As the title says, this week I’m vlogging more in-depth about how I manage an international move! This was shot over a period of several days.

As always, to my d/Deaf and hard of hearing followers, the transcript is below. Please let me know if the captions work in the video! We tried really hard to get them in there this time. Hopefully soon we can get some descriptive video in these videos too!

TRANSCRIPT

(MARIYAM)

Hello, lovely people.

I hope you’ve had a great weekend and a start, a beautiful start to another lovely week.

I am in the throes, the final throes of what has become an epic international move.

And last week or well, at the end of last week, when I finally had a chance to blog or as I’ve learned, there’s a new word–vlog, video blog–to you, I shared a little bit about how we are going through methodically this major move.

Now I can show you the results.

This is a largely empty closet.

All of the hangers are left for the movers to take in household effects.

As I walk out (ZAINUB grunts) without warning–

As I walk out, we’ve got more empty closet.

Just a few little knickknacks that my husband has decided to not take or throw or do something with.

He’s forgotten that he’s left a shirt.

I’ll have to grab that.

And a garbage bag full of stuff always happens during a move.

You always find things that you’re throwing away…

More empty closet.

So the house is starting to get ready for the movers tomorrow and, oh (phone rings) there’s my husband!

Hold on one moment.

Hello, darling!

OK, let’s go…

(ZAINUB)

Do you wanna go to my room? (laughint)

(MARIYAM)

Yes.

(ZAINUB)

The last bastion of sanity! (laughs)

(MARIYAM)

Are you in there?

Are you still recording?

(ZAINUB)

Yeah.

(MARIYAM)

So, as I walk around and I come to what I call the last bastion of sanity, there’s one room where very little is being taken away and that’s my sister’s room, or my parents slash sister’s room.

Um, they share depending on how the configuration is done.

Um, and in this room, we have suitcases that are going with us, hand luggage that’s going with us and well, it’s mostly packed!

So you’re wondering how she packed that?

A lot of running around.

A lot of mixing and matching, a lot of figuring.

OK, which shoes am I taking?

And which purse do I really need to take right now?

And which one can come later because of what color the shoe is versus what color the purses are—simple questions like that that you would ask yourself too.

OK.

Now I’ll take you to the living room.

So welcome to the living room.

This is not a bastion of sanity.

This has been a working ground like none other.

Here, you’ll see my various pieces of tech and down here there’s more tech.

Why?

Because a lot of this is going to go unaccompanied and it has to be labeled and we need a place where we can demarcate what things are and where they’re going.

So by default, these recliners became the demarcation point because we can touch and feel them and we know exactly where they are.

So, if it was here, which is the back of the recliner, it’s going UAB. If it’s here—

Oh, yeah.

Remember I was standing amidst a bunch of boxes?

Well, as it turned out, I had to, you know, empty out my boxes from storage and figure out what was in them.

Once I figured out what was in them, I had to figure out whether it was going.

So basically, this is actually quite neatly done and it took me a while to kind of work through all this.

But here is all the stuff that’s going household effects and the natural demarcation point, as I said, became the recliners and the sofa.

(ZAINUB)

And the coffee table!

(MARIYAM)

Yeah,

if it’s on the sofa and the coffee table and you know, in front of them, this is where it’s going and if it’s behind them, then it’s going a different way.

And that has been just a taste of my weekend.

How has yours been?

I can’t wait to hear.

(pause)

What’s the moving process like for our family?

Well, let me give you an example.

I’m taking a lunch break. In my hand is a delicious yogurt parfait.

Very nice, right?

Nicely contained, all of that.

However, I want to sit down and eat this, but I have no space because there are literally things all over the dining table.

The reason they’re on the dining table is because I have to touch and feel and decide what I wanted to take and what I didn’t want to take.

And then I had to make sure they were in a place where the movers could pack and label them.

Well, not label them, sorry, pack them.

I’ve labeled the whole table as going with me as household effects.

As you can see, there’s no table space and there’s no chair space.

So then we find a spot in the kitchen, right?

That would be the next logical step.

But in the kitchen, our counters covered with all kinds of things, boxes, returns and things we’re not taking. The stove seems to be a nice clear spot, maybe I’ll eat there.

So continuing to answer the question, how does a blind family pack up?

My husband is currently Looking for something of mine. (ALI distantly calling out)

Well, I am sitting on the floor sorting through what are a combination of papers and binders, emergency binder that we always carry with us with our important documents like copies of our passport, you know, things like that, other binders that we might want to carry with us that relate to my work or that might relate to something that we, uh, need to have access to like our health related documents.

And sometimes I’ll label things in braille and in braille dots.

So that’s what I’m currently doing. And that helps me identify really quickly what the item is.

I don’t do it for everything, but I’ll definitely do it for important things I put in sheep protectors, and sometimes the rims of binders.

So I’m back in this uh mess of a kitchen where we have various returns and lots of other things uh in complete disarray like glasses and boxes that have to get packed, uh, with the glasses tomorrow when the packers come.

