Dispatch on Disney

Three days...that is all it took for me to feel like my feet were going to fall off, my wallet was going to go on strike, and that the next child I tripped over would likely send me hurtling to the pavement and my doom. I go back to Disney every 5 years or so, but as I get older I'm finding it harder and harder to keep up my momentum through the entire trip.

Still though - what fun! Pics with various characters, great rides, and watching my niece have what passes for an intellectual conversation (among the three year-old set) with a very patient Pocahontas were all awesome memories made.

I also found out that if you try (and plan) a little bit, you can have an affordable, healthy-like lunch at the parks and forgo the hot dogs and chicken nuggets. I had an amazing, enormous half-duck in orange-wasabi glaze and seasonal asian-style vegetables at Animal Kingdom that I couldn't even finish, despite all it's deliciousness; there was also a fantastic half-roasted chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and seasonal veg at Magic Kingdom that could have fed a family of three and helped fill me up after a very long day (and did not cost much more than the chicken nuggets and fries on the menu). I also had some pretty awesome fancy dinners - butter nut squash/tomato soup and crab-crusted Mahi at Narcoosie's in the Grand Floridian for my Dad and Step-mothers' birthdays, and an awesome lamb tandoor at Sanaa in the Animal Kingdom Lodge (where there were giraffes and zebras roaming around just outside the restaurant!).

Yes, even when talking Disney vacation, it all goes back to the food for me.

Now I'm wrapping up a very extended vacation and preparing to head back to Cairo. I'm so excited to head home and cuddle the kitties, catch up with friends, and go back to work that I can hardly wait. Before then, though, there are a few things to take care of: a big shop at a big-box discount retailer of fabulousness (where I've already blown $7 on a pair of Paul Frank socks that were less-than-discounted) for sundries unavailable in Egypt, a walk on the beach in Sarasota (the weather just turned GORGEOUS after a chilly weekend at Disney), two movies to catch at the box office (The Black Swan and The King's Speech - even if I can't watch the Oscars live, I can at least see the two big contenders), and dinner out for my Pop's birthday.

Seriously, though, after all that's happened in Egypt in the last month, and all the "No, really, I'm OK!!! Stop watching CNN!!!" emails and conversations over the last month, I feel so much more deeply that Cairo is my home and I am likely going to stay for a few more years at least before moving on. Just a few more days until I'm back in Egypt...and missing some of the Western conveniences of the US as much as I'm missing the hustle and bustle of Cairo now (such is the life of an expat! always missing a bit of your other 'home').

ah. home.