1) The windshield of our rental car. Not 5 minutes after leaving the airport a rock hit the windshield, and the crack has been spreading since. At least this is the one we have for 1.5 months, so we shall get value out of that crack.
2) The back of my iPhone. I blame it on tile floors that even otter boxes can’t protect against. And my own clumsiness. I think if Steve jobs was still alive he would not be on board with glass backed phones.
3) A bottle of viognier. One of the two whites in our wine 6-pack from today’s vineyard. At the cafe, which we promised to children after, I set it down too abruptly and broke it all over the (tile) floor. Made a scene trying to ask for a mop to mop it up in my insufficient Spanish.
That’s all for now. Many more to come.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
A long, long trip
We have arrived.
After 23.5 hrs of non-stop travel.
It was difficult to close up the house for three months. To decide what is worth keeping going (chest freezer) and what is worth unplugging (fridge). Turns out we have the sort of fridge with a bottom freezer that is impossible to clean while it is plugged in. So, while not specifically related to our travel, it was a rare opportunity to clean a very, very gross appliance. It is unlikely to be cleaned again in a decade, so, ya know, worth writing home about. But, I digress, into household mundanities (I dont think this is a word, but it should be).
Anyway. I had dreams of leaving behind a very clean house. But between a broken alarm system we had to scramble to fix the morning of our departure, a completely clogged utility sink I had to dredge by hand (so gross. Reflected on all the poopy cloth diapers that have contributed to that clog. U,gh.). Anyway: House, not terribly clean.
Everything about the final process of departure went well. The roads to the airport we re awful, but we got through security with hours to spare. We brought two checked bags, a carry on per person, and my purse. Limited to 4 changes of clothes per person, as well as some English language teaching materials, husbands medecial kit, a few toys and games.
Greta started melting down almost as soon as we boarded the first plane. I assumed it was typical travel Greta, frustrated by things that are impossible to change, but shortly there after she passed I out on me.
The rest of flight one was smooth. I sat next to G &T, which means I had to bow to their every whim, a necessary evil when flying with small children, so as to keep their volume from escalating and bothering other passengers. I don’t think they have figured out, yet, the power they hold over us on airplanes. I think their older sister definitely has. Teddy inhaled his birthday cupcake like a dog. (Video on Instagram).
Flight 2 started pretty great. The kids were psyched to each have their own seat back video console. I get it, I was too. I got to watch an entire period piece, “the Beguiled”. I forgot, of course, that even though the littles were entertained, they still needed my constant involvement. Someday I know I’ll miss them needing me. I tell myself that many times a day. (Also, underwhelmed by the movie. Probably was a great book, though.). Of course, as soon as the lights on the plane were turned down
for “bedtime”, Greta jumped up from her seat because she “needed to puke”. Which, indeed, she did. I know I’ve lived a charmed life, but that really was my first onboard puke incident. We robbed a handful of puke bags from the bathroom and went back to our seats.
That proved to be the first of countless pukes throughout the night. Poor hubs was sitting with G & T for the red-eye, so I didn’t realize how many (sleep-interrupting) events there had been. Payback for an overnight puke-a-thon I held with teddy last week. But hubs certainly endured more.
MJ, meanwhile, kept cuddling up (in her sleep), with her seat neighbor. I woke up several times with her legs draped over the stranger next to her.
We landed, got luggage, went through customs. I apparently forgot (confession: couldn’t be bothered) to declare the few oranges I shoved in my bag for snacks. Hubs was not impressed by my stunt, when the dogs tagged me and I had extra screenings. Never mind that I’m certain he brought some snacks through, too.
We got our rental car. And then the vomiting started again. So. Much. Vomit. The whole 2 hr ride south. We did stop at a roadside gas station/McDonalds (surprise! Mickey D’s is just as gross here. Was hoping for some cultural difference, such as the wine you can buy in an Italian McDonalds, but the only cultural difference was that our meal came with a side of 20 mayonnaise packets). Greta had to pause to vomit into a trash can, and we stopped at the pharmacy to ask, in our broken Spanish, if they sell Zoloft. Nope. No Zoloft. But he decided to give her a dose of meclazine, Which, over the next 2 he’s, slowly kicked in.
We arrived at our Air B&B, near Santa Cruz, and Greta showered before swimming.
We are now on day 2. Today was a wine tour, which the kids endured fine (horse and buggy!)
Some takeaways so far.
