Last Few Days in Cairo

Michael and I returned from Italy on the morning of July 13th. After we slept in, we hit the ground running until we left on the morning of the 17th. It was officially time to tear the house apart in order to figure out what needed to be packed, thrown away and/or given away. I'm still in shock that we actually managed to get everything done. The house was a complete disaster for about three days. Manga watched us from under the couch acting all depressed since she thought that she would not be coming with us.

Along with packing, we also had to run massive amounts of errands. I had been having some trouble transfering money from banks to banks so that had to be taken care of. In addition, we had to close accounts, finish getting papers from Michael's job, see friends, and get Michael's international driving license. It was rather amazing that in one day we managed to close two accounts, co-sign someone into another one, and continue to get the house packed up.

Our last day in Cairo was definetely bittersweet. I had been very excited to leave, and I love being back in the States, yet Cairo was my home for four years and Michael's for ten plus years. Therefore, it was much for difficult to leave than I had thought it would be. The last day was spent doing the last minute packing and clearing out of the house. Just before we left, I went around to say bye to all of the room then proceeded to start the first tears of the day. Little did I know, tears were going to be a standard for the rest of the evening. Our friend Beco came over to help move everything to another friend's house, Youssef, as we were going to spend the evening there with our friends until it came time to head to the airport.

At Youssef's, we basically hung out as if it were any other Thursday night. However, some of our friends had to go to other events that night. When it came time for them to leave, the tears started to flow, and I realized how much I was actually going to miss everyone. Michael, too, was beginning to feel the strain of leaving the city and everyone with it. I'm actually not sure who the move was the hardest on, but I would probably say Michael as our friends had been there for him since college days. I want to thank everyone who came to Youssef's that night. It really meant a lot to us that all y'all were there to say bye. Furthermore, we loved that a group of ten came with us to the airport. It was so helpful and just wonderful to yet again have y'all there. Honestly, it made the whole leaving Egypt thing so much easier. Once we were checked in and Manga was sorted, which went really smoothly, Michael and I sat down and started to miss everyone right then and there.

We are so blessed to have such great friends. We miss all of you so much and will do our best to make it back in November. We love you all. Lots of hugs and kisses to all of you. xoxoxoxoxoxo...