Creature Comforts~

August 4th, Monday, 9:00 pm


Jimmy and I saw our things head away from San Diego in a cargo container on the 21st of May. This morning we saw them again. Our belongings went from San Diego to Long Beach on the back of a truck, then Long Beach to Buenos Aires via points south and through the Panama Canal. They arrived in Buenos Aires a couple of days before we did and were then held hostage in customs until I could get the proper papers together to have them released. During this time they were, of course, charging me for the privilege of not having my things set free.

Yesterday the shipper's receiving agent finally got all the T’s dotted and the I’s crossed, if you know what I mean, and he picked up the container. This morning with the help of 3 Chilean immigrants with whom we felt a powerful affinity we opened many of our boxes and picked out a few things we really wanted. The rest was put away until our apartment is ready, likely about 2-3 months.

We couldn’t find a few things we wanted but Jimmy got most of his art supplies so he can work, I got most of my clothes and all of my shoes. I know, of all the things I could have dug out of my household good and worldly belongings, shoes. Well, you have no idea, unless you do, how sick I am of wearing the same stupid shoes. I brought 7 pair and you’d think that would be enough. Nope. It only made it worse. Between the missing pieces of the outfit or the changing weather, we went from Summer to Winter in 12 hours, I ended up just defaulting to jeans and sneakers most of the time. Tomorrow I am going to get dressed to go to a party and I will be able to wear anything I want. I am so excited!

I didn’t decide to grab any kitchen stuff. I wanted to. But the kitchen is so small that even though we only buy what we can carry, we usually have to struggle to find a place to put groceries. If I brought a bunch of gear home I would have no place to put it. No, this is my time to make do in the average Argentine kitchen, tiny and ill equipped by American standards. Later, when I’ve designed my own space, I’ll unpack my things and make a meal with all my best tricks. For now, we’re not starving. I’m learning things about how creative I am by making good meals with what I have or can find and learning to adjust for what I can’t. Soon, I may even start to venture into new territory.

Jimmy and I found our movie case. It’s got more than 100 movies in it. He found his big monitor too so now we can watch movies. It almost feels like home.