Oveja negra

Like in a movie, the weather has been perfectly set for the occasion: grey, cloudy and windy. Yet the trees and grass couldn’t be any greener.

It’s only 8 am. I’m waiting in my hotel room, with swollen eyes and a lump in my throat. I am alone again. Alone and yet not alone.

Two of my sisters are on their flight to Argentina. My parents and younger sister are on their way back to Mozambique. And I am waiting to take my flight to Ireland.

I have parted from my family again. And once more we’re all facing substantial changes: no going back to routine, we each have to create a new one.

We are aware we’re not the typical Argentinean family, but we also feel like we can sort stuff out and we bond quite well, many times a lot better than more functional-looking families who live under the same roof all the time.

It was especially difficult to part from my sisters. After 2 years of not seeing the younger ones I was quite pleased to find out we get along really well (and not quite as much that they are more than a few cm taller than I am, lol). Personality-wise there wasn’t much surprise as we try to chat, skype and mail each other on a regular basis.

I do wish I could see them more often, but we are all pursuing our dreams and, geographically speaking, they lead us in different directions for the time being.

Answering a question I was asked a couple of times lately: Who’s the odd one out? I must say I gave it a lot of thought: We are a family of odd ones out.