The Honeymoon is over

First of all some good news, this is the first day that I have willingly opened all of the balcony doors and let the air come in.  It is supposed to eventually get to the mid 60s today and the sun is shining!  The school has to close tomorrow for some repair work so Rob, Renee and Jonathan are heading up to the mountains to do some skiing.  Elisa said she'd rather not and I really don't enjoy it so we'll explore some kids museums or something else in Santiago.  I'd rather just look at the mountains from afar.

As was bound to happen, there were some sadness and tears this weekend.  Renee went to the Bat Mitzvah but I have since learned that it was the Bat Mitzvah of a girl from one of the wealthier families in town.  The dance party went until 1:30 but Renee called at 9:30 to say that she was tired and wasn't fitting in.  Put together the situation, a new country, her age etc. and I was even impressed that she went to it.   The girls were all wearing teenie-weenie dresses (as were many of their mothers!). The synagogue where it was held is called the "Mercaz" or the central synagogue and apparently acts as the center of the community and has over 1000 families (reminded me of Beth El in Highland Park but a bit glitzier).  That said, I learned this morning while volunteering at the school that there are at least three other much smaller synagogues including one where Renee was invited for a Bar Mitzvah this weekend (with just a kiddush and no dance party!).  I may go with her and stay this time to check it out.

There are several "T'nuot" or youth groups that gather on Saturday afternoons and we just happened on one of the bigger ones at the "Mercaz" when I dropped off Renee.  Jonathan found his age group and decided to stay for it.  It appears that up until high school this youth group is split into boy and girl mini groups for each class.  I guess that it is big enough to do that and the activities can then be geared to each gender.  So far I have seen a huge difference in how the genders are treated.  Perhaps because of who we have for friends and where we have chosen to live I have not really dealt with so many stereotypes and had my children challenge them.  This is most apparent with Renee who really just wants to climb and run around as much as the boys.  The girls apparently don't really participate in gym class and when they do it is with minimal effort.  This has been disappointing for Renee but she is doing gymnastics three times a week.  There are several other t'nuot to check out including a Shomer Ha'tzair which traditional is a secular leftist group.  I looked on their Facebook page and they were out there marching with the students last week.  I bet they keep girls and boys together!  They wear the same traditional shirt that they wear in Habonim (the movement of Renee's camp) and emphasize some of the same values so it might be a good contrast to the Bat Mitzvah scene for Renee!  Of course, when I mention it at school everybody looks at me like I am crazy - can't win at everything.

Yesterday, we went to the Dia del Nino event at the Estadio and saw a greater cross-section of the community including the orthodox community.  It is always funny to enter that type of room and think that except for fate all of the people could have been growing up in Chicago instead.  People were friendly and Rob made a connection with somebody to play tennis this weekend.  The events were mostly for younger children so we didn't last long.  There were kids around Renee's age just hanging out but that will take some time before it feels comfortable.  The girls Elisa's age were all focused on the "spa" events - getting their nails done, up-dos and the like.  Elisa was intrigued but was just as happy with a cotton candy ;-)

So to deal with homesickness the kids have been skyping a lot, I bought a waffle maker and am actually having a waffle making marathon as I type to stock up on them, we are spending a lot of time just hanging out as a family and we've let computer-time slip a little ;-)  Elisa had her first skype with a friend yesterday and they spent the whole time making funny facing at each other - I guess that counts as a "play date?"