Ciao Chile!
What can I say about Chile!? I loved it, I loved seeing another country and speaking another language for 2 weeks, I loved the people, I loved the food, I loved the weather!
Our trip back home started at 10am on Friday morning, we drove the 6ish hours from La Serena to Santiago. When we left La Serena it was gorgeous weather, once we arrived in Santiago it was cold, dreary, and pouring down rain. From the car to the airport I got soaked! Once inside the airport they were very nice and helpful. I was worried about or luggage being overweight but it was fine the only hiccup we had was that they had no record of CH ever flying into the country...except we paid for him, and his reciprocity fee! After about 30 minutes of searching and hunting he appeared and was cleared to fly home with us...UMMM...hello he was the only gringo baby in the whole place and we were the only gringos, don't think we were trying to smuggle him out!
Security was interesting in another country, lax in some ways and tighter in others. We had to show our passports 6ish times! When they called us for boarding the plane we were first in line since we had so many stinkin' kids with us, they asked for our passports at the entrance to the gangplank, we walked down the gangplank that had no windows or doors and were asked for our passports a second time before the bag check, then they searched our bags for anything they thought we shouldn't have, then once we got to the door of the plane they checked our passports again! Seriously there were no doors or windows I don't know exactly where they thought people were going to enter or exit at this point.
The flight was well let's say, less than stellar. I was worried at one point about L because he was NOT calming down and was crying and crying. I think he was really tired and also his worst nightmare is being confined and we had to confine him. Chris finally started walking him around after dinner was served and they turned off the lights and he fell asleep, he had his own seat so we put him in there and he dozed happily the rest of the night, we actually had to wake him up at landing to belt him in. At some point in the night CH started running a fever, fabulous! Luckily we had Motrin with us and dosed him up but he was so restless all night that I had to keep moving, rocking him, bouncing, tapping my foot, so needless to say I didn't sleep at all! Confession I had also taken 1/2 a valium before the flight because I was so stressed that I was having a bit of a panic attack, well that backfired on me. The valium had the completely opposite affect on me and I was buzzing, we are talking my mind was racing, my skin crawling, and I felt like I was going to explode. Won't do that again! I also watched the movie My Week with Marilyn 2 and 1/4 times, that movie is dumb (well I didn't have sound but it was still dumb) also NOT appropriate for children even in it's edited version on the plane! The next morning at around 5:30 we landed in Atlanta. Going though US security, passport, and customs was interesting. It took about an hour total and we had to recheck our luggage, and go through a whole other security area. The line for security was LONG but they saw our crew coming and ushered us right to the front of the line! L as basically done at that point and wanted to be carried and not walk so we opted to put him in the stroller and I made a sling out of Chris' hoodie and carried CH. It wasn't perfect but it saved my arm from dying, and L from too much screaming. By 6:30 we were done with everything and sitting at our gate waiting for our next flight at 10am. Breakfast was next on my list and I've never paid $37 for yuckier stuff in my life. After breakfast and getting back to our gate we realized that C had left his iPod touch on the plane...yep you guessed it, it's G-O-N-E. Calls to the flight crew right then, calls to the airport, and e-mails to report a lost item to the airline have done no good. Poor guy.
Next leg of our trip was the flight from Atlanta to Chicago, luckily it was only an hour and a half because L screamed through the whole flight. Landing in Chicago was fine, luggage was a breeze, but we waited an hour and a half for our hotel shuttle to come and get us, it was HOT, I was cranky, smelly, and bitchy...yes I said it! Our drive home was uneventful and easy, Chris kept me awake by talking about our trip and it really sailed by!
We are home, it's going to take us a month to recover completely. I left my camera in Chile so Penny is sending it back so I will have pics to post later.
I am grateful today for ice in my drinks, free refills, large washers, clean streets, great healthcare (yes GREAT healthcare), understanding things being said to me, and my own soft bed!
I've decided a world traveler I am not, but when my kids are grown and gone watch out world here I come!
