The 2005 Santamaria’s Annual Report
2005…what will we remember of this year?
Our life in Mexico City at Seneca 142, full of music, full of books, laughs and thoughts. Both of us working at the Embassy, my last year as a visa adjudicator and the renewed knowledge of the Mexican people, a very good group to work with. And a good many visitors to share this country with and our enthusiasm. Elena came to visit us from Caracas via Miami, bittersweet memories of Venezuela, where is it going now?
She was very well and reassured us on her future alone in that country. We went visiting too, for example, to Chiapas, an intense short trip, Palenque and its fascinating ruins in the jungle, San Cristobal de las Casas so colourful, so beautiful, we promised to each other that we would come back and spend more time.
Our friend Janelle came from Cuba, she got a good sense of Mexico city and told us all about the difficult life in Cuba. Pierrette my sister and Romu came for two weeks and loved their adventures in Oaxaca. (photo below: Elodie and Pierrette - far right - with Yane and baby Terumi)
Myriam our friend from Paris was amazed by Mexico. Vanessa, a friend of Mateo and Sebastien from Barcelona, stopped for a few days with us on her way back from Cuba to Japan. That was also a wonderful whif of places unknown.
2005 was also a year for “home leave”…
We decided this year to visit friends in the U.S. We were on the road for five weeks in May/June and enjoyed every minute of it. Our trip was full of love, beauty, friendships rediscovered and renewed. We laughed a lot, enjoyed landscapes, had glorious conversations, discovered the U.S again. Washington DC, Chincoteague in Virginia, to Saint Louis with Ted and Krispy, to Chicago with Ingrid, visiting Mary Beth
and Meng and amazing Beatriz, Louis’wonderful aunt,
to Detroit with Christine and Tigger (p. s. Tigger passed away later in the year!),
to Burlington, VT with Hugo and Bonnie,
to New York City with Sebastien and the Fluxians plus Dorothy and David, Jacques and Annie,
then to Philadelphia for a few delightful days with Floyd and Beatrice,
and finally back to Washington DC, with all our dear friends there …Martine & Guy, Robin & Jeff, Frog, Pepe, Colleen & Jazzy, Nigel, julie- & Lars, Michele & Peter, Pat, Carlos & Julie, Minnie, and Elly….
An extraordinary trip where we felt at each stop so extremely lucky to have friends willing to share their point of view, their vision, their dream, their passion with us. Elodie is still planning to copy her diary of this trip on our website.
We spent ten blissful days with Sebastien in New York City…
We stayed in Lorenzo’s apartment in Brooklyn, it was fabulous, the City across the river, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, fireworks and Sebastien’s tenderness. He is doing very well, was still living at Flux then and very active in his work.
Heartfelt thanks for the generous hospitality that made our home leave trip possible…including: Frog in DC, Ted and Krispy in St.Louis, Ingrid in Chicago, Christine and Tigger in Detroit, Marisha in Burlington, Lorenzo and Francine in Brooklyn, Beatrice and Floyd in Philadelphia, and Robin and Jeff in DC. Can’t wait ‘til your visit…where ever we may be!
Sebastien came to visit us with his girl friend Marie and five of their friends in November…an epic week in Mexico, for us all.
Just back in Mexico we had more visitors…
A short three days with Jose and his son Leo from Vancouver on their way to San Salvador, and then our friends from Montpellier Christine, Edwin and Edwin’s sister Robin from Australia.
It is such a treat to share what you love with friends. In this case it is Mexico City, its cooking, museums, strange corners, beautiful neighborhoods, the not so prettiness that is here too, the climate, the friends and family who surround us everyday..
Our travels in Mexico…
We have spent many week-ends in Malinalco, resting and enjoying long conversations with Polo (Louis’cousin) and Celia in their delicious home, our retreat….
We also went to Guadalajara for a Tequila (Louis’ birthday) week-end with our friends Larry and Sandi.
We also rediscovered Morelia in Michoacan, and Queretaro, and went to the beach in Huatulco.
There is so much to see, to discover, we feel we are just starting! Our everyday week , apart from very demanding work is punctuated these days by Yoga classes and digital photo classes. Louis is putting all our music collection on his I-River. We see our friends, we go out especially to movies, and to concerts to satisfy our budding passion for classical music.
What the future holds for us…
We know we will be sad to leave Mexico. Most of you now know that our next post in summer 2006 was going to be Paris, an ideal way to end Louis’ career with the Foreign Service. Well, we are very disappointed to report that it will not be so because Louis’s post at the OECD was eliminated for budget reasons and he managed to get Brussels instead. Not the same thing, not the metro ride to go visit Elodie’s parents, Mateo and the family, but we are getting used to the idea and we will ride the fast train to Paris very often. Unfortunately the assignment in Brussels does not start before summer 2007, so we will spend a year in Washington. We love Washington, but moving somewhere for just a year is not at all easy. Remember, we just did that before coming to Mexico! Elodie will have to invent two jobs now, one in Washington for a year and one in Brussels. That’s life for us gypsies, it has treated us very well so far.
We will spend Christmas without our children this year; Mateo will visit in January for two weeks. We have not seen him, touched him for a year. He is in Paris, working at the Hilton in La Defense and says he is alright…we miss him very much! He is 26 years old this year …imagine!
We communicate with Sebastien very much more, due to the distance (time zone) we can just call him anytime. He just moved in with Marie. She has charmed us completely in the few days that they spent with us recently. They really fit together those two. It is thrilling to see them so happy with each other.
So, dear Friends, we talk about ourselves and reading this report we realise that we have done a lot this year. 2006 promises to be very busy with family and friends visiting, the hotel Santamaria looks fully booked now till the end of March and another move to the relatively unknown again.
We thrive on your news, keep in touch, come and see us. We love you and miss you and wish you a wonderful new year.
Elodie and Louis
