Two Years Ago Last Month

In a few weeks we'll be heading back to Kuwait. I need to buy a new suitcase since one of ours is in the States. It was a tight squeeze to get our stuff in the ones we had to come and we need to replace it. I hate packing for trips. Ugh! I'm not looking forward to it. At least this trip to Kuwait will be better than the one 2 years ago.

Two years ago fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah. If it weren't for the TV and the sound of more planes than usual overhead I wouldn't have noticed in our little town. (I don't call it "Mayberry with a funny accent" for nothing. We even had our own version of Barney Fife.) Well, I take that back. The usually heavy traffic during the summer was heavier too. Besides the usual influx of people up here during the summer there were people who'd fled the south. Fortuntately Aunt had come up to stay with us so I could walk to the market without having to deal with the tandem stroller that I was normally pushing.

Every afternoon, while the Boss was at summer camp and the twins were napping, Aunt would prepare the arguile (water pipe) and we'd sit on the terrace and listen to the sounds of jets flying overhead. Baba and I would chat daily, as usual, and he'd check on how things were going here. I was content to stay where we were. Our area is quiet, not much ever happens. We'd planned, originally, to alternate years between the States and here. We'd have been heading back home except that we'd decided during the year here that we'd join Baba in Kuwait. We were stuck in a hard place. While we were safe here, we knew that we needed to get the Boss enrolled in school and find a teaching job for me. It was July and the airport was closed due to Israeli bombs. They intended to keep it that way indefinitely. The embassey was evacuating people so we were checking on what we needed to do about taking advantage of that. We kept going back and forth. Evacuating would be a real hassle when it came to leaving with what we needed to take with us. But if we waited we could be stuck between the last evacuation and the reopening of the airport. So finally we made the decision to evacuate.

Did I mention how much I hate packing?! It was a nightmare. We were limited to what one carry-on per person would weigh. Luckily Baba was able to get past a recording and find out that to help us out, I could use one regular suitcase instead of 2 of the carryons as long as weighed the same. That helped quite a bit. But it was still a mess. I don't know how many times I packed and repacked our stuff, trying to get things to fit without going over the limit. But I finally did it. I had to leave behind a bunch of stuff I wanted to have there but I just made a trip back at Easter to get it.

The night before our trip SIL did a lot of cooking for us. We needed to use up some stuff so there was less for them to take home with them. I was still packing, unpacking, repacking so I was not getting to bed. The Little Prince was too wound up so he was up almost as late as I was. By the time I got to bed we had to be up about 2 hours later. SIL and Aunt drove us to a port not too far from where SIL and Jiddo live. They said goodbye to us and we waited in line.

It was kind of fun. One of the men asked if they could plan something in one of our bags to keep the dogs in practice. I was game and the kids had fun watching. Only the Boss understood what was going on but the twins liked seeing the dog. Then we went to check in and board the buses. I recognized one of the men checking the passports from the embassy. The last time I'd seen him was on my birthday when I was renewing my passport. This time it was the Boss's birthday. What a way to spend it, huh?

We got on the buses and went to the port of Beirut. We were supposed to be on a cruise ship that would get us to Cyprus in 12 hours. (I'd been hearing stories of people riding on cargo ships and being stuck on deck the whole time.) Unfortunately it had been delayed by the Israelis (something I'll never forgive them for and in a few lines you'll understand why). So we were on a catamaran (sp?). It was much smaller than a cruise ship but we were inside and on one of the upper decks. It would get us there in 6 hours. Why am I still ticked at the Israelis? It cut off 6 hours of travel time, right? Just wait.

The twins hadn't slept much the night before, the Little Prince least of all, so as soon as we started moving they were out. We weren't even out of the port before I heard sweet, little snores. Almost as soon as we were out on the open water and picked up speed I realized this boat wasn't quite the blessing it appeared to be.

