Home Sweet Home

7/15/2010

We're here! After an exhausting 24-hour trip from Los Angeles to Asuncion, Paraguay (via Miami & Sao Paulo, Brazil), we are all set up in our new apartment. Here's a picture of the building (ours is on the bottom floor to the left when you walk through the entry way).



Here are some highlights from our trip:

Checking in at LAX - We had been told over the phone that Bailey would get one checked bag, plus we'd be able to check her stroller and car seat for free. We were also told that Brandon and I could take a third bag each (at $100 a piece) and that we could pack 70 pounds in each bag since we were traveling through Brazil. So we show up with six extra-heavy suitcases, a stroller and car seat and are greeted by the world's grumpiest representative who desperately needed a hug or something. When we first showed up at the counter and informed her that we were traveling internationally, she rolled her eyes at us and wanted to know why we didn't use the automated check-in system. We told her that we tried, but got an error message that told us to see a flight representative (that would be her). When we informed her that we had six bags to check between the three of us, she clarified that there were only two of us traveling (I guess Bailey doesn't count as a person since she didn't have her own seat?) and took it as a personal insult that we'd have to pay the excess baggage charge. We let her know that we were moving to Paraguay and didn't have much of a choice; we knew we'd have to pay for the extra bags. After throwing our first bag on the scale and having it top out over 60 pounds, she again was annoyed that the bags were too heavy and we'd have to pay $50. We reminded her that we were moving out of the country and that most of the bags would be over 50 pounds; we'd pay the extra fee. The second bag, too, was over 60 pounds and she again was annoyed that it was too heavy (I guess it's a lot of extra work to put a bright pink "HEAVY" tag on a bag while watching us lift these bags back and forth from the scale to the cart). About the time the fourth bag was being weighed (NOT too heavy) a knight in shining armor showed up to rescue us. Okay, it was a young man on his iPhone pushing a large luggage cart who offered to take our bags to the screening area. Finally some kindness! Needless to say, he got a tip; Mrs. Grumpy Pants did not!



Flight to Miami - Brandon sat by a gentleman who was on the flight with his wife and two elementary school age kids. They lived in Bolivia, but traveled every year to the United States. He was accustomed to traveling with little ones and was very understanding about Bailey's fussy moments.



Miami Airport - We didn't have much time between flights, so we hustled over to our gate, grabbed some food from a "Chili's to go" cart and did a quick diaper change. There were lots of toddlers running around by our gate so we knew Bailey wouldn't be the only kid (the youngest, by far, but not the only).



Flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil - The couple in front of us definitely wasn't pleased about a baby sitting behind them. When she fussed for a second as we sat down, they locked (and then rolled) eyes disapprovingly. Though, with the four teenage girls across the aisle literally climbing over each other's seats and shouting back and forth to each other, I don't know why WE were the source of their scorn. Those of you that know Bailey know that she HATES to be sitting (rather, for you to be sitting while holding her), and so I had to get up during the flight and pace in the back by the attendants (even though the fasten seatbelt light was on). They were okay with me back there during the mild turbulence, but when I had to grab hold of the wall to keep my balance, one steward recommended that I take my seat. Oh, by the way, Bailey exploded in her diaper as we started taxiing down the runway (which I couldn't change for quite some time) and then proceeded to explode AGAIN as soon as I was seated. Thank goodness there are changing tables in the bathrooms . . . our neighbors definitely wouldn't have been happy about smelling a poopy diaper in all it's glory!



Sao, Paulo Airport - As we disembarked from the plane and retrieved Bailey's stroller, there was an attendant calling to us, asking "Asunicon?" We said yes and she immediately pulled us aside and (after oohing and ahhing over Bailey and her blue eyes) gave us directions to our gate. I kind of felt like she was smuggling us through security, though, as everyone else from the flight went down one corridor towards immigration and we bypassed that whole process (not that I'm complaining). After three gate changes (announced in Portuguese) we made it to the final leg of our flight.



Flight to Asuncion - Brandon sat by a gentleman who worked for adidas and had been at the World Cup, so they had plenty to talk about on the 2 hour flight from Brazil to Paraguay. It was a fairly uneventful flight, which was a wonderful ending to the trip. As we disembarked the plane, the man who had sat by Brandon looked at me holding Bailey and said "the pilot said it's 10 degrees (Celsius) outside." I said "oh . . . ", thinking to myself "that means nothing to me." Again, he said, "it's 10 degrees outside, do you have something else to put on the baby?" The lightbulb went on . . . it's cold outside! We did have a jacket for her and as the cold air streamed in the plane at the door, I was grateful for his help. It was a breeze getting through immigration, our bags were all on the baggage claim belt, and the director from the school (plus our neighbors at the apartment) were right there to meet us and load our bags into their cars, whisking us off to our new home!

God was so good to us on this trip and, while I'm glad we don't have to repeat that journey for another 5 months, I'm not completely dreading the return trip in December.