Life Or Something Like It

To panty lines, stripes and plaid and being a general oddity.

2009-07-12T00:45:00.002+03:00

You know the people I mean. There is always that girl with an extremely noticeable panty line or that boy wearing plaid shorts and a striped shirt. Not that we usually say anything to these people, but we notice and sometimes talk about it amongst each other. The individual we are talking about, however, continues on, oblivious to the seemingly out and out point they are making. I feel like the oblivious person. In a culture in which you know nothing, you do things the way you would in your culture. For instance, I just found out that it is extremely rude to call your elders by their names. Here I am, calling people by the names they introduce themselves by and now I find out that I am being rude. Since, however, I am a foreigner and know no better, it is overlooked. I feel like people must see me doing this and pointing it out, precisely like the previous two things I mentioned. There are more things like that here, that I don't know how to do properly within the culture but people are accepting anyway. It is so crazy. Well, I know I have been short on blogs lately, I am sorry for that. Things have been, to say the VERY least, crazy and I haven't been able to sit down and concentrate long enough to write about it all. Last week was spent at a beach with Rigys close friend Ruby and her two kids and their nanny. 8 women in one house and no one died, I am still amazed. We are going back tomorrow and staying for another week and then I will be spending the rest of my time with Rigy and the kids with her family at another beach. I was hoping to get tan so as to blend in here, but you can still spot me a mile away without binoculars because I am so much whiter than everyone else. I am hoping for improvement over the next few weeks.

Unpainted toenails.

2009-07-02T21:57:00.002+03:00

Let me just say, I have never been a fan. However, I have spent the last two days with au naturel toes. What brought on this bout of nonsense, I have no idea and remedied it earlier this afternoon. This afternoon, by the way, was fantastic. Rigy was gone for nearly 8 hours today and so I had the girls to myself. Actually Mina was here but for the most part I was taking care of both of them. It was really really nice. With Rigy gone it was a lot less stressful, as it always is when parents are gone. When they are there the kids rely on them instead of you and it is really very frustrating and also if you say no they cry to their parents and then one of two things happen, either the kids gets pity from the parent but still has to do what I say or the parent makes them not do what I say which then makes the children question my authority and then they start disobeying with really small simple things...etc. So having parents around 24/7 is REALLY tough. Today was really good though. I put Sophia down for a nap and she slept from 3-6 and me and Talli hung out and had a really fun time. I really enjoyed it which is really refreshing because I have been having a tough few weeks. This weekend we are going to the beach for a few weeks and that will be really great. It is so nice to be able to take Talli out instead of being locked in the house all day. Also she skips napping and the sleeps earlier which is really nice too. When Sophia woke up I was holding her on the couch and Talli was sitting next to me and we were all just hanging out and I held up Sophia to make her 'fly' and Talli crawled behind me on the couch and the next thing I know she is on the floor crying. She fell off the couch. When I asked her what happened and why she fell off she simple told me she was trying to fly. I really tried hard not to burst out laughing.

10 ways to know you have kids.

2009-06-29T23:04:00.002+03:00

1. You have been pooped on.
2. You have been bitten.
3. You have been hit.
4. You have smelled like spit-up for more than one day.
5. Your children have used you as their own personal-portable towel/tissue.
6. You have heard the word "no" more than any other in your life.
7. Lets face it. You have been bested by a two year old.
8. You have been up all night with a screaming baby.
9. You are asked at least 1,000 questions/day per kid.
10. You have found your cosmetics/toiletries strewn across the room and all over your child.

My heart will go on

2009-06-12T23:28:00.002+03:00

I think Celine Dion was our theme song the entire time the girls were here. I'm not sure why, but we heard her everywhere. I had a really good and also really stressful time while the girls were here. It was definitely super fun and I am really sad and miss them but also things were crazy. After we got back from Sharm we hung out pretty much all day on Thursday. On Friday we went to church and then City Stars and got some coffee and also cut, glued and decorated tons and tons of things for Rigy for Talli's birthday party. Her party was on Saturday. Parties here are crazy, Talli's was, to me, outrageous to do for a three year old...and Rigy said it was probably the smallest one I would see. Normally people go bigger. The whole thing was outside at a park at a hotel and catered and had a popcorn thing and a dj and a trampoline and a big bouncy jump-and-slide thing. Barney and DJ and Baby Bop came...it was insane. The cake was a three tier chocolate cake with clowns on top (Circus theme) Talli had a little clown outfit and wore that for some of the party. It was crazy. Sunday was more hanging out and City Stars. Monday was the big day. On Monday morning we went to the Pyramids for a few hours. It was even better than I remembered it. I had a lot of fun last year going with Elly but it was even better this year. We each had our own camel and we named them as follows-Dee and Jasmine, Anna and Mohamed and Me and Jafar (so named by Anna because he was supposedly mean, but I think he was just letting people know who was boss).We took them all the way around the pyramids and to the Sphinx and everything. I must mention that I did recieve my very first proposal. One man told me he would give me 10,000 camels if I agreed to marry him. You'll all be pleased to know I am now engaged, after all, how could I resist 10,000 camels? Really though, that was the least of the bothersome men I found there. First, for the camels the guy wanted to charge us an outrageous price. Second, after we got off the camels and started walking we were just TOTALLY harassed. More than I have even been before here. Men following us around non-stop. Some to sell things and some to offer themselves as husbands. One man just came up to me and put this hat on me and then insisted that someone take a picture of him with me. Who even does that. Anyway, I am not quite sure what happened but somehow I left that situation with 10LE less than I started with and in fact the hat he put on my head. People here are crazy. It is so frustrating because they think they have to be sneaky about prices when really if they had a sign with the price I am sure plenty of people would do things like take a picture with a silly Palestinian hat on next to an Egyptian. Anyway, the Pyramids were great. After that Tareks mother Mona (she actually gave us her driver for the day so we didn't have to deal with taxis) took us out to lunch at a nice Italian restaurant. I got pizza. Mona wanted us to taste what she had. So I did. And then I asked what it was. And then I wanted to throw up. Veal. Baby cow-to put the picture in your head. Well, no harm no foul. I politely gave it back to her and told her I didn't eat baby cows and resumed eating my pizza. Ahmed (the driver) then took us to the Khan Al Khalily and came with us and bargained all the prices for us. He was really nice. He would tell me the prices and then I would translate for the girls. He was so funny, he would always tell me the price that the vendors asked for and then the price he got and he was so proud about it. So cute. That was definitely a good full day. Tuesday we went and walked on one of the oldest streets in the world. That was pretty amazing. I also recieved my second proposal there. Consisting of a string of words something like this-"Please be my wife, I am ready!" Anna also got offered 100 camels for her hand in marriage. The man who said that should have met the man who offered me 10,000, maybe he wouldn't be so cheap. Wednesday we did more preparations for Talli's school birthday party. I made two cakes, one chocolate, one vanilla from scratch. I didn't get to taste them, but the kids (and teachers) chowed down, so I assume they were good. I also made a batch of cookies. I did taste those and they were delicious. They left late Wednesday night. Actually it was really early Thursday (2:00am) but we stayed up all night so it didn't seem like that. I saw them off and obviously cried, as I always do. Apparently Rigy heard me (I didn't think I cried loudly...?) and she proceeded to tell Tarek and they were both kind of laughing at me. Oh well, I can't help it. I cry about everything. I have just come to accept it.

I love it when everything goes EXACTLY as planned when you go on a trip.

2009-06-03T21:20:00.003+03:00

Unfortunately, that DID NOT happen with the one we just took. Day one- Rigy told us our bus left at 6:30am so we got up at 5:30am and were on our way at 5:45. Mr. Shou'i drove us to the bus station and we got there at 6am. We then find out our bus doesn't leave until 7am and bonus, it didn't even arrive until 7:20am. Rigy also (unknowingly) misinformed us that our bus was going to be a nicer one. The seats were broken, some could only be in the laid back position and couldn't be put up at all, and Deannah, Anna and I had the misfortune to sit behind people with such seats. That means for the long tediously slow drive of our poor old bus we were squished in our seats. Minus the squishing and the old nature of the bus, it could have been fine but we also stopped about every half hour to get our passports checked and so sleeping was pretty much impossible. As it turned out, our bus was SO old and rickety that it actually broke down halfway there. After we switched buses in the middle of the desert, we had a fairly comfortable ride in a stable bus the rest of the way to Sharm El Sheik. Once we got to Sharm we had to take a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver ripped us off. I tried and tried to argue with him but he wouldn't go for it, so I gave him thirty pounds instead of the 20 I orginally tried to give him. And for all the arguing, he didn't even drop us off at our hotel, we had to walk like two blocks because he didn't really know where it was. Hot and sweaty we finally arrive at the Cataract Hotel. (So named, we presumed because it was SO bright outside that people left Sharm with blurred vision) The hotel was nice and cool and the girls sat down while I went up to the counter to check in. Of course, as I tell the man my name and who our reservation is with he politely informs me that we have no reservation. I told him we did and try to look again and he said we didn't have it. I called Rigy to let her talk to the man and try to find out what happened to our reservation. After about thirty minutes of arguing and waiting and hoping we didn't just take a seven hour bus ride for no reason, the clerk informs me that our reservation is in a different building. A bell-boy takes our bags and directs us to the other branch of the hotel. Finally we had a reservation. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but when I think 'resort' I think a nice place with a pool and beach and what not and the rooms are nice with a tv and a dresser and a bath and shower and internet and mini fridge and coffee maker....yeah. In Egypt I guess it means beach, pool, tiny room with beds that felt like sleeping on hardwood, no carpet and a tv with no cable. No internet, no coffee maker, no mini fridge and no bathtub. Well, no stress, we were finally there. A mediocre dinner at the hotel and then we just kindof hung out until 2am. Walked around in the town a bit. The next day we slept until nine, got breakfast and then slept until 11. We are still not fully adjusted time-wise. Also this house-keeping guy came into our room and I was speaking Arabic to him and he was all excited that I could speak it and so we were talking for a bit and he was pretty nice. We got up at 11 and went and lounged around at the pool and tanned and swam for awhile. We got some snacks and watched a movie and took a nap until dinner and then went out and walked around more. And I musn't forget to mention that our air conditioning in our hotel did not work and we also did not have a shower curtain. Now, I know some of you who have been to foreign countries (mostly girls) know what it is like to be hassled by foreign men. What you don't know is that hastling in those countries is nothing like being hastled in Egypt. First of all, EVERYONE stared and the the others would make comments. The most common was "You are a princess/queen" or something of that sort and "I love you". The others we heard were "Hey, I know you, you guys are Charlies Angels" and "WHOA! It's the Spice Girls!" and someone came up to Dee and asked her where her glasses were because me and Anna were both wearing them. My personal favorites was once when this boy came up to me (after he and his friends had already tried to pick us up earlier and had since followed us) and asked to take a picture with me and I told him no and that I didn't want to in Arabic and then since he found out I spoke a bit of Arabic he continued to follow me and keep asking me and asking if the other girls spoke Arabic and just wouldn't go away until I stopped and just told him and the other time we were just walking by this man who gave Dee a flower for no apparent reason. There were many many more comments and blatant staring. It really takes a lot out of you to ward off those people. Seriously. I am so worn out. When I am by myself its easy to ignore but I felt a certain responsibility for Anna and its just annoying. I hate them staring at her like that. The next day we got up at eight, ate breakfast, swam, watched tv, showered packed and then headed off to get a taxi to the bus station. I gave him thirty pounds and he asked for 80. I was infuriated at this point. I gave him thirty, he deserved twenty and he tried to charge me 80. I am so sick of being ripped off by taxis because I am foreign. I ended up having to give him sixty. I am still frustrated about it. Well, finally we were at the bus station. And, luck of all luck our tickets weren't until 12 MIDNIGHT. Rigy and I had this discussion time after time about how we shouldn't take a bus at night because it was safer to take it in the day. So I called Rigy and apparently she thought when I said stay the day and then leave that it meant the ENTIRE day until midnight when actually I meant stay the morning and leave the afternoon and and be home by 7pm. So we waited at the bus station for an hour with the information that our tickets were not refundable and that we may possibly have to stay the day because Rigy wouldn't be home and no one else would and it would apparently be weird if we just hung out downstairs at the apartment. Finally Rigy calls and we got the manager to transfer our tickets so that we didn't have to pay for more and we got on the 12:30pm bus instead of midnight. I don't know if any of you have experienced being the in the racial minority but let me tell you how it feels. I have felt it may three times in my life. Once when my dad took me and Anna and Justin to an all black church and EVERYONE turned around and stared when we walked in. Whats even worse than simply being the minorty is being not only in the racial minorty but also the gender minority. So picture this. Big bus. 40 seats. 37 Egyptian men and 3 American women. 37 hot sweaty stinky men. 3 hot sweaty but not quite as stinky women. 37 pairs of eyes staring in 3 different directions. 3 pairs of eyes trying to avoid the other 37 pairs. And Since there was 3 of us, Anna and Dee sat together and I sat next to one of the said Egyptian men. Now, at this point we really didn't expect that things could go much more wrong then they already had. For a quick recap-extra late bus which in turn broek down, overcharged taxi ride, misplaced hotel reservation, no air conditioning, constant hassling, wrong bus tickets, and another expensive taxi ride. But of course, the man I sat next to was a bit on the heftier side if you get my jist. More to love, if you will. And the best part-no arms dividing the seats. So I was sitting on half of my seat and he was sitting on his seat and half of mine and another bonus-he was sleeping with his arm up which smelled less than ideal. And also the air conditioning wasn't working well on the bus so it was in the heat of the day and that really didn't help things. Finally we got to Cairo and got another taxi-overcharged. He asked for 15 I gave him 10, he deserved 5 but I was so tired of trying to haggle at this point I just caved. We are now at Sim'sims. Rigy was supposed to pick us up tonight and take us home but she didn't so we are spending the night in this excruciatingly hot room with no air conditioning or no fan. But all in all. We love our lives and we really appreciate America and how easy it is.