This next part is something you'll never see in an advertisement aimed at getting young people to join the Navy. When your unit is assigned to assist people who are evacuating a war zone you ride along with them, carrying your weapons. Some of you get to carry weapons that is. Most of your unit will be on barf bag duty. That's right. Most of the Navy guys, who were wonderful, by the way, spent the whole trip delivering clean baggies and napkins, collecting the used ones, and cleaning up where someone didn't quite get the bag in time. Not something they want you to know before you join up.

So for two hours I reclined in my seat with the Little Prince curled up in the seat next to me and the Diva on my lap, listening to their sweet snoring mixed with the not so sweet sounds (and smells) of sea travel. {sigh} After those first two hours they woke up. I wish they'd slept longer. Much longer. The first thing the Little Prince did was throw up. The Diva immediately did the same. (Did I mention she was on my lap?) Fortunately it was just a sympathy puke because she didn't do it again the rest of the trip. The Little Prince, who wasn't talking much yet, came to understand "do you need the baggie?"

A very nice man from the State Dept. sat with us the whole trip. He'd helped us in Beirut and he was finished there so he was heading out with us. Poor man. He wasn't feeling well himself but was faring better than the Little Prince. At one point he watched them so I could try to clean up. After standing outside the bathroom for a while and realizing it would be even longer before I got in to try to clean up my clothes, I finally just asked the one Navy dude who was cleaning up a spot on the floor to just spray me and hand me some paper towels. It probably worked about as well as soap and water but didn't get me as soaked.

I've neglected to mention a few other people. There were many who were ill but there was one woman who was not only ill but seemed to be in actual pain. She moaned the whole time. She wasn't just being difficult. She was in very dire straits. Her sister and I chatted later at the airport in Cyprus. She'd come up from the south, an area that was being bombed and they'd almost immediately gotten on the boat. She thought the stress of everything combined with the seasickness was just taking its toll on her.

A priest from the Maronite church in St. Louis was on the trip with others from the congregation. They'd been in Lebanon and were evacuating with us. I'd visited with him a bit before we'd left the dock and caught up on a few things. Baba and I had visited the church several times while living in Florissant and Baba had enjoyed a few of their Wednesday lunches where they would cook up and serve Lebanese food. (The one time I got to take advantage of a snow day and go with him the people who organize it were in California for a meeting with the diocese.) The priest was doing everything he could to help this poor woman. Every known home remedy was put to use but it did her no good. The poor woman just had to suffer the whole 6 hours.

Once we arrived and slowed down, the Little Prince stopped being sick. We got off the boat and got on more buses. We went to the airport and got our tickets and went to the gate. I left the Boss in charge of the twins (who were strapped in their Ride On Carry Ons-the pic above) and went to change clothes. While we were waiting one of the State Dept. guys who'd checked us in at the airport came looking for me. Baba had found a friend who was able to get us tickets to Kuwait from Cyprus. (The plan had been to head to the States and then in a few weeks head to Kuwait.) So I followed him back out, left the kids with him, followed one of the airport employees outside to find our luggage that had already been check in, and went back inside. I then had to find a taxi, preferably driven by someone who spoke English well enough to understand "take me to a hotel that's nice but won't cost me everything in my wallet". He did very well.

We showered, went to bed, enjoyed a nice breakfast downstairs, and then took a shuttle to the airport in another town. Halfway there I realized I'd forgotten a big paper shopping bag that had the twins blankies and most of their sippy cups. Ugh! The blankies were made by our neighbor back home and given to them to take to Lebanon with us. I was heart broken! The Little Prince had to sleep with his blankie! Oh, well.

We got to the airport and were packed in like sardines in every line. I forget where we had to change planes now but we finally made it to Kuwait. It was about 3 in the morning and the thermometer above the exit said it was in the high 40's Celcius. Ugh! I hate it when the temps are that high during the day! This was the middle of the night!

Let's just say that whenever I'm in Lebanon, packing for the return trip to Kuwait, I thank God that I'm not repeating that trip.

BTW, if you want the greatest thing every invented by woman for making traveling with small children easier, get a Ride On Carry On. I bought ours when the twins were babies. They were actually too small for them but I didn't care. I still managed to get them to work and they're fantastic.