First Things, First

Blog Post about Summer 2020

I drove by myself to Dallas to pick up the crew when they flew in, and their flight was delayed just like ours had been. 

Since I had a lot of time to kill, I called my brother and his wife, and asked if I could hang out with them for awhile. We ended up going out for a great dinner and devised a plan of surprise.

My sister-in-law, Jen, and my nephew Nolan would come to the airport with me and hide while I videoed them disembarking. Caleb and Nolan are really close, so that was a special reunion.

Also, since it was now WAY too late to drive back the two hours to College Station, we all crashed on their floors and couches for the night while Karis was back in College Station with Keira, and she said they were fine.

Very quickly, the next morning, a plan came together to leave Caleb in Dallas with my brother's family for an untold amount of time. I was a little apprehensive because Caleb had grown so much, and I knew he really needed to go clothes shopping immediately. I didn't want to put that burden on my sister-in-law, but she took it on like a champ.

I got pictures in the stores and from their house of all of his new purchases, and I really can't thank her enough for all the places she took him to get him outfitted!

July 1, 2020

And then, they took him out and fed him well!

Nolan & Caleb, July 1, 2020

Then they entertained him and showed him a good time in America.

And can you believe, we didn't see him for another MONTH!

In the meantime, we were all in College Station getting over jet lag.

Karis and I took Keira with us one day to get coffee at this little shop downtown.

The picture of it is below, and when we walked in, Keira said, "Wow! They really need to fix this place up. It is falling to pieces."

I guess this look isn't for everyone ;). Keira was a little nervous about walking in.

July 2, 2020

We celebrated the first Fourth of July Keira could remember at a subdivision outside of town.

She was definitely not impressed. 

The fireworks were okay, but she couldn't get past the loud noises, so she ended up covering her ears the whole night.

Funny enough, one year later, in 2021, she and I celebrated the Fourth in Mississippi on the Bogue Chitto River, and we didn't last 3 minutes outside, before we went inside the cabin to get away from the noise.

Anybody else have kids like this? :)

Karis and her friend Emma reunited.

Emma flew overseas to see us February 2019.

Meanwhile, the messages on instagram from back home read: "Government offices will reopen at 30 percent capacity on Sunday to Wednesday from 9am to 1pm, with strict health instructions. This decision does NOT include the health department, police, Asayesh or security apparatus and service departments.

Other places including language teaching centers, public and private parks, children playground areas, cinemas, party halls, night clubs, bars, shisha venues, gyms, swimming pools, massage centers, and public baths are also to remain shut.

New measures are imposed until July 11 midnight."

I had no idea we had public baths.  Hmmmm.

The Second Coming (of family)

Blog Post about Summer 2020

Doug, Kylie, and Caleb were left behind to finish things up after the lightning-fast move. 

Doug had to take our air condition units off the wall at our old house and put them in storage. 

He hired a crane to take the water tanks off our roof and move them over to our new house. 

Then Doug had to get permission from our new landlord to put a western toilet in our new house and turn the bathroom door around because the door swung inward over the squatty area.  The landlord really wasn't excited about it, but he agreed to it.

In the meantime, Doug was watching the news. He was waiting for commercial flights to start up again, but instead, things seemed to be getting worse.

So he booked flights on a charter to get them out on June 28, 2020.

And guess what?  

On the city's instagram post the day they were boarding the plane, these were the posts:

"NEW ROUND OF LOCKDOWN IS EXPECTED TO IMPOSE FROM TOMORROW."

"LOCKDOWN FROM 6:00AM - 0:00AM TILL JULY 4"

"PHARMACIES, SUPERMARKETS, GROCERIES, AND BAKERIES WILL REMAIN OPEN DURING LOCKDOWN DAYS. 

LOCKDOWN PERIOD: JULY 29 - JULY 4. 

LOCKDOWN HOURS: 6:00AM - 00:00AM 18 HOURS"

Coincidence?  I think not :)

So, while they were boarding, I was watching more instagram posts come through and feeling so thankful.

The next day said, "AIRPORTS THROUGHOUT OUR REGION WILL REMAIN CLOSED TO COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS UNTIL JULY 15th."

I'm so thankful that Doug felt led to buy tickets and get out, because realistically, commercial flights did NOT come back on July 15th, and it would have been a long time until he found one. The charter flight just happened to be the best option.

On the day they left, the Covid numbers in our region read:

Total confirmed cases 5,533

Total recovered: 1,634

Total deaths: 180

Total active cases: 3,719

I am more than aware these numbers pale in comparison to what was going on in America. I was keeping track of the numbers there, too, and this screenshot from May 30, 2020, was one month before we flew back.

 

A Beautiful Welcome!

Jamie drove us to the home we would be staying in for the next 6 months, and it was such a sight for sore eyes! 

(Did you SEE Keira's eyes in the last post?)

We arrived around 1am, and I think we stayed up until 3:30am just looking around, unpacking, and taking it all in.

After that long flight, I was SO glad to see this bed!

June 24, 2020, 1am

A couple of fellowships and some friends chipped in to make our stay so enjoyable!

Keira opened her closet and found new toys all for her.

That morning, when the sun came up, we were able to see the backyard, and I have no words to tell you what all of the grass and trees did for our souls.

June 24, 2020, 9am

It was good to be here, but we were still waiting on the rest of our family, and we knew we were not complete yet.

As a matter of fact, our luggage wasn't complete either.  That must have been a rough flight on everyone and everything.

