Getting here

Finally, a really good reason to get out of LA: we got official notice of being approved for Permanent Resident visas! So within the next month, we quit our jobs and sold 99% of our belongings in a massive Craigslist free-for-all which involved tricking Amiri into thinking that sleeping on a makeshift blanket-bed on the floor was lots of fun.

We shipped our stuff to the midwest in 15 boxes, and arrived ourselves with 2 suitcases. Then, we launched our North American Farewell tour, visiting Michigan, Chicago, and Bloomington. During this time we bought plane tickets, rented an apartment sight-unseen, and Ebayed off a surprising proportion of the contents of those 15 boxes. As time drew near for departing, we bought some luggage from Craigslist, and packed up. We fit all the worldly goods of four people into six suitcases (totaling less than 300 lbs).

We packed until the last minute and made it to Midway airport. Southwest happily shipped all our bags, plus the two carseats, for no additional charge. We had a worried moment when our flight was listed as 'delayed' on the board, but after talking to the gate agents, it appeared that that was in error-- we got on our flight as scheduled. We touched down in Kansas City, and then again at LAX. Arram cried a lot, unfortunately; I think his ears hurt. A 'helpful' passenger came over to talk to me, asking if the baby was hungry or wet, in a thinly veiled 'Shut your kid up, lady'. The two nice women sitting in front of me turned around and told me he wasn't bothering them, that crying is just what kids do sometimes, and people who have never had kids just don't understand.

We got our bags at the Terminal 1 bag claim and wondered how we'd get over to the International Terminal: 7 bags + 2 car seats + stroller + Amiri… clearly we didn't have enough hands. I spotted a man pushing a large cart loaded with luggage and asked how we could get one. He said, 'Just let me finish this, and I'll come and help you.' Turns out he was a porter employed by Southwest, and ended up carrying all our luggage right to the Air Pacific ticket desk. It was about the easiest time I've ever had at LAX. We tipped him well for having saved us a huge hassle!

We took a 747-400 to Fiji. We had bulkhead seats with a bassinet that snapped onto the wall in front of us. They served us special vegetarian meals (before anyone else! Yeah!) and Arram even got a special Baby meal with bottled formula and applesauce. We all had our own TVs to play with, of special interest to Amiri. The kids slept wonderfully. Arram was zipped safely in his bassinet, and Amiri curled up with pillows and blankets. Adnan and I slept somewhat less well, but what can you expect at 600 mph.

We had four hours to wait in Fiji. The stroller was checked with the other bags, so Arram was a heavy little package to carry around (wish we'd thought to put the Baby Bjorn in carry-on!). It was 5 am when we arrived, so it wasn't exactly hopping and we mostly just sat in the departures area. I bought a cafe latte (really proper coffee, served in china on a saucer even if you're not sitting at the cafe tables) and we had some Chicken Twisties, which we've been waiting 3.5 years for. :-)

We were delayed on our flight from Fiji to NZ-- first, a mechanical problem in the galley, and then a medical emergency forced us to return to the gate just as we were about to take off. (A young man had some sort of problem with feeling faint or something… a doctor who happened to be on board wisely recommended he not embark on a 3.5-hr flight over open ocean. He was promptly taken off the plane by wheelchair.) We eventually did make it off the ground, and after enjoying the hot breakfast, we caught our first glimpses of the Long White Cloud, and the green-green-green land below.

All our luggage arrived, intact! (OK, the hard-sided bag gave up and popped open, but at least all our belongings were still inside.) There was free coffee in the airport! And a friendly lady to chat with at baggage claim! The airport gives you those rolly carts for free! Things are looking good! We fit everything on two carts and were able to (somewhat awkwardly) get through BioSecurity with its sniffer dog, Customs, X-rays, and then out to ground transportation. We were welcomed several times as NZ's newest residents.

We took a van to our new home. Our luggage was unloaded at the top of a long stairway; hauling everything down to the reception desk was a pain. But we made it, and checked easily into our apartment. The internet was easily accessible, and we emailed our families the all-clear. We looked around. Whew! We made it!