Home Sweet Home

Our last day in Argentina was cold and rainy (the country must have known we were leaving). After a few last minute errands, and ordering in tons of empanadas both for lunch and to take on the plane with us, we got a visit from our friends Stella and Graciela, as well as Martin’s uncle Julio. We chatted with them as we finished putting a few things in suitcases and closing up things in the apartment until, all too soon, it was time to leave for the airport. After kisses to the doorman and our friends, we left the place we’d spent the majority of our past 7 months with tears in our eyes (ok, not martin’s, just mine).

After successfully checking in all 8 suitcases, and lugging all 8 carry-ons through immigration (thank goodness we had my mom and Julian with us!), we finally boarded our flight to Houston. Although the flight left on time and the service on board was great, it was a very bumpy flight, and we spent many of the 10 hours awake and trying to distract ourselves with movies. Fortunately, we landed safely and had no problems going through US immigration and customs (thank goodness because we packed a few wine bottles over the limit). We caught our connection to LA just in time, and after a quick flight, we walked in to the arms of Martin’s family. It was wonderful to be home.
Seven of our eight checked bags came through and the eighth bag came on the next flight, just 20 minutes later. What luck! We arrived home to Martin’s truck, decorated in red white and blue, and a small welcome home celebration with family and neighbors. Our second day home we spent in true San Clemente style – Mexican food, friends and the beach. And it gets even better – after leaving the beach we got slurpees, Martin took a nap, and then we went to Pizza Port for dinner – it’s good to be home.

Now we face the monumental task of unpacking, getting a cell phone for martin, car insurance for me and other such business. Not to mention finding ourselves some jobs. Although it’s a bit overwhelming, it is still so nice to be back. Thank you to everyone for the welcome home visits, phone calls and emails - we are very appreciative of all of your support and thoughtfulness. And a super thank you to all who visited us on our journey, it was great to include others in our experience. Also, thanks to everyone who has been reading our website, it gave us a great feeling knowing we were sharing our adventures with everyone at home. We are planning on keeping this website up with more stories about our adventures - now of the California type!