But for now I am, with some of the things that are still available to me, making a tray. it has a leaf and these little two things symbolizing uh betel nut, right?

What’s it called?

(ZAINUB)

Betel leaf, paan.

(MARIYAM)

Bee-tel leaf.

It’s called a betel leaf.

And then I have a silver coconut because today is according to the Islamic calendar, my sister’s birthday.

So despite the move, we are still keeping to certain traditions and we are going to perform a little ceremony which is to circle her head seven times with a coconut.

So here I’m putting together a silver coconut with an apple.

So you know, some things don’t change just because we’re moving and we’re uh managing to get family traditions accomplished and kept to despite the move.

So here is my attempt at putting together this coconut which is not cooperating with me.

It was cooperating earlier.

AHA!

There we go, victory.

Look at that.

OK.

And now I am Looking all around for chocolate and I know I kept soooooome – aha! –  in here.

See I kept some chocolate ready to go just for this moment because I knew that I was gonna need chocolate to put in the tray to make it decorative.

And also because before we circle her head and then bung it gently, we give her a piece of chocolate and she gives us one too.

There you go!

(pause)

Earlier in the move I shared, and you’ll see it later, a video of me Looking at this beautiful, beautiful replica made in white chocolate of the US Capitol.

And I almost said it was almost inappropriate to eat because it’s so pretty, but we’re gonna use it.

Not the same one.

It’s a different one.

I was given another trinket by the hotel at which I’m staying, uh, which is this, they leave us chocolates from time to time and today they left us because they know how much I love this.

The Capitol filled with chocolate.

So I thought let’s add this to the tray and make it festive and pretty.

And then this little… I-I don’t think they knew it was her birthday or that I was celebrating her birthday, but they left a little teeny bit of chocolate as a, uh, hello,welcome to Monday.

So I’ve got some chocolate to add to the tray and now look, isn’t this pretty?

Oh, it’s rolling around.

But other than that, it’s pretty all in the midst of an international move.

(pause)

OK.

So there’s always documents that you have to carry with you.

Like maybe you have tax documents that you might need or maybe your health insurance documents.

Well, life is no different for us.

So here are the documents and I am fitting them into this bag. And look my parents have arrived!

(ZAINUB, softly)

Whoo-hoo!

(MARIYAM)

it is moving day and the movers are here! And you know why I’m so excited?

Because there’s space in my house again!

Some of my air shipment has already been packed and more is going to be packed now.

But it is an exciting day because it is the beginning officially of the new adventure.

So one thing I forgot is our shredder. In a move,

You always see things that you forget to pack as you’re packing.

So I’m literally carrying this thing out now.

(distant coughing)

You’re probably thinking, is it the same day or is this another day because she’s wearing the same outfit?

Yes, I am one of those people who wears the same outfit  two days in a row, especially in a move.

Why?

Because it’s practical and I’ve got to minimize the time I spend doing laundry and I’m in the middle of an international move.

I got too much to do.

But the great news is because the movers are here, things are finally getting out of the way.

By the time we’re done, there’s gonna be a lot more space in this house than there was before.

So the move is almost over.

I say almost because in my hotel room are several bags that need to be rearranged and packed.

But the great news is that the house has been cleared out and it’s a Saturday afternoon. I’m sitting with my family enjoying a cup of tea at a high tea in Washington DC and reflecting on the adventure that my family and I are about to begin.

Food is, well, let’s just say it’s a hobby.

Um, I’m sitting with the last piece of dessert.

A very decadent chocolate mousse.

(ZAINUB)

Can you show it to us?!

Uh, turn it to the camera so we can see.

(MARIYAM)

I’m putting the plate down.

(ZAINUB)

There we go.

That looks incredible.

OK.

(background chatter)

(MARIYAM)

This is a chocolate mousse.

It is currently in tact.

(blissfully) Hmmm!

(ZAINUB)

Was it good?

(MARIYAM)

Let’s just say…

Some people ask me this question.

If you’re blind, does that mean that all your other senses are more heightened?

You’re like super blind?

And my answer is no, it’s not that all your other senses are heightened.

Like the sense of touch, smell, hearing, taste.

It just means you use them more and thank God, I use the sense of taste more for something this good.

(ZAINUB)

Bon appetite!

(MARIYAM)

You know, some people are really frightened at the thought of going to a new place, meeting new people, learning a new environment.

And if you add to that, having a disability or coming with a different background or cultural upbringing and understanding, some people get even more trepidatious.

But for me, it is joy.

It is an experience and it’s always been like that no matter where I’ve gone.

Because what I love is getting to know new cultures, new people, new places, new foods.

You learn so much about a place from its food.

So I’m really excited about the adventure we’re about to begin and I’m really grateful to have this opportunity because I count my blessings.

Not everyone does, not everyone has these and I’m really grateful for that.

So next time I see you on video, I don’t know where I’ll be.

I don’t know what I’ll be doing.

I don’t know if I’ll be this relaxed with a cup of tea in my hand.

But I know this, I will be in the midst of the adventure and I hope you’ll be along for the journey.

Have a great weekend!