Flights, camera, action!

2009-05-31T02:27:00.002+03:00

Well, I just got back to Cairo after visiting the family for about ten days. The flights over there were nothing special, I have definitely experienced better. My first flight from Cairo to London I had the whole row to myself until the stewardess brought this lady over. She kept coughing everywhere and she only spoke Arabic. She kept asking me to open and close the window shade and in general she was not an ideal passenger to have sitting next to you on a 5 hour flight. The stewards never wake you up if you are sleeping when the bring drinks/meals/snacks/etc, but every time they came this Egyptian lady would poke me until I woke up and then insist I take the food/drink even if I didn't especially want it right then so all in all I didn't get much sleep on that flight. I thought THAT was a bad plane ride but little did I know I was going to be going through A LOT worse on the next one. Once I arrived in London I had about a five hour lay over until my flight to Denver. I walked around the airport, got some food and bought some presents and then video-skyped Anna and she had Lisser, Brecken, Roni and mum there with her too. So basically for about and hour I was sitting there with headphones on talking to my computer (from an outsiders point of view I imagine it looked pretty silly). After hanging up with them I boarded my flight and for the first time in a long time I got an aisle seat. The couple next to me was nice. Germans. Touring America. Little did I know that the woman was actually a very bad diabetic and had to get up EVERY SINGLE HOUR to check her blood or walk or get sugar. Basically what that meant was right as I fell asleep she would need me to get up and let her out and then I felt obligated to stay awake until she came back so she wouldn't have to try and wake me up. Eventually about maybe three or four hours into the flight, I just ABSOLUTELY could not keep awake and I would fall asleep and then she would have to wake me up and what happened was when I would fall asleep I would dream that someone was poking me and so when I finally realized that it wasn't in my dream I would instantly wake up and get up and move out of my seat. This usually happened while I was still basically sleeping, it was kindof like sleeping walking, if you will. I would unbuckle, stand up, she would get in, I would plop back into my seat and all in a haze. It was very bad. Sleeping, waking up, sleeping, waking up every five minutes is so much worse than just staying awake because it takes so much more energy out of you. Well, I FINALLY arrived to denver and who was there to greet me but an amazing sister named Anna who was wearing pink and was holding a pink sign she made me that said "Welcome home Schmootsie McPootswiggle!" with some lovely stick-figure art. I loved it. Being back was weird. Everything is so convenient and easy and it felt so weird. You really really don't realize what you have until it's gone. Anyway, the whole family thing was nice but obviously stressful. That is pretty normal. I got to see the Thurmans and my amazing little nephews and that was really fun. Annas graduation was awesome, I cried when she gave her speech, nothing new there. I always cry, thanks mum. I got to see my dad, that was nice and tons of family, but it was a bit overwhelming. Anna, Deannah and I headed back on Thursday. Started out from denver and took a short flight to Minneapolis, we didn't sit together, but it wasn't a big deal. From there we headed out to Amsterdam. The flight was funny, we just hung out and tried to sleep, unsuccessfully and watched movies and eat sick airplane food and whatnot. The layover in Amsterdam was like 8 hours and the worst news: no carpet. We tried sleeping on the chairs and that was awful so we layed Annas princess blanket and snuggled on the floor together, but the floor was tile and FREEZING. By the time we woke up like half an hour later we were practically ice cubes. So since sleeping was a no go we got some hot chocolate to warm our icy bodies and then some pizza to eat. We went shopping for a bit and walked around the airport a lot. Tried to sleep in chairs some more...it was lame but kind of funny. The flight to Cairo was alright, it was from like 8pm-2am so that was pretty intense. We got to Rigys at about 3am and slept until noon. I took them to City Stars the next day and we hung out and ate cinnabons and walked around. Today I took them to the Egyptian Museum. The taxi ride there was the worst ever. We were almost unsure that our taxi would even make it, it was SO so so slow and I really thought he would break down. The car seemed to be as old as the man driving it. Rigy told me the ride should be 15LE and so I asked the driver for 5LE change (I gave him 2o) and he was like "NO, no!" and I tried arguing with him but he refused to give me change so I finally had to just leave it at that. The museum was awesome, lots of cool artifacts and trinkets and jewelry and statues but the coolest thing (of which we had to pay extra, obviously) was the mummies. We got to see about 10 or mummies, it was really crazy. Some were really nasty and others looked almost like wood carvings. Some even still had their hair. The taxi ride back was better, faster and way more reliable. However, when I got out (I was going to give him 20 because we were going farther than Rigys house) I gave him 20 and proceeded to argue with him because he wanted thirty and I even offered all the way up to 25 and he just refused. I was so annoyed. They just take advantage of you because you are foreign and its lame. Other than that the day was good, we just hung out and played with Talli and whatnot. Tomorrow we will go to the beach, we're leaving at 6:30am and its about a 7 hour drive, but it should be really fun. Well I guess that's all for now. Love.

2009-05-17T20:39:00.001+03:00

It was 44˚C here today. Thats 111 ˚F. And its not even summer.

Khan El Khalily

2009-05-17T11:27:00.003+03:00

Last night Mina took me to the Khan and I went shopping for all you guys back home. Mina had never been there before and I had only been there once, so we were pretty much wandering around aimlessly and looking for trinkets. I had to explain to him what the word trinket meant because he didn't know what I was talking about when I told him I wanted to buy some trinks. It was pretty funny. Then he kept trying to point out to me what he thought might be trinkets; jewelery and things like that, haha. I felt bad because I wanted to get cool stuff but it was just hard to find stuff that was cool but also not like really useless and touristy and so I kindof just drug him around with me for like three hours. I managed to come away with a few presents but not something for everyone I'm afraid, so be expecting gifts from Anna and Deannah instead of me, haha. Anyway, it was pretty fun. I never really hung out with Mina before so that was cool and the Khan is crazy. The streets are just for walking -supposedly- but there were motorcycles and people with carts (like wheelbarrows except bigger and longer, but the same idea) that kept pushing through. When people want you to move they make this hissing sound, it is kind of weird to hear that unexpectedly. Of course there was the usual whistling and tons of men hassling me and trying to get me to come look in there shops, blah blah; it helped that I was with an Egyptian boy though, I can't imagine what it would have been like by myself. I believe one man told me that I could come in and look for free....how generous. But aside from people trying to con you into buying all of their things and throwing one-liners at you, they are really pretty nice if you actually are going to buy something from them. I wanted change purses and Mina asked this guy if he had any and he didn't so he went to look for them and he was gone for like fifteen minutes just to look for them for us. The streets there are really pretty dirty, there is trash everywhere and dirt and water (I assume it was water but it may have been other things that I really don't want to think about because I walked there) and mud. It was very dirty, a bit smelly -more so in some places than others- and crowded, but I loved every second of it. I partly loved it because it was just nice to be out without the kids and just partly because it was fun. The buildings that you can see from there are so amazing. I really really love the architecture here, where it is like old-style mosque-ish anyway. It looks really cool. Well...2 days until I LEAVE!!! I am beyond excited. Rigy is really freaking out because of the swine-flu. Apparently something like 100,000 Americans have been infected. No surprise there...no one takes of school or work just because they are sick therefor more people get sick and so on. But being sick in America isn't like being sick over here where the nurses won't come near you if you can get them sick or even if they do they aren't very experience. Sanitation does not have the same standard as in the states and medicine isn't widely available. So Rigy is really worried, she is making me wear a mask at the airport.

Money is the root of all evil.

2009-05-14T19:57:00.003+03:00

Actually, when you really think about money, it is the sickest, dirtiest, nastiest thing you have probably ever touched. Money is passed from person to person no matter the age, ethnicity, gender, class. Money is used by the greediest people and by the humblest of people. Money is used for drugs and money is used to help dying children and you have probably come in contact with money used for those things and may not even have known it. And it is this disgusting thing that is the center of everything. Not to get all philosophical on you guys, but I was just thinking this today as I stepped out of the taxi and paid him. He gave me change and I took it and looked at it while walking up to the apartment. Dirty, wrinkly, ripped, smudged, grimy money with old writing on it. Imagine going through your garbage and picking out an old piece of paper that your kid colored but since it has been in the garbage is is smelly and wrinkled and maybe even a bit damp. What worth is that to you? Change the coloring of the paper and what is written on it and you have money. It's amazing what we put value in these days. On the upside of things, I finally made it to my Arabic lessons after skipping so many because Talli was sick. My last one until I come back in August was today. Fadia is also going to America so I won't see her until August. Church is tomorrow which I always look forward to. Partly because it's my private get-away from the kids but also I just really enjoy it. Also seeing the Miles there is always a good reminder of home. There is also a carnival thing tomorrow and we are going to that, inshallah. AND the best news! I'm growing out my nails again!!! I forgot how pretty my hands look when I have long nails. It's been too long, nearly since I had that nastiness on my face. I am in love with Sophia and Talli. I am going to miss them. I've only been here two and a half months, I can't imagine what it is going to be like when I leave next April. Also, I have a number that anyone can call me at any time, I won't necessarily answer, but you can leave me a message, I would love it. So if you want it, email me rlmcg5@yahoo.com . I am so excited to see all of you! I'll be there Tuesday!

