And we are home. Hi Melbourne!
It was one of those long journeys. Tova was a perfect child. Last flight I hated being at the back of the plane. I think it's possibly more bumpy and also, it's really far to walk carrying a Tova, she is heavy now. And carrying a backpack full of heaps of stuff we won't even use.
I realised that I should have put the growth hormone in the luggage because it doesn't matter if the bags get lost on the way home, it only matters if that happens with growth hormone in another country. So I could have saved quite a bit of space in my carry on. I'll keep that in mind for next time.
We left Budapest at about 10am, we should have left earlier so that we weren't so rushed getting to the plane, but we made it in time and got on our plane (I grabbed a magnet for Nissim on the way through too). There was LOTS of security, there were security checks after security checks and then a security check.. So, it took a while. Tova and I always get fast tracked, and it still took ages.
It was a quick 5ish hour flight to Doha.
Doha is confusing to me, it's very religious but very relaxed about westerners clothing and Censorship on TV it would seem.
I might read something about their culture because they seem so much more relaxed than religious Jews, yet dress as 'formal' as each other.
In Doha Tova and I went to the business lounge to have a shower and something to eat. The shower was a nice enough experience in itslsef, but after telling the lady that we would take a while because firstly, there are two of us and secondly Tova can't stand unaided so it's tricky, and her saying 'no problem', she started banging on the door to tell us to get out. So we did, only to watch no one else have a shower for the entire time we were there, which was a few hours. Anyways..then this shower keeper, plumpish middle aged lady tells me "I hungry, you give me money".. UMMM... What the frig woman? Why don't you bring your food to work. You know I just pad $175 to have a shower right? omfg. I couldn't belive it. So I opened my wallet and showed her that I had absolutely zero money. She was surprised. For me $175 is actually HUGE, but I wanted to make Tova feel safe, fresh and happy, so I did it.
I also wanted to feel safe and fresh.. so I spent that money. I regret it, because it was a waste, it was hot in the shower, there was a stupid beggar lady in a friggen business lounge, it was too cold in the actual lounge and the ‘a la cart' menu had 2 items on it that were both inappropriate. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS LOUNGE TO ANYONE EVER!
Our next flight was at 1am Doha time. Tova and I hadn't slept since the night before and I was feeling it. She is tougher than me.
We got on the plane, right at the front.. row 10, the first row of economy. I thought I'd give it a go. The seat arms don't fold up, so there was no way Tova could lay down. BUT we figured it out. there was an unbelievable amount of leg room, and foot rests. After some time flying I stretched out, I got comfy, I watched Tova desperately trying to find a way to curl up on her chair, she couldn't, so she climbed onto me, on her back, pillow under the back of her head and passed out. I was her bed. The seat belt fit around us both even.
I was quite trapped for an amount of time, perhaps 5 - 8 hours, I've no idea. It was painful at times, I was awake at time, and asleep at other times. She stayed asleep mostly.. stirring a bit. It was divine. I remember Tova sleeping on me when she was a baby, she won't do that anymore. So, even though it was quite uncomfortable at times, it was well worth the lovely cuddles I got from being a Tova bed.
The rest of the flight was all about sitting, watching, eating, talking, sitting, sitting... Tova was great. The last two hours were the biggest challenge for her, but even that wasn't so hard. The guy next to me and the lady in the other row of seats in the middle, who we had been chatting to, also commented on how well Tova coped with the flight. I think I'd scared them at the start about flying next to a child. haha. But, she didn't bother them at all. Oh my goodness, she is so great. She is such a good girl.
Australia.. customs... easy enough... then... Aba.. I tried so, so, so hard to not cry. It's really hard after such a long flight to not feel all fragile. But I mostly managed to not cry.. "look up" I kept telling myself. It worked, mostly. Anyway, Yuval really only had eyes for Tova and SHE ONLY HAD EYES FOR HIM.
Tova and Yuval were beautiful to watch together. Perfection.
Yuval drove us home. I started to really relax for the first time in well over a month, just sitting next to him, letting him be in complete control and not having to worry about anything at all. It's so nice to have someone like him. blah. anyway.
We pulled in the drive way to a Bosun. He's so white and fluffy. I couldn't get out of the car fast enough to give him a cuddle. I noticed the front of the house looked quite different, in the dark of night even. The entire front decking has been re-tiled. It looks SO different.
We got inside and Tova and I looked at the sleeping Nissim.. beautiful boy. And then the house.. The entire inside of the house has been painted. It looks amazing. My husband has been busy while we were away.
We all got to bed about 1am. I slept until about 4am, Tova till about 5 or 6am. Tova managed to stay awake all day, but started falling asleep at 7ish while eating dinner. So, bath, bed.. sleep. She passed out.
I've had a more difficult day, sleeping bits, not sleeping other bits.. being completely jet lagged and feeling so happy to be home.
Nissim woke up this morning and found me in my bed. We spent ages chatting.
I wrote to his school and told them that we was too cute to go to school today, they agreed and he stayed home for the day. NICE.
So.. we are home safe and sound.
This is a shocking photo of us, but I love it! We were chatting about how we should lay down on the sand and Tova was covered in Sand, signing to me, getting sand all over us.. and it was just fun, and hot (30's) and about 7pm.