Our Week with Jen
The driver arrived early for our trip to the airport, so I quickly finished getting ready and eagerly climbed into my new car with the boys. Being a Sunday, we were fortunate with traffic, and it took just under an hour to get to Guarulhos International Airport – you never know what to expect on the roads here, as I’ve heard story after story of people sitting in traffic for three to four hours on their way to the airport. The boys and I found the arrivals gate and anxiously waited for their aunt and my sister to walk through the doors – craning our necks and peering through them every time they opened to reveal another traveler. I had seen on the electronic arrivals and departures board that her flight had landed and deplaned, but we still saw no sign of Jen. After almost 30 minutes of waiting, we found out we were at the wrong gate. I really hoped she hadn’t been waiting for us, wondering where we were, and we quickly ran over to the correct gate – we got there just in time, as when we arrived she was strolling through the magic doors that delivered passengers to their awaiting family and friends! It was so great to see her, the boys and I smothered her with hugs and kisses while onlookers smiled at our reunion.
The driver arrived early for our trip to the airport, so I quickly finished getting ready and eagerly climbed into my new car with the boys. Being a Sunday, we were fortunate with traffic, and it took just under an hour to get to Guarulhos International Airport – you never know what to expect on the roads here, as I’ve heard story after story of people sitting in traffic for three to four hours on their way to the airport. The boys and I found the arrivals gate and anxiously waited for their aunt and my sister to walk through the doors – craning our necks and peering through them every time they opened to reveal another traveler. I had seen on the electronic arrivals and departures board that her flight had landed and deplaned, but we still saw no sign of Jen. After almost 30 minutes of waiting, we found out we were at the wrong gate. I really hoped she hadn’t been waiting for us, wondering where we were, and we quickly ran over to the correct gate – we got there just in time, as when we arrived she was strolling through the magic doors that delivered passengers to their awaiting family and friends! It was so great to see her, the boys and I smothered her with hugs and kisses while onlookers smiled at our reunion.
Once back at the apartment we showed Jen around our new home and complex. She loved everything about where we lived, including our cute doorman! After seeing the city from the car on the way home, she had a better understanding of why we chose to live where we do. As I’ve mentioned before, once inside the walls of our “compound” there is beauty and calm; unfortunately the same can’t be said about the rest of Sao Paulo. Having grown up going to Cordoba, Argentina on a fairly regular basis, she saw the similarities between the South American cities, though on a much larger scale here – the architecture of the buildings, graffiti, the traffic, the chaos! We chuckled when thinking about potential reactions of future visitors who have never seen a city like this (we could already imagine my mother-in-law’s big blue eyes taking it all in!) – it can be shocking at first.
We spent some time relaxing and catching up, and later dropped Ian and Alex off at a birthday party, which was being held at the restaurant in the complex. After being outside for only a few minutes, Jen couldn’t get over the humidity and the fact that her normally sleek hair (which she painstakingly straightens on a daily basis) was already starting to frizz and curl. While the boys were at the party, I helped Jen unpack and was excited to see items from home – my curling iron (which I had left in the hotel bathroom), new dish towels, Clorox wipes, fabric softener sheets! Still waiting for our shipments, with some things being hard (or impossible) to find, and others just being too expensive, we had been living with only what we brought in our suitcases and the minimal purchases we’ve made since arriving here. Once the boys got home, they were thrilled with the multi-pack of cereal boxes she had brought, Cheez-It snack bags, an assortment of candy bars, as well as gifts from their Nanna and Nani-Chichi of new games for their Wii and DSIs, and a new movie to watch. It was like Christmas in March!
No comments:
Post a Comment