Terug in Belgie / de retour en Belgique

This time was the right day. I went for the second time to Ezeiza international airport in Buenos Aires (I knew my way pretty well...), and took the BA flight as foreseen. Unlike two months ago, nothing interesting happened this time (better like this), and we had a pretty smooth journey. Just, as we crossed the channel, some clouds appeared below us. Of course they had to be there. The perfect blue sky does not exist in Belgium. As a friend of mine says, you know you are at home when you are under the cloud.
So, clouds and a little bit of rain welcomed me. How charming ... Now, seriously, although I could gladly continue travelling for quite a while, on the other hand I missed having my own space, my own place, my own bed ... It's great to be back home. I guess I'm not a gipsy, and I need some how to remain in the same place for a while.
But, not so nice. I had to do some things I hadn't done for quite a while: go to the supermarket (oops, 'tis expensive here), do my own laundry, prepare my own dinner, pay a pile of bills, find a parking space, clean, iron (well, to be honest I haven't started with that one yet, but it's waiting)... You see, it's also hard having a home and trying to live in a more or less normal way. In South America you would pay somebody to do everything for you. As I discussed some time ago, manpower is cheap there. But after all, even if I have to work a bit more, I think I prefer our system in Europe. There are less social differences, and overall, the majority of the people live much much better. That's why so many of them want to come here, to a better world. I was talking to a shop assistant last Monday. He said that as an engineer I could find a job in Buenos Aires .... as taxi driver. Not very encouraging, is it? Wouldn't you try to emigrate if you were an Argentinean engineer? And what if you hadn't finished your secondary school? I really feel sorry for many people I saw. Some live in great places, but lack so many of the basics we have ... The last character that I saw trying to survive in a (for us) unusual way was a writer, selling poems from cafe to cafe. What do you tell your children your profession is? Others live really well, because if you have money, South America is full of amazing places. But social differences exist, and will continue to exist for a long long time.
Anyway, perhaps this is not the right place or time for reflections. I was just trying to close here the stories of my trip. As I presume you all have guessed, I really enjoyed my time, and had a very beautiful and enriching experience. I definitely recommend to those of you who can do something like this to go ahead with it (Sixto, have you started packing already?). I'm very sure you will enjoy it as much as I did. And it doesn't matter if you cannot find travel companions. You'll get some on the way. A lot of people travel alone, also women, and from what I saw, very few had bad experiences of any kind. Just, be careful with travelling. Some say it is addictive...
So, this time I will conclude for good. Thank you once again for reading and sending e-mails, comments, ... I look forward to showing you my pictures and videos and seeing most of you in the coming days.
Till then,
J.