Get personal

2009-05-12T23:59:00.002+03:00

I have had several people ask me if I am a believer or not and usually I answer yes and there is a small conversation afterwords. Not today. I was at Fias and her husband asked me exactly three questions. First- Do you speak Arabic? Second- (more of a statement than a question, actually) You really love her (Sophia) don't you? Third- Are you born again? After that, nothing haha. It was a very strange way of trying to get to know someone. It just struck me as odd and I thought I'd share it. People here ask questions light and with ease that people in the states would find personal and some even a bit offensive. Well, I come home in six days for Annas graduation. YAY! Congrats, Anna! I am so excited. Hopefully I can bring back people presents but I don't know if I'll make it shopping before I leave. Anyway, it's late, I'm off to sleep. Love everyone.

Oh, the diseases you can catch.

2009-05-09T00:19:00.005+03:00

Good news, we got Talli back on Wednesday. She was still really sick and still getting shots of 1000mg antibiotics everyday plus more medicine orally. By Friday she was no longer contagious and is back to her regular health. She will still be on antibiotics for ten days, but she is fully recovered, praise the Lord. Yesterday I went to church, I missed it the last three weeks because we were travelling. It was really nice to be back. I missed the human video on easter and I was really bummed but it turned out that they scheduled it for yesterday and so I actually got to see it, it was really nice. I am coming home in 11 days, I am totally excited!!! I am really excited to see everyone, but lets be honest, I miss some of the amenities of America. Things like clothes dried in a dryer-they are soft, grocery stores with anything you want and at least 3 different brands to choose from, driving, dark chocolate, tank tops, high heels and Mexican food...yeah. I miss Mexican food a lot. Hopefully I will make it to dinner with the Miles before I leave, but who knows. When in Egypt, never do things according to plan, at least if you want to fit in. Also, everyone had better have called Brecken yesterday. He turned four. He is sooo cute! I video chatted with him and Ronan and Alyssa, it was really fun. If you don't have a skype account, get one. It is really easy, you can call people for free and video call and chat all for free if it is to another skype account. You can call landlines and cell phones for really cheap if you want that too. That is how I call everyone in the states. Well, its 12:30, I should go to bed.

For better or for worse

2009-05-06T11:37:00.002+03:00

Talli got to come home yesterday afternoon. Rigy talked to two doctors and one said it was okay if she went home because the only reason she needs to be in the hospital right now is because she isn't drinking enough fluids and may get dehydrated, in which case she would need an IV. So she is home and what is supposed to happen is that she will be sick today and tomorrow still with high fevers and then after these two days she should be okay and non-contagious and will continue taking anti-biotics for two weeks. So that seemed to be good news. But then Talli got her fever at 8pm last night and was not supposed to get it until midnight. That is really bad news. More medicines, more antibiotics. I don't think her poor little body can't take much more, much less her mind. This is really taking a toll on her and Rigy. Anytime anyone knocks on the door Talli cries because she is afraid it is the doctor and Rigy has been up all night calling so many doctors and it's just been really hard. Meanwhile I am full time with Sophia. I have only had to give her formula twice when Rigy had to rush to the hospital, otherwise she has been able to pump, but Sophia misses her a lot. Also, as I think I said before, this is extremely contagious and if Sophia catches it, it would be fatal because it would go straight to her blood and she can't take the major dose of antibiotics like Talli can. It's really very frightening, please keep us in your prayers.

Talli

2009-05-04T14:33:00.002+03:00

Update on Talli, she was admitted to the hospital today after not improving since she started on the antibiotics and meds that she was prescribed on Saturday. Her temperature goes up and down from 98-105 all day long, she is very very hot but then her feet and hands turn bluish like she is very cold. She doesn't want to eat or drink which isn't helping her body at all. Please just be praying for her.

El Gouna

2009-05-03T12:26:00.011+03:00

The girls on the boat.

Picture of one island while we were taking a boat ride around them.

grass hopper.

Paddle Boat.

Who-ville.

Well, to start the trip off right, we left three hours later than planned. The drive is about 5 hours long. We got to Gouna at around 5pm and checked in at the hotel and routine things like that. The hotel was huge. It wasn't one huge hotel but it was actually like a compound type thing of a ton of little houses and rooms and all on different islands and connected by bridges. It was extremely nice. We took a swim at the pool and then went and ate dinner at a Vietnamese place in the Marina. The food was mediocre but the view from the patio was really nice. We didn't have much time before dark so we didn't go to the beach the first night we got there. Around 9pm we all went back to the hotel and Talli went to sleep. I was pretty bored, sitting in the hotel and I was thinking of asking Rigy if I could go walk around the hotel and stuff but before I even had the chance she said, if I wanted to, that I could take the bus and go downtown. So thats precisely what I did. I got dressed (I actually wore a dress and it was shorter than my ankles...ahh, I missed that) and headed out. The bus picks people up right in front of the hotel and charges 5LE for a day pass. So I took the bus around 9:30pm and went downtown. I walked around for a bit checking out all the cafes; I saw a belly dancing show, the girl was really good. I walked around for about an hour (circling a lot because it was very small) and I went and sat at a cafe named Jobos around 10:30pm until midnight just reading, writing and people watching. Ordered some yummy pizza and hot chocolate which is really really excellent over here (as are most things). Rigy called me just before I came home to ask me to go to the pharmacy to get medicine for Talli, she had a fever of about 38 which is about 100 for all you non-metric users. I asked my waiter where the pharmacy was and he showed me but it was closed. By morning Talli was back down to normal. I got back to the hotel around 12:30am but didn't sleep until nearly 2am...who knows why. We ate breakfast at the hotel and it was the biggest breakfast buffet in a hotel that I have ever seen. Places to order any style of eggs, places where they made you fresh crepes (mickey mouse style for the kids), tons of breads, pastries and fruits. Everything from meats and cheeses and traditional Egyptian food to cereal and french toast and donuts. It was totally crazy but obviously really delicious. After breakfast we went to the beack and hung out for awhile. Tarek rented a paddle boat and we went out on that for a little while. I took Talli to play on the playground also, which she really loved. Sophia of course just kind of hung out in her stroller except when we fed her. After the paddle boats we just sat in the beach chairs for a little while and drank Baileys (you know, drinking-as a nanny-with the family you work for feels a little weird, haha, but it was totally cool, we were all just hanging out). We half the day there and then went back to the hotel room and I put Sophia to sleep while Tarek, Rigy and Talli went to the pool. Afterwards we got dinner downtown at a place called Tobasco, the food was really yummy and then we rented a boat to take us around El Gouna. El Gouna is a series of many islands that were put here, nothing was original. It used to be just desert and ocean and now it's green with lots of trees and islands and rivers, all totally man made. The family that owns it is actually a christian family and they do a lot of charity work and Rigy knows the personally. I think Rigy told me they are like the 20th richest family in the world or something...totally crazy but really cool to hear that they are active, serving christians. That is a rare thing indeed. Back at the hotel at around 3am Talli wakes me up and asks for milk and then a whole fiasco breaks out because we find that she has a fever of 40C -104F- and so Rigy goes to the hospital and gets her medicine and everything. The next morning Talli is ok but then around 5 last night when we were just arriving home she starts to have a high fever again and then she was ok until around 9:30 and she -in the time of about 15 minutes- goes from normal to turning blue and shivering with a fever of 41C -105.8F- and so Rigy leaves me with the baby. I had to feed Sophia but Rigy didn't have time to pump so I had to give the poor thing formula, meanwhile Rigy is taking Talli to two doctors who diagnose the same thing: Talli has a serious bacteria infection in her throat that would have spread to her blood if it waited longer and she needs to take a large dose of anti-biotics and then take treatment every three hours after. This morning she is still sick and still has a fever of 40C. The doctor came to the house but confirmed it is just a bacteria infection (Rigy has been freaking out that it was Swine Flu) and that it is just a normal flu and fever. So please pray for her everyone, that she gets better and that Rigy and the baby would stay healthy and not get sick from Talli.

25!!!!

2009-04-30T00:56:00.001+03:00

Happy birthday, Mary! Have the best day ever, I love you so much and I miss you and I wish I was with you.

Lost in Cairo...

2009-04-27T21:02:00.004+03:00

It is bound to happen at one point or another...let me preface this first with what happened before I got lost. Today was an unusual day. I didn't get to bed until 2am and I woke up at 6am. That is relatively normal. Tarek had to go to work really early so I got up with Talli and got her dressed and ready for Hadonna. I went back to bed at 8:30 and napped with Sophia until 10. I left at about 11:40 for Fadias and got there on time and had a really good class. As I said before, I have been really frustrated with how she has been teaching me so I told her today that for the rest of the time I am here until May I want to quit learning to read and write and only learn to speak. Writing adds a lot of time to the learning process and it is more important for me to speak fluently. So today we just did a lot of conversations and it was refreshingly fun. Afterwards I called Rigy and she wanted me to go to Simsims because Sophia was there and Rigy went to pick up Talli from Hadonna. So I get a taxi, tell him where to go and I don't really know if he is going the right way because I have only been to Simsims one other time from Fadias. So we get maybe halfway there (at the time I was unaware of how close or far I was) and the driver doesn't know where to go. I called Rigy again and had her talk to him because she could obviously communicate to him better than me and my limited Arabic. So we start driving again and then he stops and I had no idea where to go. Instead of calling Rigy again, I just hopped out and continued walking. After a little while of aimless wandering and not seeing anything familiar I ask this girl (in Arabic, of course) if she knows how to get to Mcdonalds (Simsims is right next to it) and she doesn't know. So I find another girl and was speaking in Arabic and she told me she spoke English and so then she was able to explain to me where Mcdonalds was and which way to go and then I got another taxi and he took me right where I needed to go. Pretty funny story, I was just kind of lost in Cairo. If I had had more time I would have just walked until I found it but Sophia was waiting for me and I didn't want Rigy to be worried, so I had to get a taxi. Anna and Dee, we will one day wander in no particular direction around Cairo. Get ready.

also

2009-04-26T23:33:00.002+03:00

I forgot to write that while I was in Alex, Rigys dad gave me earrings for Easter, it was so sweet. They are heart earrings (apparently I love hearts even though I really thought I didn't but I have three heart necklaces and now two pairs of heart earrings. On most people I really don't like them though.) People here are so nice and I really like it.

more pictures

2009-04-26T23:25:00.003+03:00

This cat made her home on madame Fadias porch. She also was hissing quite fervently at me after I took this picture. Next is Sophia smiling and growing so big.

