The Backdrop of our Lives in Tepoztlán, Mexico

We are feeling relatively settled with our lives in Tepoztlán, Mexico. Not a day goes by that we aren't reminded of how fortunate we are to have this opportunity as a family. We have visited this place for the last four winters so we know it relatively well by now. Tepoztlán is referred to as "pueblo mágico" (or magical village) and we've grown to see why that is. It is a beautiful place surrounded by mountains. The daily life feels relaxed with a strong sense of community and simplicity. We have relationships that we've worked hard to build and we feel at ease in this place that is so different than the life we know so well at home.

We have been here for a month already and aren't returning to Madison until June. Our house is starting to really feel like home. As a family, we have a lot more time together which we've really been appreciating. Lea is going to the public school in our barrio (neighborhood) and she is in a class of 39 children--yes, with one teacher. Lea is often translating Spanish for Kimberly because she understands just about everything and can communicate what she wants/ needs to. It has really helped that only Spanish is spoken in her school (other than an occasional English class) and that she spends lots of time with her friends and their parents (who are also close friends of ours). They only speak Spanish. This is true of most, if not all, of the people who live in our barrio. Lea is also busy playing fútbol, which holds a significant place in the culture here. 

Brian is improving his Spanish all the time (which is already really good) by simply talking with our neighbors, the storeowners, etc. He is also studying Spanish with our long-time teacher Silvia. In addition, he is doing a lot of writing and managing our property business from afar. He's also teaching English at Lea's school, and is keeping up his yoga practice.

Kimberly has been busy studying Spanish, and is teaching art and English two days a week at a private, international school. She feels blessed to have the opportunity. She is keeping up her running, enjoying her friends in Tepoz (both new and old), and along with Brian and Lea, truly enjoying and appreciating the kind people, the food, the relaxed life, the glorious weather, and the beautiful views.

There are already many personal stories to share of life here over the last month but we'll post those later. We thought we'd start our blog of our time in Mexico with a backdrop of where we are. You can then fit the personal stories into the "landscape" that we will give to you. 

Tepoztlán is about an hour south of Mexico City by car. Many people from the city come to Tepoztlán for a weekend getaway. Even though it's close to Mexico City (which is one of the largest cities in the world) it feels like it's worlds away. --- The population of Tepoztlán is approximately 14,000 people. The town is famous for the remains of a temple built on top of the nearby Tepozteco mountain (which Kimberly climbs up periodocally). Tepoz is also famous for the exotic ice cream flavors prepared by the townspeople. There is also a large, open market which we visit just about daily to buy food and other household items. In addition, the warm sun seems to shine just about every day, with cooler temps in both the mornings and evenings. We feel some guilt about missing Wisconsin winter this year! 

We are truly on a grand adventure! It definitely pushes our comfort zone to be here, but we are well aware of how much we are all growing. This "pueblo mágico" has taught us a lot about what it means to be human since friends and family are valued as highly as they are. 

Below are photos of the "pueblo mágico." In future blog posts you will see our personal stories unfold as you see us and our friends become a part of the landscape. 

We miss you and hope things are going well in your world.

Love, Kimberly, Brian and Lea

A view of the downtown, central area.

A street closeby to where we live. These Mexican flags are a common sight, especially around the time of festivals.

Another nearby street.

And another. Notice the old VW bug. There are LOTS of them here!

Another view of one of the main streets in the downtown center.

Another street in our barrio. There are views of the mountains in all directions.

This is a hill that we climb up just about daily from the center of the village.

And here is our house while we're here. It looks bigger and fancier than it actually is. It is very simple on the inside with little furniture, but suits our needs just perfectly.

And here is our yard. It is so wonderful to have this beautiful, private oasis. Most days it is warm, clear, and sunny so we enjoy spending time there.

And here is the view outside our front door. Quite remarkable! We are reminded of how fortunate we are every time we step outside of our home.

Here is another home closeby. There is a wide range of how people live, but there seems to be little judgement toward one another. There is a sense of live and let live here. Often, you don't even see the more exclusive homes because they are behind high walls.

This is the home and school of our Spanish teacher, Silvia, who has become an important part of our lives here. Beautiful place to learn the language, huh?

Here is our Spanish classroom.

Lea's classroom, the one with 39 children to 1 teacher.

Here is the playground of the school that Kimberly's teaching at. Make note of the view of the mountains.

A view of the primary classroom there.

A view of Kimberly's art classroom. Notice the open air. It is a heavenly place to teach!

The street en route to the fútbol field that Kimberly runs around.

Nopale (cactus) field also en route to the fútbol field that Kimberly runs around.

