Some Random Stuff

I’d love to have a good haircut and a set of hot rollers.

The other day I saw a minibus driving down our street. Guess what was sitting on top, strapped to the luggage rack? A goat! Oh, to have had my camera…

The weather is getting cooler. It’s really pleasant at night. Still gets pretty hot during the day.

It’s been Ramadan for two weeks here. Business as normal until 2 PM, and then everything closes and people go home. Jason gets out of school an hour earlier. The Muslims fast all day long, from sunrise to sunset, and when the call to prayer is over at around 5:45 PM, they feast. That’s called Iftar. The streets are deserted at 6 PM. It’s quiet outside. I love it. It’s my favorite time to go out and walk around. Things begin to reopen around 7 PM, and once again the streets fill up. The locals stay up really late, sleep for a few hours, and then get up again at 3 AM to feast once more. The streets are decorated with lanterns and Christmas lights (Ramadan lights?). There is one tree about a mile from our house that I love. Fifty lanterns hang from its branches. It looks like something out of Neverland to me.

We finally have DSL, and it’s great! It is nearly as fast as what we had at home, except on Fridays, when it seems to be slower (like right now). I wonder if more traffic on the internet (because people are at home and not at work) affects it? Anyway, did I say DSL is great? I can now talk for free to anyone who has Skype on their computer. All you need is the software (free from skype.com) and a microphone for your computer. My little headset cost $7 at Office Max. There’s not usually a delay or anything—I had a good long conversation yesterday and couldn’t tell the difference in talking on the phone at home and talking on the internet. Unreal. Technology has come so far, even since we were in Hong Kong. So if you want to talk, get Skype!

I had a rough week this week. Over the weekend we had $50 stolen from our house. I had it sitting on the kitchen counter so I could pay the electricity bill when the man comes by. Then on Tuesday my wallet was either lost or stolen, so I had to cancel credit cards and stuff. Then the next day my phone was stolen from my house. My bottom of the line, no camera, no frills cell phone. Someone had a key to our apartment, we think. They did not touch my computer, our webcam, my camera, or our DVD player, but the cell phone is gone. Unreal. I am thankful that in total we are only out about $90—or $140 after we replace the phone—but still it stinks. It’s ironic that in my last blog I wrote that I don’t worry about our house being broken into. We have had the locks changed, by the way. The most frustrating part of the whole experience this week was the difficulty I had communicating. The police did not speak English—I had to talk to 7 people before finding someone who could send an English speaker to talk to me. It’s the first time I’ve felt really truly frustrated as a foreigner. (It is tough being illiterate, too! I cannot read Arabic, which is frustrating. At least when I see French or Spanish written, I have a decent chance of inferring the meaning. I can understand the alphabet and try to figure out the words. I’ve got no chance with Arabic! Maybe after I learn to speak it well I can take a class to learn to read and write.)

We’ve finished the first four weeks of our Arabic lessons. Four more weeks to go until we’ve completed Level 1. I can talk to the vegetable man, count to 199, give directions, and introduce myself. Luke can count to 20, just as quickly as I can, and can give the Arabic equivalents of numbers, too. (Like, What’s 15? Khamastasher.) The lessons are about 2 hours long, and they’re packed full of new info and vocabulary. I dread going each time, but once I am there I enjoy it. The teacher I have is excellent. Jason has a different teacher, and they learn different things in their lessons than we do. Hopefully between the two of us, we will be able to communicate.

Luke is awake from his nap now, so my writing time is over. I keep saying I’ll write about taxis and traffic, and I will…just not this time.

Travel

Last weekend we had a little getaway to a resort on the Mediterranean called Al Arish, at the top of the Sinai peninsula. A guy from school organized the trip, and about 80 people from AIS went. We left Thursday after Jason finished school. We rode a charter bus for four hours, crossing the Suez Canal, and arrived around 8 PM. The hotel served a dinner buffet, and after dinner we walked along the beach. My ears lapped up the sound of the ocean waves in lieu of the honking melody of the Cairo streets. What a pleasant change. We went to bed around 10:00. The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and sat beside the ocean. Luke loved the water and kept saying, “We’re in the Mediterr-AAAA-nean Sea!” Jason buried him in sand and splashed in the waves with him while I sat under the umbrella and soaked in the peace and quiet. Then I played in the sand with Luke and we made a sphinx. Luke and I took a long nap before dinner while Jason played bocce ball and visited with our friends. After dinner we sat outside with teachers to chat, and then went to bed, again around 10. The next day we had the morning on the beach, checked out around 12 PM, and got back on the bus to Cairo around 1:00. We got home around 5:00. It was a great little getaway, even if it was about a week shorter than I would’ve liked! The whole weekend cost about $180, including hotel, breakfast, dinner, and transportation for all 3 of us.

One of the great things about being here is that we can travel so cheaply, and the school calendar has at least one long weekend every month. In October we are going to Luxor to see the Valley of the Kings (where King Tut’s tomb is) as well as other ancient sites. That trip will be a little more expensive, but still affordable. I remember now how I felt in Hong Kong when we were able to travel like this—I could bear the day-to-day stuff more easily because of the frequent getaways we were able to take.

Jason heads home at the end of October for Clay’s wedding. I am so jealous. Not only will he be able to be at the wedding, he will get to see our friends, to have fun and laugh with them and have good memories. To hear Meg giggle and snort when she laughs…see Nabeel dance (and bark?)…give Kristy a big ol’ hug…and endure lots of teasing from George. I will be here, probably crying! In truth, I will be fine. Before we came here I had images of Luke and me holed up in our apartment for the five days Jason is gone, but I am so comfortable here that this won’t be necessary. Noel and Rachella have even graciously offered to let us stay at their house the whole weekend if we want to! We won't, but at least we have friends who are sweet enough to offer.

Big Boy

Luke started school last week! I can’t believe how big and grown-up he is. I took him for an hour and a half on the first day. He cried a lot when I dropped him off, and his teachers said that he was fussy off and on while I was gone. The next day was a little better, and I left him for two and a half hours. The third day I left him for four hours. This week was his first full week, going from 8:30-1:00. He still got upset when I dropped him off this week, but each day he was less upset and seemed more comfortable there when I picked him up. The teachers say that he’s cooperative and that he participates, which I’m happy about. I do try to spy on him a little bit when I pick him up, and I have seen him playing with the other kids a little bit. When I’m around, he just wants to play with me. (Who can blame him? J) The kids are really sweet to him, and I’ve seen a few trying to comfort Luke when I drop him off. It’s sweet to see. He does an art project every day, and he shows me his work with pride. When I ask him what he did at school each day, the standard response is “Played with balls and vacuumed. I slide in the garden.”

One Month In....

We arrived in Cairo exactly one month ago today. To celebrate, I made chocolate chip cookies for dessert with the Nestle Toll House morsels I brought from home. We sat together at dinner and reflected on our first month here. Or, rather, Jason asked me what I thought after one month. We haven’t gotten to his end of the conversation because we were too busy trying to get Luke to swallow his food!

Well, here’s what I think after one month: (and in my original composition, these were bullet points, but the blog text editor won't let me bullet, so they look like random paragraphs with no flow--think bullets! not disorganized writing!)

I am not as homesick as I thought I would be. This doesn’t mean that I don’t miss my family, my friends, and the great state of Texas. What I mean is that my settling-in experience here has gone more smoothly than I expected. We have a good group of friends already. I am adjusting to shopping here, cooking here, getting around, and feeling comfortable in this foreign land. I have transitioned much easier than I did when we moved to Hong Kong. I think having done all this before helps, but so does faithfully taking antidepressants! On that note, I also think the medicine numbs me emotionally. I think I have cried less than a “normal” (read: unmedicated) girl who has left home and family would cry. Sometimes this fact bothers me.

I feel more contented with life than I thought I would. We have lots of time together as a family, and even though we’ve been busy every weekend, we’ve been busy together.

I love walking everywhere. I have not driven a car in a month, and I couldn’t be happier about that! I feel satisfied about getting places with my own horsepower.

