The power of positive thinking

Last night I was chatting with a friend of mine (¡Hola, Satyen!) who reminded me that I should be positive about getting the things I want. I agree! In fact, I told him that I wanted my visa so much that I had actually started packing and was visualizing Fabi and me at the airport next Monday, Dec. 4th-just as I had planned.

Today, I called the German Embassy here in Costa Rica. They know me by now: "Oh, yes!...Your husband is Indian and he's in Germany now. Yes...Your visa is ready."

I hung up thinking: "Of course it's ready. That's the way I wanted it to be."

Once again...things go MY way....and it reinforces the feeling that -overall- I always get what I want. :)

Germany! Here I come!...

I got this quote from my friend Karen (¡Hola, Karen!). I totally relate to it:

"Never abandon HOPE when you're feeling down. Never stop believing in GOD when you feel nothing matters anymore. Never let anyone hold your HAPPINESS in their hands; hold it in yours so that it's always close to you. Never hope that what you WISH for comes to you, go look for it with all your soul..."

"Nunca abandones la ESPERANZA cuando te sientas mal. Nunca dejes de creer en DIOS cuando sientas que ya nada importa. Nunca dejes que nadie retenga tu FELICIDAD en sus manos; sujétala en las tuyas para que siempre este cerca de tí. Nunca esperes que lo que DESEAS venga a tí, buscalo con toda tu alma..."

Suspense is killing me

MasalaDad is already in Erlangen. It was nice to get his call, although he sounded tired over the phone.

He visited the local 'Foreigner Office' in order to speed things up with Fabian's residence visa and mine.

I'm supposed to call the Costa Rican German Embassy tomorrow to know if we can get our passports stamped.

The question is: 'Will Fabi and I get our visa in time to travel on Dec. 4th using the flight tickets we already have?' or... 'Will we loose those tickets and need to get new ones until we get our visas?'

Fingers crossed! .... or in my friend Mau's words: 'TE LO PEDIMOS SEÑOR!'

MasalaDad sent an e-mail...

...fron Zurich!

His next stop: Erlangen! :)

Happy Twentieth-Month, Fabi!

Happy 20th month!

Update:

In the last month, being around Fabi has been just plain fun! Sure! He likes to do things his way and sometimes wants to go left when you're trying to go right, but that doesn't mean you can't convince him. He's still quite a social person, very patient, likes to eat his vegetables, is learning to pray and can wear a pair of sunglasses all by himself.

I specially like to see him wash his face during his bathtime, signal when he's hungry and dance the second he hears music (any kind of music!) He tries to get his shirt on by himself in the mornings and likes to wear a hat when he goes out.

A fourth lower-front tooth and a couple of upper molars have started to show. He's no longer bitting me when he gets mad, but he does hit his face (or throw things) if he gets really angry. He does NOT like it when he gets a hair cut or when I have to trim his toe and finger nails. I hope this changes soon.

He's had the opportunity to interact with other children and that also has been a favorite thing for me to watch. As expected, sometimes he shares and joins in games...others, he fights.

I feel a language-explosion coming on...just in time when he's about to meet his English/Hindi/Marathi speaking Daddy again. I have a feeling that MasalaDad will learn more Spanish than German in the near future. :)

Holiday Season is here!

It's official!...

Holiday season is here: it's Christmas time, it's end-of-year vacation time! The weather has changed (drastically). We've even experienced a couple of minor earthquakes. Rains have stopped, it's windy and chilly...and you can hear Christmas carols in the air! This is a WONDERFUL time to be in Costa Rica...

In the past few days, we've had the lowest record-hitting temperatures and it felt as if we were having winter without snow :) For Fabi and I, Costa Rica has been a wonderful transition (from India to Germany) in more than one way. This is how we have been gearing up for the REAL winter.

Meeting with friends in Costa Rica

Aunque fuera sólo por un rato...pude decir -como Maná: "Por eso aún estoy en el lugar de siempre, en la misma ciudad y con la misma gente."

A week-long birthday celebration ended with a fun meeting of friends (and their kids) at the local McDonald's. The group of people that met me and Fabi this past Saturday are former colleagues from college and/or former co-workers. Some even shared adventures with me in other countries, like in Dominican Republic. Ah!...memories! :)

Unlike my last visit to Costa Rica (3 years ago), this time around I have been able to meet old friends (even from highschool). It was specially nice to see Fabi play with my friend's kids. I visit old friendships, Fabi makes new ones.

