So, we were very very hopeful that our trip back to this crazy country wouldn’t be as awful as the trip out of it, but we just couldn’t be sure. We were scheduled on a 4 am flight from Dubai with the same shady company…meaning we would have to be at the airport by at least 2 am…meaning no sleep. If we would have known that the flight was going to go, it wouldn’t have been a problem. We have done it before and it is only slightly miserable. We get coffee and let Little T play on the playground before we board the plane and then we all pass out and sleep.
The kicker was that we could get NO confirmation that we are on the flight or that the flight was even going to happen. And call me a killjoy, but going to the airport only to find out that the flight isn’t happening again isn’t my idea of a good time. Finally, because of a lack of confirmation and the trouble with our ticket on the way here, we found out that our ticket had been cancelled and refunded. We worked on booking with the reliable airline only to have credit card issues…I am telling you, it is always something.
The next morning, we got the airport in good time and bought the tickets there. We hung out in the duty free shop and got McDonalds before getting on the plane (that was delayed by an hour because of weather). Little t was awesome the whole time…but then again who wouldn’t be after getting to play with dancing monkeys and singing dogs and other cool toys for an hour? He fell right asleep on the flight and it was a great time. A and I snickered at the awful awful English in the in-flight magazine. All in all, it was a great flight.
Because one of our bags had been stuck a few rows back and people are not so helpful, we were the last ones off the plane and into the line for immigration. This is not unusual for us and thankfully Little t was pretty chill. He began to make friends with the one man who was behind us in line.
I sort of cringed when our struck-up conversation with this man brought about the fact that he worked for the U.S. Embassy. I was sure that a lecture was going to be the next thing out of his mouth. Usually we hear about how stupid and irresponsible we are for being here, especially as a family, etc. But this guy was wonderfully different. He had lived and worked all over the world and raised his kids in some hard places. He affirmed our work here and raising Little t here. It brought tears to my eyes to hear that from him…and even more to my eyes when he pulled out gifts of candy for us and Little t, “just because”.
Still on my ‘nice people’ high, I didn’t think much about the two young local boys who were playing and inching closer and closer to Little t. I encouraged him to tell them hello and he played shy. One of them…probably 4 or 5 years old ran over and hit Little t on the back. It didn’t seem all that mean, just like he was trying to get his attention. I saw it happen again and Little t didn’t know what to think but was curious by them. While slightly distracted by the ongoing conversation with Embassy man, out of the corner of my eye I saw the little boy come at Little t again and this time begin to claw his face. Little t started screaming as the kid clawed him. I ran over and moved his hand away as I yelled (in local language) “what in the world are you doing? Get your hands off him! Why would you do that? You are a bad boy!” His sister at the same time gave him a hearty slap across the back of the head and drug him kicking and screaming off to his father who was at the head of the immigration line. Once again, all of the people in the building were looking at a screaming Little t…but this time his screams were totally justified. Or maybe they were looking at his bear of a mother…who knows.
Thankfully, we finished our airport business quietly and made our way out of that place.
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