I enjoy watching Luke recognize familiar places and landmarks, the same way he did at home.

Planning meals and shopping for groceries challenges me in a different way than it did back home, but once I check out at the grocery store, the delivery man brings my groceries home for me and drops them off in my kitchen! Although we’ve sacrificed a lot of the conveniences of home, there are definitely trade-offs like this one.

Being out in Egypt feels safer than being out at home. I don’t worry about traffic accidents (which is surprising considering how people drive here—more on that in another post); I don’t worry about my house being broken into or being attacked on the street; I don’t really worry much at all. That said, our apartment door locks automatically, I remain alert and aware of my surroundings when I walk, and I’m ever-protective of my precious Luke!

We have found a church home that I think we’ll really enjoy. It’s nondenominational, and truly international. The pastoral staff comes from the UK, Canada, and Texas. The worship team includes a percussionist from Africa who wears his brightly colored African garb and yips and goes “hoo-woo-woo-woo” (like an Indian in the movies) when the Spirit moves him! Some of that takes some getting used to, but it’s really amazing to think about how this church must reflect how we will worship in heaven. Every tongue, tribe, and nation will worship the Lord together! The church is pretty large, and is well-established (60 years, I think) in Ma’adi. They have an extensive network of cell groups (small group Bible studies with a name that seems a little alarming in this part of the world!) that meet each week. We’re not in one yet, but we plan to join one soon.

Things here take FOREVER to get done. We finally got our DSL connection YESTERDAY. And, that was quick compared to what we were told to expect!

Ma’adi is definitely the best place for us to live in Cairo. The standards of dress are a bit more relaxed here than in other parts of the city, and the Egyptians who live here are more western in their thinking than those who live elsewhere. I anticipated being cat-called and possibly groped, and other than one or two whistles and hisses, I’ve had no problems. They do hiss a lot while I’m out walking, but when I look to see who’s hissing, they’re looking at Luke, trying to get his attention.

Luke has adapted incredibly well. He enjoys the new and different sights and sounds. We finally have a playground to take him to. The one I heard about our first week here has been updated, and it’s great now! It’s located at the softball fields where Jason plays, so we go watch his games and also let Luke play on the playground. The one thing I complain about in regard to Luke is that I have not found a good network of at-home moms with kids his age. He has become very attached to me and shows no interest in interacting with other children. Last week at church he cried the entire hour we were in worship and did not play with the children at all. To help with this, we’ve enrolled him in a preschool three mornings a week. I still feel like I get lots of good Mommy and Luke time, but I also feel he’s got an opportunity to be independent and learn to relate to people his own age. I’m happy with the method of instruction used at the school. The lessons seem well-planned and fun. The teachers speak English fluently, the school is clean, and the kids seem happy! The children participate in Arabic class twice a week, too.

I never thought I’d put Luke in a preschool. In fact, I was fairly certain I wouldn’t put him in any sort of school until kindergarten. Things here are different, though—there are not wide, open, green spaces to play in or nearly as many kid-centered things to do as there are at home. In Texas, we were at church twice a week and at Bible study Wednesday mornings, so I felt like Luke had plenty of opportunities to be with other kids (and without me). I feel surprisingly okay with preschool, though. It’s like everything else about this move—not necessarily what I planned, but seemingly right.

The Egyptian people are wonderful. They are kind, welcoming, and they LOVE my little boy. Luke has had to adjust to being kissed and patted quite frequently by total strangers. He usually puts up with it pretty well, but he occasionally acts like a grouch. I do NOT blame him!

I get tired of the dirt. Luke’s feet are perpetually filthy (see the picture! That one's for you, Tiffany!), even if I put shoes on him at home, put him in the stroller, and do not get him out the whole time we’re out. Our shoes track in dirt and dust, and even though we remove them when we come inside, the floors get dirty too quickly. I also TOTALLY miss my disposal, vegetable sprayer, and dishwasher.

There are still times I think, “What have I done?” but those are much rarer than I thought they’d be. They usually happen when when I’ve been to three grocery stores looking for something I can’t find. Or when I’m dealing with yet another problem with our poorly made shower faucet. Or waiting 3 hours for our washing machine to finish a load of clothes. Or when it’s 100 degrees and I am walking head-on into the middle of a busy intersection full of honking taxis, pushing a stroller, and trying to avoid the pack of wild dogs that is also crossing the intersection with me. Sometimes I just shake my head in disbelief that I live this life.

I miss my family and friends, and getting to be involved in your lives. Although I do enjoy living here, I am still counting the days until we go home for Christmas (91 to go), and I did think “One month down, 23 to go!” today. I felt the same way at this point in Hong Kong, but even more so—and then I cried and cried when we left!

Those readers who are Tolkein fans may remember this line, which Sam said to Frodo: “I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into?” I know exactly how he felt—I know there’s a larger story here, but I am not the author of this tale. I feel privileged to be a part of it, and I’ve enjoyed this first chapter of our life in Cairo.

Here We Go Again...The Pyramids

On Saturday the 8th we made our first real trip to the pyramids. We hadn’t planned to visit the pyramids until October or November, because we had been told that it was a hot, miserable, crowded experience during the summer months. However, we were on special assignment, the nature of which I cannot disclose lest valuable information be leaked earlier than appropriate!

So, we asked around, got the scoop on where to park, what to make sure to see/take/know beforehand. We called Mohamed Ali and asked him to arrange a driver for us, and at 8AM, Moussa was waiting outside our apartment with a real car (not a taxi!). It had seatbelts and everything! The three of us climbed into the back of the car and spent most of the drive discussing what we were on our way to see. Luke, in particular, was excited to see the Sphinx again, and Jason was awed by the fact that he was about to check off another of his life’s goals.

We arrived at the pyramids much sooner than I expected. Our experience on the way to the sound and light show left me with a distorted idea of how far we actually are from them. It only took us 15 or 20 minutes to get there, and there was no traffic. Once the pyramids were in view, we all got excited, even though we’ve been fairly close to them once before. It is still amazing to see them. First of all, they’re enormous. Then, I feel so small and insignificant when contemplating how old they actually are and how many people throughout history have visited them. These pyramids were old when Jesus was born, and I have a hard time comprehending how long ago THAT was!

I knew we were almost there when we started to see the tourist shops with tacky souvenirs in the windows. This is also where we saw the first camels we’ve seen here. (Donkeys are used everywhere to haul all kinds of things around Cairo—they share the roads, highways, and even sidewalks with us.) At first, I saw four or five camels lined up, tied with ropes to old-west style hitching posts. Then a minute or two later, Moussa stopped the car and motioned to another man, who came and got in the front seat. He introduced the man as his friend. Then we drove another hundred yards and parked next to a whole flock of camels (Did you know that many camels is a flock? I looked it up!) that were seated on a sloping road. The camels were saddled and their handlers stood around waiting for tourists like us to prey upon. Moussa and his friend got out of the car and told us we should get out. One of the camel wranglers had led a camel right to the side of our car, so that when Luke and I got out, his growling face was right in front of us. Moussa’s friend began explaining that we would get on the camels and ride to the pyramids, all for the low, low price of $50. He told us there was no other way to get there, that it was too far to walk, and that driving to the actual pyramids was impossible. We knew this sales pitch was probably coming, but we’d thought we might avoid it by hiring our own driver. We stubbornly insisted that we did not want to ride a camel (been there, done that—not nearly as smooth a ride or as comfortable a perch as riding a horse), and that Moussa should drive us on up to the pyramids. (This did not stop Moussa from setting Luke down in the camel’s saddle—Luke was NOT thrilled!)

Ultimately, Moussa’s friend relented, and the three of us got back in the car. The man did not join us for the drive up to the pyramids, though!

