We arrived!!!

I’m back to blog world! The last few days have been intense!!!

For two weeks I could not get out of mild depression, shock, frustration, hopelessness with the covid situation in Manila. My mind was all over the place, from strong panic moments (what if any of us get sick covid or otherwise and cannot find a hospital), to depression (this pandemic has no foreseeable ending and we will be locked up at home for another year), to the urge to do something about it (what should we do? where should we go? should we go? can we go?).

Finally, after discussing with my BFFs around the globe, I’ve decided that we needed to leave Manila for a while to have a mental break. Given our family mix nationalities situation, the US seemed to be the only option. As things are so bad in the Philippines, the more we wait (until school break), the higher the risk that we won’t be able to leave at all (what if US banned passengers from the Philippines like it is for many countries in the world with high covid cases). So last Thursday, hubby and I discussed and we decided to fly out ASAP. Once the decision was made, I quickly booked flight, booked PCR test, informed my bosses, booked Airbnb, etc. Each step was not straight forward and for 5 days I was in high stress trying to make sure we were as prepared as we could (getting all the forms and documents we needed to leave Ph and enter US). Traveling during the pandemic is such a hassle but we were determined to try our best.

Fortunately everything went smoothly and we left Manila Monday evening. We decided to take Qatar airline this time in business class as it seems to be one of the best/safest airline to travel during the pandemic. Given there are two long flights (9 and 14 hrs) with 3 hrs layover in Doha, we were all glad that we took business class to minimize risks and maximize comfort.

The girls enjoyed unlimited screen time, comfortable bed, and play room in Doha lounge.

we arrived 4pm and came out quickly after since the airport was quite empty. My ex-assistant’s husband picked us at the airport and we checked in at the airbnb. I was beyond thrill to be staying in DC area, one block from where I lived for a year while I was in grad school. Nostalgia was real and I was so happy to show my family where I lived and enjoyed a lot.

The best part of coming to US? girls can freely walk outside and groceries store. One of my all time favorite place? whole foods!

We are dealing with jet lag, work meetings, distance learning, and all but we are so happy to be here!!! 😆

More to come….