This weekend was by far the hardest weekend I have had here. My little brother was rushed to the hospital and then subsequently rushed the surgery for a complicated case of enterococcus pneumonia. It is so hard to have family sick and in the hospital. it is immensely more difficult when you are on another continent. The whole weekend was spent worrying, panicking, looking at flights, then panicking some more, and then finally breathing a little more easy. It was terrible. Every fiber of my being wanted to jump on a plane and get there as soon as was humanly possible, but at the same time, I wanted to wait a little to see how things were progressing.. We are down to 14 days before we travel, and I didn't want to jump the gun. In the end, it all worked out because John is much better this morning! I am still keeping my eyes on flights in case I feel the need to get there early, but fortunately it looks like we can all leave together as planned. This has been a feeling I wouldn't wish on anyone. I was physically and emotionally exhausted by last night, and I don't want to ever have to feel that again. If I were home, I would have been in the hospital with my family, but here I just had to wait for updates. I avoided places that didn't have good data coverage for fear I would miss something, I sat by my phone for days and didn't want to do anything but sit and wait. Every time I waited longer for an update than I expected I panicked that someone was going on and no one had time to message me. It was terrible. Just terrible.
Now, on to happier topics...
We are beginning a ritual that is becoming all too familiar. The thought processes that come with getting ready to move (or go on an extended vacation). We did a huge grocery shopping trip the other day and it s supposed to be the last one. (We'll see about that :) Basically we need to think about what we will use in the next two weeks. For perishables, what do we really need? For other things, will it be good when we get back? Or do we need to use it up really quick. It's a weird way of thinking. For instance, we are getting a little low on toothpaste. Instead of buying more, i plan on just waiting until the last second to see if it can wait. I plan on bringing some whitening toothpaste back with me when we come back. Also, we are starting doing the organizing and getting our heads around the fact that we are going "home". I definitely am, and Carlos has come to feel like Cincinnati is a home for him too.
I am also compiling a list of things I plan to bring home with me. The few clothes I want to bring. An outfit or two for each kid (ones that are borderline small that they will likely outgrow before we come back and therefore I won't need to re pack it), also coffee, some popular cookies from here, maybe some plantain chips. Basically we are traveling very light. Our return trip with be much heavier, but this trip will be easy! I cannot wait to get back there. Especially with how this weekend has gone, I just really need to get home.
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