A quick note on camels: I had my first experience with a camel in Dubai on our desert safari, back in 1999 or so. Until that point, I used to think they were beautiful, noble-looking creatures. I loved their long eyelashes, and their faces looked very intelligent. I was thrilled to get to ride one. I got up close to the camel I was supposed to ride and he opened his mouth and roared like Chewbacca. All my illusions of a camel’s nobility and grace went right out the window. I was further disillusioned when I got on the seated camel and discovered that in order for the camel to stand, he raised up his rear end and straightened his hind legs first, leaving his forelegs bent underneath him, and leaving me holding on for dear life at an angle much akin to the big first drop on the Titan at Six Flags! Once he stood up all the way I found it difficult to get anything close to comfortable. I was glad my camel ride in Dubai only lasted two minutes. Had I not had that unpleasant experience, I might have thought it a romantic idea to ride to the pyramids on camels. Thank goodness I had already learned my lesson!

So Moussa drove us up to the pyramids, and Jason got out to buy entrance tickets and a parking ticket for the car. Moussa parked in the lot and waited in the car while we went to explore one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World! WOW!

Our first set of tickets basically got us in the gate and gave us access to the outside of the pyramids and the Sphinx. To go inside the Great Pyramid, we had to purchase additional tickets. Tour groups arrive first thing and buy out the 150 tickets allotted for the first half of the day. Jason was very concerned that we’d arrived too late to buy these tickets. When he reached the sales booth (a different one than the one selling the entrance tickets…why don’t they consolidate and make it easier on everyone?), he found out that he was right—the tickets were all gone. He walked away to tell me, and then turned right back around to talk to the man at the booth. The next thing I knew, Smug Jason walked away with tickets in hand. He’d bribed the guy to sell him the tickets. With two dollars. Amazing.

We walked around the outside area, fending off hawkers every few minutes or so. We’d been warned about the hawkers, and so we were prepared to say, “La’, shokran” (No thank you) over and over, and to be rather insistent and rude if necessary. At one point, Luke and I were walking alone and one guy approached us and started trying to sell me things. I said, “La’, la’.” “Ah, you speak Arabic!” he said. Then he handed Luke a little blue scarab beetle bead. He said, “a present for the baby.” Then he handed me a package containing a white head scarf with a braided rope headband, like Egyptians wear in the movies. He said, “A present for you.” I kept walking, took the stuff in my hands, and said “Shokran!” He handed me a postcard, another “gift.” Then he said, “Please, just five pounds.” “La! You said these were gifts! No money!” He began taking the things back, leaving Luke with the beetle bead. All in all, the hawkers were not nearly as persistent or numerous as I’d thought they would be. The ones at the Great Wall were much worse—on one of our trips there we were followed halfway up the hill to the Wall by a pack of 7-8 people, each trying to sell us something. At the pyramids they were more easily deterred.

After we explored the outside of the pyramids for a few minutes, took a few pictures, and let Luke run around, we went inside. We had to leave our camera at the entrance, so I don’t have pictures of the inside. We entered through a tunnel and had to hunch down and walk like a duck for a few feet before we got to the ramp/stairway that led to the King’s Chamber. We climbed and climbed and climbed up, up, up. It seemed like forever. The passageway was very small and the roof was really low, so the climb was pretty taxing. I remember thinking that Daddy would have a hard time because he’s so tall and broad-shouldered. He’d really have to hunch. Jason helped Luke do the climb, and I climbed ahead quickly. I do not love cramped places, and breathing in there felt difficult for me. The pyramid itself felt hotter inside than the desert outside did. It’s very humid with very little moving air, and I was not the only person I saw who had to stop and calm down after getting out of that passageway.

We finally reached the King’s Chamber. When we entered the room, I heard a thrumming noise. I had not really heard the noise while in the passage, so it surprised me. I am not sure what caused it—could’ve been generators supporting the ventilation system, or it could’ve been something with a more interesting mystical explanation—but it was weird. Other than that noise, I was a little disappointed. Actually, I wasn’t sure we were really in the king’s chamber. I guess I expected colorful paintings or etchings in the walls, but it was basically a rectangular room with tall ceilings. Inside was a granite (?) rectangular sarcophagus. There was no decoration anywhere in the room. Of course the room must have originally contained treasure and artifacts, and those are long-gone; still, I expected some sort of ornamentation.

We stood inside the chamber for five minutes or so. We had the room to ourselves. I reached down and touched the inside of the sarcophagus. Then we left and started back down the long climb to the bottom. We passed a huge 50-person tour group on their way up, but when we reached the bottom we were by ourselves once again. In that entrance passage, there is a closed gate with a stairway leading down. The gate was only secured by a piece of thick wire looped through the keyhole, so Jason Bourne got right to it, undid the wire, and sneaked down to see what was down there. I stood in the passage, hoping Luke would not remember this incident and learn to be a rule-breaker like his father. While Jason was exploring down below, the entire tour group returned from their visit to the King’s Chamber. They were coming down the ramp, which faced the stairs Jason had gone down, making it impossible for him to return undetected. Luke was saying, “Daddy’s downstairs! Where’s Daddy? He’s downstairs!” On top of that, one of the men working the entrance to the pyramid came and stood in the passage with his hand held out, asking each person for a tip on his way out of the pyramid. I was really irritated—both at Jason and the guy asking for tips. What did he need a tip for? It wasn’t like he went up those stairs with us or gave us any valuable historical information. He just stood at the entryway with his buddies while we went in by ourselves! (This is one of the things that bugs me about Egyptian society. People want tips for everything.) Anyway, the tour group seemed to have reproduced while they were up in the king’s chamber—they kept coming and coming and coming. Finally the Egyptian guy went back outside, and I decided that if Jason was going to come out, he needed to go ahead and do it, even with the tour group still streaming down the ramp. So I said, “Come on now, if you’re coming!” about three times before he finally came up the stairs. I am sure the people in the tour group were shaking their heads at this crazy, disobedient American… It would’ve been funny if he’d pointed down the stairway and just said, “toilet.”

We left the Pyramid in a great mood. Jason could not get over himself! He’d A) bribed his way into the pyramid, B) checked another of his life’s goals off his list, and C) played-like he was a secret agent and explored a restricted area of the pyramid (which turned out to be a light/ventilation shaft of some sort).

We left the pyramid area of the plateau and walked toward the Sphinx. It was unbelievably hot. (Duh…the desert…I have to keep reminding myself.) None of us had on sunscreen, or hats, and our water ran out pretty quickly. We decided to get down to the Sphinx, take a few pictures, and then go home. We know we’ll be back when people come to visit, so we didn’t mind skipping some of the extra stuff. On our way down to the Sphinx, though, we made a pit-stop in a small building that looked sort of like a temple to me, but I think it is actually a princess’s tomb. It was pretty cool (literally and figuratively) because I got to climb down a little shaft to the burial chamber, which contained another sarcophagus. The lid was still on top of this one, but it had been propped up by some big rocks so that you could look inside. Know what was inside? Dirty Kleenexes. Nice, people. Anyway, I was pretty sure that Buffy the Vampire Slayer had been in that same tomb at some point. When I climbed out of that part of the tomb, the security guard led us around a corner to another part of the building, where there were some figures carved in the stone walls. I was excited about that. The guard took our picture in front of the carvings.

After that, we walked down a big hill to see the Sphinx, took more pictures, and then walked back up the same hill to meet Moussa, who was patiently waiting in the car, reading the newspaper. We were all exhausted, hot, and hungry. We had Moussa drop us off at the Grand Café on the Nile, where we had lunch and relaxed before going home for a big nap!

A few random observations:

-The landscape around the pyramids was exactly what you’d expect it to be—desert, desert, desert—except this desert “park” area is right in the middle of Cairo. The city has grown outward to engulf the pyramids. Still, you get a good view of lots of sand dunes, and I took this picture of a camel caravan from the plateau the pyramids are on.

-It’s kind of neat how the pyramids look smooth from far away, but up-close the edges are not smooth. The boulders that they’re made from are tall (4-5 ft) and rectangular. One of the pyramids once had a covering to smooth out the edges, but it has eroded over time. I think you can see the remains of it in some of the pictures.

