A Project

I want to ask your help for a specific group of people in Cairo called the zabbaleen. These people are Egyptian Christians who live in the heart of Cairo in a place called Mokattam. They have been given a very undesirable role in the workings of life in Cairo--they are the garbage collectors. They don't drive around on big BFI trucks and collect people's nicely bagged garbage.

Instead they go from home to home picking up garbage. They clean out dumpsters by hand. They gather the garbage and bring it to Mokattam, where they live among it.

The families who live there filter the garbage into different categories of recyclable materials: plastic, cloth, paper, aluminum, glass, etc. and make new products from Cairo's garbage. The women of the community make beautiful quilts, bags, and other crafts to sell.

You can go to Mokattam and tour the village and see the recycling center there. It's one of the few things I didn't get to do this year that I would've like to have done. I have a few of their handmade crafts, however, and the ladies do beautiful work. Here are some of the ladies in the recycling center and some of their quilts, pillow covers, and bags on the walls. You can see the bins behind them where they sort scraps and material.


A friend of mine told me they make gorgeous quilts from ties people donate. I haven't seen one of these quilts yet, but I can just imagine the neat patterns on them, can't you? My friend collects ties when she goes home and brings them back to Cairo to donate to the recycling center. I would love to do the same thing. So tell your Sunday School classes, your friends, neighbors, and family to clean out their old ties and gather them for me to collect. I will bring them back to Cairo and donate them in August. It's an easy project, won't cost you anything, and you'll be helping some families on the other side of the world.


If you decide to help, please let me know and I'll figure out how to get the ties from you before I come back in August.

To read more about Mokkatam and the people who live there, check out this article: http://www.outreachworld.org/Files/cmes_harvard/the_garbage_villages.pdf

To Make You Laugh

In previous posts I have mentioned the lovely assortment of tile patterns we have in our apartment. I kept promising pictures, and although this is NOT on the list of things to do in the next 9 days, I figured I'd keep my promise. Hope these make you smile.

This classy rendition of black and white kitchen tile graces the floor of my kitchen...and my front entry hall, the hallway to our bedroom, 2 bathrooms, and my studio! It has glue and paint stains on it, and random glops of concrete. Those were thrown in at no extra monthly charge to us!
The flooring in our two small bathrooms is the black and white tile, too, and the "decorator" who chose the wall tiles in those two bathrooms didn't seem to care that it didn't go at all with these two patterns:
I actually like the blue/yellow/green combo and think it could be pretty, if it weren't right next to the black and white and also next to this beautiful grey pattern with the elegant accent tiles you see here:That's straight out of some old grandma's bathroom, isn't it? Imagine a pink sink just below with cracked grey formica countertops, a pack of Virginia Slims next to the sink, and a cup with denture juice in it next to that. And yet, this is in my entry hall! (Next to the Taj Mahal mirror!)

Go down the hall toward our bathroom and you get this wall tile:
which I had really avoided looking at in detail until I took this picture. It's not a good enough picture to show you that on the left there is a maiden in pink leaning forlornly on a fountain, with Greek columns in the background.

So let's tally...The Taj Mahal, a picture of King Tut in the front entry, with the grandma's bathroom tile on the wall and the black and white tile on the floor (all in one room!)...then there's the little bathroom with the black and white floor and the Spanish tile on the walls (oh and did I mention that I saw a 7" lizard crawling on the wall in there yesterday!?!)...and the hallway with the emo girl (like my youthy lingo?) on one wall, this on the other wall and the oft-mentioned black and white tile on the floor...and Jason's little bathroom with the Aztec patterned tile on the wall...and then our bathroom tile doesn't look bad at all! To be fair to the bathroom, I took a picture of the only cracked tile in the whole room.

And can you believe it, we think we have one of the GOOD apartments among those we've seen?!! We're pretty happy with it, actually! Sometimes, though, I think of my red kitchen and taupe living room with my pretty furniture and new piano back home and want to barf when I look at this place! But wow, what a year we've had in these places with ugly walls, floors, and furniture! We've made it our home and we'll be glad to come back to a place we already know in August.

