29July2011 Quickshot: Lights

In 3 days our friends will begin the annual celebration of their holy month, Ramadan.  Stores selling decorations and lights, like the one pictured above, are all over the place.

27July2011 Quickshot: Perspective

Although our scope and understanding is very limited, since we've returned, we are trying to experience life in the US through new eyes, even in some small way, what our friends moving here see, hear, taste and smell.  We hope to incorporate this perspective into some upcoming blog posts. 

24July2011 Quickshot: Right at Home

We visited a local farmer's market yesterday.  The international flavor made us feel right at home. 

23July2011 Our Trip II

11.  We stood and watched the baggage carousel go round and round.  Finally all our bags, minus the stroller, came down the conveyor belt and right by us.  Three carts, each piled about 6 feet high, were pushed through immigration without a hitch and off we went again.

12.  After receiving directions from an airport employee we hurried up an elevator (2 trips) to the wrong ticketing office, back down the elevator (2 more trips) and the air train to a different terminal, out some doors, through a garage, up another elevator (again, 2 trips) and to the right ticket counter.  

13.  "The closed the gate 7 minutes ago.  Sorry!"  We just looked at each other.  After all of that we had missed our flight.  You hear stories about airlines putting you on a different flight, sending you with another carrier, or at least providing a hotel stay and some food vouchers.  Apparently these things are made up.  The US Airways employee just stared at us like we were crazy and blames another airline.  Our option was to sleep in the airport and take a flight the following morning.  Yep, you read that right.  20 bags, 4 kids and a pregnant lady in an airport lobby for the night.  So we bit our tongues, arranged some chairs and covered the kids with blankets and clothes.  Around 1 o'clock a security guard came and told us we needed to move to a different part of the terminal.  In spite of having the okay from the customer service supervisor we were forced to move.  

14.  At 3:45am we headed back to the ticket office, kids and bags in tow, and waited for them to open at 4.  

15  At 4:20am we got to speak with someone.

16. At 4:40am a very sweet customer service representative, Helen, handed us our boarding passes, apologized again for the situation and wished us a pleasant journey.

17. Through security, x-rayed bags and scanned people...again.  Patted down, thanked and bid pleasant farewell.  

18.  By 5:15 we were drowning our sorrows in McDonald's bacon, egg and cheese biscuits. 

19. We got to the gate and were getting ready to board when the ticket agent said, "Wait, you don't have a seat assignment."  Fortunately there were enough seats for us.  Unfortunately none of them were together.  How do you tell a 2 year-old and a 4 year-old to sit beside a stranger?  Thankfully our kids are resilient and other passengers kind enough to move.  

20.  "Ladies and gentlemen we have a small mechanical issue that we're dealing with.  We're gonna do some checks and hopefully be out of here soon."  We weren't surprised at this development.  Of course the plane was going to break down.  Would we ever get to North Carolina again?

21.  2 hours later we were landing in Charlotte.  The mechanical issue had been quickly resolved and although we sat on the tarmac for nearly an hour we were able to take off.  

22.  30 minutes later we were hugging family and waiting for our bags on another conveyor belt.  

That's the basics of our trip.  Quite an adventure but definitely worth it.  Welcome to America 14 Beautiful Feet.!

See some pictures from our trip on the kids' blog. 

23July2011 Our Trip I

A step-by-step of our voyage to the US:

1.  P took our luggage, nearly 600 pounds, to the airline a day ahead of our departure.  Nonetheless we arrived a couple hours ahead of departure time just to be safe.

2.  When we got to the airport the line for departures was out the door.  Nervous travelers, well wishers, crying family members, and luggage was everywhere.  P navigated us through the chaos and we went through our first checkpoint.  4 carry-ons, 6 backpacks and a stroller were x-rayed.  6 passengers were scanned and patted down (D and M went through the women's line and made through in seconds).  Something suspicious caught the attention of security in a couple of the boys' bags so further, hands-on inspection was required.  The culprits---a couple rechargeable batteries, a nerf blaster and a ram's horn.    We were waved through to another checkpoint.

3.  Checkpoint number 3 revealed that all of our carry-ons were too big.  Maybe we looked suspicious or something, all those white faces in a see of olive toned ones.   People rushed by us in scores with humongous bags, some the size of SUV's without a blink but ours were a huge problem.  After P "discussed" things with the man a while he walked off mad, looking for other infractions, leaving us to wonder what to do.  P took a couple carryons to the supervisor in charge, paid $75 and we kept on trucking.

4.  The immigration line was huge.  D and 3 little ones made it through without a problem.  P & Z got behind a tour group or something and waited 30 minutes to talk to an official.  Without a question their passports were stamped and we headed to the gate.

