Monday was a great day. I’m still getting used to this new schedule, where I am waking up around noon or 1:00. I guess the good thing is that I don’t have any jetlag since I’m basically still operating on Chicago time. I continued exploring Nana’s and Jiddo’s apartment and getting quality time with Danny. I missed Mommy so much that I pretend called her!
Tuesday was another great day as I continued to meet more more new people in my family and even made new friends. I hung out with the grand-daughter of one of Nana’s friends at a place called…FUN CITY! Who needs original names when you can just get right to the point? But much to my surprise, we didn’t have a dinner party planned, so I just got to have dinner with the five of us.
On Wednesday I had another full itinerary. The big stops included a trip back to my cousin’s cafe and then dinner with my cousin’s on Jiddo’s side.
Only one video on Thursday, but a ton of fun again. I’ve adjustred really well to the new language, new food, new people, etc. I hung out with a teeny-tiny baby and also at one of the fanciest restaurants in Aleppo!
The highlight on Friday was that we went to visit Nana’s Dad’s farm. It’s about 20 minutes outside of town, but very relazing once we got there. One of the highlights of my trip was finding the eggs in the chicken nests!
Saturday was my last day in Syria! There was a going away party at the cafe, before heading to the airport. But first I got to feed my baby cousin!
And then the trip home. I slept on the flight from Aleppo to Turkey and also in the Istanbul airport. But didn’t sleep a wink for the first 10 hours on the flights to Chicago. Finally, Dad tricked me into taking a nap. We were lucky to run into Danny in the immigration line…and then I was very excited to finally see Mom!
I woke up with Dad on Monday morning and spent the morning playing with Julie and the afternoon playing with Aunt Claire. On Tuesday I spent all day with Julie, before Claire had dinner with me and put me to bed.
Wednesday and Thursday morning were all Claire. When I woke up from my nap on Wednesday, I was surprised and excited to see Grandpa Yagan! I greeted him with an accident in my bed. Grandpa handled it well – leaving my bed wet but making sure I got cleaned up and my clothes changed. Mom got home around 5:00 before dinner and bedtime.
Mom and Dad were both up early with me on Friday morning. I ate breakfast and then Mom and I took off to run some errands, including Target. I had a fun time with Mom! We got back home and I ate lunch, but didn’t take a nap. Mom and Dad and I started packing up a lot of clothes, some food, and a few other things I would need for my trip to Syria! Later in the afternoon, Mom and I went to pick up our farm share, which included a baby watermelon. Then Dad left to pick up Grandpa and Mom got me dressed in my jammie-jams. When they got home, Dad packed up our car with so many suitcases that I barely fit in. Dad and Grandpa hopped in a cab; Mom and I followed in Grandpa’s car.
We made it to the airport and then we all stood in a really long line to check in. Well, Grandpa stood in line while Dad and I ran around O’hare. Finally I got to show the nice lady my passport and we were all set. We stopped by the food court. Dad and Grandpa ate some food; I just drank chocolate milk from McDonald’s (thanks Mom!). We went through security and I did great! Last time I went through security at O’Hare I pooped just as I walked through the scanner; luckily for me I didn’t this time.
When we got to our gate, I was so happy to see that there was a little playground that three other girls were playing on. They all wanted to touch my hair and play with me. Dad let me play until it was time to get on the Turkish Airlines plane. The plane was soooo big! I think it was the biggest plane ever. We carried so many things down the jetway- my monkey bag, my stroller and my car seat — just for me. Finally we got settled in and I was really happy. Before the plane took off, Dad showed me where the potty was. It was so small! But of course I peed in it! Then we got ready for take-off.
I had so much fun on the flight. I played with Dad’s iPad, I played with Grandpa, I ate the airplane food and some snacks that Mom packed, but most importantly, I slept for most of the flight. I behaved so well and so many people commented on how cute I am.
We landed in Istanbul, which I was surprised to learn wasn’t Syria. We had a six-hour layover, which Dad and Grandpa were pretty worried about. Well, they shouldn’t have. I had a great time running around and eating. My only disappointement was that we spent the first couple hours at Gloria Jean’s instead of Starbucks, where I could think about Aunt Claire and try to earn Customer-of-the-Day status. So, our six hours went pretty much like this:
First third: sitting at Gloria Jean’s while we got our bearing and figured out where everything was.
Second third: eating at the food court.
Third third: playing Uno at Starbucks.
It was that easy! Finally we headed to our gate, which was on the opposite end of the airport from Starbucks. Dad got really upset that they didn’t let us pre-board, so he made a point to take his sweet time getting us settled in, even if it delayed dozens of people from getting to their seats.
The flight to Aleppo was really short. By the time we ate and played a bit it was already time to land. We got off the plane and got in line at immigration. I got in trouble for not having my birth certificate translated by the Syrian Embassy. Dad got in trouble for not being registered in the Army. After some finessing by Grandpa, we got through, claimed our bags, and stepped out to be greeted by Nana, two uncles, an aunt, and a few cousins. We hopped in a car (with no car seat and no seat belts!) and headed to our condo.
The condo is so nice! There’s so much exploring to do and I really like the pack-n-play that Nana got me. It has a little opening on the side that zips up! Dad let me sleep with it open on the condition that I never left the pack-n-play at night. Finally, at 4:00 AM local time, I went to sleep — just about my usual bedtime: 8:00 pm central time.
I woke up the next day at 3:00 PM (now that’s the life!) after 11 nice hours of sleep. I ran around the condo and pretended to try to eat breakfast/lunch. Then Daddy and I took a shower and got dressed. Then off we went to hang out at our cousin’s cafe.
When we first got there, I was very overwhelmed and shy. Everyone wanted to talk to me and touch me. After a few minutes, Dad took me outside and we strated dancing on the sidewalk. That got me all warmed up and ready to meet everyone. I was so happy to learn that my cousins know how to play Uno! And even happier that they all have fancy phones and cameras that they were willing to let me play with.
During one stretch that I was playing outside, I met an Aleppian boy I didn’t even know and gave him a big hug! I’m not sure who was more surprised: him or his Mom.
We got home, played more Uno and iPad, and then went to bed.
margaretyagan 