Life in California was pretty great. We had a nice house, a nice school and lots of friends. Of course our mom wanted to teach us how to be grateful. She made us keep notebooks were when ever we thought of something that we were thankful for, we would write it down. It was a good system. Although I have to admit, it did not really teach us what it was like to be grateful. It was easy to write I am thankful for my house, I am thankful for our trips, and I am thankful for friends and school. But writing that down did not mean that we were actually grateful.

That was before we came to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

There were so many little things that we had in California that we paid no attention to. A dishwasher, a dryer, an amazing shower. We did not know what we had until we lost it. A dishwasher for example: We paid no attention to our dish washer. We just put our dishes into it. In Argentina, dishwashers are very rare. So now when it is my turn to do the dishes, I have to wash the each individually.  I know if we move back, a dishwasher will be a pleasure to have. Another example: A shower that works. Back at home our shower was great. It never ran out of warm water (at least not in my experience), it was easy to turn on and was always  the right temperature. At our apartment, the shower runs out of warm water at least once a month. I turn it warm then two seconds later it is freezing. It is really complicated and hard to get it to just the right temperature. It may seem like I am making a mountain out of a mole hole but believe me, once you have gone through what I am going through, there are no mole holes any more.

There are many small things that are hard but on top of that there are big things. It was so easy to write down in a note book I am grateful for a good school, a big house, and lots of friends. My school was one of the best in the state, it also won a national award (The Blue Ribbon Award). But I did not know how bad a school could really be. The school that I go to here is great but I can already tell how Sun Valley (My old school) was better. The teachers for example. The teachers here are great but I feel like they do not know how to challenge us. They give us an assignment and once you finish that assignment you are basically free for the rest of the hour. I feel that the strict environment of Sun Valley was teaching us more.

Another big thing that I will always be grateful for is my house. Our house back home was perfect for us. It had a big yard and a nice kitchen. Clean bathrooms and even a playroom for us kids. Here we are living in a small apartment. The apartment looks nice but once you try to live there you see what it lacks. We have no yard, the living room is small and if I stood at the door of the apartment, I would be able to see the whole thing from were I was standing. That just proves how small it is. The most important thing that our apartment lacks is comfort. Our house was so familiar and I would always feel safe. That is what I think every house needs.

There is no way that I could tell you everything that I am grateful for. Living here has shown me how amazing our life back home really was. If we move back mom will not have to teach us how to be grateful. We will have learned on our own. Moving here has helped me understand gratefulness better then if I filled out a hundred notebooks. Hopefully this feeling will last this whole year and beyond.