Fanar de Luna

I have a friend who has access to a place on the Red Sea, in a development called Fanar de Luna. The official website is fanardeluna.com if you're interested in looking at it. There are some really good aerial shots on the site that are pretty neat. Noel also has some great pictures on his blog (link is to the left). My friend has had the task of decorating and outfitting two flats at Fanar, and she has done a spectacular job. I got to help her with some of it.

Anyway, our family went away this weekend to Fanar with our friends, the Simons. The flat we stayed in is decorated with a sea theme, and it has a gorgeous view of the Red Sea. There's a small yard in the back with literally the softest Bermuda grass I have ever set foot in (sorry, Jason). It's right on the beach; there's also a pool, a playground, and room for Luke to ride his bike. We took our own food and ate like royalty. I made hotcakes for breakfast one morning. The other morning Noel cooked omelets. We had chicken fajitas with homemade salsa (Uncle Jack's recipe), steaks and sweet corn, and homemade chocolate chip cookies with REAL Nestle Toll House morsels! Luke got to play in the yard, ride his bike, and put his feet in the sea. Jason and Noel had some good male bonding time, and Rachella and I had lots of good time to talk and catch up, which we haven't been able to do as much this semester. It was a very refreshing weekend for all of us. Good memories before we go home for summer.




Luke had a ball playing with a croquet set. I loved sitting in the swing and letting the wind blow me back and forth. The Red Sea is very windy. Here's Luke sitting in the swing--anyone who knew him in the first 3-4 months of life can probably remember a very tiny version of him looking just like this in his swing back home!


The best part of Fanar, to me, is not the sea or the sand. It's that good clean grass. I just lie right down on it and remember what it was like to be a little girl in summertime in East Texas! I love lying in the grass. It smells fresh and clean, and reminds me of home. It even makes me sneeze!

Wrapping up

I apologize early on for the length of this post and the fact that it may seem disjointed. I started it nearly 2 weeks ago and finished it tonight because I'm going to adapt it for publication in a local magazine. That will have to wait till tomorrow, though, because it's well after midnight now. Hope you enjoy reading. Thanks for reading all this year, and for praying us through our first year in Egypt.

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Luke and I leave for Texas in about a month. We'll be there six weeks before Jason joins us. His school year doesn't end until mid-June, and then he's committed to teaching summer school through mid-July. It will be a long time to be away from him, but the visit with family and friends will be good.

I'm preparing to leave Egypt, deciding what to take home, what to bring back, what's necessary and what's not. Making lists left and right. My lists have lists. I want to pack our clothes away so they are not all dusty when we return. I have to give a key to Leni so she can clean before we come back. I have to make sure everything's in line at my school and that I'm all set for next year, wrap up my job at the library, make sure Luke's set for school next year, etc. Lots to think about.

Time to reflect on the past year. I'm in the middle of re-reading The Poisonwood Bible and I'm going to borrow author Barbara Kingsolver's section headings as guidelines for my thoughts.

The Things We Carried

We brought 7 Rubbermaid tubs with us, 50 pounds each, packed efficiently with Space Bags, and filled with the things I thought we needed.

I brought lots of stuff for the kitchen, utensils, supplies we might not be able to get here, etc. I should have left the Homemade Gourmet mixes at home and brought more pecans, chocolate chips, and pre-cooked bacon! I expected to be able to still cook with my Homemade Gourmet stuff, but convenience foods like canned soup and tomatoes are expensive here, and so I ended up not using much of that stuff.

I brought a lot of Luke's favorite toys and books. I brought all my scrapbook supplies, since scrapbooking is one of my favorite ways to spend my free time. We brought all our DVDs, some books we couldn't do without, and some of Jason's teaching supplies.

