18.

Goodbye Egypt

16th March

Our last day. The day we go back to Portugal.

Yesterday was the first day we were aware of the Covid-19. I received an email from my Publisher talking about it and actually asked if it was some kind of government restriction or something, as I was not yet acquainted with this denomination or that there was an issue in the first place. The man must have thought I was crazy when he read my email or that I was kidding or something!!!! But the fact is that in our travels we were not at all concerned about the news. Well, we never are, really. And so we did hear about the Corona thing becoming an issue when we got to Cairo, but still we were at the café and it was full and no one seemed to be very concerned.

My daughter had mentioned something about airports being shut down and the need to maybe come back earlier but I had reassured her we would be going on the 16th and there was no need for concern. Which was exactly the case.

Abeer had said she wanted to take us out to dinner once we got back from Alexandria but after the storm she was not up for it any longer. And possibly the Corona was already something she was considering might be a threat too. So that was it. No dinner to say farewell. We would have loved to hug her though, to thank her in person for all of her help in suggesting our itinerary and getting it all organised and also because we simply loved meeting her. So thank you very much Abeer and Cécile! It was a blessing that you came our way and we hope to see you again.

After breakfast we check out and call an Uber to the airport. Simple. Clean. Safe. Just as we choose.

It is the first time of the many to come in the following months, that we are offered hand sanitiser after leaving the taxi.

At the airport all seems to be flowing easily. Some people are wearing masks and keeping their distance. Others not.

We have a bit of a laugh at a man standing behind a young guy who is on the phone and keeps on blowing his nose, apparently oblivious of the new pandemic scare. The man keeps on looking at him with a very disconcerted look, all too unhappy for being right behind him, and trying as he can to keep his distance. Eventually he moves to another place and removes the purveyor of his distress from sight.

We get past security, who by now are measuring temperatures but nothing else than the regular thing at airports.

Once on the plane, we are informed there will be no meals served due to the current restrictions.

When we get to Vienna, where we are changing to another plane, we are presented with a sight we have never before come across: a completely deserted airport. All shops are closed, staff are wearing masks and gloves, it’s like a scene from a doomsday movie with the added bonus that there is a lot of space and no noise. It is like an apocalyptic scene. Surreal.

Regardless, everything is flowing and we get on our other plane on time, headed for Lisbon, our last stop.

It is almost midnight when we get there and again the airport is pretty empty. We are asked for nothing and it is completely simple to grab our bags and leave.

Pedro, my boyfriend, is waiting for us outside, which is a gift, since at this time there are no trains or buses to Tomar.

We are happy to see each other once again and share our stories.

Little did we know that this would be the start of a few long months of lockdown and had we not caught our plane on this day, we would have found more and more restrictions until Cairo airport was shut down on Thursday the same week.

Over one year into the Covid-19 scare, which never caught me in its fearful snare, and I must say I do feel the world has changed. It is something I cannot quite define, and that is not yet very visible, but I am sure something fundamental has shifted.

Over and over again I had said the world needed to slow down, people needed to stop and reassess, something had to shift. Well the world was made to stop and people were given the opportunity to reassess. Many have done so, others have just slipped back into their prior habits, but what has come of this unexpected turn of events is yet to be seen though I can sense it and what I sense is fundamentally extraordinary.

I will leave it right here, for now and I invite each one of you that is capable of opening your heart and receiving whatever gift is here right now for you to receive, to do so in profound gratitude and let go of all of the fear, the blame, the hurt and the struggle to make sense.

Peace lies in the heart of those who allow it. May it be yours also.

💙💚💛💜💗

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