This is life now

We made it to the US. We flew from Libreville, Gabon, to Lomé, Togo. It was weird being on such an empty plane. It was nice. Anyone who wanted a row to themselves could have it. It was special to be on a plane with our Embassy coworkers and friends. I didn't want to leave, but since we did, being surrounded by friends was a nice way to go. The cats did a good job on the flight; they were in two soft carriers in the cabin with us. On the second flight, the cats had to go in cargo. A friend had lent us her dog's hard carrier, so we were able to put both cats together for their 11-hour flight in the cargo hold. We arrived in Newark, New Jersey, USA, a few hours later than we had planned to.

It was bizarre being in a space that was created for such large groups of people when it was almost completely empty. It was also weird being around people in masks and gloves. Jeff had been going to work every other day while we were in Gabon, but other than walking to preschool one time and picking up a cake at my friend's house once, the kids and I had not left the house the whole last three weeks in Gabon, so I hadn't experienced being out and seeing people in masks and gloves. I basically had us quarantined before we actually had to quarantine.

Now we have to quarantine, but it doesn't feel any different from what we were doing before except that Jeff is always home and never goes to work. 

But I digress from the timeline. We made it through customs, immigrations, live animals entry, etc. Then Jeff left the cats, kids, luggage, and me to go get the rental car. He was gone forever. We didn't have cell phone reception, so we couldn't contact each other. It was a little disconcerting. But he came back with a huge Suburban and miraculously, we were able to fit. We had twelve large duffel suitcases, six backpacks, three rolling carry-on suitcases, a tote bag, two soft cat carriers, and a hard dog carrier. And six people. And somehow we all had a seat belt, and we didn't have to leave anything behind. I truly was surprised.

We left Newark around midnight, and we drove to Detroit. Jeff drove about two or three hours, and then I drove about five or six, and then Jeff finished the drive. The kids were mostly good, and the cats were very happy to be out of cages. It was interesting to see how much my driving style has changed. In Gabon, there aren't really speed limits. Almost no stop lights. There aren't really traffic lanes. You just drive as fast as the road allows, which often isn't very fast, because of pedestrians and wheelbarrows and other cars and lots of potholes. But I'll tell you want, I-80 between midnight and 11:00am is very smooth and very empty, and it was super hard to keep reminding myself that this country has speed limits and that it's really important for me to obey them. I also had forgotten what fog was like! I haven't seen it in so long. It was quite spooky. The moon was so beautiful. It was apparently a special full moon; it was huge.

We arrived at my parents' house. They stood across the yard and talked to us as we unpacked the vehicle. It was so weird to see them and be apart. It was happy and sad and just weird. Then we went to the upstairs of the house, and they went to the basement of the house. We both have bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and a living room. We'll get to see them in two weeks. I look forward to being together. 

Meanwhile, the kids have loved playing in the yard. They have even seen hail and snow while we've been here. The kids were so happy, and they had forgotten what cold felt like. (And it was only in the thirties. Thank goodness we didn't have this happen in December. My body could not have handled it.) 

Indoors, Jeff put together a new cat castle for Roasty and Marshmallow. I set up a school room for the kids. And they've been playing a lot of chess and piano.

Enjoy an original composition from Daniel. He sat at the piano and made up this song. I called it CoviDaniel-9, but he prefers "My first written song."