Transitions are funny things.  You never know what is going to trip you up.  Usually it sneaks up on you from the most unexpected places.  As far as our latest transition goes, everyone is doing well settling into our new routine.  But, with the girls in school here in Puerto Aventuras until the second week of July, it's going to get awfully hot living on Zia.  Within the community, vacation condominiums, time-shares, houses and apartments abound, and most of them appear to be empty.  A fair number of these dwellings back up to canals - perfect spots for docking Zia.  We decided to look around for a good deal on land-based accommodations, preferably with a boat slip, at least for the hottest months of our stay.  We are in no rush, happily tied up at the marina, but keeping our eyes and ears open. 

     The girls are doing extremely well adapting to "real" school.  The early wake-up call at 6:15 took some getting used to.  School uniforms make the daily wardrobe selections easy.  Packing lunches and eating breakfast on a deadline is new territory for all of us.  Cassie prefers to buy her lunches, spending 35 to 45 pesos for a couple of quesadillas, some fruit and a drink.  Juliana likes to bring her lunch - preferably hot leftovers.  Last minute, forgotten homework assignments and surprise same-day school requirements throw us all into chaos.  "I forgot I have to print some pictures of Mayan and Aztec culture to bring in to school."  Or "I need to bring pizza, pasta or a salad to school today at 10:30 for our Valentine's picnic."

     So far, we have met all requirements and deadlines.  The girls usually hop in the dinghy with me or Joe around 7:15.  We drive them over to the dolphin pools, cutting off a big corner of the marina, and they walk from there.  We meet at the same spot after school around 2:45.  Usually, I have our big meal for the day ready when they get back to Zia.  With very early lunch breaks for both girls, they are starved by the time they get home.  Mexican families usually eat this way, having a very light snack in the evenings and their main meal around 3pm.  Given the health benefits and practical aspects of this approach, we adopted it shortly after we started our new school routine.  So far we are all happy with the arrangement and I think we eat less and stay healthier because of it. 

     Both girls are already in the throes of science fair projects.  Juliana was in a play that her class put on for the primary school called "Wings for the King."  She was chosen for the role of narrator.  While the rest of her class participated in only one of three performances, Juliana acted as narrator in all of them.  Of course, the production was in English, which made her a shoe-in for the part!

     The school day in Colegio Puerto Aventuras is divided into an English half and a Spanish half.  Juliana, who is in the primary school, is automatically pulled out of some of the Spanish subjects to receive special tutoring.  Unfortunately, they don't have enough staff to provide the same customized attention for Cassie in the secondary school.  Instead, we have signed her up for after-school tutoring twice a week.  I'd like it if we could give her more than that, but she is pretty busy keeping up with homework already, I'm not sure she could fit much more in.  

     In the meantime, Joe and I are finding our way around the community.  Without a car, we have to plan things a little more carefully.  We can rent a little four-seater for about $35 a day and will probably do that every week or two for our major grocery shops.  When Alison, Holly and Lisa were here, we rented a car for a week and explored the sights in the vicinity enough to know that there is a ton to do here.  There is a kiting beach about 2.5 miles south of here, which is also a fabulous place to just go and enjoy a day.  Fresh water pools called cenotes are sprinkled throughout the region.  There is a Spanish conversation group that meets every Wednesday for an hour and a half.  Diving and snorkeling are literally right outside the entrance of Puerto Aventuras, not to mention all along the coast.  There is a miniature nightlife here and a much bigger selection in Playa del Carmen which also has a ton of good restaurants. 

     We've spent our first couple of weeks here roaming inside the Puerto Aventuras community looking for potential places to rent.  We had already looked at one unit in a condominium called Los Vientos.  Gerardo at the marina recommended it as a great place to keep Zia.  During our first stay here in January we met the building manager who put us in touch with one of the owners who he thought would be interested in renting.  Over the course of our wanderings, it became increasingly clear that Los Vientos was going to be hard to beat.  Having Zia right there in our backyard was an immensely comforting thought.  We began negotiations with the owner and soon came to an agreement. 

     We took possession on Thursday.  We had kept it quiet with the girls just in case it didn't work out.  We dropped them off for their walk to school in the morning and by the time they were out we had moved Zia to her new location.  Meeting them at school, we told them we had a couple of places we wanted to look at on the way home.  Knocking on the door and then walking into our new condo, the girls kind of freaked out thinking someone else might be inside.  They fled the apartment and walked around to the back where they saw Zia docked.  At that point, they knew something was up and we confessed.  Cassie was over the moon, running around and picking out which bedroom she could claim as her own.  Juliana on the other hand, grew sullen and remote.  After lunch she fled back to Zia.  Turns out she really didn't want to move into a condo.  Zia was her home and "that place will never be my home.  I hate it.  You can move in but I'm not leaving Zia." 

     Needless to say, she has since moderated her position.  And I have learned a good lesson.  Juliana has celebrated five of her ten birthdays on the boat.  Even though we have made countless transitions during that time, including moving off the boat for over four months, it was silly of me to assume that she would be happy with our decision to move off the boat here. It was easy for me to imagine the misery of living in the heat and humidity of late spring and early summer in the tropics without air conditioning.  Although I too miss the comfort of our floating home, I'm relieved to have space around me without other bodies in it!  Projecting these feelings onto Juliana was a mistake.  Although Joe and Cassie feel much the same as I do, we should have listened better when Juliana said she wasn't interested in finding a condo.  We could have talked about it more and certainly prepared her better for seeing the place for the first time.  She stepped right up to her new school with such ease and grace, it never occurred to us that this move would throw her for such a loop.  Luckily, she adapts quickly.  Seeing our kitty Boo move into our new digs so easily might have helped.  I know her cuddles do!

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