for dinner, two American families who moved there a few years ago, a Swedish Bosnian family, a Spanish/french couple and a French canadian.  It was such a lovely evening, we introduced them all to Shabbat and did the prayers, finally drank the 3 bottles of wine in our fridge, and felt full of love and laughter sending us on the way. When I told my mom we were hosting dinner- she said but its your last night do you really wnt to do that! - but it was pretty chill, we made it a pot luck, conversations rolled, kids played, and everyone asked- do you have to leave?  Do we? 

Although we could have stayed here for the rest of our sabbatical, we made the decision to go to Spain, see another way of life.  But it isn't without trepidation.  Things are pretty good here, we have made great connections with people, feel very much a part of the community, shiloh is thriving in school (his teacher came running out to tell jacob that did we know he can read 4th grade level books?) and has made close friends who he is sad to leave, and we dont know exactly what life will be like in Spain but J reminds me that this is how we felt before we left Brooklyn and look at how it turned out? No regrets...

The next question was will we come back- and I do hope so.  For me this has felt similar to how I feel about Fire Island- its my happy place. I love going to Fire Island, and often wish we could spend the summer there. SO how lucky are we to find yet another Happy Place? 

On my final workout class I felt pretty proud of myself- i've been consistently going about 4 days a week- and I started with 5lb weights and was able to do the whole class this morning with 15lb weights! I'm not sure I'll be as consistent with workout the rest of our time but these classes definitely motivated me.

On our final morning as we hung out by the pool and several neighbors passed by to hang out, I kept thinking , I will miss this! The ease of communal living with children is something I’ve craved since becoming a parent. And it really is pretty amazing.  There are definitely challenges that we witnessed and didn’t have to deal with too much, being visitors.  I was struck by the similarities of what my parents always said was both beautiful and challenging about kibbutz…amazing for the young and the old, people care for one another, are in it together, and you definitely have to create a bit of space so you aren’t on top of one another all of the time.

We took an overnight flight to Madrid on a new budget airline iberojet, and I was skeptical but aside from the awful food and the fact that the lights were on until 1030pm and then again at 530am, due to long meal service, it was pretty smooth. Kids were great, and I think it was partially because I bought some dark chocolate and decided that from now on post every flight while waiting for customs ill give them some dark chocolate and say “you did great, this is going to be hard because we are all tired and hungry so let’s eat chocolate and power through” and it worked!

When we landed there was a bit of culture shock. After living in the jungle for 3 months, Western Europe was noticeably different! On the bus between the plane and the airport Adira said “this looks like Israel” and Shiloh replied “you’ve never been to Israel” to which she said “well then it looks like Manhattan”

I also noticed that every time we get to a new Airbnb the kids run around and touch everything and I’m yelling at them and it feels icky! So on the cab ride there I said what can we do so we don’t get in this pattern, and they both agreed “take us to a playground to let out our energy” and so we did!!

Our Airbnb is close to retiro park, which is beautiful this time of year! I walked to the supermarket to buy some snacks and for 20$ I got what would have cost us 40$ in CR! We walked by the Prado and the botanic gardens, stopped for tapas in a small restaurant where I embarrassingly asked for jugo (juice in Spanish in Latin America) but the waitress understood!

Our first morning we had breakfast with our nephew miles who is studying abroad here! Then Jacob and Shiloh left to take a train to Grenada where they will ski for 3 days in Sierra Nevada. And Adira and I had dinner with Ayelet’s old au pair Andrea who lives here!

Our final day in Madrid Adira and I spent at the royal palace, when we left I asked her what did you think did you like it? She said not really, they had too many expensive stuff that they didn’t need…I think my commentary on the opulence set in!

We headed by train the next day to Seville, just 2.5 hours on the train and 30$ each it was a bargain and a joy compared to Amtrak! When we arrived at the station we exited the wrong way, and had to circumnavigate the station with all of the luggage in tow uphill! Before we left Costa Rica we threw out our giant suitcase that I just bought and shipped some things to Canary Islands. But even so we are always feeling like we have too much stuff and I wish we could condense some more! We got to our Airbnb and thanks to the workout classes I did in Costa Rica I was able to carry our bags up three flights of stairs no problem!!

Our first night in Seville we met Becky an and her husband for dinner at a nearby plaza where Adira played in the playground while we ate dinner. Becky is my dear friend Irit’s former roommate from when we were in med school in dc, and although I have fond memories together we hadn’t seen one another in over a decade. she moved to Seville a few years back to be with her husband who is from there. I love meeting different people on our journey and hearing about their thoughts and experiences in the places we are visiting.  I heard about the impact of Airbnb and tourism on the city living prices and the luck we had of coming during such a beautiful time of year before the summer heat!

