Since updates here are barely even worth reporting, I decided to check in with friends and family all over the world to see how they’re coping with the quarantine. I also requested that everyone send me a picture of how they’re spending their time at home (or for the medical professionals, how they’re coping at work). The result has been a fantastic array of pictures spanning most continents, of people making the best of dire situations armed with smiles, jokes, and a commitment to helping each other (especially the healthcare professionals highlighted here).

For the past week and a half, McLean, Ted, and I have been confined to our small apartment in a mandatory home isolation implemented first only in the city of Bogota, then by the entire country of Colombia. I am proud to announce that I have worn only pajamas or sweatpants every single day, I have made dinner every single night, I have exercised at least once every day, and I have baked to my heart’s content. McLean is learning Portuguese and reading his usual 3 books at a time, and we have saved more money in one week than we have in possibly any other month of our marriage. We can discuss Ted later.

This past weekend we were in Cartagena (more to come on that later), so I’m a bit late in delivering you the news of the weekend before this past one. That weekend (weekend before last) comically and unintentionally spiraled into a rather eventful and entertaining 24 hours, and as we were busy living it, I knew I had to do a quick blog post about it.

Happy New Year! I’m starting 2020 off with an exciting and never-before-seen episode of A Sunflower Odyssey!

When McLean came home the other night, after his first 12 hour day of graduate school, he sat down and for about 15 minutes straight he talked about his first day of school. Being married to a man of, generally, few words, this was a golden opportunity for me. I sat patiently and wide-eyed, listening intently as he regaled me with stories from his day. I will admit, I did interrupt him once, but only to formally invite him to make a guest appearance on the blog to tell this story to our faithful followers- this content was too good to not share. My faithful editor-in-chief of The Sunflower Odyssey thankfully obliged, and this is the result.

In what seems like a major feat, we have finally arrived in Bogota, Colombia. There were points when we didn’t think we’d make it (specifically Ted), but I will leave all of the annoying details out, and I will only aim to wow you with stories of old and new. 

Flying into Istanbul for a layover a few months ago, I was unexpectedly intrigued by the sprawling and bustling city laid out below.

Now that winter is drawing to an end here, and the threat of summer is quietly creeping in, things are going to slow down a lot on the island. Unlike most places in the U.S., the time for hibernation here is in the summer, when temperatures routinely reach around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat combined with the inevitable humidity associated with life on a tiny island makes mundane, normal tasks (such as opening your front door) almost unbearable. The winter days, however, are similar to a perfect spring day; the humidity disappears and days are full of sunshine and a dry light heat.

The pedicure that McLean and I got together (at his request), as a consolation prize for finishing his Half Ironman in Muscat, has started to wear off and for some odd and unexplainable reason, upon noticing that, I was suddenly motivated to make the final edit of this post and publish it. Apparently I’ll take motivation wherever I can find it.

I interrupt the three other blog posts that I’ve been lackadaisically working on for months now, to share some exciting news with everyone. Just to get it off the table right away, no, I am not pregnant.

A few days into our trip to Jordan, I received a text from my mother-in-law who kindly demanded a blog post for the trip. Even if temporary, my days of blog-slacking were officially over on that day. So, here is the promised blog post from one of my favorite trips since our move to Bahrain.  

Jokes about turning into your mother are all fun and games until you find yourself actually performing an act that you witnessed your mother do time and again as a child, especially after you’d vowed to your little self never to do that. Then you grow into an adult and realize your mother was right about everything, so what’s the harm in turning into her?

I have about two other posts that have been sitting in my drafts folder for several weeks now, but as I sat at our dinner table (at the Ambassador’s house) the other night, I knew it was time to update the blog.

To take full advantage of living in the middle of the world, our intentions are to visit as many new countries as we can during our two year assignment in Bahrain. For the month of September, for our first trip out of the Gulf since we moved here in May, we hopped over to Greece for a few days.

A few weeks ago, with a desire to leave the unbearably hot and humid Gulf for a few days in honor of our anniversary, McLean and I set our eyes on Cyprus. But, after waiting to buy plane tickets until the prices were no longer reasonable, we were forced to look elsewhere. Knowing that we had to go at some point during our time in the region, we decided on Dubai because, for a small amount of time and money, we could easily make it a quick weekend getaway without using leave. What we thought would be a quick, cheap trip, however, turned out to be a wildly expensive foray. Welcome to Dubai. 

Ted's naturally expressive nature captured our thoughts and feelings quite perfectly while lounging on the couch the day after his exhausting and stressful move into his new home. Ted seems to enjoy the vast amount of space where he can roam in this new house, but his only complaint is that the tile floors prevent him from getting a good case of the zoomies going.

For the 4th of July weekend, McLean and I hopped on a 1.5 hour cheap flight down to Muscat, Oman for a few days. Prior to moving to Bahrain I had never even heard of Oman but people here in Bahrain rave about it, so we made it a point for Muscat to be our first trip. I'm happy to report that the beautiful country with incredibly kind and cheerful people exceeded our expectations.

Whenever moving to a new place, one of my top priorities is always finding a place where I can exercise. Over the last few years, that has meant finding the best CrossFit gym, but in a region of the world that isn't exactly well-known for enthusiastic exercisers, that challenge has proved unsurprisingly difficult.

For the six weeks that McLean and I have been here, our social calendar has already significantly surpassed that of our entire two year tour in Norfolk. we have quickly learned that when you find yourself unexpectedly stuck on a tiny island in the Arabian Gulf, you learn to rely on the thriving expat community for support and entertainment. Case in point: this past weekend.

Since writing last, I have acquired two new things: a car and a job. 

I recognize that my "House Hunting" posts only include a whopping two episodes, meaning, after you read this, you're done with the entire series. My apologies, but it has been a major whirlwind. In the last week or two, we've probably viewed about 30-40 places in total. A majority of those viewings have consisted of us walking into a place, quickly looking around, then leaving before we suffocate and/or sweat to death. It has not been the normal glamorous viewings that you see on TV, but rather, quite the opposite.