Author: Jessica

Today I obtained a license by pure grace. After a week of looking through worthless materials in search of a driver´s manual, I was overly nervous for my appointment today. I shouldn´t have been. Misa warned me that getting a license is easy, it´s just a business. If I provide the money, the privilege to… Read more

With some ultrasound results of a two-week large baby and doctor recommendations to stick around home the weeks leading up to the possible birth date of our baby, we had to cut the plans to take advantage of Misa´s two week school vacation. Instead of enjoying the crowded beaches of Veracruz through Semana Santa (Holy… Read more

¨Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.¨ -Kofi Annan ¨One of the greatest gifts adults can give-to their offspring and to their society-is to read to children.¨ -Carl Sagan Before my first child was born, I had collected all the board books and basic children books I could get my hands on without making… Read more

I´ve realized there is a stark difference between raising a bilingual child and a bicultural child. A bilingual child might use the same term in two different languages and keep the same picture in mind. But, for someone like Camilo, saying the word ¨fire engine¨ and its equivalent in the Spanish ¨camión de bomberos¨ bring… Read more

It´s Mexico.  We don´t tell people where we live. We don´t celebrate with passersby about the business we own. We don´t buy the dreamy bicycle we want and don´t choose the same route home every day. We take off our wedding rings when we get on the bus. We carry an old second phone to… Read more

I find it so true that to know Camilo is to love him. And he just so happens to be well-known. He has fans and people we call family in three different continents (that we know of) and it seems the group is always growing. The fan mail we get and constant comments really keep… Read more

The glares shouted at me as we drove off. Irresponsible, despicable, criminal. But really, what was I supposed to do? After our flight was cancelled due to fog, I gathered up my two year old and waited in line for two reasons: to be rerouted and to borrow a phone. I´m not sure why an… Read more

I had never felt so much disappointment over a single papaya. The morning waterings were not my own, but always accompanied by my son, who was only a year old at the time. Each morning he would slip on his yellow off-brand crocs and walk into the yard with me. He never thought twice about… Read more

Around the world people have a general idea of what life is like in America. When I am introduced to a new group as the girl who came from the United States, there is a pretty clear understanding of what that means. When we were in Laos, it did not matter that I don´t call… Read more

Two weeks in the US  has equated to two weeks of the question, ¨Where is Misa?¨ The same question that my son Camilo has been popping around in his brain since our separate flights departing Bangkok. The question that awakens him at 2am to screams.  The response to this question is simple; he is in… Read more