Home Sweet Home!

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Home Sweet Home!
Back to Canada!

Our trip had a typical South American ending...we were stuck 24 hours in Costa Rica after missing our connections due our late arrival! But I have to admit that TACA , the airline company, was not responsible for the bad weather...even if they said that they would wait for us! Fortunately, we succeeded to reschedule our connection with Air Canada in Los Angeles and we received free cab and meal vouchers at a nice Holiday Inn. in San Jose, Costa Rica where we rested from the last stressful and tiring hours on a shaky plane and in an hectic airport. We flew the next evening to Los Angeles where we spent the night before boarding the next morning on our flight for Vancouver. The wooden benches were hard and the air-conditioned room freezing but we made it safe and sound to the Air Canada gate the next morning!

We arrived in Vancouver early afternoon on May 11 and were welcomed by both Jason's parents and grandparents. While we were driving back home, I noticed how clean and clear was the air...it had been a long time since I did not breathe such fresh air! I was also admiring the Spring landscapes of Vancouver: green background with beautiful mountains topped with snow. After spending the weekend being spoiled at Jason's parents' place (eating great food and drinking good wine), we moved into our good old apartment downtown in the West End Sunday afternoon...a familiar place where I will be spending the summer. While slowly coming back to the Canadian reality, I appreciated simple things such as drinking the water from the tap and not worrying about my money belt!

As I was looking back at my journey throughout South America, I came to realize how many kilometers we have traveled...and how many hours we have spent on buses! But especially how much I have seen and how much I have changed. Living, studying and traveling throughout this immense continent for several months has been an enriching and eye-opening experience but also a time for reflexion and questioning.

The highlights of this long journey were the countries of Argentina and Cuba. While our stay in Buenos Aires was amazing and our journey throughout Patagonia magical, Cuba has been a fascinating country to visit. In terms of my favorite cities, Cuzco (Peru), Isla del Sol and Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) follow Buenos Aires (Argentina), La Havana and Maria La Gorda (Cuba).

If you are interested in consulting my previous journals, you can do so at anytime by accessing directly my web page: www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Laurence/

I am now working in Vancouver for the summer before returning to Washington DC in September to complete the last semester of my master's.

For those interested in contacting me, I can be reached by phone until August 23 at [phone] or by email at [e-mail] or [e-mail]

Thank you once again for sharing with me this lifetime journey!

Laurence

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