And so we arrived in Portugal. We had just under two weeks before my children started school and until my husband returned to the States. His job insisted that he work from Georgia until after the new year, which meant I would spend the first four months in a new country on my own with two kids. Not an ideal situation.
Before he left, we had a huge list of must-dos, including buying a car, getting the furniture we needed now that we weren´t just vacationing in the apartment, and getting everything our kids needed for school.
We managed to find a car and get most of the kids’ school supplies. One of the challenges I ran into almost immediately was the lack of “super stores” and my non-familiarity with where to get anything. I wandered from store to store, trying to complete the list of supplies the school had given them.
Before he left, Kevin and I even survived a trip to Ikea and the ensuing furniture assembly. We managed to squeeze the necessary desks, bookcases, and storage shelves into the apartment.
Then he flew home, and the kids and I got ready for what was next.
It was our first experience with a private school, let alone an international one in Portugal. We were all filled with nerves when the first day arrived. Despite the difficulties that have occurred, I recognize how lucky I am that my children have been (for the most part) so flexible about the move and willing to leave a place they had been for their whole lives.
School and real life started. And then it was time for us to figure out how to live our real lives in Portugal.