I had done pretty good research and mostly brought the right stuff. We should have brought more winter clothes and our heavy coats when we first came. I should've brought the special nails for hanging pictures in concrete walls. I thought for sure they'd sell them here, but they didn't until a few weeks ago. I also should've gone ahead and brought several sets of sheets in different sizes. We've had king sized beds, queen, and something larger than a twin but not a double. I didn't bring sheets because I didn't know what size beds we'd have, but it is so expensive here to get sheets that aren't scratchy that I probably would've been better off bringing something.

We have plenty here. Yes, seven tubs seems like so little to bring...and we did bring six more suitcases of stuff at Christmas. But I have been able to escape consumerism, to realize how many things are not needs, but wants. And when we went home at Christmas I found myself quickly sucked back into that mentality of needing the latest gadget, more scrapbook stuff (I really do need that...), new clothes and shoes, more of everything! Really, though, I just need what I already have. I walk past hungry children every day. People who buy government subsidized bread made with who knows what sort of ingredients. Barefoot toddlers with flies swarming all around their eyes and noses. Women trying to sell me a packet of kleenex so they can buy food for the babies lying limp on their laps. I don't need a fancy phone, a new iPod, a Nintendo DS. What I need is to give away the stuff I already have (which is how I'm going to get home in those same seven tubs and three carry-ons).

I've learned that a new place becomes home more quickly when you have to make it a home for your child. I tried to keep things as normal as possible for Luke, bringing his favorite things, keeping our routine somewhat the same, and in doing so, I settled in a little more quickly than I probably would have otherwise.

I walk just about everywhere, and I got lost quite a bit when we first got here. It took me nearly six months, but I have learned the streets of Maadi well enough so that I can walk just about anywhere and not need a map. I still keep one handy, but I have learned my way around. Since I am spoiled to finding everything in one store at home, I’m pretty happy that I have also figured out where to buy most of the things I need here. Speaking Arabic helps a lot, and that's one of the things I'm most glad I've learned. I have taken three sessions of Arabic at CSA, and I am much more comfortable knowing enough of the language to make myself understood.

It didn’t take me long to learn that Egyptians are a welcoming, friendly people who are generally happy to help. The first week we were here we happened upon a wedding party for the groom’s family and were invited in. Though I felt out of place and honestly, a little afraid—it was our first week—I also felt that they were truly honored and thrilled to have us there. That experience remains one of my favorite memories in Cairo.

The Things We Didn’t Know

I had read about the dust and dirt of Egypt, and I came here fully aware that we were moving to the desert, but I don’t think anything could have really prepared me for how sweaty, gritty, and grimy I’d feel on a hot August day in Cairo! Nor was I ready for the dust the khamsin brought in last month or the dirt we constantly bring in on our shoes.


We were told to pack plenty of winter clothes, and fellow teachers warned us that winter in Cairo is an “in your bones” kind of cold. Still, I was unprepared for the fact that I would often wear my ski jacket while I walked my son to school, and that I would sometimes open the windows in our flat to let the cold air OUT on days when the air outside was warmer than the cold trapped in our apartment.

I don’t think I could’ve imagined traffic in Cairo either. I rarely find myself stuck in dead-stop traffic as is common at home, but the way that pedestrians, taxis, bikes, motorcycles, donkey carts, and often packs of wild dogs share the same roadway is phenomenal! I quickly surmised that there was an implied understanding that anyone and anything might dart out in traffic, and that most drivers were on the lookout for those surprises. I still ride in taxis gripping the handle and holding on tight to my son, though, for I don’t think I’ll ever get used to some of the close calls I see each day.

I did not know until I arrived in Egypt and tried pushing our stroller down Maadi sidewalks that the proper place to plant a tree or install a light pole is right in the middle of the sidewalk! Who knows why, but that’s the way it is in Cairo. We push the stroller down the street, and use sidewalks when they’re navigable.

