Cecilia Hanna: There's No Place Like Home

Well, it was an intense trip but we made it home safely, thank God. We left our apartment in Egypt at 1am (6pm EST) and arrived at our door around 11pm EST the next night. Needless to say it was a long trip with little sleep involved, for me anyway. The kids did as well as could be expected. There was some crying and grumpiness but nothing major. Everyone on the plane was very understanding and helpful and no one complained. The trip was a little longer than it needed to be because to get from Alexandria to Cairo we had to take a bus and the only one we could find for the time we needed left at 1:30am and got us to the airport at 4am. Our flight didn't leave til 10am so we spent a couple hours hanging out in the airport before we could check in. Two of my sisters-in-law came though, and that was a big help.

When I was getting on the plane the flight crew manager gave me a hard time about the car seats and said I couldn't bring them. He said it was safer to not have them, I said, "I have a 3 year old son, he knows how to get out of that lap belt and he'll be running all over your plane". He said ok. He walked by later and said, "oh, how right you were, these are much better". Other than that the flight was smooth and we arrived on time. We found Ahmed waiting for us outside customs. It was so great to see his face and the kids were so happy.

We had a great 3 day weekend hanging out together and Ahmed went back to work Tuesday. Since then I've been unpacking and getting the house back in order after 3 months. I took 2 weeks off school and will start my last class Tuesday so I have until then to get all my reorganizing done. The kids are fascinated by all their old toys and clothes and food they were used to. They get so excited when Ahmed comes home from work, even more than they used to before we left.

Mariam joked with me before leaving that I would come home and hug and kiss all the things I left behind. I laughed at her, but really coming home was very humbling. And still, I am finding things about my house that I took for granted before. The first thing I noticed--when I walked in the door and stepped on the carpet I said, wow, this carpet is so soft! I am also very happy to have my coffee maker and my bed, really there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

As difficult as the trip was, being away from Ahmed and home, I'm so glad the kids and I were able to do it. We met our wonderful family members and experienced a life that we would have never known otherwise. I am much more aware of what I have and am more grateful for the small things in my life. During our Nile journey when we were traveling from Luxor to Aswan we were put on the worst train of all time, even by Egyptian standards. It was hot, dirty, uncomfortable, no air and people were smoking outside our car. While sitting in my very uncomfortable seat trying to sleep I remember thinking that without the bad we can't appreciate the good. If we had ridden 1st class the whole way it wouldn't be such a big deal, but by riding a leg in that terrible car, the ride back in the sleeper train was that much better and more appreciated. If you're following my analogy, I'm not trying to say that life in Egypt was bad, it wasn't, but it was different than what I'm used to and although I miss it, I'm glad to be home.

Here are some cute pics of the kids lovin' on Baba after we got home

Roqaya playing HadAlBaydah (This is the egg) with Baba