I had booked a flight to Buenos Aires for April 3 and was doing what felt like last minute packing, though it’s still 6 weeks away.  I was looking forward to seeing Carnival in Uruguay during Pascua/Semana Santa (Easter week).

Then I got the sad news that my second cousin Chris Karpinski drove off an icy patch of road and crashed to his death. Between that, my back injury, and a recent  I’ve decided to delay my trip to early May, due to a back injury but mostly because of concern about my mom’s recent (but recurrent) slide into deep depression. She just checked herself into the Stanford psychiatric ward. I haven’t booked a flight yet, and am waiting to pick a date.  I’m enjoying the spring flowers and green vegetation.  My garden is growing!

I finally found a flight, this time to Santiago Chile for May 17, and will fly back November 6 from Cancun.  I’ve been killing myself trying to get ready and am exhausted.  Today I reviewed the watering scheme at my house – it turns out a few plants didn’t get water, so I’m glad I checked.  Don’t want summer to come wipe out plants that are new.  I will try to post at least once a week or sooner, as permitted by internet places.  I will also link to photos (probably will use my flickr account).  I’m not bringing a computer on this trip so I’ll be relying solely on the kindness of strangers and internet cafes to post updates. It’s hard to say goodbye. I was crying while saying goodbye to my aunt, Ciocia Marylka, whom I love dearly.  I love to travel, but am anxious and nervous, and don’t feel prepared.  My Spanish is rusty, and it’ll be entering a new world.  I hope that I will finally get to relax – I need to sleep.