Surprise Surprise

On Friday, 2/26, I boarded a plane for the first time in over a year. Even with my NEGATIVO COVID test results, I was apprehensive, but everything went smoothly. Despite my cheapest of the cheap tickets, I had an entire exit row to myself from Santiago to Newark, and masking/distancing were well enforced, I thought. Also, why haven't we always been boarding planes from back to front and deplaning by row while remaining seated until your row is called? So many questions. 

My brother picked me up from the airport and I stayed at his house until it was time for Saturday's big reveal. He & his wife had invited my parents & sister over for what my mom (below, front and center) thought was a celebratory "birthday lunch" but turned out to be this. She claims she had no idea, so she either really didn't or deserves an Academy Award. 

The family, friends, and coworkers in attendance gathered outside around a fire pit. Having just come off several week of sub-zero temps, everyone else was sweltering. I was comfortable until dusk set in, at which point the chill seeped further and further into my bones until I finally started adding layers. 

Starting Sunday, I was just there to hang out with very few plans. That changed quickly as word spread and both my parents' bosses agreed to give them time off on short notice. The weather cooperated, too. It was still a solid ~30 degrees colder than Santiago, but had I arrived during the aforementioned cold snap...yeah. Expedia has no change fees right now :) 

A socially distanced hot beverage (eww coffee) date and walk around Lafayette Park with colleagues I normally only see on Zoom. 

An evening with the Warrens - Cardinal Nation's newest fans - on Monday made my heart happy. 

Oh, how I missed these little humans. 

Me: [gets up to leave]

Jo (age 2): "Bye. Buddy, hope you find your dad" (Elf, 2003)!

Tuesday through Friday looked like dinner parties at my parents' and at friends' houses, new episodes of Jeopardy, long walks (Laumeier Sculpture Park, Powder Valley, downtown Kirkwood), thrift store shopping, St. Louis Bread Company (what's Panera?), and the St. Louis Art Museum, but evidently, no pictures. 

Saturday, my high school friend Liz drove two hours from Jefferson City to come hang out! We walked to downtown Kirkwood for lunch at one of my favorite local spots, and then headed downtown to the new (to me) St. Louis Wheel. It feels a little bit like a tourist trap that showed up late to the party started by the London Eye and the Ferris wheel on Chicago's Navy Pier, but St. Louis did have a pretty epic Ferris wheel (60 riders per car!) at the renown 1904 World's Fair, so there's that. It's not cheap, but I knew I wanted to do it once so why not on a gorgeously sunny day made for adventuring?

There are 42 climate controlled cars.

The 15 min. ride includes four revolutions with views of what seems to be a rapidly gentrifying area. 

I don't think I realized how much my mind and body needed a break from my routine here. On my last morning, I slept until the unheard of hour of 8:30 am (my parents' basement guest room is blessedly pitch black, and I was toasty warm under three thick blankets). At my coworkers' urging, I 100% checked out of the circus that was Santiago in my absence. The past week was all about figuring out what was going on and how I could be most useful. I got back last Sunday and am just getting around to posting, if that's any indication. The days are long, but many hands make for light work and our new team members are starting to feel more and more like family. Tonight, the temporary roomies I gained while out of the country (Rev. Lucas Elberhardt Nunes and his wife Agatha) and I are joining the Fritzler family and their houseguest, Africa region rep Rev. Jacob Gaugert, for an asado. I'll warn you now that I've been a slacker about taking pictures, but an upcoming post will feature Proyecto Alianza in MUCH more detail. 

Until next time, blessings!

P.S. Y'all...it's pandemic day 363.