-It’s hot in Egypt.

And one last note: Jason has also blogged about our pyramid visit. To read his blog, go to www.myspace.com/cairojason .

That Lonesome Feeling

I am not very good at meeting new people and making friends. It is definitely not my favorite thing to do. Never has been. I usually make friends through friends, which works for me because it gives me time to observe from afar. To think about what I might say. Needless to say, I am in a situation in which making friends through friends is virtually impossible. I am definitely removed from my comfort zone (in oh-so-many ways!).

I do have a pretty good radar for people I will "click" with, though. We met Noel and Rachella on Day 1. After talking with them ten minutes, I could tell we'd be good friends. Thank God I was right. We have spent lots of time with them, all of it enjoyable and filled with laughter. It's amazing how people who are plunged into the same new situation can grow close quickly.

The first week of being here was sort of like a crazy vacation. We went everywhere as a group, getting acquainted with the city, finding apartments, shopping, etc. I had a blast. I knew, however, that I'd get lonely when reality set in and everyone else went back to work.

Last week was the first week of school for everyone else, so I've had a week already to unpack everything and get settled. I decided that this week I would get out and try to meet some people, preferably other expat moms with kids. I saw a listing in a magazine advertising a playgroup for moms with toddlers at the church. I got there Monday morning, very excited to meet moms and kids for Luke to play with, only to find that there were about 3 other children, all 18 months or so. They were there with their babysitters, not their mothers. I certainly didn't mind visiting with the babysitters, but it wasn't what I really had in mind.

I had also heard that there were quite a few kids and moms who visit CSA (like a community center) on Thursday mornings, so Luke and I went there today to try to meet people. (My skin just crawled--I get so nervous trying to make friends!) Again, I was disappointed. When we got there, there were lots of mothers sitting around having coffee, but there were not children. I guess that's because they're all off playing with their babysitters!

I am discovering that most kids Luke's age are in preschool, even if their mothers are not working. I have batted around the idea of letting him go to school a few mornings a week--the church has a mother's day out program he might be able to attend--just so that he will get some social time. Jason took him to the park last night, where a little boy wanted to play ball with him. Luke threw a fit and said, "I don't want to share my ball!" Jason was so embarrassed and upset that Luke would act that way. I know that sort of behavior is normal to some degree, but what concerns me is what he said today. After CSA, I took him to the park (YES! I found a park! It's got 5 swings and a lot of sand, but I am thankful, thankful, thankful for those 5 swings!) and I told him that maybe we could find some kids to play with. He said, "I want to play with you." I tried to encourage him that it would be fun to play with other kids, and he stubbornly replied, "I want to play with you."

I know I shouldn't worry about this too much, but I don't want to raise an antisocial child. I see way too much of myself in him, in that he'd rather be around adults than kids. So I am dutifully looking for some type of playgroup/Mother's Day Out program that he can attend without me. He needs kids to share with and play with. Hopefully going to church tomorrow will help...

Back on topic...The last few days have been rough for me. I've been totally lonely, feeling defeated in my efforts (however minimal) to find people to interact with. In times like these I really, really miss my family. At home if I felt that way, I'd just call Mom or Dad and talk a few minutes. Can't do that whenever I want from Cairo, even with Skype. I have to take the time difference into account, so that leaves very few hours in the day that will work. So I have been praying a lot, asking God to help me settle into some good friendships.

Tonight I was invited to have coffee with Carmen, a teacher at the school, so I left after dinner to meet her at Cilantro, a little cafe. I had been feeling apprehensive about meeting her, because we had not talked much at all before. (She was on our first felucca with us, but I didn't visit with her much.) Also, she works full-time, and I am specifically on the hunt for daytime friends! She was so sweet to call me and invite me out, though. Carmen is from Paraguay. She has this beautiful accent. This is her first full school year in Cairo, so we had a wonderful time visiting, talking about how we ended up here, what it's like to be away from home, etc. We chatted for about an hour and a half, very comfortably. I left our meeting feeling content and happy.

I walked home from the cafe. The streets were dark, and I called Jason to let him know I was on my way home. As I was walking, I passed a girl with blonde hair. We said hi, and I walked on past her. When I turned on the street just before mine, I saw her walking about 20 yards ahead of me. Unreal, I thought. I thought I'd gone the shortest way, and I'd been walking so much quicker than she was. I walked faster, trying to catch up to her. (I don't know what came over me! I NEVER talk to people out of the blue like that!)

When I caught up to her, I said, "Okay, you've got to tell me which way you came, because I passed you way back there and you beat me here!" She smiled and said, "You did, and you were walking pretty fast!" She told me the way she'd come, and then I asked her what she does here in Cairo. She told me she's the assistant youth minister at the church we're visiting tomorrow. We talked about her job, and that the youth minister is a friend of a friend of a friend of mine, and she asked about my family. I told her I am here with Jason and Luke, and she said, "Oh I LOVE kids, and I want to sign up to be your first babysitter!" (WOO HOO!!) I then asked her about Bible studies and helping me find some ladies with kids Luke's age. She was great--so sweet, so welcoming...AND......she's from Texas and she said "y'all" to me! I was so happy. (It's the little things.) I told Kelly she was an answer to prayer, gave her a hug, and told her I'd see her tomorrow.

God is so faithful, isn't he? "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you." God continually gives me courage to do the things I don't want to do--helps me move out of my safety zone, reach out to others, accept the friendship offered to me, even when I am afraid and insecure. Without Him, how lost I would be.

The Pyramids

The school has been great about helping us get settled in and become familiar with Cairo. We’ve done all kinds of practical excursions with experienced AIS teachers to find markets, buy cleaning supplies, and learn where good restaurants are. The first “fun” outing was Friday night to dinner at an Egyptian restaurant, followed by the sound and light show at the pyramids.

All the new teachers met at Kimo Market, which the school uses as a central meeting place for bus pickups. There was one returning teacher with us. We all boarded a bus, which drove for almost an hour before someone saw the tip of one of the pyramids. It was so neat—the first glimpse of a grey-looking triangle peeking over the top of skyscrapers and city. Then the pyramid disappeared after only a moment, and the bus headed for the restaurant.

We stopped in front of a restaurant called Falfela’s and everyone got out. The returning teacher led the way into the restaurant, which looked nice, with outdoor seating under umbrellas and trees. As soon as we got in, our “leader” turned us around and led us back to the bus. We were apparently at the wrong Falfela’s. We started driving farther and farther away from the pyramids. An hour later, we still had not reached the correct restaurant. No one, including the driver or the returning teacher, knew where we were going, and all the rest of us were afraid we were going to miss the sound and light show. Finally, we turned around and headed back in the right direction. By that time everyone on the bus had decided it would be best to quit looking for the restaurant and head for the pyramids. (None of them had a hungry 2-year-old with them.) At about 8:00 we found the correct restaurant, and some of us got off the bus to order take-away. So we didn’t get our nice sit-down Egyptian restaurant meal, but we did get fed.

We arrived at the pyramid show right at 8:30. It cost 80 LE each to enter, or about $15. The pyramids were lit up with different colored lights, and once we got in the gate, I hurried toward them excitedly. The sphinx was right there, too! I was so excited about that, since I wasn’t sure how far it was from the pyramids. There were probably a thousand seats set up in rows facing the pyramids and a section at the back with little round tables and chairs. We sat at a table. The sun was down, the air was pretty cool, and we settled in comfortably.

It was nice to see the pyramids—sort of a reward for all the trekking about among the dirt and dust this week. Every time they lit up the sphinx I got excited. It’s so neat! The show itself was a little long for me, and the narration could use some rewriting, but the general overview of ancient Egyptian history was good. Was it worth $16? If I were a tourist who had just been up close and inside, I would say probably not. But since we plan to put off the actual tour of the pyramids until the weather is cooler, it was nice to have this first glimpse to help us realize that we actually are here!