Some of the things I didn’t know about Cairo turned out to be really pleasant surprises. I knew we’d travel and see some of the Middle East and Africa from here, but I never fathomed how beautiful Egypt itself would be. I expected to see vast deserts and endless dunes, but I find joy in the beauty of the flowering trees of Maadi. An afternoon felucca ride from the Maadi Corniche calms my soul and restores peace to my mind when it’s filled with the noise of the busy city. And my favorite jewels of Egypt are the Mediterranean and Red Seas. We spent a relaxing weekend in Al Arish in the fall, and have visited the Red Sea recently. I had no idea Egypt had such beautiful seaside beaches.

Although we learned early on that Egyptians were friendly and eager to help, we have lost our sense of personal space. This mostly affects Luke. Complete strangers constantly approach him to touch his head and kiss his face. Granted, he is the cutest three-year-old I’ve ever seen, and I personally find him irresistible—but he has grown tired of it, and I don’t blame him. It’s difficult to politely tell them “hands off,” since I know they’re only being kind. Luke has started being grumpy with people, and he even asked me recently, “If I wear a hat, will people quit touching my hair?”

I too have had my personal space invaded. We were warned before coming here that women in Cairo sometimes attract unwanted attention from men. This could include being hissed at, kissed at, cat called, grabbed, or groped. I blissfully escaped most of this our first four months here when we lived in Degla, but since we’ve moved to a different area of Maadi, this unwanted attention has increased. On one morning, a guy (probably a teenager) grabbed my rear end while I was walking home from taking Luke to school. He was walking the opposite direction to me on the street, and I could tell something was up. He moseyed over, laughing with his friends, and grabbed me. It was so disturbing to me; I’d never experienced anything like this at home. I yelled at the guy, who followed me with his friends for a while. That scared me. I lost them, and once I got home, I lost all composure, broke down, and called Jason, who immediately came home from work to be with me. Seems like a small incident, but it’s one that colored my outlook for a few months. I’ve decided it’s not going to happen again, though, and when a similar incident started to happen last week, I swung my bag at the guy, yelling at him. He got scared and ran off.

Despite these encounters, I don’t feel unsafe. However, I do feel like I’ve lost some innocence. I don’t trust people I see on the street the way I did when we first arrived, and I keep a very sharp eye out when I’m walking, especially by myself.

We’ve also lost some personal possessions in Cairo. Early on my phone and wallet were stolen from our apartment. Since Christmas, we lost Luke’s precious stuffed dog, Sweet Puppy, when we left it in a cab. Just a few weeks ago, I left Luke’s stroller on top of a cab, tried to chase the cab down the street, yelling at the top of my lungs, but the guy drove off and never returned with my stroller. I had heard stories about cab drivers returning people’s cell phones and wallets, so I had some hope that he’d bring my stroller home, but he never did. It was a big bummer. I had the perfect stroller.

The Things We'll Carry Home

Luke and I leave for home in fifteen days. We won’t be back in Cairo until mid-August, and I know there are things we will miss. We will long for a cool glass of lemon juice, which is distinctly different from lemonade. We’ll wish we could call Red Bistro for some delicious hummus, phone Lucille’s for our favorite cheeseburger, or walk over to the local take-away spot for tomeyya and makaroona béchamel. We will miss the familiar streets of Maadi, our friends from school, and our wonderful church. We’ll wonder how our favorite cab driver, Mostafa, is doing. We’ll miss the smiles on the faces of the Egyptians we meet in the store and on the street when we greet them in Arabic.

We will carry home two complete scrapbooks, filled with vivid memories of our first year in Egypt. The stories told in these albums are those of a family bonded together by a unique experience, of a marriage made stronger, of a child filled with curiosity and wonder at the world around him. We are richer for our time here.

Despite the things I’ve complained about, big and small, there have been so many blessings this year. New friends, new experiences, new opportunities abound. A chance to meet people and maybe make a difference in someone’s day, if not in his life.

We will also carry home our testimony. Our God is FAITHFUL. I was cleaning my studio this morning, putting away scrapbook supplies for the summer and separating out the things I'll bring home. While I was cleaning, I had music going on iTunes, and "Great is Thy Faithfulness" was on. Before I knew it, I was in tears. I love modern worship music, but inevitably it's the hymns that reach to the core of my soul. I wish I could just have this song on a loop while you're reading this post. Since I can't, here are the words of the second verse and chorus that melted my heart today:

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.
Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness
Lord, unto me.

