Briefed

The last few days have been filled with briefings for me.  I did the community briefing, the medical briefing and the safety briefing.  We toured the elementary school and met with the counselor, so we can call that the school briefing.  Also, I made it to a large and clean grocery store on my own, so lets call that the shopping briefing.  No - that's going too far.  The shopping briefing was my initial visit to a grocery store, and I only retained very murky visions of expensive cheese from that visit.

That's kind of how briefings go.  People in charge throw a lot of important information at me, and I take notes and do my best to remember all of it without wanting to cry.  They are actually very useful and generally kept professional and possibly even light - they're just a bit overwhelming, and sometimes scary.  During the safety briefing, I kept reminding myself that we are much safer in Jakarta than we ever were in Caracas, and that all of these precautions only make me safer.  All the same, thinking about what to do with my kids in the event of a biological attack on the embassy made me want to cry.

So, at this point in the week I have a few new fears - dengue fever chief among them.  I have a longer to do list - buying buy spray is one of them.  But I also have a few more connections, and I feel a bit more confident.  Having been out of the apartment a bit more has built that, no doubt.  Being able to rely upon our driver makes exploring more manageable as well.

Each of my Concentric Circles is growing stronger, as I am feeling confident in more and more places.

Our entire family enjoyed the school tour this morning.  Its a cheerful and bright place, very kid-centric and very welcoming.  Our tour began in the library, and the girls could have stayed there all day.  We saw their classrooms, or at least their hallways and the clusters for their grades.  Everything we heard about academics was on target, and felt fabulous.  I did not leave feeling comforted about all of the scandals surrounding the school.  In fact, I left feeling as if things are much messier than I had first suspected. 

My quick analysis is that our school is a very difficult places for teachers and staff this year.  But that it will be a comfortable place for students.  That each teacher came to this place because they love to help children learn, and that this school has a wonderful learning environment.  I plan to be as involved in the school as I possibly can, and to keep close tabs on my children there.  At the same time, I feel confident that they will have a good year.


In fact, my quick analysis is that we are all going to be really happy here.