Category Archives: Expat experience

The shipping news

Posted on 16 Oct 2012 by lornaofarabia

It’s here! And it didn’t even get rained on. I have my pillow!  My knives!  My iHome alarm clock!  My hiking boots! My Professor Snape and Nancy Pearl action figures! Ah, but you know, it’s like the day after Christmas.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethiopia, Expat experience, Home life | 5 Comments

Time lords

Posted on 14 Oct 2012 by lornaofarabia

“People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually — from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint — it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly… timey-wimey…stuff.” – The Tenth Doctor, Doctor Who, “Blink” One commonly noted … Continue reading →

Posted in Addis Ababa, Elsewhere, Expat experience | Tagged | 4 Comments

Terminal

Posted on 4 Oct 2012 by lornaofarabia

Our shipment arrived at the airport Monday.  Any lingering hope of seeing it delivered this week died with this most recent message from the school… Dear Andreas: Please be informed that in order to receive your personal effects first we … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethiopia, Expat experience, Home life, International Community School | 1 Comment

Weight loss

Posted on 10 Aug 2011 by lornaofarabia

I feel so much lighter today.  Like, about 1,000 pounds lighter. The shipping company picked up our things yesterday.  As I described in an earlier post, we were weighing the boxes on the bathroom scale as we went along, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience | 1 Comment

Things fall apart

Posted on 8 Aug 2011 by lornaofarabia

I once read an article that explained why appliances always seem to give up the ghost when a new owner moves into a house.  This article said not to blame the seller for foisting off defective items; it’s the change … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience | Tagged | 1 Comment

Formalities

Posted on 7 Aug 2011 by lornaofarabia

One interesting aspect of our new school is its association with the American Embassy in Damascus. It’s not technically an embassy school (I’m not sure if there even is such a thing), but the American diplomats are on the school’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Syria | Leave a comment

Flying high

Posted on 6 Aug 2011 by lornaofarabia

Revolutions don’t scare me.  Airplanes do. I can date my fear of flying to a rough landing in 1983.  Ever since then I’ve avoided airplanes whenever possible.  On those rare occasions when it is not possible, I get by with … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience | Tagged | 2 Comments

Expatzilla

Posted on 19 Jul 2011 by lornaofarabia

I recognize this feeling. It’s been 25 years but it’s all coming back to me.  That scene where you’re planning a wedding (your own) and at some critical juncture the florist, the baker, the dress, the bridesmaids, the tuxedos, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Syria | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Weighing in

Posted on 18 Jul 2011 by lornaofarabia

We don’t travel light.  And we have a 1200 pound limit (500 each for Andreas and me, and 200 for Alekka, but of course we don’t have to divide it up exactly that way).  So we need to keep track … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Family, Syria | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Stuff

Posted on 17 Jul 2011 by lornaofarabia

When we started looking into shipping our stuff to Syria, the first few companies we called pretty much told us it couldn’t be done.  Like, you can’t get there from here. Axis of Evil and all that. Soon afterwards we … Continue reading →

Posted in Expat experience, Syria | Tagged , | Leave a comment