Saturday, April 30, 2011

Too Much Of An Experience

She arrived after waiting more than six hours at the airport in Budapest. The experience she had had in this journey will be with her if not forever but for a long time in her young life.

Hubby and I made our second trip to the airport to meet her and to receive her from the escort of an Unaccompanied Minor. Her puffy eyes were the telltale of the scary experience she had.

Her journey this time was more than just a story telling. First the encounter with some pedophile on board the flight, then a male escort wanting to be more than just an escort to her, to being left unescorted with an Indian driver alone on the airline bus at the terminal, to the emergency landing at Budapest due to a technical glitch with the plane, to waiting more than six hours to be flown back here, even then that plane was delayed for more than an hour.

It was indeed too much for someone at her age to experience for a three weeks holiday. Alhamdulillah, she is back in my arms.

Friday, April 29, 2011

I Will Never Be Happy

Saying goodbye to her today was somehow more difficult, there was a feeling of uneasiness inside of me that I cannot explain. I gave her my promise that things will be sorted out soon, and she will have to keep her side of the bargain. With tears streaming down her cheek I have to let her go.

On the way home hubby asked if I would like to go to Millennium City, but I was really not in the mood for anything. I keep looking at my watch counting the hours when my little angel will be calling again, and I realized that the next call will come in like approximately seven hours from the time of her departure.

Not long after we have settled home, the call that I anticipated to come within seven hours came too soon. My heart was pounding hard as I answered the call; it was her teary voice that I heard on the other line. My first question was, “is your flight delayed sayang?” With a choking voice, she answered “no, mama, something is wrong with the plane, we are in Budapest now, after an emergency landing. I was so scared as everyone was running out of the plane.” My heart just sank.

She is all alone among the passengers, crying and scared, and there is nothing that I can do. I keep talking to her on the phone, she sounded confused and I was just holding back the tears, I don’t want her to know how distraught I am to know of her predicament. This is just not right, I should be there with her, she should not be alone, crying and scared.

I went to full swing calling every number that I have to quickly organize things, she has got two more connecting flights that will not be possible now. I decided the best is to bring her back here, and having done that I quickly sent an email to her school to inform them of her situation. I then called her eldest sister to inform her not to go to the airport; by now I was shaking and could not hold back my tears any more, as my little angel was looking forward to eating her sister’s cooking during her few hours stopover there. I then called her second sister to inform her of what had happened, and I was crying more.

At the moment of this entry I am still waiting for the airline to organize her return to me, and the disrupted plane is still in Budapest.

Until she is safe in my arms, I will never be happy.

It Can Never Be Easy

 
 
 
 
 
 
No matter how many times we have done this, saying goodbye to her can never be easy. Seeing her leaving and flying alone again makes me feel so so useless. I keep asking myself what kind of a mother am I ?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Her Wish, My Wishes

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Her wish, my wishes and the happy fishes ……………………….. Baden (25.04.2011)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy 22ND Birthday Amira

Hi Darling

This is a mother's wish to her dearest daughter who turns 22 today (your time 12 midnight). I love you so so much, no words can express the amount of love that I have for you. I wish I can carry you like a mother kangaroo everywhere I go and every country that I am. However, I know that this is not possible as you are no longer a baby, you are an adult now. I am always proud of you and will forever be, I know you are trying to reach for the stars, just remember that I am cheering you on. If you ever fall I will be there to pick you up and cradle you close to my heart. Have a wonderful wonderful birthday ok sayang, even if you were to celebrate it alone, make it a happening alone birthday for you. Today I will burn 22 candles for you darling, and buy 22 lollipops and give them to 22 random children. The symbolism of the lollipops is for Allah to bestow you a very sweet life from now and forever.

Happy 22nd Birthday Amira, mama sayang kamu.

May Allah hold you close to Him always

Missing you
Mama

P/S: This email was sent to you at exactly 0:00 hours Melbourne time,

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

To Die For

If I were a millionaire.............................

Monday, April 25, 2011

Checklist

Checklist of a must cook before she departs to continue with her boarding life again. It is indeed my pleasure to be able to cook for her what she desires, because food in the boarding house can never match that from her own home.

Checklist so far:
Maghloube – done
Chicken kabsa – done
Beef biryani – done
Fried mee hoon – done
Banoffee pie – done
City Lake restaurant – done
Beef asam pedas – done

There is more in her list but we have very limited time so priority is given to what she likes most.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

IKEA's Chefs

 
 Interesting and friendly Chefs, oh by the way, we got to eat too :)

Proudly Austrian

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Not For The Wrong Reasons

I was approached by one of her school directors recently seeking permission from the school photographer to capture my little angel’s picture for commercial purposes. It was indeed flattering when I was told that she has a very unique face and that they are interested in her. My answer was simply, No, thank you.

Really, I am not interested to promote my daughter to the public eyes. She does not need this now or may be not even later. However, if one day she decides that she would like to be the face of advertisement or a model, so be it, but for now I am a proud protective mother, and only want my daughters to be known for all the right reasons, not the wrong ones.

Having said that her results arrived by post a few days back, she has done good, in fact she surprised both hubby and me with her first report of the semester. She even managed an A+ for History, of course her weakest being mathematics with a score of C, while maintaining an A for her Science.

This is what I want the public to know about my little angel, someone who can be successful in life for all the right reasons.

Beauty is just skin deep, today they might discover her, and tomorrow will be someone else. However, a sound education will last her a life time.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Lost In The Maze

My sense of direction is one of the weakest qualities that I have. Now that my little angel is here for her semester break and when hubby was away I have to make sure that I know where to send her for her gatherings and get togethers.

One of the days that I had to do this was last Sunday (April 17, 2011), as fate had been written almost all the transportation systems were on hold because of the Vienna Marathon. Being one track minded I was lost at how to maneuver our way once I realized that our tram and train route were affected.

With the intuition that I have, we managed to find the meeting place for my little angel; the next problem was how do I get myself home. I have no clue at all where I was at at that moment. Once I saw the girls with one of the parents as a guardian left for the function, I left the meeting place with an attitude. I walked where my feet were taking me just to realize that I was travelling from one tram to the next tram and then from one train ride to another, ending in the maze of the full marathon.

How I got there, why I was there, heaven knows my heart. Giving up I decided to just wait for the marathon to be over, only to be told that the marathon will end by 1900 hours.

Well, I was lost in the maze and needed to calm me down before I could think straight again.

Therefore, whatever……………