5.  Money exchanged.  US currency in hand.

6.  Checkpoint number 4.  Bags x-rayed again and another pat down.

7.  Checkpoint number 5, this time the gate was in sight...and we still had 20 minutes before departure.  Every carry-on was opened and searched.  No problem...until the official got to the boy's bags.  Apparently this was the first time the gentleman had ever seen toys.  When he got to the bag full of Legos he nearly lost it.  The supervisor in charge came to our rescue, told the man to get a grip and sent us all through.

8.  After having our passports and tickets checked one more time we boarded the plane, put all our stuff in overhead bins and buckled in.

9.  Touch screen monitors, videos on demand, 3 square meals, tons of snacks, repeated trips to the lavatories, a little sleep and there, and 13 hours later we landed.

10. US Customs was a breeze.  "Welcome home" and a big smile marked our reentry into America.

21July2011 Quickshot: The eagle has landed.

20July2011 Quickshot: End of the Road

Alas all good things must come to an end.  Our family is looking forward to the next road He leads us on.

18July2011 Quickshot: Foundation

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

17July2011 Quickshot: Driving Around

Above are some photos J took with his father's mobile phone yesterday.

15June2011 Quickshot: The Candy Man Can

This fella walks through our neighborhood regularly selling toys, cotton candy and other sweets.  He has a little whistle that he blows as we walks letting all the kids on the street know he's coming.  We call him the Candy Man.

14July2011 Quickshot: Market

Found another outdoor market.  We love these places!

12July2011 Fleeing....again.

"I have tasted the bitter taste of sectarian war and bloodshed, 

and I did not wish to be part of a new wave of violence...”

Check out this interesting article about the plight of refugees caught up in the recent unrest. 

11July11 Quickshot: Mud!

I've been told people pay a lot of money to have this done to them in America.

8July2011 Quickshot: Bon Voyage

Our friend, H, is leaving us.  She's been such a blessing here and will be sorely missed.

5July2011 Quickshot: Americana

Enjoyed a great cookout with wonderful people.  Happy birthday America!

4July2011 Independence Addendum

A while back we celebrated the independence of this country.  There were parades and fireworks (mixed with lots of gunfire), special meals and neat activities for the kids.  It was a great day and we enjoyed all the festivities but no matter how much fun it was, in the back of our minds we knew weren't citizens here.  I'm feeling a little like that today.  We commemorate with gusto the birth of America but our hearts call another Place home. 

4July2011 Independence

Watching fireworks while listening to the star spangled banner. 

Smelling charcoaled burgers and tasting flame kissed hotdogs. 

Splashing each other in the pool and slurping down homemade, peach ice cream. 

Good stuff! 

Today we're gonna miss another 4th of July in the good, ole U.S.A but we will be celebrating our independence nonetheless.  It's a heartfelt imperative!  A large portion of the world can only dream about the freedoms we enjoy.  Freedom of speech, freedom of religion and all those other inalienable rights we often take for granted are a but fantasy to many.  This part of the globe has basically been turned upside down as the people here clamor for independence.  Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, etc., etc.  CNN, FoxNews and friends have probably talked about it to the point that you change the channel when these stories come on.  I can certainly understand it but please don't lose the wonder in what is transpiring.  The world is struggling for independence. 

2July2011 We now lock the doors.

It happened so fast it caught us all off guard.  It was mid-afternoon, following Group, and everyone was resting in the heat of the day.  The two youngest were taking naps, their mother may or may not have been too (depends on who you ask), Z and I were watching something on TV, and  J was in the front room, reading.  Now, normally we lock the front door of the apartment.  Not because of safety concerns but because it's old and the lock doesn't latch completely, allowing the door the swing open if the wind blows the right way. 

Anyway, everyone was chilling, when I heard the door latch and J say, "Uh, Dad, there's someone in here."  He didn't sound scared just shocked.  I quickly walked in to check on the situation and sure enough there was a bewildered little boy staring back at me.  J was sitting on the couch completely dumbfounded.  After greeting him and asking him what he wanted, our visitor mumbled something about our upstairs neighbor and wanted to know who we were.  Apparently in his five years of life he'd never walked into a house full of Americans.  Amused bewilderment abounded, at least on our part.  Abdullah was scared.  I did my best to calm him down and after some questions realized he had stumbled nto the wrong apartment.  Initially he was unconvinced so I walked him to the stairs and showed him our neighbors' door.  Abdullah reluctantly conceded but he made it clear that he wasn't 100% convinced by repeated glances back over his shoulders as he walked away.