Goodbye Middle East, Hello Midwest!

 
  
 If anyone had told me when the children and I left Egypt on June

24^th that we would not be returning there this autumn I would never have believed them. There was so much I still wanted to do there—camping in the Black and White desert; touring the Hanging Church; tracing the steps of Naguid Mahfouz’s characters, learning at least a bit of Arabic.

Of course, the list would have been long any time I had to leave such a fascinating place, but one year was not enough time in a city as culturally storied and layered as Cairo. My only solace is I knew from the day we arrived that our time there could be short, and so took advantage of living there each and every day. I only wish so much I had made it to Beirut and Damascus, to say nothing of Israel…but the priority was, appropriately, Egypt, and we saw quite a bit of that extraordinarly country.

    Not surprisingly, Daniel and I have become quite good at moving over the years-- we have moved cities seven times and houses eleven times in our relationship. But this move truly beat all our others for speed and efficiency—it is, by far, our personal best. Daniel resigned from his job on August 15^th, the dog flew back from Cairo the 20^th, I moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan to my parent’s beautiful house August 24^th, Florence started pre-season Field Hockey at Greenhills (my old private school) on the 27^th, and as of today, September 8^th, we have finished a complete overhaul of the wing my parents auspiciously built onto their home years ago from a lovely "old-fashioned" space for the grandchildren, to a "teen pad" for my young adults, with bedrooms for all of us.

      Desks were assembled, courtesy of Ikea (I only feel I have officially moved when I make a visit to Ikea), textbooks and binders were bought, and other than the hiccup of seven duffel bags sitting at Air Cargo in Detroit waiting for Homeland Security to release them for five days (all our warm clothes were in there and it was getting quite chilly here!) we were ready for school to begin last Tuesday!

The truth is, we always had in the back of our minds that Michigan would be our sanctuary if we ever needed it, so the plan was well formed. It is the place where Daniel and I met, where nearly my entire family lives, where academia abounds, and, most importantly, where College Football rules!

    By far our best moment since moving here (other than today's Rosh Hashanah service here with a lovely community thanks to an introduction by wonderful old friends),  happened last Saturday when my older brother and I took the kids to their first University of Michigan football game. It was the opening game of the season, the first game to be played in the brand new “Big House” (now the largest football stadium in America!), and we beat the University of Connecticut in such a solid win that it allowed all the spectators to concentrate more on singing, “Hail to the Victors” with the Michigan marching band, than worrying about fumbles.

    It was just what we all needed, a day of complete American fun with cheerleaders, Cracker Jacks, fight songs, and 113,090 silly Maze and Blue outfits to get our minds off this latest upheaval. As happy as we are to finally live in the States again, we miss Daniel horribly as he is still in Egypt finishing up his job for a couple of months and packing up our former home. It also cannot be overlooked that this is a very big cultural adjustment for all of us after a very intense experience in the Middle East and will take some time to readjust. 

     
  So many people say they are happy we won’t be living so far away in Egypt anymore but we don’t feel completely the same way. It was one of the most extraordinary years we have ever had, or will probably ever have again as a family. We grew to understand and appreciate so much about the culture and, of course, made friends we will hope to know for a lifetime. But the hardest thing for the children and me is that we did not know we were leaving and so we did not get to say a proper, “Goodbye” to the people and places we loved—our doorman, Samir, who greeted us twenty times a day with a warm smile and helping hand, the shopkeepers in Zamalek who grew to know us and our daily habits--particularly the children's after school lunch cravings-- our lovely neighbors and close colleagues.

    Instead, we take Shea for walks now on the gorgeous, scenic country road that winds around my parent’s house and talk about what we miss about Egypt (Shea misses chasing feral cats, Charles and Florence miss the British School, I miss our view of the Nile, and Harriet misses swimming at the Gezira Club).

   And we talk about all that is suddenly so different. Unlike in Cairo, where we were a twelve-hour flight from the closest relative, lived in an apartment in a city of 20 million people, and initially knew little of the customs and language, we are now living in a house surrounded by woods, under the same roof as my extended family, in a city I have nown since birth. After twenty years away, it is in many ways the perfect place to introduce my children to American life..it is a place I know well and feel comfortable. 

    As for this blog…it will continue as now my European and Middle Eastern friends are wondering how I will adapt to life in America after being away for so long away.  Repatriation is often more challenging than moving I am told, and already I am making hilarious mistakes in my new daily life (more on that in my next blog). So I will continue to ramble on here…and, of course, will still be traveling for work and play…so the title of my blog is still relevant as I share my exploits!

Am in fact off to London in a few weeks to deliver Harriet to college!  Until then….GO BLUE and Happy New Year!