Today, Jacob, Benjy and I got our first round of shots in preparation for our move to Tijuana. This experience was surprisingly uneventful I am happy to report. I was expecting lots of crying and multiple nurses restraining children, but both Jacob and Benjy took their shots like little men. Neither of them shed a tear. And I thought I was going to have an awesome story for the blog. Oh well, I'll take a painless experience and a not-so-interesting blog entry over the opposite any day. Let's hope that the next two rounds go equally well.
While the shots themselves were pretty much painless, the teasing we had to endure for being posted in Tijuana was a bit more difficult to stomach. If I had a dollar for every time someone asks me why we don't just live in San Diego (because Chris is a foreign service officer and has to live in a foreign country), I'd be rich. But my all time favorite response from people upon finding out that we are posted in Tijuana is, "San Diego is beautiful." Great, I'm glad San Diego is beautiful. While I realize that it is close, we will still be living in Mexico. I'd rather hear that Baja California is beautiful, because it is.
I also hear, "Why even bother learning Spanish? They don't speak real Spanish at the border. You'll be fine with a little Spanglish. Just put an 'O' on the end of everything you say." Thanks for the encouraging words, douche bag-o.
Today's reaction topped the list though. The nurses actually laughed at us. "They're going to Tijuana. They don't really need any shots. It's not like they're going anywhere exotic. They're practically in
the U.S.," they joked. Now while this may seem innocent enough, keep in mind that Jacob and Benjy were both there listening to this whole exchange among the nurses. I had spent the morning explaining to the boys why they had to get shots and getting them comfortable with the idea, and then the nurses undermined my entire pep talk with their "humor." I guess I'm just making my kids get three rounds of a Rabies vaccine for kicks. I mean, what better way to spend three Thursday afternoons. And that Typhoid medication they have to take, it's just for fun too! Nothing brings families together better than explosive diarrhea.To be fair, the nurse did a great job giving the boys their "unnecessary" shots. She kept them relaxed and even coaxed a few words out of Benjy. This, as most of you know, is no easy feat. And, she didn't seem to take offense to his dirty look, even the especially heinous look that he reserves only for people in white lab coats. Of course, working in her favor was the fact that I had bribed the boys with ice cream after shots. Ice cream makes everything better; and that's a motto I live by.
Thanks for sending me the link to your blog.
ReplyDeleteWe had the same reactions when we told people that we were going to Tijuana.
When people would respond so negatively when we would tell them Tijuana. We just started responding overly positivee, mentioning all the amazing things about the post, and pretty soon, they were JEALOUS. I mean really, San Diego is really close, and that is a really amazing benefit, but Tijuana itself is pretty cool too. Food is AMAZING here, and there are so many great restaurants. Not to mention, all of the great tourist-y things to do here, Rosarito, Ensenada, Puerto Nuevo, just to name a few. It really is an amazing place.
There will be plenty of opportunities for a more "exotic" places to live. We get to enjoy the benefits of living in a foreign post and have Trader Joes, great grocery stores, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World (right now they have a deal- buy one year season pass and get a second year free -definitely worth it), the beach, medical care-I could go on and on. It is AWESOME. A great post! To anyone who says differently, they don't know. Maybe we will try to keep it a little secret. A gem in the Foreign Service.