Bem-Vindo

Summer vacation seemed relentless this year, and I think that was largely due to the fact we were waiting for grandparents...all of them, actually, to make their visits.  (We, of course, filled those tireless hours in the swimming pool mostly.)

"Welcome Grandma and Grandpa" (the words grandma and grandpa are spelled the same in Portuguese with only a different accent mark distinguishing them.)

But oh, how worth the wait when we met Grandma and Grandpa at the airport!  Even tentative H gave rounds of hugs. I don't find it particularly kind to post pictures of people who've been travelling for more than 24 hrs, but this shot is here to show everyone got their long overdue love.

It's a little nerve racking meeting relatives at the airport, because once they leave the US, you have no way to be in contact with them...and they don't have that much capability to find help or a way to contact you in case of troubles due to language barriers.  Mostly, we pray and trust, then show up at the airport and wait.  Luckily, this Grandma and Grandpa arrived right on time. 

 

We took a different (shorter!) route to Iguaçu Falls this year, which is where we met my folks.  We took a ferry over the Uruguay River (because they don't have a bridge) and drove through Argentina.  If you've ever travelled through Europe, you might think that trip would be as easy as crossing between Indiana and Ohio.  Unfortunately for us, that is not the case.  I was already nervous because my 3 years of high school Spanish left me about the time I started to study Japanese some 15+ years ago, and I have heard plenty of rumors about picky immigration officers, crooked police who will harass you for bribes and the like.  There are tons of rules, special things Argentina requires you to carry in your car....fire extinguisher, tow bar, body bag...I'm not kidding.  And understandably, you are expected to know the rules (like driving with headlights on at all times) and ignorance is not a viable excuse. 

 

During the whole 4 day trip, we had to go through customs and immigration 12 times entering and leaving the 2 countries, and none of those were as simple as entering the country via an airport.  Oh, and did I mention I don't speak Spanish?  Needless to say, we were able to find out firsthand the ability for Portuguese and Spanish speakers to communicate (not too bad) and fill up our passports with excessive entrada and saída stamps.  The worst we encountered was a toll booth that charged us double because we didn't have any pesos in small bills.  And I'm not complaining because we're talking about being ripped off by about US$1.

 

Either way, it was a new adventure, and landed us in a town where we could meet my parents, build more memories, see the falls again and enjoy some amazing churrasco dinners.