8/25/07

Jason Bourne

As he walks around Cairo alone, Jason has fun pretending to be Jason Bourne. He walks with purpose, carries his backpack, and always stays aware of his surroundings. I am sure he imagines all the ways he could get out of a sticky situation using only a ballpoint pen and a piece of duct tape.

This morning he woke me up at 7:00. He had gotten ready for work and tried to leave our building. Our apartment door opens into the lobby, and there are double glass doors that open to the outside. The double glass doors, which for a week have always been open, were locked. The bawa’ab was not outside, and we haven’t figured out how to find him if he’s not sitting in his chair. So he came in, woke me up, and asked if I knew how he could get out. Neither of us was given a key, nor do we know of a push button that unlocks the door. He said, “I think I’m going to have to climb out the window.” Luckily, our windows have no screens, and our front window opens right into the flowerbed in front of our building. He handed me his backpack, swung his leg easily over the windowsill, and climbed right out. Since it was apparent to me that he thought this was ridiculously undignified, I said, “Remember, you’re Jason Bourne.” He went off happily to work.

Tonight Jason called our landlord to ask for a key to those glass doors. When he told him the story about climbing out the window, Mr. Ahmet laughed and laughed!

The Great Flood

We love our apartment, but, with the exception of the washing machine, we have had issues with everything that uses plumbing. The kitchen sink ran nonstop, no matter whether the knobs were turned off or not (there was a broken washer in it); the toilet often runs after it is flushed; the shower head periodically falls out of the holder and once cracked Jason on the head; the faucet in the shower only runs through the shower head, not through the bath faucet. We haven’t really allowed these things to bother us. The landlord has promised to have it all fixed, and we have been patient. Last night, however, we awoke and had quite a shock.

Let me preface this story by saying that both of us sleep with either earplugs or headphones, and that the air conditioner in our room is really loud. When I went to sleep around 11:00, I heard a noise from the bathroom. We’ve got a suction-cup soap dish that keeps falling off the wall, so I just assumed it was that. I am still getting used to the noises of our apartment, too, so I didn’t really think anything of it. At about 1:30 Jason woke up and heard a noise. He woke me up, and we both got up to see what was going on, though I didn’t really hear anything.
The moment I stepped out our bedroom door, however, I knew something was really wrong. There was about a half-inch of water on the floor in the hallway, and it sounded like it was raining in the bathroom. Jason had walked past the bathroom into the living room, and so I was the one to go into the storm to see what was going on. There was a hose that had once been connected to the toilet (it’s the one that pumps water back into the tank after the toilet flushes) that had come loose and was spraying water, full force, all around our bathroom. It was like something out of a cartoon. The hose was whipping around wildly, and water was everywhere. I found the knob on the wall that turned off the water supply to the toilet and began to assess the damage.

Our bathroom and everything in it, including about 15 rolls of toilet paper, all our towels and toiletries, was soaked. I left the bathroom and started walking down the hall toward the living room. I stopped and looked in the dining room and found that it was more than half flooded. Some papers Luke and I had been playing with on the floor had washed from one side of the room to the other. The rug underneath the dining table was completely soaked. Back in the hallway, the water had poured down the two little stairs and into the living room and kitchen. The living room rug was soaked, as well. Our entire apartment, except for our bedroom and Luke’s room, was sitting in about ½ inch of water.

The lady who cleaned our house for us before we moved in had suggested buying a squeegee. Luckily I had. Jason grabbed it, and in the meantime, found Goma the bawa’ab. Goma brought his squeegee, too. Jason started pushing water out of the living room to Goma, who pushed it out the front door.

We were out of squeegees, so Jason suggested I use towels or a mop. Thinking that either choice was like moving a sand dune with a pair of tweezers, I decided to try the mop. It was laughable. My hands ached from wringing it out after only five minutes, and I’d collected about half a mop bucket full, but still not enough to make any visible difference. Ultimately, Goma got an extra squeegee from another building, and the three of us got all the water out of our house. It took about an hour. When the water was out, we turned on all the air conditioners and fans to get the floors completely dry. Then we went back to bed.

The next morning I called repairmen myself, instead of waiting on the landlord. They were there 30 minutes after I called, and my shower, tub, and toilet are all fixed. I also had the repair service send an electrician to fix 2 plugs. In an hour everything worked properly and my bill was a grand total of 40 LE (roughly equivalent to $7).

I also mopped the whole house and got on my hands and knees with rags to dry up the mop water. Try that with a 2-year old. Oh, how I’d love to have my FloorMate! J

On the positive side, I had been leaving my computer on the living room floor, plugged in to an outlet by the couch. That night, I moved it to our room, and it was not damaged by Lake Deutsch. I also had my box of photos sitting on the floor in the dining room. The edge of the water stopped about a foot from my photos.

8/26/07

The Wedding Party

Tonight Jason and Luke stayed home while I went with some other teachers who live in our neighborhood on a “walkabout.” Michelle, a returning teacher, took us to see the various markets and good restaurants nearby to help us get acquainted with our area. After the walkabout, we went back to her apartment for some snacks and drinks. We had a great time visiting with Michelle and her husband David. It was fun to hear stories of where they’ve lived and to share our own stories.

Noel and Rachella walked me home. On the way, we heard lots of music coming from down the road. We could see colored lights and people standing around outside. I said to Noel, “I’d sort of like to go down there and see.” Rachella said she didn’t want to intrude on anything private, and I said I thought we could just walk by and see what was going on.

When we got to the place it was hard to see what was going on. Most of the people were standing inside an enclosed yard/porch area (which might have been in front of a restaurant, but I don’t know for sure) which had a chest-high fence around it. Rachella and I hung back, but Noel walked right up to the fence. An Egyptian man greeted him and invited inside. He went in without hesitation. Not wanting to be too far from our “protector,” we went near the fence to watch what was going on. We could see a man playing what I can only describe as a snake-charmer’s instrument. He was wearing a long black robe and a white pillbox-type hat. His cheeks puffed out like Dizzy Gillespie’s as he played. He was accompanied by a drummer drumming a round drum that was slung ‘round his shoulder on a strap, similar to the style I imagine Revolutionary War drummers carried. (But not a snare drum—just a hollow-sounding drum.) There was also a DJ. We could also see 7 or 8 men, all dressed in Western clothes, dancing together to the music,. At first it appeared that the gathering was only men, so Rachella and I were very hesitant to enter the gate when an Egyptian man invited us in. We initially said no, but the man insisted, so we followed. Our “host” brought chairs for us to sit in so we could watch the festivities. Someone brought cold Pepsi in bottles for the three of us. While we were sitting down, I saw that there were indeed women and children there, but they were sitting in a group toward the rear of the yard—so the men and women were segregated, but not divided by any physical barrier—the women danced and clapped together, occasionally trilling “lalalalalalalalalala”, while the men danced separately together. The host explained to me (in very good English) that this was a wedding party for the groom and his family, and that the bride and her family were celebrating elsewhere before the wedding tomorrow. As he explained all this we watched the men dance, and much to my astonishment I saw one man dancing with a gun in his hand. It was a small pistol that looked sort of old to me. He was holding the barrel in his hand very casually, and dancing with the others. They must have seen the fear and concern on my face, because our host leaned down and explained to me that this man was a policeman who was on duty, but attending the party. (He was not dressed in any uniform, just street clothes.) I said, “But why is he dancing with his gun?” The man just laughed, and then the next thing I knew, the gun was put away, out of sight. It was clear to me that they wanted us to feel comfortable. Our host asked me how we like Egypt, and I said, “We’ve only been here four days, and we love it. We’re having a great time.” He said, “Egyptians love foreigners. You are welcome here.” We felt very welcome indeed.

