Zia grew up in Egypt. Itâs her home, even though she lives in Brooklyn now. So Iâd say itâs logical that she goes back sometimes.
Every few years, she goes back to her village and spends a day or so there.
Just walking around and remembering what she can.
Sometimes she spends hours talking to her family, telling them what sheâs been up to.
Sometimes she sits quietly for long stretches of time before saying, âI miss you.â
And thatâs enough sad for me, letâs talk about happier things!
Sadie becomes a magician ambassador for Brooklyn House and Zia tags along occasionally when she has to travel to the first nome.
Zia probably still has friends there or at least people sheâs friendly with, so she visits them.
Thereâs way more kids there now, so she spends a lot of time with them, because she didnât have many kids to play with growing up.
Also the kids love hearing stories from her. She tells them about the Egyptian gods, what it was like fighting Apophis, and all sorts of strange American things.
Theyâre particularly interested in malls.
Zia also likes going back to Egypt because she can speak her native language again. She gets very tired of only speaking English while sheâs in Brooklyn, so speaking Arabic is a nice change.
Well, okay, she likes speaking Arabic and being understood. She talks to herself in Arabic while sheâs in Brooklyn, but she canât have a conversation with anyone.
She probably misses the food too. American food is really processed and some of it is really gross. And thereâs a severe lack of like completely homemade meals? She really misses that.
When Sadie has some free time, Zia drags her out to see the sights. The famous, touristy ones, and local places that Zia would visit when she was growing up.
Sheâs always happy to go back to Brooklyn House though. It really starts feeling like home.