Adira and I then spent the next two days frolicking around the city with no agenda! It was our first trip like this and I am so proud of her ability to walk all through the city from 9-5 both days! We met a family from
Britain visiting and the mom asked me how I was able to get her to walk all day, the secret I found was good snacks and playground stops along the way! The first day went perfectly because of these tactics.  We watched flamenco in plaza espana, rowed a boat in their manmade canal, rode a horse carriage through the big park and ate a fancy brunch on a plaza. Day 2, we went to the alcazar and then I decided to check out a residential neighborhood out of the center. I’m always interested in what it’s like to live in these places, not just tour them. But we made some wrong turns, walked further than I thought and ran out of snacks by 2pm and still didn’t have lunch so our afternoon was a bit challenging but we made it through! My tactic for day 2 was to buy her a ten dollar flamenco dress and a hat, and she went around saying she was the queen!

After 5 days in cities, I feel appreciative for what they offer but I find myself missing Costa Rica and the peace and quiet of our neighborhood. I miss the sense of safety I felt, which as a woman I never feel in cities. And I’m already craving nature. It will be interesting to see how this feels in Tenerife as we will be in cities but close to nature, and eventually when we return to BK :) 

Here are some lists I made

 Fruits we have picked off trees in our neighborhood: 

Suriname Cherries

Caimito

Jack Fruit

Animals we see in and around our home:

Bats

Capuchin Monkeys

Howler Monkeys

Tarantulas

Scorpions

Toucans (including yellow throated)

Fiery Billed Aracari

Scarlet Macaw

hummingbirds

Silver-Throated Tanager

Vultures

Hawks

Canaries

Iguanas

Lizards

Agoutis

Many bugs and Ants

Places we visited while here:

Osa Peninsula- highlight- best place we visited aside from where we lived!

Manuel Antonio- we felt a bit touristy- but we did see lots of animals

San Jose- enjoyed the children's museum

La Fortuna- beatiful but touristy 

Poas Volcano- we actually didnt see the volcano as it just erupted when we were there!

Jaco Beach- where shiloh surfed and we beached 1 hour from our house

Nosara Beach- great surfer town with a hamptons meet the jungle feel

Family Exit Interview from CR:

1 thing that surprised you about CR:

1 thing that disappointed you about CR:

Favorite things about living here:

What you miss most about Brooklyn: Running in the park, the food

What you do NOT miss about Brooklyn:

What will you miss when we leave here:

What are you most excited about in Spain:

10 weeks Living at LEV

 Two and a half months living at La Ecovilla

Right after I wrote my last post, the moon shifted and energy changed in our house.  Adira has really struggled here to find her footing.  She asks routinely to go back to Brooklyn, she misses her friends and her school and the comforts of home.  She wants to know what her friends are doing now, if they are in school etc. And is already planning a big party for when we return.  We didn't anticipate that lifting her from her coccoon at CBE  preschool and in park slope would be so challenging, she has always embraced meeting new people and new surroundings with vigor- but meeting friends here has been challenging for her.  Some kids dont speak English or Spanish, some kids are way younger or older, and she hasn't found anyone to really feel she has connected to.  

Shiloh on the other hand has found friends, loves the school, and is really enjoying the activities he is participating in.  He does miss BK and his friends and family, but is constantly telling us how grateful he is for this adventure.

This stark contrast in the kids has caused them to fight and not empathize with one another so well- Adira is more dysregulated and Shiloh has less understanding of her difficulties.

I think that a part of me felt that if we took away all of the stressors of life- the demands of our jobs, the upkeep of our home, the cold weather! That maybe it would ease some of the parenting and family dynamic stressors.  And I think what i have come to appreciate is that the stressors are still there- kids are still kids, interpersonal dynamics still exist, but with more fuel in my tank I am more able to think through my reactions to the stressors in a different way. 

For me- the nearing of the end of our time here has been a great challenge for keeping my anxiety at bay...one that i'm not necessarily excelling at :) I love it here so much, I love the ease, the weather, our routines, the community- that i'm finding it hard to accept that we may not be back here and that our next destination may not check all of these boxes.

But I'm trying hard to appreciate the little things that are here and not let this time that is left slip away- my morning cup of raw cacao in vanilla goat milk.  The farms that deliver to my doorstep (and even enter my home and put food away for me while i'm gone).  The sunset dinners with kids running amok- my daily workout classes run by various community members.

We have had some pretty wonderful dinners with friends lately- Shiloh's friends family invited us over, and that morning i received a text from a guy we were in touch with to rent his car but never did, and realized that they lived next door so when we arrived for dinner he and his family came over to say hi- they are a family of 5 who just spent 10 months traveling the world.  We all ate an impromtu dinner together and the sunsets there were magical.