I can’t begin to tell you how many days this year I have longed to be back in Texas—to see the faces of my dear family, to sit in my Daddy’s lap, to see the look of joy on my mom’s face as she holds her favorite (and only) grandson. There have been times when I wanted to tell Jason “khelas,” Arabic for “finished,” or “enough,” pack our Rubbermaid tubs, and return home. But we came to Egypt because we felt led by the Lord to do so, and we will stay until we feel led elsewhere.

Each time I have a dark day, I ask God to speak to me. I walk down the streets of Maadi, looking for beauty among the dust, garbage, and honking taxis. Inevitably God shows me His presence here, reassures me that we’re in the right place, and gives me just enough of a lift to get me through the day. There is nothing that will take away the homesickness and the way that I miss my family, but God is faithful, like the hymn says. He cheers and guides me with His presence, giving me strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Great is Your faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Nerd Alert!

Not that I've ever really been in doubt of my status as a certified nerd - but get this. Here is the exciting evening Jason and I have had: we put Luke to bed around 8:00 and for the last hour Jason has been playing chess online and I have been on Type Racer - a new website I found out about on Pop Candy. You can race other people or by yourself, typing passages from famous movies, songs, and books. (And yes, I've still got it...103 WPM on one of my races! Can't do a cartwheel but I sure can type!) I am officially as addicted to it as Jason is to chess, and we sit here happily playing away in nerd heaven!

Whee!!!.....Whoa!!!!

I guess every family has its own family vocabulary of words and phrases the kids make up. Our family has some classics. The best example from my own family is a word my sister Kari made up to describe another little girl who was being very selfish: "hogative." Scott had a significant contribution too, "got-for", which was what he said when he forgot, like "I got-for flushed it" (referring to the potty!). My mom kept a list of a lot of these things so we'd remember them.

Luke is at an age where he's added several things to our own family vocabulary in the last few months--some of which I think are keepers. My favorite word is "icksgusting." Sounds so much better than disgusting, doesn't it? He also contributed "fost" for "soft," and "emmalade" instead of "lemonade" at ages 1 and 2.

I love how each person in a family contributes something sweet to the fabric of what that family becomes. I love that I am who I am because of every member in my family--and not just my immediate family. I grew up spending lots of time with my dad's side of the family. We spent every holiday and lots of summer weekends at Grandmom's and Gran'dad's house on the lake in Gainesville. I loved it. I adored my cousins and wanted so badly to be one of the "big kids." I can remember trying to think about which of my cousins was my favorite, and I couldn't give myself an answer--each one was special to me for a different reason. Those times at Grandmom's house are some of my best memories. Even now if I have to think of the place I felt the happiest, most secure, and most at peace, I think it would be out in the backyard at Grandmom and Gran'dad's house, sitting on the big green pillow out under the trees, my feet in the cool grass, looking across the lake to the island.

When we were on the way to Grandmom and Gran'dad's house, we started to get really excited once we got through the gate at Lake Kiowa. We knew we were close--close to family, good food, and whatever fun games the cousins had come up with this visit. We knew we were VERY close when we got to the "whee-whoa." What's the whee-whoa? It was two really large humps in the road with a big dip in between, bigger than speed bumps, and wide enough so that you could actually speed up when approaching them (or at least it felt like Daddy sped up for us) and go over them at more than 10 mph. As we went over the first hump, we shouted, "Wheee!!!" and at the second, "Whooooa!" The bottom even fell out of my stomach when we'd go over the whee-whoa. I think, if I remember correctly, that the whee-whoa got its name because Brad and Amy, two of my cousins, named it that. Not sure if that's the right story, because it was the whee-whoa as long as I can remember it--but someone can correct me if need be!

