Monthly Archives: June 2013

Part 2: Ten Ways that Parenting in Colombia is Different than in the U.S.

When you and your munchkin explore a new way of life together, adventures in parenting can easily become adventure parenting — when you’re unsure not only how to handle a given situation, but also how to understand the context in which it’s occurring. When this happens, your notions of what it means to be a good parent can seem, or actually become, up for grabs.

Deer in headlights? Pig in headlights? No. Mom in headlights.

Deer in headlights? Pig in headlights?
No. Mom in headlights.

All parents at one point or another find themselves in the midst of “adventure parenting” — no international relocation necessary!

Moving to a different country is just one scenario that can make adventure parenting more likely or more frequent, at least until you figure out the rules of your newly adopted culture.

Part 1 of this series explored three food-related surprises that were in store for my son Marcello, my husband Gio, and me when we moved to Colombia. Here, we tackle that big bugaboo of parents everywhere: child care. Continue reading

A Sneak Peek into Tonight’s House Hunters International Episode

A few weeks ago, Gio and I received an email we’d been waiting for since last December — the message with the date and time that our House Hunters International (HHI) episode would be aired on HGTV. With apologies to those who have already heard via my Twitter and Facebook posts, our family will be featured tonight, Monday, June 10th, at 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. Eastern in an episode rightly entitled, “Reconnecting family ties in Barranquilla, Colombia.”

Photo credit: Milena Thinkan.

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Gio summed up our feelings about the HHI experience best in a recent Facebook status update: “It’s funny where life leads us. As some of you know, it led my family and me to Barranquilla, Colombia. It has been a challenging yet rewarding experience, and as improbable as it seems, part of the experience was being cast on HGTV’s House Hunters International.” Continue reading