Last week, after being a single mom, getting myself ready to travel and even more stressful, getting the girls and house ready for me to travel – I left for Chile. Of course, not everything could be smooth sailing leading up to my departure. On Wednesday, as I was trying to pack and do last minute projects, I went downstairs to start filling my suitcase to find water covering the basement floor. As with most Loran trips, there is always some sort of mini-crisis. Not enough to call in reinforcements, but just enough to drive me slightly bonkers. Luckily, it wasn’t a plumbing problem. The drain to the wash basin had gotten covered which caused the basin to overflow when the washer drained. Thankfully, I was just washing some odds and ends and not disgusting cloth diapers. Cloth diaper water would have been amazingly awful. After being sidelined by mopping, dragging a large area rug outside to dry, strategically placing fans and then washing the floor, I was back to packing.
Once Thursday rolled around, I was feeling pretty set to go. I’d logged extra cuddle time with the girls, the house was thoroughly peppered in Post-It notes, medical release forms were signed and I even had possession of the corporate credit card that Loran had accidentally left behind for the first leg of his trip. The hardest part was actually leaving. I didn’t mind the two flights totaling 12 flying hours that lay ahead, I did mind having to say goodbye to my little girls. Sure, lately they’re driving me slowly crazy, making me wonder where my patience went and testing me constantly – but I still love the little buggers. (I may not always like them some moments, but I’ll always love them!) When I brought Lily up for her nap, I knew I’d be gone once she woke up. That was hard. Typically, Lily likes to rock and cuddle a bit before sleeping. This time, she practically dove into bed, not wanting a single cuddle. It was heart-wrenching! I tucked a very happy Lillian into bed and silently sobbed as I walked out of her room. Ella was having her quiet time and when Grandma arrived for her shift with the girls, Ella was done with the quiet and perfectly happy to be left with Grandma. I have her a quick hug and kiss, trying not to lose it in front of her. I was able to pull myself together before leaving and I was off, zooming down the freeway in Loran’s Audi, sans car seats, on my way to celebrate our eight anniversary together in Chile. What an adventure! And, my first adventure out of the country by myself!
I’d used some of my flight savvy to change my seat to a preferred seat, for free! That earned me priority status with Delta so I was able to use special lines and early boarding. Woot! Thankfully, my flight to Atlanta left on time, unlike Loran’s, which almost caused him some airport drama.
Once in Atlanta, I made my way to the international terminal and grabbed a quick bite for dinner. I have to apologize for anyone who was also waiting at the gate who watched me eat. But I must clarify, it’s simply been months since I’ve been able to sit and eat a hot meal without having to get up twelve times to refill milk, clean up spills, dish up more food, etc. I simply savored my curly friends doused in Arby’s sauce. I mean, seriously! Hot fries, eaten on my own!
The flight to Santiago was nine hours, overnight. After our dinner service, I took a sleep aid, put my nature sounds on my ipod and settled in for some shut-eye. That sleep aid must have worked. While I don’t feel like I slept, I felt quite refreshed upon arrival. Better than I’ve ever felt after a long flight. I don’t have any recollection of anything…so maybe I slept? I was still in my same seat, so that’s always positive. Once at the airport, it took about an hour to get through the Visa line, customs and declarations. While waiting to not declare anything, I saw the 3M driver waiting a floor above with everyone else. My name was on a sign! That’s never happened, I felt so important. Unfortunately, once I passed that checkpoint, I couldn’t get upstairs. I could only leave the airport, so I had to go out a door, go back in another door and find my way upstairs to the driver. He didn’t speak English, I didn’t speak Spanish, but he knew where to take me so we were all good. I settled into the car, excited to see my first sights of Santiago. As we turned a bend to leave the airport, he suddenly inhaled and realized he’d made a mistake. He turned and said to me, “No taxi.” ummm…okay? I mean, technically, he wasn’t really a taxi. I wasn’t paying him (as far as I knew) for the ride. We were stopped by the police and there was a lot of Spanish speaking. At this point, I’m worried because I don’t know if Chilean police and reputable or shifty. They tried to speak broken English to me, I tried to use doe eyes and tears on them. I was so confused as to what was happening. I tried to tell them I was with 3M – since the driver had his 3M lanyard on with ID. The driver was trying to call the office to have them explain that I was fine. And all I could picture was going to some Chilean prison. So, I get the bright idea to call the 3M coworker of Loran’s who was in charge of this trip, our host. I knew he spoke English, and he’s Chilean, he’d work it out. And, that’s when I realized that Verizon doesn’t work for me out of the states. Now, I was feeling stuck and scared. Eventually, an actual taxi shows up and they load my bags into the taxi and I get in. I leave the driver behind, fearing the worst for him. Now I have this unexpected taxi ride. Once at the hotel, I ask the driver if he accepts cards. Nope. I have no pesos. I ask if he accepts US cash and he does. He converts my ride into dollars and $60 US later, I’m in the lobby of the hotel. Feeling that I’d been taken advantage of, I quickly did the conversion on my own calculator and sure enough, $27.600 pesos is $60 US. So, at least the taxi driver wasn’t shifty.
Once in my room, the stress melted away. This was no Motel 6. I was staying at the San Cristobal Tower thanks to 3M. I simply must travel for business more often. I showered, relaxed and watched a truly disgusting show called Jerseylicious on E! that once again makes Americans out to be morons. I, however, could not stop watching the show. Only in the final hours of the trip would I figure out how to turn the Spanish dubbing off of the shows, thereby broadening the shows available to me in English.
Loran arrived a few hours later from Brazil and after a quick coffee meeting with our host, Roberto, we were on our own to explore! We grabbed some food and Bar Liguria and took the extremely crowded (ie: getting on the subway immediately after a Yankees game at the stadium station) Metro further into town to see the sights. We stopped at the Plaza de Armas, which was abuzz with excitement as Chile was playing in the Coppa Americana that night (soccer). We stopped in an art museum that had an installation of Chilean-made children’s toys throughout the decades that was really fun to see, and simultaneously made me feel quite old since I’ve played with some of those “old” toys. Since it was winter there (can it really be called winter when there are still palm trees?), the darkness set in around 5:30 and by seven or so, we were ready to head home to the hotel. We caught the end of the soccer game, which was easy since it was on EVERYWHERE. Had some snacks, and by snacks, I mean fancy gourmet yummy things, in the hotel’s 21st floor lounge (views!)and then we were off to bed early. Not really jet-lagged since they are only an hour ahead of central time, but tired after a full day of travel.
ps – I later learned that the Chilean/Santiago police are very respectful and honorable. No shenanigans with them! Whew! And further, what actually took place is that on July 1st, parking restrictions at the airport went into place. The driver parked in the wrong area and there was some confusion there. In the end, no 3M drivers were arrested in the making of my story.
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