Caio Chile! (it was SOOOO fun saying Caio! I may incorporate it in my daily conversations just for fun!)
Our trip back home started at 10am on Friday morning, we drove the 6ish hours from La Serena to Santiago. When we left La Serena it was gorgeous weather, once we arrived in Santiago it was cold, dreary, and pouring down rain. From the car to the airport I got soaked! Once inside the airport they were very nice and helpful. I was worried about or luggage being overweight but it was fine the only hiccup we had was that they had no record of CH ever flying into the country...except we paid for him, and his reciprocity fee! After about 30 minutes of searching and hunting he appeared and was cleared to fly home with us...UMMM...hello he was the only gringo baby in the whole place and we were the only gringos, don't think we were trying to smuggle him out!
Security was interesting in another country, lax in some ways and tighter in others. We had to show our passports 6ish times! When they called us for boarding the plane we were first in line since we had so many stinkin' kids with us, they asked for our passports at the entrance to the gangplank, we walked down the gangplank that had no windows or doors and were asked for our passports a second time before the bag check, then they searched our bags for anything they thought we shouldn't have, then once we got to the door of the plane they checked our passports again! Seriously there were no doors or windows I don't know exactly where they thought people were going to enter or exit at this point.
The flight was well let's say, less than stellar. I was worried at one point about L because he was NOT calming down and was crying and crying. I think he was really tired and also his worst nightmare is being confined and we had to confine him. Chris finally started walking him around after dinner was served and they turned off the lights and he fell asleep, he had his own seat so we put him in there and he dozed happily the rest of the night, we actually had to wake him up at landing to belt him in. At some point in the night CH started running a fever, fabulous! Luckily we had Motrin with us and dosed him up but he was so restless all night that I had to keep moving, rocking him, bouncing, tapping my foot, so needless to say I didn't sleep at all! Confession I had also taken 1/2 a valium before the flight because I was so stressed that I was having a bit of a panic attack, well that backfired on me. The valium had the completely opposite affect on me and I was buzzing, we are talking my mind was racing, my skin crawling, and I felt like I was going to explode. Won't do that again! I also watched the movie My Week with Marilyn 2 and 1/4 times, that movie is dumb (well I didn't have sound but it was still dumb) also NOT appropriate for children even in it's edited version on the plane! The next morning at around 5:30 we landed in Atlanta. Going though US security, passport, and customs was interesting. It took about an hour total and we had to recheck our luggage, and go through a whole other security area. The line for security was LONG but they saw our crew coming and ushered us right to the front of the line! L as basically done at that point and wanted to be carried and not walk so we opted to put him in the stroller and I made a sling out of Chris' hoodie and carried CH. It wasn't perfect but it saved my arm from dying, and L from too much screaming. By 6:30 we were done with everything and sitting at our gate waiting for our next flight at 10am. Breakfast was next on my list and I've never paid $37 for yuckier stuff in my life. After breakfast and getting back to our gate we realized that C had left his iPod touch on the plane...yep you guessed it, it's G-O-N-E. Calls to the flight crew right then, calls to the airport, and e-mails to report a lost item to the airline have done no good. Poor guy.
Next leg of our trip was the flight from Atlanta to Chicago, luckily it was only an hour and a half because L screamed through the whole flight. Landing in Chicago was fine, luggage was a breeze, but we waited an hour and a half for our hotel shuttle to come and get us, it was HOT, I was cranky, smelly, and bitchy...yes I said it! Our drive home was uneventful and easy, Chris kept me awake by talking about our trip and it really sailed by!
We are home, it's going to take us a month to recover completely. I left my camera in Chile so Penny is sending it back so I will have pics to post later.
I am grateful today for ice in my drinks, free refills, large washers, clean streets, great healthcare (yes GREAT healthcare), understanding things being said to me, and my own soft bed!
I've decided a world traveler I am not, but when my kids are grown and gone watch out world here I come!
Caio Chile! (it was SOOOO fun saying Caio! I may incorporate it in my daily conversations just for fun!)
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