My Experience with the Move as of Now Week 1 By: Gabriel Johnston

 Monday, June 14, 2021

These past few months have been crazy. When we first talked about moving to Mexico in March of 2020, I never thought we would actually do it. But when everything aligns so perfectly why wouldn’t we?

 It started with the pandemic showing us that we did not need to go to work, to work. Also, when the pandemic started we went and stayed in the village for two months, and we noticed just how cheap living in Mexico really was. Throughout the past few years we have also seen just how crazy this country has been and even if it wasn’t Mexico, we had been thinking of moving out of the country. But the biggest thing that connected it all together and made it look doable is when my dad got the email, saying Starlink was coming to our town. Starlink is a satellite based WI-Fi network designed by Elon Musk. This was revolutionary because the Wi-Fi we had in Asuncion was unreliable at best. It had gotten better over the years but it was painful for those two months. The four of us were doing school online, and almost every day someone would have a problem with the internet.  Starlink was as good as what we had in the United States so once we saw that it was a no brainer.

I will never forget the day that I found out that we were moving. It was a Friday afternoon and my parents were talking at their favorite bar while my sister and I were at home relaxing. When they first got home they called us both out to our living room to have a conversation. I thought we were in trouble, but it never struck me that it would be about what it was. What they told us was that we were moving to Mazatlán, Mexico. 

It seemed that the part of Mexico we would move to would change with the days. I cannot imagine what was going through their heads, with all the ideas and the number crunching and things of that sorts. It started with Mexico and went to crazy places. We had our eggs in many different baskets to put it simply. We had job applications in South America, we started construction on new additions to our house in Mexico, and ran our ideas with our friends from around the world.

 I was definitely excited for the move but I was also very nervous. While my worries changed, I had them from the start, and still do now. At first it was very simple things like access to things like big name stores, and it has changed to academics, and not fitting in just to name a few. But I also had things I was excited for like a bigger room, going to the beach, and slowing down.

At first I started preparing by boxing up all my Lego sets thinking that I had gotten the majority of the work done but I really had not. Slowly, pieces of furniture started disappearing. It started with my shelves (which were already empty), then my desk. 

Something I did the majority of the time was to not think about the move at hand. I would not necessarily procrastinate, but I would put it at  the back of my mind. For example, my dad did many trips to Mexico, bringing things down to our house. He would want me to go, but I never worried about missing a day of school, which even though may have not been that important, at the time was placed higher up on my priorities. 

As we got closer I began to loosen up more and change my priorities, but it was still hard. Both when we first listed our house and when the inspection happened, I had to miss school. The listing of the house though was much more important because it was a whole day, while the inspection was a period. For the listing we decided to go camping for the weekend, so we did not need to deal with coming in and out of the house and moving the dog. We  thought it would be easier just to leave for a few days, including a school day. I was working very long and hard the week before we left to get all my work done ahead of time. I was in the middle of my health course in science and homework that was supposed to be done in a week I did in two days. And all weekend I was worried because in some classes I got homework over the weekend or they grade an assignment and I would have a few days to improve my grade. When I got home the first thing I did was check my school email and re--do assignments which probably took about two hours. 

But after that, I really did not feel much change. Much of the furniture leaving was not used by me, and it let me keep pushing things back. As May came, I started to notice more of the stress coming with the move. We had many meet-ups with friends, people were always coming to buy stuff, and at the end of the month, school was ending, my dad was doing more trips and things began to feel weird. Throughout the month we had visits from the grandparents, sleepovers and a decreasing amount of stuff in the house. 

On the 4th of June, I got out of school meaning I could go down with my dad on the next trip. While before I left I had not wanted to go, I am really glad that I did. It helped bring the move to the front of my priorities again, and helped me envision the next chapter of my life. When we got to Bahia Asuncion, the first thing I did was look at the new construction and it was incredible. Even though it was incomplete, I was starting to envision the house.

Next, I unpacked my room which was filled with stuff that had been brought down through the trips. I spent a solid two hours and I had fun doing it. Afterward we went cruising around town and got dinner. The next morning by 7:30, we were out on the trails riding our bikes. We started with a loop around town and checked out the construction of the town’s malecon. We also rode on the trail which was extremely fun. At the end,  we went to breakfast where we found out that school down there would be starting early August. 

A few years back during fall break my parents put us into the school down there for a day. It was a fun, but weird experience. Since birth we had been favorites of the town for both being blond and babies. My first trip was at two months old and I had come for about two months of the year ever since. And because most people in the town knew me so it was a bit weird going to school as it was like I was famous. Even if it were my first time in town, I am sure that I would have gotten a lot of attention just from being from a different country.

 It was decided from the start that we would be going to school down there so some things that made me nervous were my grades, fitting in, wearing a uniform and changing to the new schedule. I have come to terms with going to the school down there but it will definitely be a change.. For example, down there I not only need to wear a uniform, but when I go to high school in a year I will have a 3:00 PM to 9:00 Pm schedule as the middle school shares a campus with the high school. But I think that after these past months I am ready for the new school. 

But back to the weekend, we got home and we assembled our new barbeque then went to the beach. At about 6:00 we went out to dinner at a family friend's place where we discussed possibly having a weekend job at his place. We went to a few places, but not really deciding  on anything. I will definitely be talking about it more next time I see him. We went home the next day and I have been working ever since. 

When I came home, my bed was in pieces as we were about to sell it. We were out of air mattresses so I decided to throw a sheet on the floor and be fine with that. Then, Sunday morning was spent with my parents searching for storage units with no luck. They came back around noon with us going out to lunch at three. We came back and started sweeping our place for items to get rid of. We started a free pile which is still filling up as I write this and brought the couch out into the driveway. My parents, and I were chilling on it, talking about anything, and everything having a good time. 

Today, Monday morning started with us selling my bunk bed then my father and I looking for a storage place. We found one place then came home around noon then took another load. We got back and did a bit more checking for stuff with most rooms mostly vacant. 

Since the start I could feel the stress in my family. But as we have gotten closer I can feel it more. I have been dealing with it by not thinking about the move which has been giving me work recently. I think that this will be a good way to manage my stress not only now but in the future. Tomorrow we are moving and I am hoping everything goes well.