Stealthy Retreat and Hasty Homecomings.

The decision was easy once we knew there was a permanent job back in Canada. Leave as soon as possible! And so began our surreptitious and stealthy retreat. 

In the end, we were thankful to have the rental car and house lease in our names as it meant that we could bypass the employer completely and not have to tell them of our plans.

We gave notice at the compound without any problems from the rental agency.
We sold all unnecessary furniture and household goods to those incoming ex-pats - I placed one ad in the local ex-pat community website and all of the stuff was gone in 3 days flat.
We booked ourselves on a flight out that left on a Thursday - Friday being a holy day - his presence would not be missed at work.
We paid for all services that we used up to the last day (another strange system: go to the Electricity Commission, have papers stamped and signed, and then.... take officer in your car with you - back to your home so that he can check the metre, take him back and, finally! hand over cash).
We arranged for international movers to pack our valuables (including a mountain of books) and ship back to Canada.
We even got all the approval papers for shipping a kitten! (who has since found a wonderful home and is a very happy ex-pat cat himself!)

We told few people of our pending flight from ex-pat life until the very last days.
We said our tearful goodbyes to good friends we had made.
We went for "one last time" to the souq, to our favourite restaurants, and favourite walks.
We gave our car back and rented one from Avis - my good old standby.
We stayed the last week at a friend's home - talk about hospitality and helping friends in time of need!

And then it was the last day at last - and the only thing left to get through was security at the airport - fingerprints and all. Multi-exit visa worked successfully. Canadian passports left their usual impressions.
We made it!  And the company could not do anything drastic because they were kept in the dark until our return to safe home ground.

Nerve-racking and nail-biting as it was, we are very glad to be back in a country where rules are rules - known and followed for the most part.
Where traffic accidents and fatalities aren't de rigueur.
Where religious diversity is tolerated and
Where women have equal rights.
Where passports aren't confiscated and
Where a Human Rights Commission actually stands for something.

Oh! Canada - our home and native land...

are we glad to see you!