Home sweet home?

Back in Santiago and as before my feelings are ambivalent. It was lovely to go home to see family and friends while at the same time have a brief taste of winter, just enough to make one appreciate returning to the middle of summer in Chile. Santiago indeed began to seem quite appealing when faced with grey mornings, short dark days and drizzle, not to mention icy temperatures. However it is also hard to leave behind the world as you know it and set off on a 17-hour journey for somewhere which still doesn't feel remotely like home but is in fact where you now live, like it or not. Initially on arriving here three days ago my first thoughts were positive and full of renewed optimism as the sun shone down and we wove our way through busy roads until reaching our beautiful and spacious new apartment. Again I was struck by the light, by the imposing mountains, by the lush vegetation blooming with splendid pinks and purples. The children of course were delighted to be back in their new house with all their clutter occupying not just the new nursery but also the spare bedroom and living room. Being so young has distinct advantages in that their world is the present, the here and now. They still talk excitedly about their trip on the plane and various people close to their hearts far away but are soon taken by the next toy or game they chance upon... and good for them. I'd hate to think they were unhappy or pining for a life they can't have at the moment. As for me, I can't complain as the weather is so pleasant and I am busy settling into the new place. We are lucky to have the rest of the summer to unpack the remaining boxes, sort out what's left and also take off for some time at the beach soon... though I can't help feeling it's not really January at all and somehow on that plane last week we were transported back in time to some point in the early 1980's...

Back in the material world...

Just a quick one to say we're in the new place and it feels wonderful. Not that moving wasn't stressful, disconcerting, disorientating, and all the rest of it, but not bad for our third move in six months. This time after living with the bare essentials in a strange country for nearly four months, the joy at having our own possessions again was hard to measure. Our books, clothes, sheets, plates, the children's toys... Having said that however I am also shocked at the huge quantity of absolute and utter junk DH and I have managed to accumulate in sixteen years of a lifetime together. Most of it useless and of little market value too. But we've got it now, and can now create our home... until the next move. Although unpacking with the deadline of a flight to Europe on the horizon isn't exactly the best way of doing things; I have been frantically searching for items I won't need just so DH won't have to decide where to put all my precious bits and pieces. However being the domesticated type he is more than happy to reorganise the kitchen, wash all the plates and cutlery while also doing several washing-machine loads of bed linen etc while we are away... and fair enough, it'll keep him busy, poor lamb. Meanwhile I am counting the hours before returning to the civilisation of the 21st century with my two cherubs...