At another dinner with another one of shiloh's friends parents- shiloh says its not fair that he is doing all of the work to make friends for us which may be true- we all talked politics and commiserated that so many people in the machuca valley (where we are living) are apolitical, and how this is a time when you cant really be apolitical- there is too much happening to not have an opinion! 

We have also had family visiting us for the last two weeks- my parents came for a week and my sister Netta and her dog came for 5 days.  While it was great to share with them our world here, my mom fainted in the heat, and netta and her dog burned their feet on the hot sand at the beach- so i think they were glad to see us but also not super jealous of our hot sweaty lives here :) 

                                                        River Hike with my dad

                                                            Can you spot the sloth behind us?

                                                    Visit near Poas Volcano and Netta and Shoko by the River

Guest Post from Jacob

I am not working, so friends and family from home have diplomatically asked me what the hell I do all day. Thus below I provide my rough schedule. (I’m not just lazing about! 4.5 hours a day without children turns out to be time that it is easy to fill.) I also have put below some of the highlights of what we had to do to make this trip happen. 

Jacob’s Typical Sabbatical[1] Day

5:30 AM: wake up from noisy animals and light streaming through the “windows” – screens with no glass and no curtains -- and then try to grab my eyeglasses and phone without waking Yonit or Shiloh. Shiloh sneaks into our bed almost every night. In rural Costa Rica, where bats and geckos sometimes sneak into our house, and screaming howler monkeys play on our roof, sleep training is out of the question.

6:30 AM: everyone is awake and we’re tackling our  morning “get ready to do” list: The kids have to pee, brush teeth, clothes and sun block on, and eat, and the parents have to pack snacks, water bottles, a change of clothes. Without pointing fingers, suffice it to say that at least one of the four of us usually has something better to do, and so is obstinately refusing to do the assigned tasks, and this can cause tension. You may not believe this, but occasionally there is even yelling.

7:45 AM: drop the kids off at the school bus, or drive them to school myself (20 minutes roundtrip).

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM: workout time! A five-minute walk away there’s a pool and a workout area where classes are held. For a while I took a boxing-sparring class until I got punched in the eye, causing one of my contact lenses to go flying. Between that and my back hurting, I gave it up. Next, I hired a private swim coach for $20 a lesson to improve my swim technique, and am now swimming laps for the first time in my life (where we're staying, from 10 AM to 5 PM it's typically about 90 degrees outside). When I’m not swimming or getting beaten up, I do my personal back routine at home (side and forward planks, regular and wide squats, clam shells, etc., plus the occasional pushup).

 9:30 AM – 2 PM: Yonit is working and I’m usually handling practical adult tasks, like submitting health insurance claims or searching for a landlord homeowner’s insurance policy (so fun!). My favorite days are when I can convince Yonit to play hooky from work for an hour or two and swim in the nearby river. I’ve also been taking Spanish lessons; volunteering a few hours a week at a retirement home, where I practice my Spanish (see photo below of me and my friend Julia, an septuagenarian Tica who is single and available :), standing in front of the community pool); and conducting legal research for my brother Reuben. He’s a forensic psychiatrist writing an article about involuntarily medicating mentally ill patients. Innocuous topic, right?

2:15 – 3 PM: prep snacks for the kids and pick them up from school. In New York, on weekdays I usually don’t see my kids till 6 PM, so I’m getting a lot more time with them.

3 PM-5:30 PM: post-school activities, including reading, playing soccer with a local team (Shiloh holds his own!), and swimming at the pool that’s within walking distance of our home. I’m so proud to report that Adira and Shiloh are swimming and reading on their own, respectively. Oh and I nearly forgot to mention, we also spend a lot of time talking with Adira in jibberish (she has many non-English-speaking classmates, so I guess this is her way of processing this?)

5:30 PM eat dinner, always at home, as there are few nearby restaurants. Another complaint I have is that the "super" markets within driving distance don't have organic food, which is maybe ironic given that we're literally living in the jungle.

7-8 PM: we’re putting the kids to bed. Nothing remarkable to report except that Adira loves to pinching us as she goes to bed, and it hurts! But once we get her still, she passes out in ten seconds. Kids are remarkable creatures.

8 PM: Yonit and I clean up dinner, which is no small job, as our house lacks a dishwasher (I assume as some kind of unfortunate nod to the “eco villa” name of our gated community), and a job that must be done quickly, given the fearless ants, which within minutes can come in such numbers that they're capable of carrying away portions of our leftovers, and lizards, whose presence we're aware of primarily because of the poops they leave on a regular basis on our bed. After cleaning up, we exhaustedly stare at our phones, plan our next travels, and debate whether we’re really moving back to New York in September (we are).

