summary of 2008

Mexico City, April 30th, 2009
[haz click aquí para leer en castellano]

Dear friends and family:

Like many other people, Padme, Cecilia and I have stayed at home to avoid an influenza epidemic. It feels like a sci-fi movie: empty streets, facemasks everywhere, nervous looks. Many of you have written us to ask how we were... we are in good health and spirits, and we choose to spread not the flu, but much happiness. To do that, we'd like to share our 2008 story with you.

Peru

In March 2008 we visited Peru. Susie (Ricardo's sister) and her children also visited, so Padme spent time with her cousins Lucia and Alex. We also visited Arequipa, where our family is very numerous. Since we had not celebrated a few important family events in Arequipa --like our wedding and Padme's birth--, we gathered around 80 family members to do so with music and good food. We also traveled to the impressive Colca Canyon, one of the highest in the world, where the children saw condors, llamas, alpacas, and vicunas for the first time.

back in the city...

Our friends and compadres the Pretells --Eduardo, Erika and their children Sofia and Marco-- moved to Mexico City for a year. They live two blocks away, so we have shared trips to touristic areas such as Tepoztlan and Teotihuacan, and activities for the children at the Animal Kingdom, the celebrations for Peruvian independence, Day of the Dead, among others. We have enjoyed having old friends so close.

We also made new friends: Tim Maclehose came from London to stay in Mexico City for a few months; we laughed with him, Jordi and Juan. And now that Padme is in a neighborhood school, we have met her little friends and their parents. Among them: Bruno and his parents Renata and Carlos, Elias and his parents Jaime and Yamila, Selma and her parents Monique and Ken. We spent fun time cycling with them.

Padme

Ricardo's mother visited from Lima in August, for Padme's second birthday. We ended up celebrating thrice (more parties than years aged!)... Padme had to choose between a Barbapapa or a Madeline (news headline: Parisian Girl Beats Dutch Blob). And since then, Padme will not forget her mamita... she is invoked every time Padme does not get what she wants from her parents. hmm.... 2008 was a year of learning for Padme - her vocabulary grew much and she has already coined a few Famous Quotes®. Padme also became a good traveler; hopefully she will take after her parents.

Oaxaca + Chiapas

For our year-end vacation, we took a road trip through Chiapas and Oaxaca, two southern states of Mexico. We realized how varied and photogenic these regions are... we crossed mountains, lakes, canyons, ocean, rivers, jungle, mangrove, desert and more. We visited archaeological jewels such as Palenque, Yaxchilan, Bonampak, Monte Alban and Mitla. We were refreshed by natural paradises, flora and fauna such as at Catazaja, Agua Azul, Hierve el Agua, and the Sumidero Canyon, among others. You can breathe the culture of ancient towns and colonial centers such as San Cristobal de las Casas, Zinacantan, Chiapa de Corzo, and Juchitan. We saw quite a few friends during the roadtrip and ended up celebrating New Year's Eve with more friends in the city of Oaxaca.

What Padme most remembers from the trip are crocodiles, monkeys, and smoke. The simple beauty of a child's memory rejuvenates us even today.

work

In 2008 Cecilia taught in a Specialization program for the Conservation of Photographs. It has been very intense work, and she thinks that she has learned more about Conservation in these months than in the 10 previous years. But it has all been worth it as she has shared the experience with Fernanda and Lili. The program continues until June 2009.

The company where Ricardo works, Oracle, saw much growth, including in CRM, his area of specialization. Also, Oracle has accelerated its strategy of acquiring interesting companies, which poses complex integration challenges.

During 2008 we took Hablemos de Cine (podcast and radio program on the subject of comparative cinema) in a new direction. We tripled the number of contributors to cover the FICCO. Yet we didn't just study movie stars... now we have one at home! Jordi made a short film starring Khala (our Shetland sheepdog). But I don't foresee a good future for myself as a talent agent: all I could negotiate from Jordi in compensation for Khala's performance was a few biscuits and a rubber bone.

good news

As 2008 ended we became pregnant... if all goes well we'll be a family of four humans and two dogs by September this year.

But for now, it's back to our own sci-fi movie. (By the way, to reflect upon these virulent times, we highly recommend The Andromeda Strain, Twelve Monkeys, and Children of Men).

And we leave you with this real-life movie that summarizes our 2008 in images and sound (available in High Definition).

With love,
Padme + Cecilia + Ricardo