Two Years

It's been two years since I've posted on this blog. It's been a hard readjustment for us, especially me. Without getting too depressing, I'll just sum it up by saying it was hard to leave abruptly, and not on our terms from the country we were finally adjusting to. It was hard leaving friends behind. Mostly, it just made me sad thinking of posting on here when we obviously weren't living the expat life anymore. Anyway, in two years we moved back to Ft Worth, and then in November moved back to our hometown in south Texas. My husband got a promotion and is now commuting overseas every 5 weeks. I am teaching. The kids are doing well. They have grown so much. We miss Cairo still and hope to one day go back. We also hope to continue our traveling and relive the expat experience again soon. For now, we are healthy and thriving, so I try to remind myself that daily.

On being back in the States

We have been in Texas almost two weeks. I have loved being here- enjoying the fresh air and beautiful weather and all the lovely conveniences, but Ariel and I have both been grappling with a lot of guilt and sadness about our sudden move. We both feel immense guilt leaving our housekeeper and driver behind so suddenly, and obviously Ariel feels like he left his work incomplete even though all of this has been out of his control. I also feel sad having left the schools and the girls teachers and all the people who are part of our lives back in Cairo. It's hard. I feel like I can't fully enjoy myself knowing I have so many loose ends; the apartment full of our stuff, bank and utility accounts still open, etc. etc. As for now the plan is for Ariel to work here until April, then attend a 3 week training in Malaysia, followed by his probable return to Cairo for a few months, and then most likely, his company will be transferring him back to Texas. The plans are still tentative, but that's what we are working with right now.

The girls are now in a local school and doing well. We are all still feeling reverse culture shock, which can be pretty funny. The littlest things make them happy, like H-E-B and "real" commercials. Little by little I feel like we are readjusting to life back home, but part of me is still sad about all we left behind.

Sadness

We have now been in Texas for a week. Before that we were in Turkey for 4 or 5 days. I don't even remember anymore. The past few weeks have been a blur. I have gone from feeling anxious to scared to sad to relieved to sad again during this time. I am happy to be home in Texas but I am sad for all that we have left behind. Our dear housekeeper, the girls schools, our friends, our clothes, and toys, and other personal belongings. Ariel has been assigned here until the middle of April and then will probably be returning to Cairo. Us on the otherhand, I just don't know. I am enrolling Jackie at a local school Monday, so we will most likely finish out the school year here. Then we will most likely spend the entire summer here (as we had always planned to do). I don't know if or when we will return to Cairo, It really depends on the situation and what Ariel's company wants him to do. I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us. Never in a million years did I think something like this would happen.

Ok.

We are fine. We were evacuated from Cairo a few days ago and are now in Texas. I left Egypt with a heavy heart, unsure of what will happen next. I will update more later when I get a chance. Thank you to everyone for all the kind thoughts and prayers. It's wonderful to know we have so many family and friends who care so much for us.

Our Week

The last week has been eventful to say the least. First, last Friday night poor Jackie tripped and fell on our marble floor, splitting her chin open in the process. This was followed by tears, blood, and an intense visit to the local hospital. A few days later on January 25th, protests in Cairo began, causing a wave of rumors, panic, and plans for more protests to come. So far we are safe in our "bubble", if that is a naive assesment I don't know yet. To make matter worse, my in-laws were supposed to be arriving today for two weeks but had to make an emergency landing in Ireland due to a sick passenger. They missed their connection in Frankfurt and are now set to fly in tomorrow, the day of a planned massive protest.

We had lots of sightseeing planned in the next few days but are now taking it day by day depending on the situation here in Cairo. For now, the U.S. Embassy is advising all American citizens to avoid public gatherings and mosques at least through the weekend. After that we shall see.

The Wisdom of A Four Year Old

Yesterday morning Julia threw up. Her vomit consisted mostly of mucous, but she was gagging and coughing so I suggested she stay home from preschool. She reluctantly agreed but by mid morning she was totally fine and totally bored out of her mind. I put her to work doing her favorite thing- spelling worksheets. She can do those things forever. She loves to write, especially with markers, so she was content to do worksheet after worksheet all morning long.

Later, while Julia was busy with her worksheets, the meat delivery guy called to ask for directions to our building. In butchered, broken arabic I tried in vain to explain where are building was located, the color of it, the number of the building, and so on. Our conversation grew louder and more confusing and by the time we hung up we were pretty much yelling in broken english/broken arabic to one another.

When I hung up the phone, Julia rolled her eyes and said, "Mommy you REALLY need to learn arabic." She gave an exasperated sigh and added, "Especially your numbers and letters." Julia is learning arabic at school and is much more fluent in the language than I am.

Next time I think I'll have her give directions to the delivery guy, but in my defense he did show up at my door 10 minutes later.

No Wonder I'm An Underachiever...

...because I wasn't raised by a Chinese mother!

Seriously, I didn't know how to react after reading that article. Flabbergasted pretty much sums it up!