Country hopping

After having spent a wonderful week in Egypt, I headed off for my new adventure in Libya.

I headed off to Tripoli with 3 members of the management team on an eventful flight.... part of the emergency exit door decided to fall a few minutes after take off.... the a piece of plastic covering the door handle...... the guy next to the door found it a bit amusing and started fooling around while the people sitting around the door panicked and stood up away from the door..... the air hostess came running to obviously stop the guy, put the plastic thing back on and said 'don't worry, this is something normal' Normal???? I've had my fair share of flying but the emergency exit door never started falling apart half way through the air......... maybe normal for Egypt Air??? The three hours were spend listening to the chanting of the Koran as only 1st class got headphones..... luckily Michelle had her ipod so we amused ourselves listening to her music while I made fun of her 'oldie' music..... Towards the end of the flight, after the seat belt sign when one a load beeping echoed throughout the plane..... which was not very calming considering the fact that falling apart exit doors were normal.... luckily we landed safely and we were warmly welcome by the Libyans and headed off to what would be home for the next 4 months....

I can't say much about Libya.... I've only stayed there for 2 days and in these two days I spent time transitioning and unpacking my bags, before I headed off to Malta for the Eid break.

Nevertheless I did get a quick drive through of Tripoli so as to get me accustomed to the roads, so when I head out with the car on my own I won't get lost (practically impossible)...... and the highlight of the day was actually going to a fruit vendor and finding out that Libya has big juicy pears and apples which I missed soooo much!!!

I was hesitant whether I should use these holidays to hop over to Malta for some family quality time, or get acquainted with Tripoli..... I figured that I have 4 months to get acquainted with Tripoli so I hoped on to the first flight home...

I haven't been home in 11months, so it was a mixed sensation of excitement to be around things so familiar to me, and having to do 11months of catching up in 3 days......

Climbing on to the Air Malta plane and seeing the Maltese hostesses already felt like I was at home...... when I first boarded the plane the steward formally looked at my ticket and started explaining the usual formalities in English, until the saw my Maltese passport and said 'ahh u inti Maltija' then started joking around in Maltese....... and that's when I realized that I missed the Maltese friendliness, and hospitality.... the feeling of unity the Maltese have when out of their country although coming from different backgrounds......

When I got to the airport I received a warm welcome from my close family and extended family... hugs, kissing, staring (from not having seen each other for such a long time), more hugs and kissing then the loud altogether talking began until they decided that I was tired and I wanted to go home.....

The first thing, after having made sure my dog recognized me and wouldn't bite me, was run around the house to make sure all was still the same, and when that was over, I unpacked my little suitcase, which was full of Ethiopian souvenirs and started my story telling......

The next two days were a 'getting Thea sorted day' and family house hopping day..... My parents didn't want to let go of me, so my father appointed himself as my chauffer and my mother and sister were my escorts, we move, the whole family from one place to another, first getting my international driving license sorted, then the bank, then the necessary medical visits, the must do shopping, family visits, my doses of pastizzi and kinnie..... all these with a procession of 3 people always behind me...... luckily my brother had work..... cause otherwise it would have been 4 - which actually looked quite weird.... imagine at the back discussing your matters with the cashier and having 3 people standing behind you, or a 24yr old having her whole family come and sit with her when she takes her injections at the clinic!! quite a sight I must say.....

I finally managed to escape for a much needed Snake Bite at Ryans with Cynthia!! Ahh how I missed out Snake Bites (A drink, apparently popular in Australia which basically consists of 1/2 a pint of cider, 1/2 a pint of lager and a touch of grenadine......many a night of folly under the influence of this drink).....

Cynthia and I had a good lot of catching up to do, though the meeting was short it was well spent.... with Cynthia, although we barely ever keep in touch through e-mail or any other way of communication, except for the occasionally SMS, it still feels as though I had never left..... there is never that awkward silence, not knowing what to say, although our lives are not completely different, both with different priorities in life, the relationship is still exactly the same as the one we had when we saw each other every day at uni....

Friday night I also got the opportunity to go out and catch up on some long lost friends...... Tania arranged a nice get together at ryans where we had beers spoke about this and that caught up on what everyone's doing, and even got to listen to Karina's descriptive experiences in Egypt while on a business trip..... man you should have heard her describe Kosheri which is what her colleague took her to eat as a typical Egyptian meal it was hilarious!!!!! - somehow reminding me of when Tom decided that a nice romantic meal would be a Kosheri place next to Ramsis station, where you get to eat in metal plates with plastic spoons!!!!!

Tomorrow is the last day at home...... a bit more stuffing with kinnie, pastizzi and other Maltese food before I start my first official day of work on Sunday...... The work in Libya is pretty much similar to the one in Ethiopia, though could be slightly more challenging and harder...... can't wait.... and you're definitely all going to hear about it!!!