And here is Kimberly's heavenly fútbol field with a view of Tesoro Mountain.

Chile Rellenos, a traditional Mexican dish that Kimberly helped prepare.

Enchillades Verde, another traditional Mexican dish that we have helped prepare. YUM!

Chicken in the central market. The meat is not refrigerated because it is so fresh. Most likely this chicken was killed the same morning it was out on the table to be sold. It's an interesting experience walking through the market with all the meat, considering the fact that the three of us are vegetarian.

Avacadoes! They are so plentiful, ripe, and inexpensive. They are an important staple of our diet here.

Papaya! Also plentiful, ripe, and inexpensive. We enjoy them everyday for breakfast.

Tepoz Nieves is the ice cream shop mentioned above. It has a long list of exotic, wonderful flavors that are oh, so yummy!

The tienda (store) that is closest to our home. We visit just about daily to pick up a few items and have become friendly with the store owners there.

Another tienda which is a little further away but one which we have also frequented. We also have made friends with the owners of this store.

A view of the large, open market in the center of the village.

Another view... This photo was taken right before Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Stay posted for further details of the holiday in a future blog site.

A view of the market extended out to the street on the weekends.

Catholicism is an important part of daily life here for most people. You see signs of the religion wherever you go. It is an interesting experience for us to be in such a Catholic country as a Jewish family.

Here is the church in our barrio. Every neighborhood has their own and they are considered very central to the life in each barrio.

A view from the street of a store.

And another. Note the VW bug.

And another view from the street...

More VW Bugs, one in better shape than the other! We have noticed how resourceful people are here. You often see people fixing things in Mexico that would generally be regarded as garbage and thrown away in the United States. There's a lot more reusing and recycling in Mexico simply because most people have less in terms of material things.

A recycling truck. I'll mention here that the garbage trucks blast music when they goes by. It's definitely not a quiet place!

A view of the mountains...

And another view of the mountains and the village from up above.

And the sunrise. Always new beginnings in this place that we have grown to love, "pueblo mágico".

Our Adventure through Europe!

Our grand journey started at the end of August in NYC visiting Kimberly's Dad and stepmom. And then onto a weekend long wedding at a camp in Pennsylvania. And then our first plane ride to far off lands for the next 9 months! Hard to believe, but we managed to pull it all together and DO it.

We flew to Milan, Italy with Kimberly's mom to see a cousin of Brian's and drop off our bags for our time in Mexico with him. His warmth was a wonderful introduction to what was to come. Right away (jet lag and all), we had the first experience of shlepping our backpacks through Europe with Lea who is now 9 years old.

We took a high speed train to Bologna, Italy to visit another cousin of Brian's and her son. And then back to Milan to visit yet another cousin of Brian's and his family. We had visited both of them ten years ago so it was really neat to return with Lea and have them meet her. The food in Italy for sure is some of the best in the whole world, and our hosts couldn't have been more helpful in terms of showing us around their cities. All throughout our journey we tried to stay with people who live in the places we visited to feel less like tourists, and more like we were getting a sense of day to day life in the places we visited. Then a couple of days in the country at a couple of "Agriturismos." It was nice to get out of the big city and see where the tomatoes are grown that goes into all that sauce!

We said farewell to Kimberly's mom and then off to Granada, Spain (after a day on the beach in Malaga) to visit an old friend of Brian's. The Alhambra is an incredible place! The history we experienced throughout our journey was truly amazing.

We left Spain and flew to Paris. Lea had her heart set on seeing the Eiffel Tower, and we had our first experience with "Couch Surfing". Fascinating indeed! From Paris we had a brief stay in the Belgium train station and thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the chocolate, and then onto Amsterdam. The canals there are something, and it was a moving experience to visit a synagogue on Rosh Hashana.

We then went a couple hours North to stay with co-counselors who we know. The woman we stayed with was the first to learn I was pregnant when we visited 10 years ago (other than Brian), so it felt like being with close family to be with her and her husband. We laughed lots together as they shared a slice of their world in Leeuwarden. We were moved to walk through the "Jewish" area of the town, which was once a thriving Jewish community before the war but now only has remnants of a few Jews and memorials to what once was.

From the Netherlands we took a train to Berlin and stayed with another co-counselor, but unfortunately it was just an overnight stop. I wish we got to see more of what we heard about in terms of Berlin being a very open, diverse, and creatively expressive place.

From Germany we took a train to Warsaw and got to show Lea the birth place of her grandmother, Brian's mom. The entire city was bombed during the war and then rebuilt. We taught Lea about the Holocaust and about her grandparents survival as Jews, but also wanted to balance that with the fact that Warsaw is now a thriving, modern city and WW2 is behind us. It was incredibly moving to meet with the daughter of the family who hid Brian's mother during the war. Details about her story were filled in for all of us.

