There's a lot happening in the world today.  A terrible civil war in Syria has led to instability and refugees fleeing to Europe.  European countries are reacting with various levels of openness and comfort to this stress on their economic and social support systems.  A brutal terrorist organization that I will hereafter refer to in this blog as the "evil empire" (because I don't want to dignify their terrorism by calling them by the name they've chosen for themselves) has taken to slaughtering people in Iraq and Syria, and instigating terror attacks around the planet.

Recently followers of the evil empire instigated a heartbreaking terrorist attack (or series of them) in Paris, France.  I was driving home, exhausted, on a dark Friday night - so glad to be picking up my children from school.  Listening to NPR, it took me several moments to register what had happened - that there had been a hostage situation in a nightclub, that there had been a suicide bombing outside of a soccer stadium (intended for the stadium).  That there had been a restaurant shot up, where an American had been celebrating her birthday.  At first they said over 160 people were dead, and later adjusted those figures down.  

In that silent car, as I sat waiting to walk through the crisp early evening air to get my children from the brightly lit schoolroom where they were waiting for me... I shed a few tears and said a prayer for the people of Paris.  

We were just there.  Just a few months ago, SO enjoying the bakeries and sidewalk cafes, the romance of the tiny streets and larger parks.  Loving the way women on bicycles called out French greetings to shopkeepers who waved and smiled in return.  Loving our easy walk to the Tour Eiffel.  And while there were certainly hordes of scam artists at the train station trying to give us a bum deal on a taxi to our little hotel, we left with a good taste in our mouths and the hope that this year, we would finally show Senor Danger (the good guy) how amazing Paris can be.

Before all of this, we'd essentially decided to move to Spain for the year abroad.  Now I'm seriously considering a few small, lovely towns in Mexico too.  

Spain and France share a common border and a similar proximity to the Mediterranean.  Not only are they impacted by the refugee crisis but the evil empire has stated in writing that they'd love to retake 'Iberia'.  Borders are so loose in that region, we've experienced it ourselves!  You can drive between Spain and France in minutes without any checkpoint at the northern border of Spain - and the only way you'll know the country has changed is that the SIM card in your French or Spanish cell phone suddenly no longer works.  

It is very easy for me to understand how terrorists can travel with ease around Europe right now.  I also understand why NPR is reporting that borders may need to be closed.

Terrorism is happening all over the world, and violent gun deaths happen most frequently here in the United States.  I get it.  As a mother and a teacher, I cringe every time there is a school shooting in America.  (We all do.) I still feel safe here though.  I love my country and I'm proud of it.  I guess it's easier to live with the problems you know than with the problems you don't know and can't completely wrap your head around.

That said, life is for the living and we don't want to make decisions out of fear.  So... as a family we begin our investigation for real!  Mexico, or Spain?  Today I will buy the airplane tickets for the journeys that will help us to decide.  

...you need to bring birth certificates for any child under the age of 16 with you to the passport office when you are applying for a new passport.  You must do this even if you have their original passport with you!  We also discovered the hard way that both parents must be present when applying for a new passport, along with their government issued photo IDs. 

So this is how the day went... we drove with excitement to the passport office at the university.  (Kids were singing and joking in the car.) We stood in line for our number. When called, we proudly presented our old passports and announced that we'd like to renew!  

The workers at the passport office politely turned us down and sent us home for both birth certificates and the father.  

We drove home in frustration (and total silence).  We found the certificates, rallied their dad... and an hour later, we showed back up at the passport office - in a much less excited mood - and continued to fill out four identical forms, stand in line again, take photos sitting in a chair lined with a white sheet, and write checks for nearly $500 to get the renewed passports. 

It cost $80 for each child passport renewal and $110 for the adult passport renewal.  There was also a $120+ university processing fee.  If we'd wanted to expedite things we could have paid an extra $60 per application.  Yowza!  It ain't cheap to prove you are an American citizen abroad.  I wondered if the cost and complication of the process ends up stopping many Americans from applying for their passports?

In the end though, we left relieved and heartened by the news that in 4-6 weeks our new passports will arrive by mail.  The passport photos of the kids were also pretty precious.  

In a few minutes we will head out to the passport office at our local university, to take new photos and update our passports for the year ahead.  We have learned that to receive the international living visa we need to show that our passports will be valid beyond our proposed dates of travel.  Since we plan to go from August 1, 2016 to August 1, 2017, we need to be sure that all passports are good through 2018.  So... we're on our way to the passport office and will update with photos and tips later.  A nice way to begin our family adventure!