Sick and busy days - in transfer

For two weeks in July, we were in Greece on holiday, enjoying time together as a family, relaxing. Towards the end of our trip we made a decision that set our entire world spinning at 100 mph. We decided to turn down the offer AUC had made us to stay on another year, and to accept AUB’s offer of a four-year contract. It was not easy, because we have had a comfortable life in Cairo, and the AUB offer was nowhere near as generous. We decided though that clean air for our children, future security, and new academic challenges for Courtney triumph wealth at this point in our lives, and so we said, “We are moving to Lebanon.”

Upon our return to Cairo, we notified our current and future employers of our decisions. We were quite sick. I was suffering from bronchitis and had a thrush from the antibiotics, and Courtney had an ear infection. Abraham was coughing too. As soon as our decision was sent out however, we had to act fast. AUC needed our apartment immediately, AUB needed papers, shipments needed to be arranged, tickets, bank business, accounts needed to be closed, VISAs, medical forms had to be filled out. At one point, our house was filled with packers, packing up our belongings, while a man from the lab sat with Courtney on our cluttered couches, taking his blood for various medical tests. Amidst everything, friends returned from the US, and we tried to see as many as possible to say good-bye. Chaos reigned.

When we left our apartment in the middle of the night a couple of weeks later, the floors were covered in papers, stuff, our fridge was still full of food, and we probably forgot several things that we will miss. We got on a plane to the US to visit family for a couple of weeks before flying to Beirut on our one-way tickets. Somehow, ¾ of our luggage was lost on the way, and when we finally arrived in IN after about 30 hours of traveling, we had no changes of clothes, no toothbrushes, no deodorant, nothing, and had to go straight to Walmart. I was still recovering from my viral/bacterial infection, which had now turned into a sinus problem with a nasty cough. A couple of days after we arrived, our luggage arrived, and then William started throwing up. Then August got the stomach flu, then Courtney, and finally Abraham and I. Two days each of fever and puking. Yuck.

Today, almost a week after we arrived in the US, I got out of bed feeling a little bit like a person again, like I’ll be able to fight all these things off, whatever they are. I’m not the person to get stressed, but somehow I think this past month has taken its toll on me physically. We still have so much ahead of us, so many things we need to get through, but I’m hoping that just for now, I can get well, and have a couple of weeks to recover – recuperate and prepare - before the next challenge.