Strangely Familiar

Apricot Lady is back!
We enjoyed our much needed break and feel rested and ready for another year of excitement and adventure...which I'm sure you will be hearing all about.
This last trip was our 14th trip across the Atlantic ocean! To my amazement all our luggage was again patiently waiting for us when we got off the plane. Kudos to Royal Jordanian! Our 'stuff' gets successfully from one point to another because of two factors...heavy duty $25 Rubbermaid bins that I bought in 2003 and eight brightly colored luggage straps that I bought at the Ikea in Athens, Greece 6 years ago. I should get paid by these companies for such a great endorsement!

For a lady who hates change (yes, I know, I picked the wrong lifestyle), these past few days have been a delightful reflection on how strangely familiar our cross-culture life has become. It all started in the Chicago airport when I giggled as I watched three young guys do their prayers in a quite corner of the airport using the slim cases from the Mac's as a clean resting place for their heads. I found myself greeting every baby around me on the plane or while standing in line for the bathroom with the common cheek pinch and exclamation 'Look what God has done!" or "May God protect them", always returned by big smiles from the mamas and babas as they tell me all about how wonderful their child is. I smiled as the plane landed and everyone erupted into claps and called out "Praise be to God". You know everyone is saying that during the landing anyway...why not just shout it out? I found it strangely familiar to get on a plane in the lush green, cool mid-west and find myself 12 hours later landing in the dry, brown landscape of the Middle East. I found myself enjoying how although completely covered the beautiful Middle Eastern ladies express their individuality through their colorful scarves matched with their shoes and purses. And I love their quite, calm mannerisms and the way they let their kids be kids and seem to just enjoy the moment they are in. I laughed knowing I could report to my faithful blog readers that the first thing I saw when I walked out of the airport this morning was a trashy cat finding it's morning snack in the airport trash cans. Then, our driver cheerfully announced "welcome home!' when a pick-up truck pulled up next to us on a major street through town with a camel in the back. And I cringed when I walked in to my house which was closed up for too long to find a bunch of dead bugs and evidence that we had a rat visiting and playing while we were gone. My dear husband is with the Terminex man as I type 'dealing' with the issue. Strangely familiar. But for a gal who does not like change, at least my life is predictable!