1) our Spanish is very, very rusty. In part because it’s been so long (kids!) since we’ve travelled off grid and needed it. And in part because the pronunciation here is so different. MJ tried to say “buenos Dias” to a cashier and he clarified that is “Buon dia”. A lot of endings are cut off words. I think most of our struggles have to do with our lack of practice, but the accent doesn’t help.
2) the kids are adorably enthusiastic about learning to speak Spanish. They will speak to whoever, whenever, with the few phrases they know. They also want us to translate things that we just don’t understand.
3) I have heard such great things about google translate, but it has proven nearly useless for us. Wish we had brought along an Old School English/Spanish dictionary. Most of the things I try to translate f rom Spanish google does not know. Again, I think this is largely an accent thing,
4) Mayonnaise. On everything. ::shudder::
5) Internet is spotty. Blogger is much worse (or not updated) than it used to be, and I can’t even go back and edit this post. Fingers crossed it mostly makes sense!
After 23.5 hrs of non-stop travel.
It was difficult to close up the house for three months. To decide what is worth keeping going (chest freezer) and what is worth unplugging (fridge). Turns out we have the sort of fridge with a bottom freezer that is impossible to clean while it is plugged in. So, while not specifically related to our travel, it was a rare opportunity to clean a very, very gross appliance. It is unlikely to be cleaned again in a decade, so, ya know, worth writing home about. But, I digress, into household mundanities (I dont think this is a word, but it should be).
Anyway. I had dreams of leaving behind a very clean house. But between a broken alarm system we had to scramble to fix the morning of our departure, a completely clogged utility sink I had to dredge by hand (so gross. Reflected on all the poopy cloth diapers that have contributed to that clog. U,gh.). Anyway: House, not terribly clean.
Everything about the final process of departure went well. The roads to the airport we re awful, but we got through security with hours to spare. We brought two checked bags, a carry on per person, and my purse. Limited to 4 changes of clothes per person, as well as some English language teaching materials, husbands medecial kit, a few toys and games.
Greta started melting down almost as soon as we boarded the first plane. I assumed it was typical travel Greta, frustrated by things that are impossible to change, but shortly there after she passed I out on me.
The rest of flight one was smooth. I sat next to G &T, which means I had to bow to their every whim, a necessary evil when flying with small children, so as to keep their volume from escalating and bothering other passengers. I don’t think they have figured out, yet, the power they hold over us on airplanes. I think their older sister definitely has. Teddy inhaled his birthday cupcake like a dog. (Video on Instagram).
Flight 2 started pretty great. The kids were psyched to each have their own seat back video console. I get it, I was too. I got to watch an entire period piece, “the Beguiled”. I forgot, of course, that even though the littles were entertained, they still needed my constant involvement. Someday I know I’ll miss them needing me. I tell myself that many times a day. (Also, underwhelmed by the movie. Probably was a great book, though.). Of course, as soon as the lights on the plane were turned down
for “bedtime”, Greta jumped up from her seat because she “needed to puke”. Which, indeed, she did. I know I’ve lived a charmed life, but that really was my first onboard puke incident. We robbed a handful of puke bags from the bathroom and went back to our seats.
That proved to be the first of countless pukes throughout the night. Poor hubs was sitting with G & T for the red-eye, so I didn’t realize how many (sleep-interrupting) events there had been. Payback for an overnight puke-a-thon I held with teddy last week. But hubs certainly endured more.
MJ, meanwhile, kept cuddling up (in her sleep), with her seat neighbor. I woke up several times with her legs draped over the stranger next to her.
We landed, got luggage, went through customs. I apparently forgot (confession: couldn’t be bothered) to declare the few oranges I shoved in my bag for snacks. Hubs was not impressed by my stunt, when the dogs tagged me and I had extra screenings. Never mind that I’m certain he brought some snacks through, too.
We got our rental car. And then the vomiting started again. So. Much. Vomit. The whole 2 hr ride south. We did stop at a roadside gas station/McDonalds (surprise! Mickey D’s is just as gross here. Was hoping for some cultural difference, such as the wine you can buy in an Italian McDonalds, but the only cultural difference was that our meal came with a side of 20 mayonnaise packets). Greta had to pause to vomit into a trash can, and we stopped at the pharmacy to ask, in our broken Spanish, if they sell Zoloft. Nope. No Zoloft. But he decided to give her a dose of meclazine, Which, over the next 2 he’s, slowly kicked in.
We arrived at our Air B&B, near Santa Cruz, and Greta showered before swimming.
We are now on day 2. Today was a wine tour, which the kids endured fine (horse and buggy!)
Some takeaways so far.
