On the way to the airport the next day, we were quiet and pensive as we rode our taxi van, packed to the rafters with suitcases and carry-on luggage, just like the day we arrived.
There was sadness in the air, how could there not be? Paris welcomed us with open arms and became our home. And now it was over. Dianny and I truly loved living there and did not want to leave. Yet from the day we arrived we knew this day would come; we knew it was for just a year, and then it was back to Seattle.
Except that we're not moving back to Seattle. We're moving to Bogotá. We had finally decided to make it happen. We were going back home.
Moving back to Colombia was something I'd been struggling with before we decided to move to Paris and something I thought about a lot during our year in Paris. I was aware that moving to Colombia wasn't the kind of thing most people dreamt of doing; but how could I know if it was the right decision if I never took it? If moving to Paris taught us anything it's that taking chances is part of life and sometimes things work out really.
After being considered in the mid-90s one of the most dangerous places in the world, security had improved and violence had decreased in the previous decade.
It's amazing what a change in perspective can do to help you move forward/get unstuck/see things more clearly… Living in Paris had helped me take a step back and see things in a different light. By having time off and away, I had a fresh perspective, I felt audacious and adventurous, and since we had already uprooted from Seattle, it seemed easier to keep the momentum rather than go back to Seattle. In a way, we knew we could never go back to our old lives….. We had made Paris ours, and this short experience had infused us with new confidence and fresh perspectives I also knew the decision didn’t have to be permanent and that, worst case scenario, we could always go back to the States. So we didn't talk about moving back or moving for good, we just saw it as the next stage of our lives. Living there would be a good experience for us as a family, and we were committed to trying it out for at least a couple of years and then we'd take it from there. Every achievement begins with the decision to try, and those decisions sometimes become great stories.
When we decided to move to Paris last year everyone told us how great it was that the kids would learn another language. While that's true, learning a third language was never our main goal; it's always been more important to us that they master Spanish, our family's native language, which is one of the reasons why we're moving to Colombia. But of course, once they started learning French, we realized it would be wonderful if they could keep it up.
And now they'll get to do both.
When we started thinking of moving back to Colombia after our year here was over, we applied for admission to the Lycée Français of Bogotá, the official French school in Bogotá. We didn't know how much of a chance they'd have, but thanks to their current school being part of the French school system, their report cards, and the glowing recommendation from the headmistress, the Lycée accepted them right away and have so far made us feel very welcome.
The Lycée is just a few streets away from where I grew up in Bogotá. It was founded in 1934 by a few Colombians returning from France who were attracted to the French culture and wanted to provide a French education to their children. The school is accredited and partially funded by the French government through AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad), a unique network of schools in about 130 countries that was created to help promote the French language and culture.
We're happy and proud the kids will be going there. And we get to remain in la Francophonie.