And now Talli. Straight up gangster, it seems.

soora min Iskandrea. (Pictures from Alexandria)

2009-04-25T16:22:00.009+03:00

Talli and Me in Alexandria.

A mural on a building that I could see from the balcony. There were murals everywhere.

The Ocean view from the balcony.

Something rare here, streets marking which way to go. I laughed when I saw the arrows.

Looking down from the balcony.

as it goes on.

2009-04-25T14:55:00.005+03:00

I am just living life over here. Things are pretty much the same day to day with few differences, hence me not writing as much. Talli had school of this week because of Easter break so things have been a bit more hectic than usual. I must say that I really love her though, Sophia too, and really the whole family. I get along with Rigy really well and at least a few nights a week we stay up until midnight or so talking until the baby is fed for the last time and sleeping. It is really nice, I like it. We were going to go to the beach this weekend, but it rained. Of course it did, it seems like this week is nothing but trials, haha. Out of the three or so days a year it rains, it had to be yesterday. Arabic is really frustrating me. I mean, I actually should not say that the language is, more how Fadia teaches me. She is true to her Egyptians roots and teaches me in a very organized chaotic fashion and its starting to frustrate me. Everything in my book is scattered and I am on the verge of buying a new notebook and copying everything into it and organizing it so I can feel less stressed about that. The little o.c.d. person inside me comes out in times like this. Barely three weeks to go until I am home. I know it seems like I am counting the days, because I always tell you guys in these blogs, but I really am not. I only know to tell you guys. I think that is a good sign, if I was counting the days I feel like it would be a sign that I don't like it here and am unhappy or something. So, as most of you know, or maybe not because everything has been so confusing, I am still deciding what to do for next year. I am thinking if I come back here I will take August off and get things in order, come home, move my things out of moms into storage and things of that nature. I will also ask Rigy for one day off a week and ask to have a driver so I can actually be doing what I want to do here-volunteer in orphanages. I think that is a pretty good compromise. Just to let everyone know, Micah turned one on Thursday, I hope you all called and wished him happy birthday, I did. If anyone sees him soon kis him for me. Miss and love you all.

Iskandrea. (Alexandria)

2009-04-21T20:58:00.002+02:00

We were supposed to leave for Alex on Thursday after Talli got out of hadonna. Tarek couldn't get work off early so we decided to leave at 7. Of course, running late as we always do here for this or that reason...we didn't end up leaving until 9. We got to Alex at about midnight and finally went to bed at 2am. Talli woke me up at six (she slept in my room and the parents took Sophia for a change) and I was surprisingly rested and we hung out and had fun and played until like eight or eight thirty when Rigy and her dad woke up. Easter was last weekend for us, not the weekend before like in the states, so Friday and Saturday we went to church and one of the churches did an Easter show thing, not really a play but it was really nice. Rigy translated a lot of it for me. In the day time we mostly hung out at the house. We went out like two times or so, once to the Montaza which is this huge place with a few palaces and lots of gardens and it was really beautiful. I didn't get pictures of it though because we went at night and there just wasn't the chance. We also went to the New Library of Alexandria which is pretty much amazing. We hardly had any time to look around though. I could have spent weeks in there. http://www.bibalex.org/English/Overview/overview.htm This link will show you pictures and give you information. It was amazing. On Monday we went to Rigys uncles beach house. There was a lot of people there. English, German, Arabic and more being spoken. It was nice. I liked it. I played ball with this kid about 13 years old. Me and Talli both did actually haha. I met Robert De Niro there. At least, it looked exactly like him. It was pretty weird. The ride home was nearly 5 hours long and it should have only been 2. The traffic sucked. I am pretty tired right now, so I will try and upload pics (few though there are) tomorrow.

...and the hits just keep on coming.

2009-04-20T08:41:00.001+02:00

Well, of course I am not going to Spain. Multiple reasons. I am really sad. I don't feel like writing about it. Lame.

CRAZINESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-15T14:40:00.003+02:00

To those of you who don't know, I try to almost never use exclamation points because I think that they should only be used when one is extremely excited. As you can see, I used 55 in the title of this blog, so therefor, you must conclude I am beyond extremely excited. Well, as I have said before, I have been trying to make a decision what to do next year and I really felt pressured and overwhelmed about it all. Finally I was just praying about it and asking God that if I was supposed to go to Spain to let an opportunity open up for me. Now, I have been wanting to go to Spain forever and have been trying to for almost a year now. I am in an online au pair program and have been searching for MONTHS and didn't find anything. I figured one month was not enough time to find a family and start putting that in motion, so I really just gave it to God, because I can obviously not do anything about it myself. Well, good news folks, I JUST GOT INVITED TO GO LIVE WITH A FAMILY IN SPAIN!!!!! I am SO excited! Here are the details-go from mid-September '09 to July '10. I will have a two week vacation of sorts that I will be able to use to come back to the states during that time if I want to. The family has two kids, a boy (8) and a girl (3). I will be teaching English at the school they go to for a little extra pocket money. I will be only a short bus ride form Madrid (!) and they live in a very small town but it's a pretty famous town so there are a lot of activites and also other au pairs there. So when I come back in August I will only be in the states for a month and a half and I will try to visit everyone while I am back.
On another note, I had another lesson with Fadia today and I was much more excited. I usually try to pick older taxi drivers because you all know how young men can be...haha. Today though, my driver must have been about...23 or so, really very young and handsome, (as most of the men are here, haha) and he was totally nice and I even paid with 20LE and he didn't try to rip me off, although I was totally up for talking him out of it today. On the ride back I got a nice friendly elder guy who wanted 7LE and you know, thats about 1.25$ and seems kindof lame not to give him, but things are different here and that's just the way it goes. Sometimes is they are really friendly I give them 6 or 7LE. It was pretty fun, I asked him if he could take me to Beirut street and he asked where exactly and I told him next to the pharmacy and NSGB bank and he said he had to go pick up someone from school but I told him that I am only a short distance from the main road we were on and he said that was fine and he would take me first then go to the school...mind you, all this was in Arabic, I mean, most of it was. Some things he said I couldn't understand, but for the most part I did. So fun.

fish are friends...and food?

2009-04-15T08:01:00.002+02:00

Yeah, I ate that.

da da da dum.

2009-04-13T14:43:00.003+02:00

Something cool I have noticed is that whenever I learn something new in Arabic, I am always presented with the chance to use it. Today I was a bit frustrated because I was taking a taxi and he didn't go the correct way and we couldn't turn around and I was annoyed for a second because I didn't feel like dealing with him trying to take more money than necessary and then I caught myself and was like 'whoa, hold on, just have a good attitude and use your Arabic to tell him that 5 pounds is what you always pay and it will be fine' so I totally adjusted my attitude and was all ready to have a discussion with the taxi driver. I got out and asked for 5LE change and he was like 'ok' and immediately gave it to me and smiled and then drove off. I was just standing there for a second caught off gaurd, haha. Usually when the drivers take me totally round-a-bout it's because they are looking to get paid more and I really have to argue with them. Most of the time I can just laugh about it, but I didnt feel like it today. After I decided to change my attitude and just went with it he turned out to be totally nice. Funny when that happens.

I have a really hard time with the way Fadia teaches. She is definitely a god teacher, but her style doesn't match how I learn very well. She teaches me certain aspects of things at a time and then brings other rules to add later instead of teaching me all the rules at once. I don't like it because then I learn one thing and then later I have to learn it a different way. Usually what happens is that I know when something is missing and I ask her and then she says she will show me later and I ask her to tell me now because it will make more sense to me...blah blah blah. All in all though, I am learning, and that is better than nothing.

46 day down, 36 to go!

2009-04-13T10:36:00.004+02:00

I know some of you are mad that I haven't written in awhile...but let me preface what will be an extremely interesting blog with this: think about writing about what happens in your life everyday...is it really SO EXCITING that you have news every single day worth writing about? Even if it is, do you have energy enough to actually write it? I certainly don't and sometimes even if I do, not every day is this great experience that I need to share. It's just day to day the same thing with a few minor changes here and there and one can only write about the same thing form so many different angles.
Anyway, I hope to write about some of the things I observe here that I find interesting. Muslims don't have to wear hijabs. A ton of women I have met here are Muslim and none of them wear them, I didn't know you could do that, it is very strange, all the conflicting things in that religion. Also, in Egypt, divorce is taken VERY seriously. Few people get divorced because it is such a hassle and if you do get divorced and your church agrees with it (i.e. thinks the reason for divorce is legitimate-cheating on someone, etc.) then you will be accepted back into the church and you may remarry. However, if you get divorced and your church does not approve, you are no longer allowed in the church or to get married again...it is really crazy but I think it is good. It prevents people from taking marriage as lightly as they do in the states where you can marry and divorce in the blink of and eye and no one even cares. Last night I went to the Easter service at church and it was really nice, Rigy, Tarek and the girls came too. I took Talli up with me to take communion and it was really cute and I was explaining to her what Easter was and when we went up there I sat with her and was telling her to thank Jesus for dying on the cross and then she took communion with me. It was SO adorable and there was a cross there with white flowers and you were supposed to take one after communion so I let her get mine and have it and she just loved it. Afterwards they left and I stayed and hung out with Michelle Miles for awhile, it was really fun and then I walked home at about nine. Traffic was busier than I had ever walked in before, I was literally in the middle of the street, surrounded by cars and giving them the signal to wait ('istanna', you just hold all your fingers together at a point facing upwards) and weaving my way through traffic. I get yelled at a lot when I walk, well, not really yelling so much as guys trying to talk to me and stuff, but I just have on my ipod and go on my jolly way. I have never been hassled beyond that. No one has tried to grab me or anything, which I am thankful for. To anyone who doesn't know, Dee and Anna are coming to see me when I come back in May!!! I am EXTREMELY excited, as are they. Concerning my volunteering, it has been frustrating that I haven't done anything yet since I don't have a driver and I can't take taxis in sketcy places, but last week I talked to Fadia and she said there is an orphanage close enough for me to safely take a taxi to and from. I think we will try to go sometime this week or next week. I HOPE so, anyway. This weekend we will be going to Alexandria for sure (and by 'for sure'...I think I mean definitely but I never know, they are always running late and changing plans without telling me, haha). As far as the kiddies go, I am falling more in love with them every day, especially Talli. I mean, I obviously love them both, but since I can interact with Talli a lot more than Sophia it develops into a different kind of closeness. Sophia has been sleeping better, which is really nice, but now her eating habits are a bit frustrating. I prefer it this way though, because at least now I am getting some rest. It's hard having her every night, even when she goes to bed around 10:30 (which is early). I am pretty used to the routine though. Go to bed between 10:30-12:30 and wake up between 6:30-7:30, change her, give her to Rigy. Rigy feeds her or pumps and then I feed her. Sophia then is up until 9 or 10 and then naps, and then I do my Arabic homework and then I go to my class. Rigy has the baby and then goes to pick up Talli with her. I come home from tutoring and wait for Rigy to call me to come down and help bring up Talli and the baby. Usually they both nap when they come home and I work on Arabic or get on the computer or read or something like that and etc. Just some of the routine things that go on around here. I have to leave for tutoring in about 25 minutes, so I am going to study now. Please continue to pray for my decision about where I am going to go after August.

Someone needs to throw me a baby shower.

