And it’s 5 days old already. We had a lovely few days with family at Ohope Beach over Christmas. It wasn’t perfect beach weather but some brave souls (and little excited ones) were able to go swimming, and there was plenty of sandcastles and the occasional boat trip. Christmas was incredibly exciting for the small gaggle of little girls there, lots of presents, lots of food including a crazy chocolate fountain and over-decorated gingerbread house, and all the aunties around all at once!
However the holidays are now over and today we are back into routine. Maya went to childcare, I went to university (mostly to sit in fount of this computer screen and read blogs- which lead me to remember I should be updating this one but really didn’t add anything to the PhD process) and unfortunately Luis stayed home with a stomach bug (although that’s not exactly part of the routine!).
So what will this year bring for our little family?
Obviously I want to make significant progress on the PhD- I need to complete the university confirmation procedures in February which means finishing the proposal and literature reviews, and then get into the data collection. This will require about 6 months in Honduras, as well as significant amounts of online research. By the end of the year I’d like to have the data collection completed, analysis underway and be thinking about some serious writing.
This means another year of hard work and travel. It also means another year of changes and potential instability for Maya and makes things tricky for Luis. He is looking for work, but given the economic climate and our travel plans he is not having a lot of luck. However he is enjoying being able to spend a lot of time with Maya (as primary caregiver when she’s not at childcare), and working on computer and other projects at home and in the Latin community. He’s also been able to host a few radio shows and is becoming a popular DJ in amongst Latinos here.
So it will be another busy and challenging year. I’d like to say I’ll blog more and keep you up-to-daye but I say that every year and it never happens, so we’ll take it as it comes.
