Australia trip - pt. 3

While we were in Australia, my niece, Tahlia, took some photos of Ezekiel. She has a great 'eye' and I think she really captured something here.

Tahlia even took one photo and created a piece that went into her portfolio application to AFTRS (www.aftrs.edu.au). This is the piece she created - I just love it.

Australia trip - pt. 2

While in Australia, Ezekiel and I had the chance to catch up with a few old friends. Two friends from Melbourne were very gracious and flew up to see us. Though truth be told, I think they really just came to see Zeke!!!

Top Trudy - an old friend from our Hong Kong days and Sharon (below) - one of my oldest Aussie friends; both flew up from Melbourne to see us.

Zeke also met another one of my oldest friends, Gai. I have known Gai and her mother for somewhere in the vicinity of 30 years. I just hope Zeke can grow up to have good friends like that.

Zeke had a wonderful afternoon with Gai and her family.

Wendy is another friend from our Hong Kong days. We had a great day at Bondi, checking out the 'Sculpture By The Sea' exhibition and a lovely lunch overlooking the beach.

Wendy with Zeke.

Sculpture By The Sea (http://sculpturebythesea.com) is an annual exhibition whereby the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk becomes a giant sculpture park. Over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and overseas took part. It's really worth checking out the exhibit while enjoying some of the gorgeous Aussie coastline. Some of the artworks left us wondering "why", like the giant watch and the shoes .....

while these flags, on the hilltop looking over Bondi Beach, were just beautiful.

One very strange piece, entitled morpheus, moved so beautifully in the wind that I just had to capture it on video. Enjoy.

Australia trip - pt. 1

It's hard for me to believe it's already 6 weeks since my last post. Six weeks ago, in late October, I was stressing about getting Ezekiel's visa so that he and I could head 'down under' to visit my family. Now here we are in early December, our trip to Oz behind us and just a few short weeks till Christmas.

Zeke's first peek at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Zeke and I had a great time in Australia, though the month just flew by. The main reason for our trip was to 'show off' Zeke to the Aussie family & friends, especially my mum. Mum is not in the best of health these days, so it was important we went ASAP.

With my sister and her family, and my mum.

With some of my cousins.

I must admit I was hoping for the best though prepared for the worst, for the plane trip, but our little man travelled well. My only real complaint for the trip out to Australia was that the rascal wouldn't sleep in the bassinette provided on the plane, so he was in my arms for the journey. The Singapore Airlines & Qantas employess were great though, and helped by holding him when I needed the bathroom. He was better on the return trip, using the bassinette and even sleeping most of the way from Singapore to Cairo. And Zeke managed to charm all and sundry on the flights with his wonderful smile and calm demeanour.

Ezekiel with one of the wonderful Qantas flight attendants.

One last hurdle

As with everything else in Cairo, getting Zeke's Egyptian visa was not as easy as it first appeared.

First I checked with the university office that helps us foreigners with local bureaucracy, asking specifically specifically what we needed to supply. The answer was 'just the passports' ie. mine, Dave's and Zeke's. I also double checked as to whether Dave would need to make and appearance at the government office, and was told 'no'. Dave took the passports in the very next day, and we also included his birth certificate and our marriage certificate, just for good measure. He was told it would take a week to 10 days.

A week goes by and I was wanting to book my tickets to Oz, but was concerned that we still didn't have the visa. Dave called the office and was told it wasn't ready because he needed to go to the government office!!!! Frustration level - about 5.

Dave does this on Tuesday, and they tell him it could be ready tomorrow. I call Thursday morning - not ready. Frustration level - 6, and rising. I stress that I'm wanting to get to Oz asap and I'm told to go ahead and book the ticket, and that proof of departure will speed up the process. Two hours later my tickets are booked for the following Monday and the proof of such is being faxed to wherever it needed to go. Knowing that the government office operates 6 days a week, it seemed a good bet it would be ready Saturday. Come Sunday morning and still no visa. Frustration level - 9 and I'm about ready to spit the dummy at someone.

A little while later Dave calls to tell me it will be ready after 2.30pm, but I have to go Downtown to pick it up, if I want it for our flight the next morning. So with less than 24 hours till our departure, Zeke and I are in Downtown Cairo, awaiting the all-important visa that will allow him to leave the country. Frustration level - 9.75. Finally the courier turns up. I do a quick check of the passport and see that AT LAST we have all that we need to depart as planned the next day.

Now all I had left to do was pack ........

What's in a name

Within the last year or so, 5 babies have been born to the expat faculty at American University in Cairo. The funny thing is that they are ALL boys. Even funnier still, we all chose Bible names, and mostly Old Testament names. We have Joseph, Abraham, Noah and of course, our boy Ezekiel. The fifth child is Andrew. And including some other, older faculty kids we have Elisha, Elijah and the lone female with a Bible name - Martha.

Passport

I was very happy yesterday to receive a phone call from the Australian consulate here in Cairo, telling me that Ezekiel's passport was ready. I was hoping and praying it would be, but hardly let myself believe it could actually happen. After all we only submitted the paperwork 10 calendar days previous, and there was a public holiday in the midst of that time.
At any rate, we rushed out the door. After all, it was already 1pm when they rang, the office closed at 4pm, and it would take us easily 1 - 1 1/2 hours to get there.

After encountering some typical horrid Egyptian traffic, we walked into the consulate office at 3.30pm. We walked out again, passport in hand, at 3.40pm, thankful that we were able to get it today.

Dave's job now is to deliver all our passports, and associated documents, to the business support office at the university. They will handle getting Zeke's Egyptian visa, to prove that he is legally in the country. Without this we aren't going anywhere. With this, we hope to still be able to head to Australia within a few weeks.

Ezekiel's Australian passport

Becoming an Aussie

This past week I began the process of establishing Ezekiel's Aussie citizenship and getting him a passport. As he was born overseas this meant I had to fill in a form proving he was eligible to be an Aussie (ie. because his mother is), get an official English translation of his Arabic birth certificate, have his identity 'verified' and, of course, pay a fee. None of this was especially difficult, just time consuming. In the end we received his Citizenship Certificate which meant we were then able to apply for a passport.

Ezekiel's Citizenship by Descent certificate

As I write this his passport is in processing, and then the next step will be to deal with the local authorities and get an Egyptian visa. As soon as possible after that, we will be on a plane to Australia to see the family.

The hardest part of this whole process was probably getting the photo. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a photo of a baby's face where they are awake, looking at the camera, eyes open, no pacifier/dummy, and nobody holding their head straight and still????? Thank God for digital cameras. We took a gazillion photos and finally got one that fit all the criteria.

Ezekiel's passport photo - he has already changed so much since this was taken 2 weeks ago.