We watched the dancing, and before long, Noel was dancing with the men. He danced for quite a while—a great sport, especially considering the heat. Our host said, “Your friend, I think he is very tired!” Later the men beckoned to Rachella and me to join them, but I kept shaking my head, saying “No…la’a…no…la’a.” The host man asked me, “Are you shy?” To which I replied emphatically, “Yes!” My face was very red, and I was very conscious of the perception Egyptian men have of American women, as loose-living and promiscuous. Embarrassed and not wanting to do anything untoward to promote this stereotype, I repeatedly declined. The Egyptian women ultimately rescued us by setting up chairs among themselves and inviting Rachella and me to join them. We sat with them, clapping along to the music for a few minutes before one woman tapped me on the shoulder and gestured to me that I should dance there among them. I definitely did not want to be the center of attention, but I also did not want to be a stick in the mud, so I told her I would only dance if she and the others would dance too. So Rachella and I stood up with these beautiful women, garbed in brightly patterned robes and hijab (headcoverings, but no veil), and danced. I could not stop smiling. There was one girl who basically bellydanced, and she got a real kick out of it when I tried to do some of her moves! (Very clumsily and unsuccessfully, I am sure!) We clapped, snapped, did a sort of conga line, and just tried to copy whatever they were doing. At one point, the lady told me “This song is like our Macarena.” Funny. We had so much fun, but after a few songs I told the ladies we needed to go home. It was about 9:30 or 9:45.

On our way toward the gate, the host stopped me and said, “Would you dance with me?” Of course I said no, that I needed to get home to my husband and baby. He tried to persuade me, so I said, “My husband would be jealous! No, no…” He said, “You can tell him it is just aerobics. You teach me aerobics.” Rachella helped me out by saying I needed to check on the baby, so we got away. We told the groom, “Mabrook,” or congratulations, and thank you (“Shukran”) before leaving. We all agreed that that was by far the coolest experience we may ever have in Egypt.

I felt welcomed into the group, and though the Egyptians seemed interested and intrigued by us, they wanted us to join in and be a part of their festivities, treating us like family rather than as outsiders. I never got the feeling we were being laughed at or made a spectacle of—just that they enjoyed our presence as much as we enjoyed the experience.

The only disappointing part of the evening was that Jason was not there to enjoy it, too. He would have loved every minute of it, joined Noel with the men, and relished my participation with the women.

After leaving the party, Noel and Rachella walked me the rest of the way home. We had to pass our neighborhood mosque, which I think had just let out. There were about 50 cars crammed down into the end of our street, none of them headed the same direction, all about 5 inches apart, with many people walking in between the cars. After only 4 days here, this, amazingly, doesn’t surprise or scare me, and I just navigated my way through the logjam to our building. (The Muslims after mosque time sort of unnerved me some—just being one of 3 white faces among the crowd—but we walked the short distance to our building with purpose and made it home just fine.)

We got home and told Jason the whole story, and he was definitely envious, but glad that I’d had that experience.

(Thanks very much to Nabeel’s family for my initial exposure to a wedding party with Arabs in attendance! J The “lalalalalalala”s didn’t freak me out, and I felt familiar with the family’s very welcoming spirit. My fear melted away (once the gun was gone!) as I realized that their attitude toward us was much like the way we are always welcomed into the Shabouts’ home.)

What’s a Bawa’ab?

We have a doorman/apartment manager/landlord liason called a bawa’ab. Our bawa’ab’s name is Goma, and he is quite an interesting-looking guy. He has short hair and no facial hair, always wears a long grey robe, and is as cross-eyed as it is possible to be.

Goma or one of his family members always sits outside the apartment building. They are available to help us with groceries, open the door for us, be the go-between between us and repairmen, deliverymen, or taxi drivers, and help us contact our landlord if necessary. (We do have the landlord’s phone number, but Goma serves as a runner between our two houses. The landlord lives next door.)

Goma has a wife and six children. The little girls are the ones I see most frequently, and they seem to be outside from about 8 AM until at least midnight. I don’t know when they sleep. The Egyptian children play on the porches of buildings or in the street itself. They rarely look clean, and small children Luke’s size are often unattended or left with an older sibling. Goma’s kids are very sweet and helpful. They love to accompany our visitors or service people inside.

We won Goma over early when we arrived home from Carrefour (think Wal-Mart) with bags and bags of apartment stuff. Goma and his family helped us bring it in, and Jason tipped them 50 LE. That’s equivalent to about $10, and is the same amount we pay Goma each month. It was a good thing we won him over, because of what happened on our way home from another trip to Carrefour. We’d negotiated a fare of 20 LE with the cab driver. When we got to our apartment we got out of the cab and handed the driver his money. He began protesting, gesturing wildly, trying to get us to pay him more. We refused, and he continued his shouting. Jason shouted back. He even got the scary red-eyed look he gets when he’s really, really mad. Goma came to join the argument and leapt to our defense. We left Goma to it and went on in the house.

We have other friends who do not have such helpful, good-natured bawa’abs, so we’re very thankful for Goma.

Felucca Day

The 21st was one of our longest days here so far. It began with a 7:45 wake-up, followed by an on-the-go-pita-bread-and-jelly breakfast. Sound appetizing? We walked to Noel and Rachella’s house, and then together walked to Kimo Market, where we got on the bus to Carrefour.

The bus left at 9:20. On the bus, Elyse (a returning teacher) asked what was on our lists. I showed her mine, and she read the whole thing aloud, which I did not love. She gave us advice on what we should be able to find at Carrefour and what we could get cheaper elsewhere.

When we got to Carrefour I was pleased. It is in a mall-type setting with a Radio Shack, a Cinnabon, a few cellphone stores, some clothes shops, etc. Carrefour itself is easily the size of a Super Wal-Mart. We stopped at the cellphone store first. Every phone was expensive. A Blackberry cost $600, and the cheapest phone there was $50. This was without any cameras or internet downloadable applications. We ended up getting the cheap phones.

At Carrefour we started looking for the things on our monstrous list. We ended up with three carts full of stuff. We bought our microwave, which the funny little salesman told us was “Black and Decker. Is better. You buy, you get present!” There was a gift with purchase—a small casserole dish. We got a lot of basic supplies, but here are things I couldn’t find: shelf paper, picture hangers for concrete walls, an oven thermometer (my oven has no temperature markings of any kind!), anything solid-colored (everything has goofy patterns all over it, much like Hong Kong), hand towels, storage baskets, and bedding. After we finished shopping, a few returning teachers helped us get our stuff onto the bus assembly-line style, and then the bus drove us home.

Once we got home, the assembly line started again, and our bawa’ab and his family helped us get all our stuff inside. We got home around 2:00, and we had not eaten lunch or fed Luke.

After we dumped our stuff, we set out to find a grocery store. We met an American lady who helped us find Seodi Market, which had a lot of recognizable brands. A box of Kellogg’s cereal cost $8 (US). We bought more pita bread and hummus so we could have inexpensive lunches, and we tried to find the Egyptian equivalent of basic stuff so that we could save money. It helped to have lived in Hong Kong—I’m not as picky about having American brands of stuff as I was when we first left home.

We had our first meal in our dining room—a lunch of peanut butter and jelly—at 3:00 that afternoon. While we were eating, Luke pointed to Jason and very enthusiastically said, “Are you happy?” Jason answered “Yes!” and then Luke repeated the question to me, and I said “Yes!” We asked him if he was happy, and he said “Yes! I like Luke’s house in Egypt!” What more could we ask for?

Later that afternoon Luke got a nap. While he was sleeping we got ready to go out on a felucca. We’d been invited to go with some AIS teachers so that I could meet Jewel, a former AIS teacher who is now staying home with her 18-month old son. While we were getting ready, the air conditioner guys arrived with an AC unit for Luke’s room. They brought the wrong one, though, so they were supposed to return with one that fit. We thought we weren’t going to get to go on the felucca. We talked to the landlord, who told us to give the key to the bawa’ab and lock up all our valuables and jewelry! That was comforting! However, when we got home Luke’s AC was in and all our stuff was still present.

We had our second interesting taxi ride on the way to the felucca. We told the driver to take us to TGIFriday’s on the Corniche (along the Nile). Again, he nodded as if he understood. He got us to the Corniche, but couldn’t find Friday’s. We had to call our friend Debbie on the phone, and she spoke to the driver and helped him get us there.