Then onto Krakow, Poland; the city that Brian's step-father grew up in. We kept saying that the central square looked like a movie set. It was breathtakingly beautiful! In addition, we thoroughly enjoyed the "trumpeter of Krakow" who plays his trumpet every hour on the hour 24/7. The castle there was super cool too!

We then took a side trip to a smaller city in Poland that the woman who cared for Brian's mom (during the last few years of her life) lived. She couldn't have been warmer. She slept on the couch and had us sleep in her bed and she made us lots of traditional Polish food. We returned to Krakow and flew back to Italy.

We got to experience the magical history of Rome. I've never seen a bigger WOW on Lea's face after we turned a corner and she saw the Colliseum with her own eyes. The city is like walking through a history book. Truly remarkable! Then back to Bologna to celebrate Brian's cousin's birthday (a reunion of sorts after celebrating his birthday 10 years ago) and then on to Venice.

That's where Brian and I were really WOWED! We had absolutely no idea that a place could feel so magical. If you haven't been, imagine no cars and water everywhere. Water taxis are the means of transportation there. What a fun way to get around! The islands of Burano and Murano were our favorite. The glass blowing and the brightly colored houses were such a treat for the eyes. And then back to Milan to retrieve our bags for Mexico, have one last wonderful Italian meal with Brian's cousin, and fly 11 hours to Mexico City where our journey continues for the next 8 months...

We all feel truly blessed to be having this experience as a family. What we have all learned so far about different cultures, languages, food, traditions, etc. throughout Europe was truly remarkable. We are extremely grateful for Brian's navigation skills and his I-phone that helped make our way through Europe, and we learned that Lea could shlep a heavy backpack and sleep in different places night after night without complaining. Now that's a great experience in itself! We miss all our friends and family back at home and think of you all often.

The start of our journey in NYC with Kimberly's parents.

Next Stop: Pennsylvania for Kimberly's cousin's wedding. She wore her grandma's dress who just passed so that was very special.

We made it overseas! With Kimberly's mom in Milan, Italy with Brian's cousin Andrea and his son Enrique.

In Bologna, Italy with Brian's cousin Tonya and her son Sebastian.

Bologna, Italy in the center. We like our sunglasses!

Throughout Europe the people love their coffee, and they even make it look beautiful!

Here we are shlepping with our backpacks. And Lea's first piece of Italian pizza in Bologna, Italy!

With family of Brian's in Milan, Italy. They were so welcoming!

Oh, the panini's in Italy. YUM!

The Duemo in Milan. WOW!

Grapes that make all that wine! We saw many of them when we took our excursion out to the country in Italy.

Lea and Kimberly in a beautiful square in Piacenza, Italy. The town wasn't far from where we were staying in the country so it was fun to explore.

Lots of fruit trees at the "Agriturismo" that we stayed at in Italy.

Pizza in Milan with Kimberly's mom. YUM!

A day at the beach in Malaga, Spain on the Mediterranean. Breathtaking!

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

Thumbs Up to making our way to Paris!

The Eiffel Tower!

The train station in Paris.

Lots of shlepping on planes, trains, buses, automobiles, and... boats! Have I missed any other means of transportation? Lea was certainly a TROOPER!

Our friends and co-counselors in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

Sleeping on the train...

Warsaw, Poland shortly after we arrived.

We stayed at the home of a a co-counselor in Warsaw who has been like Brian's Polish brother!

At Mila's house (the women who's family hid Brian's mother during the war) with her granddaughter who translated for us.

Brian and Lea truly enjoyed the sweets throughout Europe. Kimberly joined in at times too :-)

The train station in Warsaw, Poland. It was a good thing we brought our hats. It was cold there!

The Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow, Poland.

With Barbara (the Polish women who cared for Brian's mom) in her hometown of Nowy Sacz, Poland.

With Barbara and a friend of hers at his cafe in Nowy Sacz.

Krakow, Poland. In the square that looks like a movie set!

The Coliseum in Rome!

Gladiators at the Coliseum!

Treve Fountain in Rome.

Gelato in Rome. YUM!

Our visit to the Vatican in Rome.

Back to Bologna Italy to celebrate Sebastian's 12th Bday. Kind of cool 'cause the last time we visited it was his 2nd Bday. 

Venice, Italy!

A lovely restaurant in Venice by the water.

Glass blowing in Murano, Italy.

The brightly colored houses in Burano, Italy. So cool!