I thought this day would never come, but it has! After Cecilia and I spent all day yesterday at the customs signing papers in triplicate, more forms at a huge container warehouse where the boxes actually were, and finally seeing them — it turned out the guy at the customs had made a mistake! So we had to get in a taxi and go all the way back there so that he could correct his mistake. Being macho, of course, he didn’t admit it was his fault, and blamed it all on everybody else, but we didn’t care at that point. We got the new paper, took it back to the warehouse and waited while the “verifier” opened the box, took a cursory glance and said all was fine and we could take them!

We had ordered a “flete” (a guy with a van) in advance, so we now called him and he took the boxes, and us, back to my new place and carried them upstairs (not us, just the boxes!) This photo says it all!

What a saga this has been. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been through it. A friend of mine from the US just brought about six suitcases and paid for excess baggage and got them the same day. If I had known all this, that’s what I would have done and just brought less stuff.

Last night I opened one box, but was too tired to do the other. I’ll do that tonight. It feels so good to have even some of my own familiar things around me. I know it’s just “stuff”, but it is kind of a bridge between my life in Canada and my life in Argentina, so it’s important to me.

Colour me happy!