Well, this is either a story that will make you laugh or make you cry.. so I apologize that this adventure in my memoirs is not something so inspirational.
It has been five years since I have returned home. I admit I made a lot of mistakes, but my reasons for returning this year, were to mend bridges. You know how many soldiers who finish early, go home for the holidays, unannounced and everyone welcomes them home? They can be gone for years, some are missing in action. Well, for some reason I thought this a great opportunity to do the same.
I did give my parents an idea that I might make it home, but I don't think they believed me. At the last minute, I was able to purchase a plane ticket to go home, to my hometown Willmar, Minnesota.
Now, my daughter lives there with my family, as I am teaching overseas, and because of my life's misfortunes, she has been living there for the past two years. So, I told her that I was coming home and that we would surprise her grandma and grandpa when I showed up at their door.
Well, I could have flown into Minneapolis and have gotten a car, but I thought it would be better to save a few hundred dollars and fly into Chicago and rent a car and drive 8 hours. At least I could visit with whom I wanted when I wanted.
So, I told my bank here in Dubai that I would be leaving the country from December 15 to December 31, and to please not freeze my bank account. They said everything was duly noted. I had about $1,000 to spend after I had booked all my hotels and such. I paid for the rental car in advance, and would pay for hotels if needed. I was to drive down and see my other children in Missouri as well this trip. I was so excited to see all my family. I jumped on my plane on December 15, with much anticipation. However, that anticipation turned into regret when I would reach Chicago.
After landing in Chicago, I go to the ATM and make sure my funds are still available. As I see that they are there, I withdraw $200 from the machine. I go outside and froze my backside quickly.
The weather was freezing when I arrived. I had booked a hotel, it was inexpensive. I just needed a place to crash after a 24 hour flight, so I took a cab to the hotel, as I could not find the shuttle. I get into the cab and realize my phone isn't working, so I put it down. It is my brand new Samsung Galaxy 4 phone. I take off my gloves and ask to use the cabby's phone to check the name of the hotel. We drive off and I go to check in. I forget my phone in the cab, he collects my bags from the trunk and I struggle the bags up the stairs and to my room. The hotel has no elevator. I go to connect to the internet and find my phone is missing.. I search and search and then realize I left it in the cab. The Hotel shuttle bus takes me back to the airport.
Picture this. I have no coat on, I am in sandals and it is -15 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I don't care that I am freezing, I go back to the airport to find the cabby driver. He is nowhere to be found. They cannot track him because I paid in cash instead of credit. I have lost my phone, all my contacts, all my numbers and friends back home. I was pretty devastated.
I go back to the room and cry, get out my ipad and try to find a way to contact my friend Osama, who is the best friend a girl could have back in Dubai. He did not answer or find messages on his email until 2 days later. Well, I think I will get a phone at like Walmart, put in a couple of minutes, find his number, maybe in an email or something and call him.
The next day, I took a cab to Walmart, with $200 in my pocket. Taxi's are expensive in Chicago. I went to buy a phone and my card did not work. I said, huh? What do you mean it does not work, I have $1,000 in my account. They said, sorry, it is being declined. I did not understand. I went to the ATM machine and sure enough only $180 is available. At first I panic, but know that Osama would probably send me money and not to worry about it until later.
I had to go pick up my car. I get to the rental place and I give them my credit card. They said we require a card with a name on it. I said the name is inside the card, like with a chip. They refused and said okay, then we need a $350 deposit credit or $500 deposit cash. I said, "I don't understand, I prepaid for the car. It does not say I have to pay extra." They said either pay it or don't get the car.
I don't know what to do but wreck the surprise and call my dad. Those who have read Mimi's Memoirs know how much my father means to me. I thought under the circumstances he would understand and help me out, knowing why I came home as I explained it to him on the phone (Dollar Rental's line)
He said because you did not let us know you were coming, and now you need money, well you better go back to Dubai because you are not welcome here. I was literally crying on the phone. My mascara was smearing, I was a wreck. I cancelled the reservation, and the money would be reimbursed in 5 working days. Where would I go? What would I do?
The hotel had cost $65, the cab had cost $60, and food that night, another $20. I thought I have $60 left, I cannot stay in a hotel, I guess I have to go back to the airport. So, the hotel shuttle took me back to Terminal 3. I would stay there for two nights, and then my friend, Jasim said he would send me $400. I was so happy, now I could find a way to go home and visit my older daughter. So the first trip to Western Union, they said that I had to contact the sender, I was able to take the rest of the $180 available balance off my bank card, in order to have a little more cash, to stay in the hotel after the 2nd night.
There was some mix up and my friend sent it to the wrong state. I had to go back to the hotel empty handed. Then I stayed another night in the hotel, and my friend said he fixed the problem, also I had new money on my card from the Dollar Rent-A-Car place's reimbursement, so I was able to get a phone and wait for the money to be sent, as the second day I went into the western union and they say that it has not been changed. So I now have a phone, so I call my friend, Jasim-that is his name- and he argues with me, that he did tell them the correct state of Illinois . He said he would change it, so I spent another $100 waiting in the cab for him to change it. He comes back and tells me the place is closed, that I will have to wait until tomorrow. I end up paying the cab $150 for cab fare.
So, then I find the money has come back on the card, so I book a greyhound bus and go see my eldest daughter, with or without my parents' consent. They also email me the day I booked the bus and say that I can come home and stay with them, but have to leave before Christmas. My parents are well-to-do, they have a 5,000 square foot home on a lake.
They said the reason I have to leave is that they have room for my sisters, but I am not welcome for Christmas. So, on December 21, I arrive home, visit a couple of days. Hug my daughter, kiss her and on December 23, I get back on the bus and arrive back in Chicago, now I can get the money and stay the three nights in a hotel, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, alone in Chicago, 800 miles from home.