The felucca ride was awesome. A felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailboat. It has

no motor, one sail, and is sailed by one man. Each boat holds probably 15 people comfortably, and has a large table inside. You bring your own food and drink and enjoy the sunset on the Nile. We all met in front of Friday’s and then went down to the dock and boarded the felucca. There was an interesting mix of people on our boat. One couple was just in town for a week, as part of their six month around the world tour. They were headed to South Africa next. The others were teachers and administrators from AIS, as well as Jewel, the former teacher turned stay-at-home-mom. Someone brought margaritas and salsa—nothing like a little Tex Mex to make a girl feel at home! The Nile flowed pretty slowly where we were, but the breeze was really great that evening. We sailed for two hours in cool weather. The banks of the river were full of green vegetation and interesting buildings. We saw the Coptic Church which is supposed to be the site where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus crossed the Nile. (“Maadi”—the name of our part of Cairo—literally means “crossing”.) Luke loved looking into the water, counting boats and fish in the Nile. (We did not see any actual fish, though.) I loved telling him that this was the river that baby Moses floated down, and which Mary, Joseph, and Jesus crossed.

He made good friends with Debbie, who taught him a few Arabic words and phrases as they counted boats together.

All in all, the ride on the felucca cost 60 pounds for two hours—or $12. That included a very generous tip. Jason and I ended up paying the equivalent of about $4. That felucca ride was my favorite part of being here so far. I have a feeling we’re going to be frequent visitors to the felucca dock!

Description of Our Apartment

Our apartment is in the Degla section of Maadi, which is where the highest concentration of Westerners seems to be. We’re way down at the end of our street-it’s probably a mile long. The far end of our street connects to Road 233, which has quite a few businesses on it (think strip-shopping, Egyptian style), and our end dead-ends into a mosque. We can clearly hear the prayers being broadcast over loudspeakers atop the minaret, even in our apartment. That was one of the things we were told to consider when shopping for a place to live. As I’ve come to find out, though, it seems that there’s at least 1 mosque per square mile or two, so I don’t know how well we could have avoided hearing the prayers. Also, we don’t hear them at all when we are asleep in the bedrooms with the air conditioning on. So it’s not really a worry.

Anyway our apartment is on the ground floor. You enter the building through double glass doors, turn to your right, and there’s our front door. It’s very pretty, made of wood, with no doorknob, just a gold pull-handle smack dab in the middle of it. It opens with the key and locks automatically behind us.

When we enter our apartment we’re in the living room. There is a TV (17 inches? I think 6 of them would fit on Daddy’s TV screen.) with satellite TV, though there are only 5 or 6 English stations. (There are also about 50 porn stations—free. So much for those good Muslim values, which require me to wear pants or skirts past my knees and cover my shoulders!) Our living room is painted white, with the exception of one wall with a gold (think metallic!) faux paint treatment on it. It’s not too bad, except that it totally clashes with the couch, loveseat, and 2 armchairs, which are denim blue and bright yellow stripes and plaid with flowers on them! (I can only imagine what YOU’RE imagining! I will try to upload a picture later.) There’s a large area rug on the floor that sort of matches the gold wall—khakis, browns, rich burgundy, and greens—but does not match the furniture at all. So far I’ve lived with the combo, but slipcovers for the couches may be in the offing, depending on the price to have them made. (Supposedly it can be done cheaply here. We’ll see.)

Off the living room is the hallway. All our floors are marble tile, and those are white everywhere except the bathroom and bedrooms. The kitchen is the first door in the hall, and it’s not my favorite, but it’s better than lots I saw. I sacrificed a dishwasher and a good sink for a kitchen that is neutral, clean, and somewhat attractive. The sink is one single basin with no disposal or spray nozzle. The water pressure is variable, so I may have water spurt out and go over the counter at any time! I wash dishes in a plastic basin and rinse them in the sink before drying them. (I HATE TO WASH DISHES!!!!) The cabinets are a pretty dark brown color with off-white/pinkish marble tops. There is enough storage so far for the basic supplies and food I’ve bought. The fridge is bigger than the midget fridge we had in Hong Kong, but not as large as a standard American apartment refrigerator. And it’s avocado green! There’s no pantry. As I read over this, the kitchen sounds terrible, but I actually like it just fine.

Opposite the kitchen is a little inset area about 1 foot deep that would be perfect for a little narrow table…but I’m not planning on investing in one! Also, the little niche is the beginning of our green walls—sort of the green of my guest bedroom in Justin—and I like them! The hallway is all green from the kitchen/niche on.
Back to the hallway…up two little black marble stairs…on the right is the dining room. I guess it could be turned into another bedroom, but there’s no room for the dining table anywhere else. So for now it’s the dining room, soon to be dining/office/scrapbooking room. There’s a ceiling fan in there of all things, but no air-conditioner. The walls are peach. (Ick! But bearable.)

Opposite the dining room is the bathroom. The washer and our new dryer (yay!) are in there, and there is a pedestal sink, a toilet (which you flush by pulling up on a little knob on top of the tank), and our bathtub. The bathtub is my least favorite part of the apartment. They did not peel all the adhesive label stuff off of it when it was installed, so it says “CAIRO CERAMIC” or something like that all around the edges of it. It’s not sticky, though, but the labels are still there. Also, the water from the shower head instantly runs off the tub, sneaks around the shower curtain (the cute one I made that was upstairs in our bathroom at home) and onto the floor, so that if you’re not SUPER careful, there’s a puddle the size of Lake Michigan on our bathroom floor. We have to squeegee after almost every bath. The tile in the bathroom is brown and beige marble. It’s actually pretty pretty!

Luke’s bedroom is also peach. It has two double twin beds in it and lots of space to play. There is no closet, but there is a large wardrobe that has room for all his clothes and toys, as well as some other stuff I’ve stashed there.

Our room is at the end of the hall. It has peach walls, a queen sized bed, and a matching vanity table, wardrobe, and nightstands.

The main thing I wish we had that we can’t get here is bedding. There are no such things as fitted sheets here, and all that good Egyptian cotton is exported! I will be ordering bedding online and having it shipped to Clay’s house for Jason to bring back in October!

The things I really like about our apartment are:
-the spacious feel of it.
-the high ceilings (11-12 feet?)
-the fact that it’s on the ground floor!
-the location—on a quiet-ish street near shopping, groceries, and our new friends, who live one street over
-it is an oasis of cleanliness compared to outside!

I will try to post pictures soon!

Moving Day

We woke up at 10:30 on the 20th, after 12 hours’ sleep. I think we were able to sleep so well because we’d found our apartment. That was a big concern of mine. Jason went downstairs to find out what was going on, and returned at 10:45 to tell me we were supposed to be moving at 11:30! I very quickly packed up the hotel room and got bellhops to take our stuff downstairs. In the meantime, Jason went to try to exchange money. Luckily Luke slept until I woke him at 11:30. Porters loaded our stuff onto the bus and the bus left the hotel at 11:45.

When we arrived at our apartment, a lady named Flora met us there to clean our apartment. She, too, fell in love with Luke! She was here six hours. She cleaned everything—cabinets, walls, floors, bathroom, etc.—and told me what supplies I should buy for her next visit. (That next visit has not been scheduled yet—we’re waiting until we get a paycheck and a budget before we start paying a maid.)

While Flora cleaned, we all took naps (I felt pretty guilty about that). When we woke up, Jason found a bank, and I went to find a market so we could have some lunch. It was kind of frightening trying to find my way around our neighborhood. It was my first time out and about by myself. I was nervous, but I found my way to a little store with the help of some local kids. I asked them if they knew where a market was. One little girl pointed the way, and then she asked me what Luke’s name was. I learned their names and told them thank you. They were very sweet to me and to Luke. I bought hummus and pita bread for lunch and went back home.

