It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.
But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.
There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Alan Cohen
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Somewhere I will remember forever ...

Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to be back in the United States.
Will I just wallow in all the luxuries of having our own car, central heat and air and a moment of peace and quiet ?
Will the people be friendly, nice , courteous and ready to laugh like they are here ?
Will I be able to understand them ?
That last one is a joke, I doubt I will understand anyone soon, my mind, she is melting.

The days are turning more glorious by the minute.
Blue blue skies, an occasional white puffy cloud to cast a momentary shadow, then a breeze to keep you from burning in that   warm, sunshine.

The trees are fully leafed and home to what seem like thousands of birds.
The branches of the tree outside our living room, host parrot conventions almost daily.

In the back of the apartment, where it is more peaceful and quiet, there are the doves, cooing on my windowsills, little bitty sparrow type birds in the garden below, squabbling, twittering, cute.
I am about to donate a bunch of plants to the garden downstairs.
They have outgrow the balconies and I worry some days, the building is 100 years old. How much weight can a balcony that old manage ?
I will be happy to know that when we are not here anymore, the plants will be there to remind our neighbours of the very happy years that we spent here.
I expect them to send photos now and then, letting me know my plants are flourishing and the neighbours are too.
Funny, I have moved so often, had so many neighbours but these will be the hardest to leave behind.

I guess when you are in your own country with your own language and knowing your way around, things are just matter of fact, you can figure it out . But here, every single thing is done a bit differently, aside from the language issues.
But the neighbours adopted us .. they helped whenever and however they could.
One lady made a call to an official for us, knowing that while we could manage to say the right thing, odds were we would not understand the answers !
She got up early in the morning and sat on the phone for what seemed like hours, you know those phone calls to any government service .. their goal is to make you wait so long you give up and go away. But she didn't. . she waited and she asked the right questions and she found out what we needed to know. And sent us off with kisses.

Kisses.
That is another thing I am going to miss.
If you meet someone you know on the street, you kiss them.
When you say goodbye, you kiss them.
When you meet someone you know with a friend who is a stranger, you kiss them.. they kiss you, it is the kissiest place I have ever lived in and I am sure going to miss it.

*Yes, I made that word up .. Kissiest ... you wish you were here, don't you *

So our time here seems to be growing shorter, the Spring/Summer days are growing longer and we will make the most of the time we have left, here in Buenos Aires.
Somewhere I never dreamt of visiting, let alone living in ... somewhere I will remember forever.



5 comments:

  1. How nice! You are lovely!! I will miss you too!! thousands of kisses!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, that's very melancholy...somehow we got the idea you'd be there evermore.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Besos to you too , Alicia !

    bee and jay, it is sad, in so many ways, we will miss this amazing city and the even more amazing people, but we are returning to good things and we are happy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my gosh, reading this post just made me teary. I understand how you feel. I've moved to 13 countries throughout my life and some of the moves were especially difficult. But that said - I think there are wonderful things waiting for you back in the US! And I am sure that you will visit Argentina again sometime in the future. :) Never say never!

    All the best,
    Milsters

    PS Come to Paris - it's quite "kissy" there too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Millsters, I doubt we will move to Paris but there are great possibilities that we will be visiting Paris .. We are liking the idea of holiday stays that are long, renting an apt and just Being There. Paris and Florence , Italy are on the top of the List, as is London.
    Never say we don't have Wanderlust :)

    ReplyDelete

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