After Cali was born, we waited around long enough for her immediate round of newborn doctor’s visits, then went to Europe for the first time. No grass has ever grown under that girl’s feet. We have been in travel mode since she was born. She is our most adaptable traveler. Maybe because she has grown up sleeping wherever, in dresser drawers, squeezed between her sisters in a double bed, or a makeshift bed on the floor surrounded by bags to keep her from migrating all over the floor.
Until she was 13 she attended school either in all French in Canada or all Spanish in Guatemala. She would joke that her mind can only do math in other languages. She is especially adaptable when entering a new school situation. You can plunk her anywhere, in any language, and she will have a handful of friends by the time you pick her up. She has developed a gift for immediately reading a social setting and knowing what she needs to do to adapt. Kids love her immediately. The most work we have to do it managing her social schedule and sorting out what we are and aren’t
comfortable with her doing, considering everyone we meet is new to us.
Improvising is second nature to Cali. In 2010 after Tropical Storm Agatha, the flooding was extensive. Our house was on the river and most of the bridges were washed out. The main part of town was on the other side of the river. Late one night we grabbed our important stuff backpacks, which were always packed for a quick exit, and caught one of the last rides into town. We stayed in an unfamiliar hotel that night. The next morning we heard that school was on, since it was on higher ground, so we sent her by the usual tuk tuk. They dropped her off, in a more remote part of town where the school was, and left, as was the usual routine. But turns out last minute they decided to cancel school, it was deserted. She waved down a tuk and promised to pay them, but she had no idea where the hotel was. So they went driving around town looking for me or for the hotel. Eventually they drove by the hotel and she went in and asked for money to pay the man. I was quite surprised when I got home to see her sitting on the bed, not in school. She was seven years old and not flustered a bit. I left the house and bought her a phone.
For as long as I can remember, she was always pushing for more independence. Her first solo plane ride was when she was 7 to see her grandparents. The conversation went like this:
Me: Would you willing to fly by yourself to see Grandpa and Grandma this summer?
Long pause, which surprised me. She usually jumped at any opportunity to be a pretend only child. But she was really mulling this one over. Finally she gave me a very serious answer.
Cali: Yes. Yes I can do it. But someone will need to teach me how to fly the plane.
That sums up the Cali; her independence, her determination, her willingness to fly the plane if she must.
At the ripe old age of 14 she’s not poised to start doing some solo travel in a group setting, without us. She’s starting by spending a month in the British Virgin Isles on a sailboat, learning how to sail and scuba diving some beautiful spots.