2009-04-09T22:06:00.002+02:00

I am practically a new mom, might as well get some good food and presents out of it. I sleep with Sophia every night and have for about two weeks now. She doesn't sleep in Rigy and Tareks room because when she cries she would wake up Talli and Tarek. If Rigy ever does take her she sleeps in Tallis room and the bed is so small and not very comfortable, so I understand why I have her every night. It gets a bit frustrating at times, like when she won't fall asleep until 12 or 1 and even then you usually have to be holding/rocking/bouncing her and if you put her down she will wake up. Luckily I just put her to bed and I think this will be for the night, she shouldn't wake up now. I also just took Talli to the bathroom while she was sleeping, it was pretty humorous. She drinks milk at night so about an hour after she falls asleep Rigy usually takes her to the bathroom and then she goes right back to bed. Rigy and Tarek went out tonight because yesterday was Tareks birthday, so I was on bathroom duty. We all went to a birthday party today and there was a playground and a nice lawn and Talli and I had a blast; we ran around and played on the slides and this wooden train the kids could crawl in and play and it was great. There aren't any places like that easily accessible here so I took advantage of it with Talli and she loved it. It was good to be able to just play with her and have fun the whole time. Nothing else is really going on, I am still completely torn about what I am going to do in August, come back or try to get a job in Spain...please PLEASE pray for me about it. I try to kid myself and say that I may be leaning one way or the other...but I really won't know until the words come out of my mouth when I have to tell Rigy. I have been here six weeks and am still going strong, thats a good sign. I walked to and from church today, its about a 15 minute walk. It is nice to get out the the house on my own and just do that once a week. I think next weekend we will go to Alexandria for real, but who knows. People here change plans at the last minute ALL the time and they are ALWAYS late. I am a nut for being on time, even when it doesn't directly involve me, so it is definitely testing my patience.

I, apparently, have gone crazy. Or some would say...

2009-04-07T22:05:00.003+02:00

I am sure some of you know those video games where you are driving and you have to avoid certain obstacles; people, other cars, pot holes, etc. Well, I will be living it soon enough. I am getting my international drivers license and hope to be wreaking havoc on the roads soon. Driving here is outrageous, seriously, I don't know if I can do it, but I will obviously try. I know I have explained a bit about it, but let me paint you all a better picture. No street is 'one way' I mean, there are signs and everything, but people go both ways even if there is only room for one car, someone honks and one of the cars ends up backing out or pulling off to the side (in the rare case there aren't cars already parked there) and let the other through. Beeping is used for everything; get out of my way, I'm behind you (peds usually walk in the road), I need to get in this lane, etc. You MUST be pushy to drive here. No one lets you in unless you sneak your car in before theirs and beep a lot. Also, parking is crazy. There usually isn't a decent parking space around and when there is there is only room for your car plus maybe 4 inches or less of room front/behind. I am a really bad parallel parker...so we will see how that goes. I need to put some pics up for you guys to really really understand this magnificent organised chaos that I am SO EXCITED to drive in.
On another slightly less exciting note, I think Rigy is getting really very sick and Sophia has not slept almost at all for the past two days and then at night she will sleep maybe 6 hours...I definitely think (and Rigy is beginning to, too) that she has reflux and hopefully we can sort it out. Tarek left for Barcelona on Monday and he won't be back until Thursday night which makes things even worse with Rigy being sick, I have the baby full time, plus Talli going to school, me going to tutoring, Cilo's mum is in Paris and so we are going to take her tomorrow after hadonna...it's crazy. Crazy awesome though, I really love it here. I am thinking I will probably come back for another six months in September, although I haven't told Rigy because I am not positive. Talli and I made cookies again today, chocolate chip, or something like them. We didn't have brown sugar, or a blender to make the white sugar small enough to dissolve. I tried heating it before hand and that helped a lot but not as much as I would have hoped. Also, we didn't have chocolate chips so we used these m&m type things, which we okay. The cookies came out really nice suprisingly, but not like a chocolate chip cookie, more like a sugar cookie. Oh well, I take what I can get around here. Also, for those of you who may come visit....I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

SUCH a blessing!

2009-04-06T14:22:00.002+02:00

I really didn't feel like going to tutoring today. I was tired and I didn't sleep well and I didn't feel like cramming a ton of information into my head. I also didn't feel like a taxi driver trying to rip me off and then me having to argue with him about the prices and whatnot. God does funny things when you do something you know you should even though you don't want to. The taxi ride there was great, I told him where to go because he didn't know and I gave him ten pounds and he gave me five back like I asked instead of arguing for six or seven like they usually do. Fadias was good, not too stressful and I understood it well and I didn't want to smash my head into a brick wall afterword unlike last time, haha. I always appreciate the lesson afterward, but sometimes when I am there doing it it gets to be too much and then I start losing focus and that makes things even worse. And, blessing of all blessings, she gave me a mobile! If you want the number, email me (rlmcg5@yahoo.com) but just to be clear, for those of my sisters who might try to text me, etc, don't. You guys can only use it for emergencies because it's very expensive to call overseas and I am not even paying for it. I have skype for all those who do wish to get a call or want to call me you can use that. It was really amazing, I have been feeling okay going around by myself and whatnot without a mobile, (occasionally Tarek gives me his, but only when I will be gone for a long time or far away without anyone else) but it is still very nice to have one, just in case. Alhamdulillah, seriously. The taxi ride on the way back was good too, I only spoke to him in Arabic and gave him directions, and I felt good about it. Yay! Something I was dreading turned out to be really nice, isn't it great when that happens...

Pictures.

2009-04-05T23:56:00.006+02:00

She was a clown. I was a tiger. She tried, anyway.
Cute little smiling Soph-Soph and her tiny feet.

Talli and my sunglasses.

Happy birthday to Cyrus!!!

2009-04-05T21:11:00.001+02:00

Hey Cy, I hope you are having the best day ever, I am sad I can't be there to hang out at the barbecue with you. I miss you so much and I love you. Happy 27th Birthday.

Disease free!

2009-04-05T00:42:00.004+02:00

That should probably be read as "Disease, free! Come to Cairo and get your fill." Measles come here in the spring, so I will be needing to get a shot for that...
Yesterday I had the unfortunate experience of drinking milk in Cairo. Gross. It smelled like rotten scrambled eggs. It also tasted like rotten scrambled eggs. Other than that, I have been enjoying the food more and more every day. I am seriously loving it. The only things I don't eat are pretty much kofta and sea food, there is a lot of that made, but there are always other options. Today I had what will probably be the closest thing I can get to salsa over here, it was good, but it still wasn't quite salsa. I also have been having a lot of pita bread and dips which I am obviously loving. Today I had a really interesting meal. The bottom layer was pita bread but it was crispy, almost like a chip. On top of that wa rice and then that was covered with yoghurt and to top it off was some chicken. I don't remember the name of the meal, but it was pretty good, the chicken was almost the most amazing chicken I have ever eaten, it was so moist and had a delicious flavor. The yoghurt was a bit overwhelming, it would have been better with less, but it was still very good. Rigys birthday was the second, and we went over to Sim-Sims and had some cake and hung out, that was fun. Although, really, I just sit there trying to understand what everyone is saying and failing for the most part. It is still fun though, watching how crazy and loud they are and sometimes it sounds like they may in fact hate each other to death with the way their tones get, when in reality that is just how they have a conversation. We go to Sim-Sims almost every day for a few hours or she comes here. I love how much their families are involved (although, the downside is that Sim-Sim and Fi'a totally spoil Talli, and they even over-rule Rigy in that aspect, so it is hard). But the closeness and the love is totally awesome. Everyone here seems to just love kids. I have seen total strangers come up to Talli and start talking and playing with her and they will usually ask for a kiss on the cheek and then pick her up or something of the sort. It is strange but great. Even restaurants are so kid friendly, its almost unbelievable, haha. Most restaurants in the US that I have been to merely tolerate kids and in some good cases they are welcoming, but it doesn't happen often; at least it doesn't happen to the extent that it does here. I really do love it here, and I am so happy. I think no matter where you are, and what situation you're in, you are the one who controls whether you grow as a person or whether you sit and dwell on all the bad things and become miserable. I have had some things that could definitely be discouraging, but I find myself taking the higher road and learning to laugh at the situation and not let it get to me. I have been extra tired, I have had the baby for...I don't even know, maybe five nights now? I had her until 20 minutes ago, but I am too tired for it tonight and Rigy took her.
Well, the good news is that my face is almost cleared up! yay. The antibiotic cream has been working wonders and now my face is just a little red and it is quickly healing. So far no one else has got it and I hope it stays that one, but luckily if they do, we can catch it quickly and so it wont be as bad as mine was.
The other day Rigy told me that she would like a decision whether I am coming back after August or not by the end of the month, so please pray for me about that. I think I would like to come back, however, if a job presents itself in a different country (Spain hopefully) I think I would take that, but I am praying about it until I need to give Rigy a decision.
The driver situation still hasn't worked out which is a little frustrating but I am going to ask some people at church if there is anything local I can do that I can just take taxis or get rides to.
I have almost had Sophia every night for a week. Man...if this isn't the most intense pre-parent training I don't know what is...most days it is ok, but then sometimes I just get overwhelmed. Funny how something so tiny can invoke the most love and simultaneously the most frustration out of me.

Love is in the air.

2009-04-02T00:08:00.007+02:00

Haha, no, actually what I harshly found out is that herpes is in the air and Cairo decided to give it to me as a welcome back present. The doctors office. I don't know how many of you have been to doctors in foreign countries, and I know they aren't all sketchy, but some are. Mine in fact, was a typical hole in the wall office. I walk through a sketchy doorway into a dark and even sketchier staircase. Up the stairs into a relatively clean waiting room (mind you, I use the term relatively pretty loosely), from there I am led into another relatively clean waiting room with a soap opera playing on tv. After about 30 minutes of waiting and watching an extremely cheesy soap opera, I get to go see the doctor. After introductions, he asks me to sit in the chair and then takes a minute to look at my face and then tells me I have a non-contagious strain of herpes that I probably got from the air. Herpes, hives, why do I always contract these viruses over seas...Well, I wasn't quite satisfied or convinced with his diagnosis and so I started looking it up on the internet and looking at pictures and whatnot. All sorts of research and I find out my doctor misdiagnosed me...brilliant. Maybe he was doing April Fools....Luckily the appointment was only like 80 L.E. (fifteen dollars)...haha. I was not convinced it was herpes because although a lot of the symptoms match, he didn't really ask me about it, he just looked and said it was herpes simplex and that I probably got it from the air. The only thing is, you can't get herpes from the air, it has to be physically transmitted and he also told me it wasn't contagious and herpes is extremely contagious. So, since none of the information added up, I have been researching it and I found out that it is in fact, impetigo. It is cause by bacteria and can be fixed by an antibacterial cream or antibiotic pills or just soap and water depending on how bad it it. Here is a pic I found online that looks exactly like mine if I don't clean it or put aquaphor on it- http://www.clinical-virology.org/gallery/images/non_viral/impetigo-1.jpg. Pretty attractive, don't you think. It looks even worse on the chin and is also unfortunately very contagious. I am doing antibiotic cream and hoping that it will clear up soon...haha. Oh well, gotta live it anyways, might as well love it, except the itching, that really sucks. Well, I went to tutoring today, another taxi driver tried to rip me off, he was rude but he didn't manage to scare me into overpaying him, haha. I am getting better at Arabic everyday; my vocabulary is getting bigger and bigger and I can have mini conversations with people and I also am trying to incorporate Arabic when I speak with Talli so she will speak to me in Arabic instead of English because it will help me learn faster. I have had three straight nights with the baby, two good, one bad, but it still wears me out because I sleep lighter and am aware of her. Food has been excellent lately, mostly chicken and rice, but who can get enough of that? Not me, I love it all. Friday I am going to get my hair dyed, I hope that turns out well. Today Talli got a hair cut and it looks soo cute. She got bangs and a trim so her curls are more prominent, totally adorable.
This is the view from the living room window.

