freedom?

if you live anywhere in a three-five mile radius of our house, you'd know us. not because i'm overtly friendly. i'm not. but because i have this monstruous, red jogging stroller.

that's not weird, you say.

oh, but if you only knew. strollers in the first place are bizarre. walking. now that's just insane. and at noon? god forbid. i might give my son sunstroke before we get back to the house. and he must be so uncomfortable. that's why he's laughing and smiling in that, that thing.

for all the walking that samil and i do, i should be a size 0. i'm not. not even close. but, due to our lack of motorized wheels and the discomfort of public transportation in santiago, i really just would prefer to hike 1.8 miles to the grocery store and then pay a taxi on the way back. can't afford a taxi both ways. in fact, we often walk both ways.

with the adquisition of our new wheels last week, i've felt a kind of freedom. a stupid feeling considering i don't even drive the stupid thing. but it's the possibility of just going. not thinking about how long it will take, is it too hot, is it going to rain. amazing.

and this weekend, we visited the in-laws. a 3 hour trek up the north coast of the island, that i swear just for the view is worth the 87 converted VW minivans with wooden seats it takes to get there on public transit. and eventhough before samil was born we made the trek fairly frequently, we've been like twice since he was born.

have you ever travelled with a baby not in a carseat? on a bus with sixty three other people? and no airconditioning? yah. no so much fun.

so. while i never thought a car could make me feel so... i don't know, free, it's happened.

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note: i wrote this post at the beginning of the week and just finished it. i still haven't really been out in the car, but the feeling is still there.