I don't get to see my cousins much nearly often enough anymore (especially now that I went off and moved to Egypt), but they are still some of my favorite people. I still adore them and love each one of them for a different, special reason, and they've all married wonderful people who bring something new and fun to our get-togethers. When I was little I used to worry--anxiously worry--about what would happen when my oldest cousins got married. I worried that we would never get together, never see each other, and would grow apart. Some of that has happened, yes, but we've decided as a group to make it a priority to see each other at least once a year to catch up and have fun together.

I think my cousins would be happy to know that I've taken some of our family vocabulary--the "whee-whoa"--and adapted it so that I could share it with Luke here in Egypt. There is a street we walk down to get to church and to Luke's school that has a sidewalk with big dips in it. When we walk down the sidewalk in the stroller I get a running start as we approach those dips and yell, "Wheee!"....."Whoa!!!!" Luke loves it. Sometimes we just run over them, like the picture above. He laughs and laughs, and so do I. We get some funny looks from the taxi drivers flying by, but for those moments I'm a kid again, and it doesn't matter at all.

Ask Me Something!

I'm getting ready to wrap up our first year here in Egypt. I've already started writing a post summarizing our year here for future publication...maybe next week.

All this year I've written about places we've been, things we've seen, and day-to-day things I've found interesting. Now it's your turn. Is there anything I've left out that you want to know? Big questions or little ones--ask, and I'll answer! If posting in the comments section proves inconvenient for you, send me an email at txkatherine@yahoo.com. I will make a list of questions and get busy answering them.

Tara got me started yesterday. She asked if there was Dr. Pepper in Egypt. Yes, there is! Luckily, I don't drink Dr. Pepper unless I'm desperate, so I don't have to pay the $2 per can price tag for DP. I happily pay less than 50 cents for a can of Coke or Diet Coke.

Any more questions? Bring 'em on! I'm curious to hear what you wonder about.

The Countdown is ON!!

Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com

The Price of Bread and the Nightly News

I've seen the clip from the CBS news about Egypt's bread crisis. Here's what I know. I learned of it from your news before I heard it here. There are a few of the government-subsidized bread stands near our house. There is always a line of people waiting in front of it. Most people bring some sort of bag or tray to carry their bread home on, but I've also seen people just walking down the street with bread in their hands. It's not uncommon to see people carrying their trays of bread on their heads, maybe even while riding a bicycle. Bread is available to them for really cheap prices by our standards, like 2 cents for a piece of pita bread, but when you consider that their MONTHLY income might be less than $10, I guess a rise in bread prices would be upsetting.

The news reported "civil unrest" and rioting. We've seen neither. About a month ago there were demonstrations downtown, about half an hour from us. There was talk of a strike by all taxi drivers and other service employees--but the day it was supposed to happen I rode in two or three different cabs in Maadi and had no trouble finding one and only found out about the strike when Jason got home from school and told me.

I am not trying to say that there is no bread crisis. We have been hearing about the rising cost of flour for months. Prices have increased in the grocery stores. There are always lines of people waiting for bread. We are frequently approached by people asking for food or money. Maybe I'm naive here, but I do think it's easy for the evening news to send a crew of camera guys to film the normal bread lines, put it on American television, and call it a crisis, and predict civil unrest. I think the average American viewer is unsettled to begin with when presented with images of people dressed in traditional Arab garb. It took me a long time to get used to the head coverings and galabeyas (man dresses). The other thing they didn't say when showing the bread lines is that Egyptians don't stand in line! There's no concept of waiting your turn here. It's whoever can get to the front first. So the pushing and shoving you see on TV is a normal, daily occurrence here. Frustrating to an American trying to get past the pushing and shoving to the window at the post office, but part of everyday life for an Egyptian. So here's what I'm saying: watch the news, be concerned for the poor of Egypt, and remember that life for the average Egyptian looks a lot different than what we would expect it to be.

As for the demonstrations, don't worry about our little family being in the middle of all that. It is sort of like the difference in living in your D/FW suburb and hearing about the immigration protests they had last summer in downtown Dallas.

I will keep you posted if I see anything different in the next month or so.