A la toole.

2009-03-30T15:23:00.003+02:00

Two taxis today. As my Arabic is improving I can talk to them more and tell them where I need to go rather than hand them a paper with instructions in Arabic. Today I asked this man if he knew where to go but he didn't so he waited until he found me another taxi that did know where I was going, it was very nice. So far, all the men I have met are gentlemanly, especially when they are trying to rip you off. However, the honest ones I have come across have been very nice and helpful as well, which I really appreciate and thank God for, seriously. One time in church I was sitting next to an Egyptian boy about my age and I didn't have a bible and he was using the one that was in the pew and he noticed I didn't have one so he offered to share. It's not that American men aren't polite or gentlemen, it just isn't in the same way. People in general here are very friendly and I love that. Today in both my taxis I was trying to speak to them in Arabic, one spoke a little English and the other didn't speak any. The one who did was talking to me and it was mix and match sentences in English and Arabic and I pretty much understood everything, and he was quite funny and kept telling me that I spoke Arabic really well and I gave him an extra L.E. just because I thought he was cool. The second one was equally friendly but not as talkative and he also told me that my Arabic was good. It's not good by any means but I think they really appreciate it when people at least try to speak it. Tutoring went well today, it is basically a crash course; I am learning about twice the amount of stuff in half the time. It is hard but easy at the same time. I have always done really excellently with memorization and so my vocabulary is getting bigger and bigger and the grammar is coming along nicely as well. Today I asked Fadia to also teach me how to tell people directions and tell time, which wasn't part of the plan but I find myself in a lot of situations where that is necessary.

Live it...love it...?

2009-03-30T09:20:00.007+02:00

As you can see, my disgustingness is spreading. Yummy. This thing on my face is taking a lot out of me. I am going to see a doctor Wednesday; hopefully I can get it taken care of really quickly.
I'm trying to just love it, haha. Embrace my sickening face.

Talli and I often play the naming game. One of us will point and the other will name the thing being pointed at, usually when she gets it right I will say "bravo, Talli!" and get all excited. My arabic book has pictures to describe the words in it. Yesterday she was hanging out with me on my bed while I was studying and she was pointing to things and then she pointed at a cup and I said 'ku-beyya' and she was like "ku-beyya, bravo!" and she got this cute little smile on her face like she was proud that I knew it in arabic. It was so cute. I will go to tutoring today, I am pretty tired, I wish I could just sleep. Little Sophia is getting cuter each day. Can you see that I am only half smiling? It hurts that bad.

Songs

2009-03-28T23:02:00.002+02:00

I try and sing to Sophia a lot, it keeps her from screaming when nothing else will please her. Anyway, I sing all different kinds of songs, but lately she will only not cry if I am either singing disney songs or bible songs. It is hilarious. If I try a nursery song she starts to cry.

sickening. and cute.

2009-03-28T08:21:00.007+02:00

Cilo and Talli and Sophia dressed for the party.

The bassinet of bows and the 40 hand tied ribbons by me. Also, my sick face and trust me, it looks worse in person.

Baby Shower

2009-03-27T23:33:00.005+02:00

I hate baby showers. I think they are boring and lame unless you get some cool gifts for your soon to be baby. I hate the games and the weird food that is usually served. Also, the majority of the showers I have been to I didn't know most of the people there. The only thing similar with all the baby showers I have been to and the one I was at tonight was the fact that I didn't know most of the people here. Let me start with preparations for the shower-it actually started yesterday when everyone came to move furniture-after the furniture was appropriate for the party we all started the decoration process. Table cloths, pink ribbons, silver and pink balloons, pink tulle, a bassinet filled with chocolates wrapped as bassinets, dresses and bows, an archway wrapped with tulle that said 'Sophia Tarek 4-2-09', a guest book with personalized paper that said the same thing as the archway. I'm sure there was more decorations, but I think everyone gets the gist. Next comes the dinner preparations. I personally cut and ties 40 bows with one pink ribbon and one cream ribbon and then glued a tiny rocking horse and a tiny bottle on the front and made them into napkin holders. I had to wrap all the silverware and then tie them with the bows. It was a very meticulous task. There was A TON of food at the party. Shish kebobs, shrimp, about five different chicken dishes, 3 different meat dishes, pasta, rice, salad, potatoes, pitas and more that I am sure I am forgetting. Everything was so delicious. (Except the shrimp of course). Now as for the desserts, there was a basket full of chocolates in the bassinet as I said, a basket type thing with jordan almonds and more chocolates, tons of mini shot-glass size desserts, a coconut pastry type thing, a cream pastry thing and last of all the cake. The cake was about a 10" round cake on the bottom with a pink fondant coating and on the top of it were maybe four or five mini cakes and on top of the mini cakes were dresses on hangers made out of pink and white and purple fondant. The cake was layers of chocolate and it was so delicious...I don't know what it is about the cakes here, but they are so good. There must have been about 40-50 people here altogether. Mostly family but a good amount of friends too. Tons of kids were running around. And I guess by running around I mean maybe five of the kids could actually do that and the other seven were all being held by someone. Unlike the states, as almost everything here is, the baby showers are this huge deal and all the family comes, men, women, children, everyone. No ridiculous games were played and no weird food. One thing I did especially appreciate was the disney music being played towards the beginning of the party (and no, it was not from me, although I do have most of the songs they played on my computer). There weren't presents or anything (other than the actual party) but it was really great. I had a really good time and am sufficiently full. Also, one woman tonight wanted me to come nanny for her, haha. She asked me if I had any good christian friends who wanted to come nanny in Egypt...so if there is anyone who really seriously wants to come have the experience of a life time, pray about it and let me know. Oh, and for those wondering, I ran into the Miles family at church today and I think I will be going over there for dinner sometime in the near future. Love to all.

One Month Anniversary.

2009-03-26T22:51:00.002+02:00

Well, I have now officially been here one month. I think I am fully adjusted by now. I don't think I really experienced culture shock; maybe I have, who knows. I have had two night in a row with the baby and I think I may in fact go insane if I have to take her again. I like nannying because I have all the joys of being around kids without actually having to raise them. I am not ready to have kids, so I watch other peoples, haha. It works out. Today there is a baby shower (they have them after the baby is born, obviously). It is going to be VERY hectic...Rigy didn't want it right now because she is too tired still but her aunts insisted and once they make their mind up, I have found it is not easily changed. There will be about 50 people here in this tiny apartment. They came last night and moved about half the furniture out of the house and replaced it with just tables and chairs for seating and food. My first big Egyptian party...I am looking forward to it but also am just so tired. This thing on my face is really wearing me down...it is really frustrating. Also having the baby for two nights didn't help things.

What kind of learner are you?

2009-03-25T15:32:00.002+02:00

Kinesthetic? Visual? Oral? I think I am definitely visual and maybe a bit kinesthetic as I like people to tell me what to do and me do it rather than have them do it for me while explaining it. It's hard to tell but that is my guess. It's interesting being taught by Fadia because she tells me all ways to learn that have helped other students and even told me one girl had to touch everything and name it. Fadia told me I was a very fast learner, but I don't feel like it. When she is teaching me I feel like I stumble through everything and then I get home and study alone and then I get it. Its a weird situation.
Well, let me tell you something I accomplished. Again, Talli was taking a bath, I warned her about every few minutes that at the end of the bath I was going to wash her hair. Her mom usually just springs it on her because she knows that she will scream if she does that or tells her first and clearly that wasn't working. So, I was trying to be creative and find a way to wash her hair without her freaking out. As it turns out, I did! I let her do it herself and it was a major success, she really had a lot of fun. I just put the soap in her hands and told her to rub it all around her head and I even let her rinse it out herself and I covered her eyes with my hands so water wouldn't get in her eyes. She was actually smiling and laughing through this whole process. It's amazing how kids attitudes can change if you only come up with a different approach to the same laborious task.

Bicarbonate of Soda

2009-03-24T22:28:00.001+02:00

Also known as baking powder. I think I may have found some. I was checking online and I think I can get it at the pharmacy. We have a pharmacy (sai'da'lay'a) right across the street. I will try and get some soon. I need to cook. Banana bread. Chocolate chip cookies (still no chocolate chips but I will try to find dark chocolate bars or baking chocolate blocks or something). Muffins. Maybe some yummy biscuits. They call cookie here biscuits, I'm not sure what they actually call biscuits...they will be suprised to find that my biscuits won't be cookies. I just need to do some cooking. I think I will make french toast tomorrow, that sounds extremely delicous. Today I had to take a taxi to and from tutoring. On the way there, the man took me on a TOTALLY roundabout way to Fadias and then tried to charge me extra for it. They do that here, they think they are so sneaky, but I didn't pay him what he asked. On the way back I was luckier, an older man than the first and my experience with the older (not old, Ampa, haha) men is that they treat me fairly. Fadia and I went on a walk to this shop and on the way we were trying to speak Arabic and so she would ask me to guess how old I thought everyone was on the street. It was pretty funny, we were just dodging traffic and laughing and guessing all these mens ages. Yesterday we went to Rubys again, they have a bible study thing on Thursdays and this is the first time we went. We got there and everyone brought food so we ate a really delicious lunch. There was that rice I have been talking about, not the sticky rice, the other one. Also chicken with pasta and then chicken in a sort of asian sauce. Traditional salad which I always love and then cream of broccoli soup which was really amazing. After lunch there was brownies and ice cream and muffins and pastries. Finally they got to the bible study and I took the kids in the back (Cilo, Talli and this little boy Carlos. Sophia and LiLi were napping) and we were just playing puzzles. Talli and Cilo are what you may call best friends but they are so much alike in their stubbornness and so if they do end up fighting, it is pretty bad. Talli bit Cilo twice last night, the first time on her finger and left it red with marks. The second time through her sweater on her arm and even through the sweater she made it turn purple and red like a bruise. It was pretty brutal. I was pretty mad, I made Talli sit in a corner which is pretty much the most punishment I have seen her get. Her parents just tell her to say sorry but they never actually punish her. Rigy was furious with Tallis behavior and is trying to work it out. I think she wants us to try and give Talli a more steady schedule and discipline and I think that will help a lot. After all the drama, Talli and Cilo were playing on the slide, sitting side by side. I was behind them, making sure they wouldn't fall. Cilo looks at me and and asks what my nose ring is and I tell her that it is my nose ring. She look at me incredulously and was like "no, no," (she was pointing to one of her hands with her other) "rings go on your fingers" I just started laughing, it was so cute. She was in disbelief that I had a ring in my nose. I don't know what exactly they are, but there are these things that have developed on my face, not zits, but it looks almost like something looks after it gets burned. Red and sore and the top layer of skin isn't there. They are all over my chin and really really hurt. I think it might be the pollution here...but it is so frustrating. If they didn't hurt it wouldn't be as bad. Smiling and just opening my mouth just hurts. Any suggestions? Also I had Sophia last night. Ever notice how much cuter babies are when they are sleeping...haha. I mean, she is really cute when she is awake, but she can get so frustrating with all the crying that when I see her sleep I am like, oh yeah, so precious.