It has been five years since I have returned home. I admit I made a lot of mistakes, but my reasons for returning this year, were to mend bridges. You know how many soldiers who finish early, go home for the holidays, unannounced and everyone welcomes them home? They can be gone for years, some are missing in action. Well, for some reason I thought this a great opportunity to do the same.
I did give my parents an idea that I might make it home, but I don't think they believed me. At the last minute, I was able to purchase a plane ticket to go home, to my hometown Willmar, Minnesota.
Now, my daughter lives there with my family, as I am teaching overseas, and because of my life's misfortunes, she has been living there for the past two years. So, I told her that I was coming home and that we would surprise her grandma and grandpa when I showed up at their door.
Well, I could have flown into Minneapolis and have gotten a car, but I thought it would be better to save a few hundred dollars and fly into Chicago and rent a car and drive 8 hours. At least I could visit with whom I wanted when I wanted.
So, I told my bank here in Dubai that I would be leaving the country from December 15 to December 31, and to please not freeze my bank account. They said everything was duly noted. I had about $1,000 to spend after I had booked all my hotels and such. I paid for the rental car in advance, and would pay for hotels if needed. I was to drive down and see my other children in Missouri as well this trip. I was so excited to see all my family. I jumped on my plane on December 15, with much anticipation. However, that anticipation turned into regret when I would reach Chicago.
After landing in Chicago, I go to the ATM and make sure my funds are still available. As I see that they are there, I withdraw $200 from the machine. I go outside and froze my backside quickly.
The weather was freezing when I arrived. I had booked a hotel, it was inexpensive. I just needed a place to crash after a 24 hour flight, so I took a cab to the hotel, as I could not find the shuttle. I get into the cab and realize my phone isn't working, so I put it down. It is my brand new Samsung Galaxy 4 phone. I take off my gloves and ask to use the cabby's phone to check the name of the hotel. We drive off and I go to check in. I forget my phone in the cab, he collects my bags from the trunk and I struggle the bags up the stairs and to my room. The hotel has no elevator. I go to connect to the internet and find my phone is missing.. I search and search and then realize I left it in the cab. The Hotel shuttle bus takes me back to the airport.
Picture this. I have no coat on, I am in sandals and it is -15 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I don't care that I am freezing, I go back to the airport to find the cabby driver. He is nowhere to be found. They cannot track him because I paid in cash instead of credit. I have lost my phone, all my contacts, all my numbers and friends back home. I was pretty devastated.
I go back to the room and cry, get out my ipad and try to find a way to contact my friend Osama, who is the best friend a girl could have back in Dubai. He did not answer or find messages on his email until 2 days later. Well, I think I will get a phone at like Walmart, put in a couple of minutes, find his number, maybe in an email or something and call him.
The next day, I took a cab to Walmart, with $200 in my pocket. Taxi's are expensive in Chicago. I went to buy a phone and my card did not work. I said, huh? What do you mean it does not work, I have $1,000 in my account. They said, sorry, it is being declined. I did not understand. I went to the ATM machine and sure enough only $180 is available. At first I panic, but know that Osama would probably send me money and not to worry about it until later.
I had to go pick up my car. I get to the rental place and I give them my credit card. They said we require a card with a name on it. I said the name is inside the card, like with a chip. They refused and said okay, then we need a $350 deposit credit or $500 deposit cash. I said, "I don't understand, I prepaid for the car. It does not say I have to pay extra." They said either pay it or don't get the car.
I don't know what to do but wreck the surprise and call my dad. Those who have read Mimi's Memoirs know how much my father means to me. I thought under the circumstances he would understand and help me out, knowing why I came home as I explained it to him on the phone (Dollar Rental's line)
He said because you did not let us know you were coming, and now you need money, well you better go back to Dubai because you are not welcome here. I was literally crying on the phone. My mascara was smearing, I was a wreck. I cancelled the reservation, and the money would be reimbursed in 5 working days. Where would I go? What would I do?
The hotel had cost $65, the cab had cost $60, and food that night, another $20. I thought I have $60 left, I cannot stay in a hotel, I guess I have to go back to the airport. So, the hotel shuttle took me back to Terminal 3. I would stay there for two nights, and then my friend, Jasim said he would send me $400. I was so happy, now I could find a way to go home and visit my older daughter. So the first trip to Western Union, they said that I had to contact the sender, I was able to take the rest of the $180 available balance off my bank card, in order to have a little more cash, to stay in the hotel after the 2nd night.
There was some mix up and my friend sent it to the wrong state. I had to go back to the hotel empty handed. Then I stayed another night in the hotel, and my friend said he fixed the problem, also I had new money on my card from the Dollar Rent-A-Car place's reimbursement, so I was able to get a phone and wait for the money to be sent, as the second day I went into the western union and they say that it has not been changed. So I now have a phone, so I call my friend, Jasim-that is his name- and he argues with me, that he did tell them the correct state of Illinois . He said he would change it, so I spent another $100 waiting in the cab for him to change it. He comes back and tells me the place is closed, that I will have to wait until tomorrow. I end up paying the cab $150 for cab fare.
So, then I find the money has come back on the card, so I book a greyhound bus and go see my eldest daughter, with or without my parents' consent. They also email me the day I booked the bus and say that I can come home and stay with them, but have to leave before Christmas. My parents are well-to-do, they have a 5,000 square foot home on a lake.
They said the reason I have to leave is that they have room for my sisters, but I am not welcome for Christmas. So, on December 21, I arrive home, visit a couple of days. Hug my daughter, kiss her and on December 23, I get back on the bus and arrive back in Chicago, now I can get the money and stay the three nights in a hotel, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, alone in Chicago, 800 miles from home.