We left our apartment for dinner at around 6:00. We had our first real Egyptian taxi ride experience. (By the way, the taxis here have no meters, no seat belts, and no way to secure a car seat. Luke rides on my lap or next to me on the seat with my arm around him. I pray every time we get in a taxi.) That night, we got in the taxi and showed the driver the address. He nodded and drove off. After leaving our neighborhood, he made a turn, and Jason said that he thought the driver had gone the wrong way. About 100 yards later, the driver slowed down, leaned across Jason (who was in the front seat) and yelled out the passenger window at a person walking on the road. The guy answered, pointed, and our driver drove off in the direction the guy had pointed. Another 100 yards later, the same thing happened. Then the driver turned into a very residential area, which we knew was wrong. He slowed down, turned around, and drove back the way we came. He stopped and asked directions at least four more times. Mind you, the address we showed him was in Arabic, and on the back of that paper was a map—with the streets labeled in Arabic—and the cab ride should have been no longer than 10 minutes. Well, 20 minutes into the ride, the driver stopped the cab (in the middle of a busy street), got out, and walked into a store, presumably asking for directions. At that point, I told Jason we needed to get out of the cab and walk away. We did. We quickly crossed the street and found a different cab to take us to dinner. We were about 30 minutes late, but still in time to catch the end of the pre-dinner meeting that was happening when we got there. At that meeting we found out a rough schedule for the weekend, met some more new teachers, and had drinks. Luke made his first friend in Cairo, a little girl named Mayumi. She is the daughter of two other AIS teachers, Peter and Arni. She was so sweet to him, sharing her toys and reading him books. Jason also smoked his first (and hopefully last) shisha pipe with Peter. It is a water-filled steam pipe containing tobacco, molasses, and a flavoring such as apple.


We had dinner and then went over to Elyse’s apartment to shop her “garage sale.” Several teachers who left Cairo this year had things to sell, so we shopped and bought hangers, laundry baskets, kitchen items, and a chess set for Jason’s classroom. We returned to our apartment after 10:00 and put Luke to bed on a mattress on the floor in our room. (His air conditioner hadn’t arrived yet.) I worked in our apartment till midnight before giving up and going to bed.

*These blogs have been so lengthy! I promise after this first week’s worth of details, I will write more anecdotes and less like a diary of the day! I just want to give a good idea of what settling in here has been like.

Apartment Hunting

Jason woke up on the 19th with a splitting headache. All our medicine was sealed up in the bottom of one of the tubs, so he decided to go outside the hotel and find some medicine. Yes, he’s crazy. His first morning in Cairo he went out on his own. He said he saw his first guard with a gun and wild dogs running the streets. I think the dogs scared him more than the gun! He asked someone to direct him to a pharmacy, which turned out to be closed. He approached a man at a little stand that sold drinks, candy, and newspapers, and gestured to the man to explain that he had a headache and needed medicine. The man opened a box of ibuprofen on his shelf and gave Jason one pill. He would not let Jason pay for the medicine.

We all went down to breakfast at the hotel. It was interesting—there was some funny runny oatmeal, sticky buns, and various cheeses and slices of meat, as well as a few Egyptian dishes to try. (I didn’t try them!) There was also some orange juice, which turned out to be Tang! At breakfast we met most of the new teachers who would be living in Maadi (the section of Cairo we chose to live in) and several returning teachers who would be guiding us in our apartment searches. Luke began the process of winning all these people over that morning at breakfast!

After breakfast, we were divided into groups and sent out with different real estate agents to look for apartments in Maadi. Each agent worked for a different company, and each was very anxious to make sure “his” apartments were shown. Our group consisted of our family, a couple who are near retirement age, a single mom with a teenage daughter, and another couple in their 30s. Our agent’s name was Mustafa. Mustafa started out by showing us several apartments in the 4000-5000 LE (Egyptian pounds) range. They were nice apartments, but out of our budget. After seeing four of these, we started talking among ourselves. We found out that all of us were looking for apartments in the 3,000-3,500 LE range, except for the older couple, who wanted nothing cheaper than 5,000 LE! We told Mustafa this information, but he still took us to a few more places that were no good for any of us. At about noon he began showing us the apartments that fit our budget better. We found two that we liked. One was quoted to us as being “three thousand seventy five”. I asked, “Three-zero-seven-five?” and was told “yes.” We got out the contract, began the process of signing the lease, and Jason wrote down 3075 LE as the rent price. The landlord disagreed, and said the whole time he had quoted us 3750. It was very frustrating, as this was much more than we wanted to pay. We walked away from that apartment. I was embarrassed because the other couples had sat and waited on us the whole time (30 minutes?) we negotiated and talked, all for nothing.

At last Mustafa took us to an area of Maadi called Nerco. It seemed really quiet, cleaner than some of the other areas that we’d seen, and much more in our price range. We saw one apartment I liked pretty well. The whole thing was painted PEACH (ick!), but it was really big, with a dishwasher and a dryer (both luxuries here). There were two bathrooms (one of them had a picture of Daisy Duck in the tiles!) and two bedrooms. We did not choose that one, though, because it was up six flights of stairs with no elevator, and the furniture in Luke’s room was impossibly girly.

We had our first “intercultural experience” at the peach apartment, though. There were two very sweet Egyptian ladies who were currently living in the apartment. They were wearing robes and scarves covered their hair. They immediately gravitated to Luke, clucking and cooing at him. (He is not used to being cooed at, so he wasn’t sure what to think!) One of the ladies took him from me to try to hold them. The other kissed the tips of her fingers and then touched them to Luke’s cheeks. Luke was very apprehensive about these girls, until one of them approached him later, when Jason was holding him. She handed him his first piece of bubble gum. (So much for the “No gum till you’re 3!” rule.) Jason allowed him to eat it, and of course, Luke promptly swallowed it. It was a really sweet interaction, though, and so far this has been the reception we’ve been given here in Cairo.

We arrived back at the hotel for lunch, late, at 12:45. We had Quizno’s for lunch (yay!). Luke had fallen asleep on the bus ride and slept in my lap the whole time we were at the hotel for lunch. While we were at the hotel, Jason made our budget needs clear to the returning teachers, who reorganized the groups accordingly and prepared to send us out again. Many of the new teachers had already found apartments, though, so we did not need all four real estate agents for the afternoon. The one who was sent home got very angry. He argued very loudly that he was supposed to be included in the afternoon, to show apartments to couples. Elyse told him she was just following instructions, and that he could come back the following morning to help anyone who hadn’t found an apartment in the afternoon. This did not satisfy him, though. He set a stack of business cards on the table, said to those in the lobby that we could call him individually if we would like to see some very nice apartments, and walked across the room toward the door. He was joined by two or three other men, with whom he began talking loudly and gesturing broadly. The scene lasted 15-20 minutes, and we all tried to ignore it. This type of confrontation, which becomes increasingly public, is supposed to be very typical here in Egypt.

We got back on the bus with the other couple our age, Noel and Rachella, and our new agent, Mohamed Ali. (He’s the greatest of all TIME.) We quickly told Mohamed what we were looking for, and he told Jason, “I have the apartment for you.” We loved the first apartment he showed us. Noel and Rachella loved the second apartment. Mohamed Ali truly was the greatest.

Negotiation on our apartment was interesting. Mohamed quoted us $4000, but told us he thought the landlady would agree to $3500. He called her, arguing back and forth, and hung up. He told us she’d gone down to $3750, and that he’d call her back later. Within an hour, he had gotten her to agree to $3500 and putting an air conditioner in Luke’s room. Amazing. However, when we arrived that evening at 6:30 to sign our lease, her husband disagreed about the air conditioner and we had to haggle a lot to get them to agree to install it at their expense. We didn’t leave there until 9:00.

Once the lease was signed, we were pleased and felt much more relaxed about things here. We really like our apartment—it’s smaller than we’d hoped for, but plenty big for our needs. More description later.

We ordered dinner at the hotel at about 9:30, because we’d missed the school-planned dinner at a restaurant on the Nile. After we ate, we all fell into bed at around 10:30 and slept until 10:30 the next morning!