Terrible twos.

2009-03-23T20:16:00.005+02:00

The name speaks for itself. Terrible twos. Talli is at that stage right now. Most of you parents know what I mean. Doesn't want to eat, doesn't want to get undressed, when you manage to trick them into getting undressed they really don't want to go back being dressed, bath time is a nightmare, mostly because of the hair washing situation. There are many many more things that go along with these. However, I did something that I have not seen done the entire time I have been here. I got Talli to get out of the bath without thirty minutes of arguing with her and her screaming and crying. I asked her to get out and told her that we would play with this bouncy ball, and she stood up and got out with a smile on her face to top it all off. I was utterly shocked, usually Rigy has to threaten to just drain the bath or tell her that she will give her milk or shamu movie (she watches this about once or twice every day, she LOVES it) but nothing ever works and it ends up Rigy just picking her up and taking her out screaming. So I was really quite proud of myself for being able to get her out without a fuss. Terrible twos can be SO frustrating (as can any other age of children, obviously) but then there are moments that make you forget all about the screaming and the fussiness and the attitudes. I was hold Sophia on the couch, I had my legs up on the table and she was resting on them and my hands were stretched across the couch. Talli comes and sits by me while she is drinking some juice and she lays her head back and takes a drink and then she just grabs my hand and just holds it while she is sitting there resting. It was so precious. Food evaluation time. I know this is everyones favorite part. haha. Today was rice and kofta (both of those are served with almost every meal) along with some chicken and a spinach soup type thing which is also served frequently. This is only the second time I have had this type of rice here and I really really like it. Its not the sticky rice or the cinnamon rice, its longer and more yellow and just really delicious. I put the rice in a bowl and put some spinach soup on top and then i cut up the chicken and stirred it in with the rice and it was all very good. Usually the chicken isnt flavored in any way, it is just cooked. Today, however, it was a very delicious flavor, the meal had a Philippino influence and it was great. I rarely eat the kofta, I try it almost every time but I don't really like it. I was thinking about what I was going to write about today and I just wanted to explain the funny habits I have picked up here. 1. The bathroom door doesnt lock unless you put your foot against the bottom and push it in the frame and then lock it. 2. You can't smile at people on the street or you will get hassled. This has been particularly hard for me, I am always smiling because I love it here. Don't be surprised if I come back to the states looking particularly grim. Just remember, don't judge a book by its cover. 3. Sometimes I get so used to people speaking Arabic that when someone suddenly speaks to me in English it takes me a minute to realize it. 4. I put my clothes in the washing machine *poof* the next day they are folded on my bed. It's like magic, only her name is Rebekah. 5. I find myself speaking English in an Egyptian accent. Lastly, I wanted to say Happy Birthday, Katie! Love you!

ALL BY MYSELF!

2009-03-23T14:33:00.002+02:00

I feel like a five year old learning how to ride a bike for the first time without training wheels. Today I had a lesson with Fadia and then I had to take a taxi home because Rigy was picking up Talli at school. The lesson went well, I am learning reading and writing which is a lot more challenging, but she thinks I can do it so I am excited. Afterwords I left and hailed a taxi all alone and told him where I needed to go in Arabic of course, and where to turn when we got to the street and when to stop. I was so proud of myself, haha. Taking a taxi alone may not seem like a big deal, but, especially if you are a woman (and more so if you are not an Egyptian woman) it can be really sketchy and the language barrier only makes things more complicated. So, that is why I am so excited to have done it all alone, haha. My nexy lesson is on Wednesday and I am so excited because I am really learning a lot. I think I am going to eat an orange right now...the fruit here is so good, I just want it all the time.

As I was going to say knives...

2009-03-22T19:57:00.000+02:00

I met a man with seven wives. The seven wives had seven sacks, the seven sacks had seven cats. The seven cats had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks and wives, how many were going to say knives?
I was holding baby Sophia today and sitting around with Mona and Sim-Sim hanging out. All the sudden Ra-uss brings out dessert to the coffee table along with two huge knives. Talli came over was using her fork to eat the cake off of the platter, and that was fine. Then she picked up the huge knife and was trying to cut it so I got up and I tried to take it from her but she would not let go and then she picked up the other one. Sim-Sim and Mona were just sitting there talking, doing nothing, not even helping or offering to take Sophia while I was holding her in one arm and trying to wrestle two knives out of Tallis hand without cutting her. I am so surprised she didn't get cut because at one point she was holding on the the actual knife part and not the handle; she was being unbelieveable. More unbelieveable to me though was that no one stepped in and helped, it was really dangerous, especially since I was holding Sophia. However, once I got the knives from Talli and she started crying, Sim-Sim and Mona swoop in to stop her crying and give her anything she wanted so as not to make her cry anymore. This is the way it is ALWAYS. Not even Rigy can stop her aunts (Sim-Sim and Fi'a) from doing what they want even if she is totally against it. It is a really weird dynamic. I don't think I know anyone in the states who would be okay with that. Everyone I know would tell the person that they aren't the parent and to not overstep the boundaries or something along those lines. Also, something I find extremely sad, is that no one here thinks Sophia is cute. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE is so disappointed that she isn't as fair as Talli and that she has dark hair (we don't know if it will be dark permanently, as it could still fall out). It's really very upsetting to see how blatantly they tell Rigy that she is ugly and they don't like the way she is. Personally, as everyone knows (and people here think I am absolutely crazy for thinking this) I LOVE dark. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin, I love it all. I prefer it, in fact. But for Sophias sake I hope her hair falls because it is really sad to see everyone behaving like this. Rigy is getting very upset about it too, although she doesn't say it to anyone but me. The weirdest thing about this whole situation is that she is not even a dark baby. She is darker than Talli for sure, but she is not dark.

Skinny. Fatty. Who even knows these days.

2009-03-22T15:27:00.000+02:00

Rigy commented today that she thought I had lost weight, I didn't think I had. Later, Mona commented that she thought I had lost weight as well. Apparently I have, although I didn't realize so until today. Rigy is worried I think, haha. Most of you who travel a lot know that you just kind of lose weight when you are traveling around and not just sitting at home. It just happens when you are in other countries. I tried to explain that to Rigy but I don't think she was thoroughly convinced. I talk about food on here so much I was beginning to think I was gaining weight through osmosis. Well, here I go again. Tonight was plain chicken, plain white rice, chicken in a bleu cheese sauce, a sort of oriental cinnamon rice, vegetables, molo'khaia (I write thing on here phonetically as I don't really know how to spell them in Arabic) and pigeon. I tried everything but the pigeon; not because I didn't want to try it, because I totally would have, but because by the time I got to the table (I had to feed the baby before eating) there was none left for me to eat. I don't really like bleu cheese, but if I did, I would have liked the sauce. The cinnamon rice is something I think I have come to love here, it is very different but its delicious. For breakfast today I had a hot-dog bun toasted with some La Vache Qui Rit (The Laughing Cow) cheese, some honey flavored yoghurt which was delicious. The honey tasted like berries. Yummy. And to top it all off, grapefruit juice. All in all, really really yummy.

My name is Ruth and I am addicted to snuggling.

2009-03-22T14:29:00.000+02:00

I love snuggling. It's probably one of my top five favorite things to do. The common problem I find is that not too many people are as keen on snuggling as I am. I am pleased to let everyone know, I have found my snuggling outlet. Her name is Sophia. She LOVES being snuggled. In fact, it is EXTREMELY hard to put her to sleep without snuggling. Whenever I take her for the night she wants to be so close and snuggly and really cute. Sometimes she puts her hand on my face and its so precious.

Food, glorious food.

2009-03-21T09:03:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went out to eat at this seafood restaurant. FINALLY, I had some hummus! So amazing. They brought out a think of pita type things, only way more delicious, and then about 12 different dipping sauces for them. There was a pink one, but it was caviar...sick. Anyway, I got some really delicious chicken and also what was supposed to be spaghetti but in reality was spaghetti pasta with a red sauce that was not in fact tomato sauce. It still tasted alright though. Then we went to Sim-Sims for a few hours. Tarek is really tired of staying in the house and I must say I agree. Three weeks is too long. While we were there, I was just sitting on the bed reading my book and I had my knees up with my book resting on my legs. Sim-Sim was on the chair opposite of me and Rigy was on the bed opposite of me. I kept laughing while reading and Sim-Sim asked Rigy "Why is she just staring at her legs and laughing to herself?". It was pretty funny, Rigy just started laughing and then translated for me. Apparently Sim-Sim couldn't see my book and was very confused.

Ahlan wa sahlan. Welcome to Egypt.

2009-03-20T13:01:00.000+02:00

I went to the English church today, Tarek gave me a ride at 10 and then Leila, one of Rigys friends, gave me a ride close to home and then I just walked. The church is fairly close so I may end up walking to it most of the time. Church was good, I haven't heard that much English since I left the states, haha. Everyone came up and greeted me and introduced theirselves and welcomed me to Egypt, etc. It felt weird for everyone to understand me and me not having to make any effort in trying to speak to people. I had to stand up and introduce myself, which, surprisingly, I did without hesitation and was totally fine. One thing that I have always found peculiar is that almost every time I visit a church for the first time they are serving communion. I always happen to come on that day. Since I have been home I have just been hanging out, painting my nails, going out on my terrace (Mary) and reading. Everyone else is napping, so I am just passing the time. Since I didn't write yesterday, I want to wish Jes the happiest of birthdays and a great year (Love you, beez). Well, we didn't go to Alexandria for a few reasons; Rigys tooth operation failed and so it started hurting really bad and she does in fact have to get a root canal. Tarek is sick. I think Talli may be getting sick and the baby has been SO HARD the past few days. Hopefully we will go soon though, I would like to see the city.

Beware pickpockets and loose women.

