Leading up to Summer

Well, it's been quite a long time since I've made an entry to this blog. I've been quite down and out and thinking what to do, where to go, how do I cope with my anxieties and stresses of married life plus children.  It's been quite a ride. I still haven't gotten the help that I need.

I'm looking to the universe to help me and spending time in prayer, trying to look at the bright side and bring positive energy my way. It's a long and lonely process not having people like me around. People here are quite close and I think it may be rubbing off on me and I'm beginning to become more like them. I don't want that for myself. I want to remain the bubbly person that I know myself to be, who laughs out loud and makes crazy jokes, and doesn't care what others think of me when I scream at the top of my lungs.

My family and I finally got all the things we needed to go on a well needed vacation to my husband's home country.  Little did we know there was yet another obstacle in store for me at the airport.

I was 5 hours early for my flight to Canada and was so excited, waiting to get through check- in and wait to board the plane. My husband had purchased the tickets and the airline hadn't asked for anything specific.  I got to check- in and they wanted to see the card that we had bought the ticket with.

My heart dropped to my feet as I wondered how I was going get it. It was 3am and Derek was fast asleep.  The airline's system (Etihad Airways) was so screwed up that some of the people whom the computer had asked to show their cards had not needed to show one when they got to the airport. So there I was trying calling my husband at 3 in the morning with no response. I called until the phone got too hot for my ears and my hands were tired and eventually his battery had ran out.

I sat at the airport crying, wondering why me, why this had to happen to me now; with 2 children at hand, fast asleep and nowhere to go.  Luckily there was a friend who was there.  She was my guardian angel that early morning and I couldn't have come through it without her. 

But the hours flew by and my plane took off without me. There was no space left on the subsequent flights I could have gone before my visa would expire so I had to go back to Salalah ( I was in Muscat now 1000km away) by bus; the plane to Salalah was fully booked at least up til 3 days later. I wasn't going to stay in Muscat for 3 exxtra days with nowhere to go and 2 children at hand!

But along the way there was lots of help. There was Tahl in Nizwa who let me stay at her place for 3 days, and there was Senan who drove me to the aiport at midnight, and then there was Mona who helped me at the airport.  And Tahl saved me again, when I needed someone to take me out of the airport with all my stuff, and drove me around to go to the airline's office to sort out some stuff , and then offered to let me stay at her place again.

I guess I'm quite lucky to have had all these people around when I needed them the most in that very tragic moment for me.  Now I'm still trying to get Etihad Airways to give me my money back. It sounds like it's going to be a long and tedious process. That's almost 3000 USD we may lose!

I hope we get our money back, and I hope we can still have a good vacation because we really need the break!