1) our Spanish is very, very rusty. In part because it’s been so long (kids!) since we’ve travelled off grid and needed it. And in part because the pronunciation here is so different. MJ tried to say “buenos Dias” to a cashier and he clarified that is “Buon dia”. A lot of endings are cut off words. I think most of our struggles have to do with our lack of practice, but the accent doesn’t help.
2) the kids are adorably enthusiastic about learning to speak Spanish. They will speak to whoever, whenever, with the few phrases they know. They also want us to translate things that we just don’t understand.
3) I have heard such great things about google translate, but it has proven nearly useless for us. Wish we had brought along an Old School English/Spanish dictionary. Most of the things I try to translate f rom Spanish google does not know. Again, I think this is largely an accent thing,
4) Mayonnaise. On everything. ::shudder::
5) Internet is spotty. Blogger is much worse (or not updated) than it used to be, and I can’t even go back and edit this post. Fingers crossed it mostly makes sense!
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
S. America bound
I aim to resurrect this little blog for the next few months. Our family heads to S. America tomorrow, and it seems like a good place to record a few of our (my) thoughts.
We fly to Santiago, Chile, first, then quickly escape town. I'm sure it's a lovely town, but with three littles (8, 5 and 4) I think we'll all be happier someplace further from cars.
The kids are pretty unfazed by this whole thing, so far. A few misconceptions we've had to clear up to achieve this unfazed status:
1. There will be no lions attacking our village.
2. Although everyone around us will be speaking Spanish, we (hubs and I) will still be speaking english. I.e., they still get to speak English to us.
3. We are not moving. We are, in fact, coming back.
We depart tomorrow at ~3 pm on a a 15 hr. journey south. A red eye, which I expect will be terrible.
My own misconception, discovered yesterday:
Santiago is, in fact, 3 hrs AHEAD of us. In my mind, the west coast of S. America and the west coast of N. America were at the same longitude. In fact, totally not. Despite looking at many maps in my day, this key fact escaped me. I argued with MJ about this, not extensively but enough that I am embarrassed.
We have packed 2 suitcases and our individual carry-ons for the trip. I spent 2 hrs tonight looking for my misplaced prescription medication. I am (sort-of, kind-of, at a totally healthy level) panicking about our departure. Today it dawned on me, that, although I have travelled a lot, I have not travelled for very long. My longest trip was Bosnia, deployment, for 4 months. EVERY other trip has been shorter than this. Which is epic, in my mind, because they were all so monumental in my memory.
Additionally, although I have travelled to places where I barely speak the language, I have not done so when I have little people depending on my abilities.
That being said, I did not have the technology that I now have during previous trips. Should make life easier? I hope.
I have the slightest hesitation posting about all our travels on social media. But have decided that between a house sitter and an alarm system, we are probably fine. But, y'know, please spare us the stress of break-ins?
Alrighty. Farewell. See y'all soon.
We fly to Santiago, Chile, first, then quickly escape town. I'm sure it's a lovely town, but with three littles (8, 5 and 4) I think we'll all be happier someplace further from cars.
The kids are pretty unfazed by this whole thing, so far. A few misconceptions we've had to clear up to achieve this unfazed status:
1. There will be no lions attacking our village.
2. Although everyone around us will be speaking Spanish, we (hubs and I) will still be speaking english. I.e., they still get to speak English to us.
3. We are not moving. We are, in fact, coming back.
We depart tomorrow at ~3 pm on a a 15 hr. journey south. A red eye, which I expect will be terrible.
My own misconception, discovered yesterday:
Santiago is, in fact, 3 hrs AHEAD of us. In my mind, the west coast of S. America and the west coast of N. America were at the same longitude. In fact, totally not. Despite looking at many maps in my day, this key fact escaped me. I argued with MJ about this, not extensively but enough that I am embarrassed.
We have packed 2 suitcases and our individual carry-ons for the trip. I spent 2 hrs tonight looking for my misplaced prescription medication. I am (sort-of, kind-of, at a totally healthy level) panicking about our departure. Today it dawned on me, that, although I have travelled a lot, I have not travelled for very long. My longest trip was Bosnia, deployment, for 4 months. EVERY other trip has been shorter than this. Which is epic, in my mind, because they were all so monumental in my memory.
Additionally, although I have travelled to places where I barely speak the language, I have not done so when I have little people depending on my abilities.
That being said, I did not have the technology that I now have during previous trips. Should make life easier? I hope.
I have the slightest hesitation posting about all our travels on social media. But have decided that between a house sitter and an alarm system, we are probably fine. But, y'know, please spare us the stress of break-ins?
Alrighty. Farewell. See y'all soon.
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