I'm was also specially glad that my friends who were not able to meet me, have kept in touch through e-mail and/or phone. Just being in my home country for some time even gave me the opportunity to casually meet familiar faces by chance at the supermarket, church of just walking down the street.

These past few months have been definitely very refreshing!

Terminé celebrando la semana de mi cumpleaños con una divertida reunión de amigos (con los niños de algunos de ellos) en el McDonald's de Heredia. Ver a ex-compañeros de la U, de trabajo y hasta de aventuras en el extranjero (i.e. Rep.Dom!) fue muy emocionante. A diferencia de mi última visita a C.R., esta vez pude ver amistades - hasta del cole! Una de las cosas más bonitas para mí fue ver a Fabi interactuar con los niños de mis amistades. Así es la vida: yo visito viejos amigos y Fabián hace nuevos amigos.

Por supuesto que -aunque he estado en C.R. durante varios meses- ha sido imposible encontrarme con todas las personas a quienes me hubiera gustado ver. Sin embargo, tengo amistades con quienes me mantengo en contacto por correo electrónico o por teléfono. El hecho de haber estado en mi país un buen rato hasta me dio la oportunidad de encontrarme con caras conocidas en el super, en la iglesia o simplemente en la calle.

Espero que esos lazos de amistad se sigan manteniendo fuertes y que nos sigamos encontrando, ya sea aquí en Costa Rica, en Alemania o quién sabe?...hasta en India!

Definitivamente, estos últimos meses han sido muy refrescantes.

¡Gracias a todas mis amistades!

Ongoing Birthday Celebration

Girls Night Out! More pictures here.

35 'loco' years

The Costa Rican national police code is the origin for the number 35 to be used as a reference to a 'mentally disturbed' (i.e. crazy) person; 'loco' in Spanish.

According to this, today I celebrated my 'Crazy Birthday'. I like this idea, not because it has anything to do with being mentally disturbed, or because I barely fit the category of 'young adult' anymore, but because 'crazy' can also mean silly, outrageous, eccentric, extreme, passionate, wild and fun. That's how I would like my adventures in life to be.

Part of my silly celebration was to have an Elmo birthday cake. It's true that this character has a whiny baby voice, speaks in third person and can eventually get really annoying, but he's also cute, innocent and Fabi likes him a lot...plus and he can dance!


Today I spent a really special birthday...35 years ago, my Mom became a mother for the first time and I was here to celebrate with her. I received many e-mails, messages and (local!) phone calls from friends and family members. I'm very thankful for all the good wishes!

Artwork

Stating the obvious

Yesterday I was holding Fabi in my arms and we walked in front of a mirror.

I pointed to myself and asked, 'Who's this?'
He said: 'Mamá'

I pointed to him and asked, 'And, who's this?'
He said: 'Guapo!' (Handsome!)

Phenomena

It seems like Fabi shares my love for Sesame Street and the Muppets.

Since I've discovered some classic videos, I've shared them with Fabi and he loves the song 'Mah Na Mah Na' in all it's different versions. I've discovered another version of this song with Kermit the Frog and Sandra Bullock. It's my new favorite and Fabi also likes to watch it over and over again. If you've seen the previous videos, you'll enjoy the first 1:33'' of this video!

Speaking of favorites, this is the latest video that Fabi enjoys so much. Have a look:

15 seconds of cuteness

Fabi knows by now that the microphone is the device you pick up and speak words to it when holding it in front of your mouth. The other day, he did exactly that and I was quick enough to record him.

Click to listen:


Fabi's Voice


Transcription: "Hola...'nando...Mamá...'nando...*cough *cough"
Translation: hola means hi; 'nando is what Fabi calls his uncle Fernando.

In the mood for mischief

What does a disciplinarian and responsible mother do immediately after discovering that her bundle of joy has got his hands in the jar of diaper rash cream?

a) Lovenly take the child out of the crime scene and clean him up. Or...

b) Yell and scream and wonder how the &*%$# to get all of that oily cream out of baby's hair, baby's clothes, bedspread, floor, etc. Or...

c) Run to get the camera and document the moment (to use as blackmail when baby's older, of course!)

¡Cumpleaños Feliz, Alo!

¡Cumpleaños Feliz!

¡Te deseamos a tí!

¡Cumpleaños ALO!

¡Cumpleaños Feliz!

....y después comimos 'quiqui'! :)

Happy Birthday to Uncle Alonso, who - in his own words - 'is just starting to live!'

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Felicidades a Catalina que también hoy está de cumpleaños!

Where do babies come from?

Now you know!....

The top picture is by Anne Geddes.