9 PM: Yonit and I go to bed and try to stay awake long enough to make headway reading a book. I recently finished Trust by Hernan Diaz and highly recommend it, and am now trying to make my way through The Wind Knows My Name by Isabelle Allende in the original Spanish.

What we had to do to set up our trip and leave New York

We began planning for the trip nearly a year in advance. We had to make so many decisions, and had to depend on good will from so many other people, I’m not sure we would or could ever do this again. Here are some of the highlights of our preparation process.

1. Children’s schools:
1. In late January 2024 we managed to persuade Adira’s school to allow her to attend for only half the year. If they hadn’t agreed, we would have had to choose between enrolling her in a random public school for six months, or tried to postpone our trip and hope that the new federal government administration (my employer) would allow me to take a leave of absence from work. We LOVED Adira’s school, Congregation Beth Elohim, and are so thankful they granted our request.
2. Also in January 2024, following an extensive search, we found an au pair who would be ok living with us and then leaving around the time we planned to leave New York. The kids still miss Delfina, an even-keeled Argentinian who stayed with us until two days before we departed for our adventures.
3. A year later, in January 2025, Shiloh’s school PS 321 emailed to say we had to disenroll him within the next five days, or we’d face a Department of Education truancy investigation. So we disenrolled him. For now we’re just hoping they’ll let him and Adira in starting in September 2025. I suppose we can’t pat ourselves on the back for this one.
4. Persuade the bilingual Costa Rica private school to take our children for only three months, despite their stated policy. We didn’t want to have to commit upfront to spend the entire sabbatical in one place.
2. Careers:
1. In late April 2024, I went to my boss and argued that after eleven years of service, I deserved some unpaid leave. My request was ultimately granted, I think in part because my office probably would not get hiring authority to replace me if I quit, and because my office doesn’t have many ways to reward senior employees, as our salaries are set by Congress. Anyway, I’m so thankful for having understanding supervisors.
2. A couple months later, Yonit informed her supervisors that she’d be leaving her position at Maimonides, where she had been working for seven years. She also applied for and won a grant (through Maimonides) that she could manage part time from wherever we travel.
3. Shortly before we left, I downloaded a few writing samples in case I get fired while on leave. Lots of exciting changes happening in Washington these days!
3. House:
1. In June 2024 we hired real estate agent Terry Baum (whom I highly recommend) to rent out our house in Brooklyn. Among other things, Terry transformed our place for a photo shoot, fielded numerous inquiries, and took maybe a dozen different prospective tenants on walkthroughs until we got a good offer. Before each walkthrough, Yonit or I raced around the house for an hour trying to organize and hide the chaos of our messy family life.
2. Go through nearly every item in our house, and discard it, give it away, or move it to our basement . This was mentally and physically exhausting, and in the end we did not discard nearly enough.
3. Fix nonworking things around the house that we had gotten used to, but surely our tenants wouldn’t like. I still can’t believe how much bathroom faucets cost to replace.
4. Provide our new tenants with a 4.5-page document detailing everything related to the house. (OK maybe this wasn’t critical.)
4. Car:
1. For our 2016 beat-up Volvo V60 hatchback sedan, after we considered numerous options, our one set of relatives who live in the New York suburbs agreed to store it drive it occasionally (major thank you to Yonit’s sister Ayelet and her husband Ari).
2. Car rentals in Costa Rica are so expensive, but a couple weeks before we moved we found someone renting out a 2008 Honda CRV with 130,000 miles for "just" $1,200 a month (the market rate is $2,000 per month; CR is expensive!). Costa Rican roads are often unpaved and extremely bumpy, and supposedly that was the only reason the owner gave us detailed instructions on how I should check under the hood at least every two weeks. He also told us not to worry about the fact that the car has several warning lights that are always on. On the bright side, I now know what transmission fluid does, and the car has broken down only once in the middle of the road.
5. Visas: Fortunately a visa isn’t needed for Costa Rica, so we actually had to do nothing for this. But for a while we were thinking of going to Spain, which requires a visa to stay for more than three months, so we met with multiple attorneys and even started working on the visa application process, until we realized that we probably wouldn't qualify, and turned our sights back on Costa Rica. 
6. Pre-travel purchases: We had to buy so many things, like new health insurance with international coverage, a kindle for Shiloh so we could easily get him new books while in rural Costa Rica, a three-month supply of medications from our mail order pharmacy, and a scooter suitcase for Adira, so that she wouldn’t dawdle in the airports and keep up with Shiloh on his. Our kids get stares in every airport they scoot through.

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[1] For want of a better word. No one is paying me right now, except for our tenants, so maybe the term “sabbatical” is misleading. But “gap year,” “micro-retirement,” and “extended unpaid leave” also don’t seem quite right. I welcome suggestions.