One suitcase arrived with only ONE wheel, and another was missing TWO!

Covid affected our stay in America, as expected. There were some people we couldn't see. There were some people who didn't feel comfortable seeing us. And all-in-all, it was kind of weird.  But you know all of that, because you experience the same thing, right?

Back in April, when we were quarantining, numbers looked small for our country.

April 13, 2020

But the day we landed in America, the numbers looked different back where the rest of our family was.

June 24, 2020

The numbers were so small compared to America's, but the fear was very real for a lot of people, and it actually still is. The fear of death has paralyzed a lot of people, and they still aren't traveling outside of their homes much. Here it is, a year later, and our numbers are up again. We were put on a "restricted" list August 8, 2020, which means other countries do not want citizens traveling out of this country coming their way.

Hasten the day...

(Shout out to Kylie who turned 19 yesterday!!)

Group One, Now Boarding

The next day, we lined up with all of the weary travelers who had been stuck inside for much of Spring.

June 21, 2020

We hadn't been out much where masks were required, so this was our first experience wearing masks for an extended period of time.

It ended up being over 40 hours!!

We also weren't expecting the full-body-wear the flight attendants had on.

Or the odd feeling of being in an airport with seats blocked off and so few people.

No water fountains.

But a lot of tired.

This particular airline usually gives people a hotel to stay in if the layover is over 6 hours, but not this time. Charter flights and Covid changed all that up.

Our layover was 18 hours.

Our second flight was to Chicago, and then we were delayed getting to Dallas because of rain. 

More time with the mask.

But we finally made it to Texas!

We were three hours late, but our sweet friend Jamie picked us up and had Chick-fil-a in a cooler, keeping it warm for us.

I think this picture says it all...

 

We found it, Now let's Move!

There were no commercial flights arriving or departing from our country, but occasionally a charter flight would come available. When one did, Doug booked Karis, Keira, and me on it. We were going to leave June 21, 2020, so we could get Karis back in time to quarantine for two weeks before she went to ballet camp. And since the chartered flights were more expensive, only half of us flew, while Doug waited to see if the airport would open up and he could get something cheaper for the rest of them.

Two days before we left, on June 19, 2020, we found a rental that fit what we needed!

 

Perfect timing, too, because on June 20, 2020, Doug had already hired movers to come and get our belongings to take to storage.

We still went with this plan because we knew the new rental would need to be cleaned before we moved into it, and since we were going to be in America for about 6 months, we didn't want to clean it and have it sit and collect dust while we were gone.

You've heard the term, "It takes a village?"

Well, we took the village and we used them.

A friend who had been stuck in our country for quite a few months because of Covid offered to be at our house while the movers wrapped and packed everything into the truck.

Then I was on the other end of the truck, at the storage house. 

I showed the men the three rooms we were allowed to move into, and I made sure they stacked things well.

So instead of a stacking job looking like this, I would kindly ask someone to make it look like

this.  And so on.

Then, another friend was with me to translate. The movers spoke a language that I do not know.

In the meantime, our first friend stayed at the original house for most of the day while the truck went back and forth.

During all of this, Doug was at the police station in our new neighborhood, registering us to live there. There was a lot of waiting around and moving to different buildings for different pieces of paper. It was almost 4 hours before he ever made it to the storage house.

And our children had taken our need-to-live items (including all of the suitcases that would be going to America) and moved us into a guest house for the time being.

Then, at the end of the day, I took the girls back to the house we were leaving and let them take pictures in their old bedroom they had shared.

Ahhh...now to get all the luggage weight right so we some of us can get on the plane tomorrow.

One Last Time

While we were looking for a house to move into, this is one of the things that Doug inspects. How much amperage does the house hold and what is the condition of the electrical box?

The one in this picture is a fairly new setup; however, the city is going around to houses and blocking the amount of amps they can run at a time, which greatly reduces the amount of cool and heat you can use when you need it.

Oh well, looking for a house will have to wait.

Kylie needed one last hurrah around town.

Kylie, Karis, and Doug went downtown and had fun acting like tourists for one day just taking pictures, buying last minute things from here that Kylie wanted to take with her, and generally, just enjoying the city one last time.

We hated to leave when it looked like it was going to be such a mild summer. 

These are the actual summers you WANT to be here for, but alas...

Covid Crowds? No problem

Our old neighbors from when we first moved here had the twin girls, remember? I chronicled one of them getting married, and I posted about all the different parties we went to. First the engagement. Next, the "casual" reception in a prom dress. And then finally, the fancy reception where they left together. Feel free to go back and look at them. They are quite fascinating.

This is the other twins' engagement. Since we left the country shortly after this, we didn't get to attend the other parties.

If you remember, there are knocks on the door, and then she enters in a room where only men are, including her future spouse and a religious leader. Her aunt also went in with her.

They do whatever it is they do inside that room, and then, this time, instead of staying inside (I'm guessing because of Covid), we all went outside.

I can't say that there was any social distancing or any masks for that matter.

I couldn't believe the number of people!

During this time, parties like this were prohibited, but we were told it would be a "small" affair.

This is one of the relatives of the groom getting the gold ready. This is part of her dowry, given to her.

And here he is putting it on her. Earrings, belt, and necklace.

You can see how big the necklace is in the last picture.

We left WAY before it was over, but we just felt like it wasn't the safest place to be, and we were still wanting to fly to America.

 

However, we took a picture with the bride and groom before we left, and then a sweet friend sent this on her phone to me once we were in America.