Moving countries in the middle of a pandemic
You are going to need a lot of Meditation and Wine!
It’s August 2020 and we have been indoors and isolated for an unbearably hot Abu Dhabi Summer, a large number of recipes have been cooked, we have bought and played with all the toys, crafted our way through Pinterest for toddler activities and consumed an immense amount of alcohol.
Our lease on our apartment is running out in October and after being cooped up between the walls of a 2 bed roomed apartment we decide that spending a bit more on a villa with a garden and extra room for a study is better for all our well-being and for working from home which is now the norm. We find and settle on one in the same neighbourhood.
Life has other plans for us though. Early September and The Hubs is getting frustrated at his job and being the dutiful wife I urge him to look for work in the region and get in touch with old networks. As he connects to a former workmate based in Amsterdam, a couple of calls, three Zoom Interviews and a 30 min presentation later, a job is at hand. In our minds the job is based out of Dubai, which is perfect albeit still a commute. We can keep our new villa with a garden and my beloved longed for frangipani, in reality however the job is in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A few sit down sessions mulling over choices while downing glass after glass of wine. A decision is made that free schooling, a better work life balance, being closer to in-laws, living in Amsterdam, cooler weather and opportunity for me to go back to work trumps a slight drop in salary, smaller houses and hefty taxes.
We decide that we are going to enjoy 3 wonderful Abu Dhabi winter months of villa living and somehow navigate the madness that is packing up a life and dealing with an immense amount of paperwork in the middle of the second wave of the Pandemic. This is a major cause of insomnia and worry.
My anxiety was through the roof because;
Our 9 month old baby girl did not have a passport of any nationality because the Kenyan Embassy has been shut since February. Apart from that we need to get a Kenyan birth certificate for her whose application needs to be done in Nairobi and takes anything from 6-12 weeks.
The Kenyan Embassy in Abu Dhabi cannot assist and we need to keep crossing the border to Dubai to visit the Consulate. Each trip costs us $50-75 in COVID tests, the husband probably did more than 12 trips.
We have paid 6 months rent on our new villa and we need to break the lease agreement which if you live in the UAE you know is a nightmare
Our visas will be cancelled in a 6-9 weeks and we have only 28 days to exit Abu Dhabi after closing all our utilities and bank accounts
Borders are being shut across the world and who knows what tomorrow will bring
BREXIT is due end of 2020 and there is uncertainty about British Citizens working in the EU. The Husband has a British passport
We have 4 years worth of stuff to sell, pack and move to a new continent
Just when I and we have formed the most beautiful, supportive friendships, we have to up and leave our tribe
My little girl has decided to start walking at 10 months and nothing and no one is safe
Through a lot of tears, yelling matches with the husband, meditation sessions, sleepless nights, long neigbourhood walks, too many coffee sessions with friends and calls with family. We got it all done and made it to Nairobi.
Of course not without missing our flight to Nairobi because we didnt get COVID tests for the kids!
And that with trying to condense the amount of words is how we made the mad move from Abu Dhabi to the Netherlands Via Nairobi. Nothing comes easy for the Schofields!