2009-03-18T17:21:00.000+02:00

Lately I have been going with Talli to school every day, either morning or afternoon but sometimes both. The morning traffic is pretty good and I am always home by about 9:20am. Today the traffic was insane and I was not home until 10am. I hate being late for things. My Arabic lesson with Fadia today was at 10am and I was bummed that I was late, It makes me feel very impolite. So, of course, today Talli was running late and the traffic was also very bad today which meant I was late to Fadia. Luckily I called her and it was fine and Ahmed took me to her house. I spent about 2 1/2 hours there. We talked about what was the best way to go about planning a lesson for me in such a short period of time. She will be going to the states in June so I only have 2 1/2 months. She thought the best thing would be to skip writing because it is very difficult for people to learn and just teach me how to speak. I told her that was fine, speaking is more important anyways. Halfway through the lesson she says that I am very clever and she actually does want to teach me writing as well. I was (and still am) so excited. The lessons are LE100 a session which will make out to be LE200/week which will be LE800/month which is about $150/month. So all in all I will be spending about $380 dollars on tutoring. I think I am financially digging myself deeper just by being here, thanks Anna. After the lesson I had to catch a taxi to Sim-Sims because Talli had a mothers day thing at her school for Rigy so I didn't have anyone to pick me up. It was really exciting, I spoke Arabic to the driver to ask him if he could take me where I wanted to go and I was successful! Yay. haha. I was at Sim-Sims for about 3 hours in which course of time I was offered tea and a plate on which was 1 orange, 2 apples, 2 tangerines and 4 small pastries. (How to make Egyptian tea- 1c sugar, 1c hot water and 1 teabag. SO sweet. Too sweet.). Later I was made a plate of REALLY amazing chicken, best I have had in a long time, rice and vegetables, all very delicious. No one there speaks any English which is fun but challenging; on one hand I can practice my Arabic with them, but on the other hand I don't know enough to fully communicate with them. I am getting more and more excited about being here. This weekend we will be going to Alexandria, I am not sure why or who we're staying with but I'm thinking it will be pretty fun. Hopefully I can manage to stay awake for the drive...I don't want to be falling asleep on them and have the kids crying or something. The odds of me staying awake are slim to none, but we'll see.

To be in my line of business, you MUST have a sense of humor.

2009-03-17T21:54:00.000+02:00

Its 10pm. Sophia is sleeping. Rigy asks me to wake her up and change her. "Sure" I say, "no problem". Lesson number 1, never say 'no problem' to an always unpredictable situation. So here I am, changing Sophia. She has been sleeping awhile and had eaten and hadn't pooped yet, so I expected there to be some. There wasn't. Ok, no worries, she probably will soon. In my head soon means maybe half an hour. In Sophias head, soon mean half a second. Her diaper was open, I was wiping her and lo and behold a huge stream of poop comes shooting out and all over her, me, the bed and the nightstand. There was absolutely NOTHING I could do but laugh. I just burst out laughing. It caught me by complete surprise and I just saw it fly by my face, luckily it missed, and I just started laughing. Sophia must have it in for me. I couldn't even get the diaper back on before she she then peed on the towel I had her on. Her socks and feet were covered in poop because she was flailing her legs around. my legs and shirt were hit as well. Haha...oh, the joys of motherhood; and to think, I'm not even a mother yet.

Parents and their bedrooms.

2009-03-17T18:34:00.000+02:00

Now, for those of you who don't know, let me explain to you my parents biggest rule. When I was younger my parents bedroom was off-limits. We didn't ever go in without knocking and we never played in there. The door was always shut. Totally off-limits. To this day, I still feel very uncomfortable in parents bedrooms. Whenever I am working I try to keep the kids out of their parents bedrooms even if the parents tell me it's okay I still prefer not to be in there. One person who really helped cure me of this (although I am still not totally okay with it) is Amy Holderman. She always had the kids in her room playing or watching tv and the majority of the time they would nap in there, so naturally I was in her room quite frequently. It really helped me a lot with the irrational room thing, but it takes time with each new set of parents and for me to get used to their kids playing in their rooms. Talli is like that, always running through her parents room and playing in there or sitting on the bed and I just have to force myself to go and hang out with her in there when I would rather be in her or my room or really anywhere else in the house. Thanks for that, mum. Haha.

REALLY long nails.

2009-03-17T16:14:00.000+02:00

Don't open the door for strangers.

2009-03-16T23:52:00.000+02:00

We have all heard this line from our parents at one time or another. Rigy is scared that I am going to do something like that. Anyway, yesterday we were in the car, Rigy driving and me sitting in back between the Sophia and Talli so I could keep an eye on Sophia. Rigy parked and said she would be back in a few minutes and told me not to open the door for anyone. As fate would have it, this man (he was directing where cars should park) came up and was trying to talk to me; I obviously didn't know what he was saying. I opened the door, it was fine and tried to talk to him and he wanted the car keys to move the car, is what I gathered. I tried to tell him I was not giving him the keys and then he left. Five minutes later I see him trying to guide this woman who was parked perpendicular to us and was surrounded by cars. I could see they couldn't get out and so I hopped in the front seat, not as easy as it sounds, Rigy had the seat scooted WAY up and so I was just trying to squeeze myself into the space of her already tiny car. The car key which Rigy had left with me as not really a key it was this newfangled thing about 5 1/2 centimeters long and 3/4 centimeter thick that you stick in the ignition and then when its in you just push it and the car starts. So I finagled my way into the front seat and proceeded to back out into traffic cutting other cars off like a true Egyptian would, and wait until the lady had moved and then I pulled back into the parking spot. My first experience driving in Egypt. Haha. Too short, in my opinion. I would like to try to learn how to drive here. I miss driving.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

2009-03-16T23:14:00.001+02:00

I finally got ahold of Fadia! My Arabic lessons will be on Mondays and Wednesdays!

Fish are friends, not food.

2009-03-15T23:28:00.000+02:00

Fish. Rigy said it was like catfish.

Clams.

HUGE shrimp.

Ok now, I did try the fish. The seasoning of it wasn't bad and by that I mean good but the fishy flavor I am just not in to. However, the huge finger-shrimp and clams, no thank you. Today was Lilis birthday. She turned one. She is Cilos younger sister. Her birthday theme was ducks and so I drew five huge ducks and put bows on them and made about five posters with different things on them like 'cutest', 'lili', 'happy birthday', 'sweet' and 'best smile'. Every one of Rigys friends has girls only. I think there were about seven little girls ages 1-7. I'm loving it here more everyday. Its coming up on three weeks that I'll have been here and I am getting more comfortable and getting into the groove of things. Talli is really getting close to me and its so cute. She is so cute. Her attitude sometimes makes me CRAZY but I love her to death she is so precious. I am slowly learning tricks to get her to do things she needs to (brush teeth, get into pajamas, eat, etc.) without her thinking that I am making her. Right now she is just walking around pretending to talk to someone on Rigys mobile and about every minute she comes and takes a drink of my water and a bite of my pizza. She just wants to share. haha. So cute. Well, I finally got Fadias number, the Arabic tutor, so hopefully I will get in touch with her soon and be able to start lessons. As far as volunteering goes, rides are still a problem. Rigy said they are getting a car at the end of the month and so then I can have a driver but for now I don't so I think I won't start anything until then. Also, I apologize for my grammar, I have been starting to speak English like everyone here speaks it and it is messing me up. Love to all.

Cakes and pies will be my demise.

2009-03-14T13:57:00.000+02:00

Not really, but they certainly have a lot of pastries here. They are very different from American sweets, I like most of them though. I want some chocolate chip cookies but here is my dilemma-No chocolate chip only a thing of chocolate fondue, no baking powder/soda and the sugar is course, not like regular sugar in the states so it doesn't dissolve. We'll see what happens with that. The night with Sophia went well so I may take her again tonight, Rigy really needs to catch up on some sleep. The weekend is over so Talli will be going to school tomorrow in which case if Sophia sleeps badly, I can sleep in with her and not worry about what Talli is doing. Today Tareks mom Mona and her two sisters came to see the baby. I met Mona my second day here, she is very very sweet, I really like her. Her sisters are the same way, they are such cute and classy little old ladies, I love it. Talli pretty much cries when anyone tries to leave so they usually end up taking her for a few hours or something. Today, that obviously happened, and so they took her and I went along because they needed someone else there. We weren't even driving ten minutes before Talli was napping...basically it was just a car ride and then I took Talli home. Haha...oh well. Hopefully this week I will get in touch with the ladies who will take me to the school and the orphanage, I am really excited about it. P.S. I've been reading through Job lately, if you haven't recently, you should. Love to all.

Taxicab it.

2009-03-14T04:54:00.000+02:00

Rigy has this funny way of doing things where she doesn't tell me what the plan is until it is happening. For instance, yesterday we missed morning church again; Rigy kindof had a breakdown from so many sleepless nights with Sophia and just wasn't up for it. Basically they spent the whole day in their pajamas and laying around. I got dressed, just because I like to instead of being in pajamas all day, and we just hung out. Around 6 I find out that we're going to church. I didn't find out Talli and Sophia were going to stay with Sim-Sim until we dropped them off at her house. Lastly, I didn't know until five minutes before getting to the church that I was going alone and then I was going to take a taxi to Sim-Sims after church. I don't know why they don't tell me in advance; I mean, it doesn't really make any difference, but it is nice to know. Anyway, Rigy had a dentist appointment which is why I went to church alone. Tarek gave me 50LE and his mobile and Rigy gave me a note of the address in Arabic and I was off. The church was nice; big, with stained glass windows and sections for translation. Apparently it was my lucky day because a man and his daughter from India were guest speaking and they spoke English and a man was up with them translating into Arabic. I didn't need headphones after all, at least at first. After they finished speaking, the pastor came up and I was going to put on headphones but for some unknown reason someone took them all and put them away. For the next half house I was just listening to Arabic, having almost no idea of what they were saying, and I obviously couldn't sing the songs, it was a bit humorous and awkward. I was maybe the only white person there, it felt kind of cool but also intimidating. Church got out and I called Tarek, they were still at the dentist so I did need to get a taxi. There was a man in the service that offered to help and he came out to the road with me and started talking to this guard there and they both were helping me get a taxi. I don't really know how many people it takes to get a taxi, but I think I could have done it alone, anyway, the both of them flagged a taxi and asked him if he could take me to this address and the taxi driver was younger and I felt a little uncomfortable with him being so young, just in case he tried to pull anything, haha. Anyway, he said he didn't know where I was supposed to go so they got me another taxi and it was this nice little old man, maybe in his 40s-50s and he knew exactly where I was headed, even where the apartment was so he took me there and it was nice and smooth. About a 20-30 minute ride, I believe. The moon was out last night and I was watching it while I was driving and it was really gorgeous. After I got to Sim-Sims I called Tarek to let him know and then I waited there with Sim-Sim, her two sons and Sophia. Talli was in the apartment upstairs with another aunt. Half an orange fanta, 10 minutes of a scary movie, 10 minutes of a gangster movie and a small conversation with Andrew later, Tarek came and picked us all up. Andrew walked me outside and it was so cute he was talking about Sophia and he was like 'She is so tiny and so cute, I couldn't handle it'. I love it when guys are so sweet with babies. Finally, home at last, I took Sophia for the night because Rigy really needed rest. I think she was uneasy about it at first because it was nearing midnight before she left my room just watching Sophia fall asleep. Fortunately, it went pretty smoothly, Sophia slept from 1am-5am and then I fed her and then she was up until 8 and then I gave her to Rigy because she needed to eat. She is just now sleeping since being up at 5am and its 9:30am. We're trying to put her on a schedule, so Rigy can get some sleep. Anyway, thats the excitement of yesterday. Im hungry. Fried egg sandwich...maybe.

I'm clean and honest my manner refined and I wear shoes of the sensible kind.

2009-03-13T17:24:00.000+02:00

Its 1am. I have Sophia tonight. I'm going to bed. I'll write about my day later today. love.

What is your nationality?

2009-03-12T23:25:00.000+02:00

There is an instant stereotype placed on people based on their ethnicity. To name a few: German-Nazi, Arab-terrorists, Asian-smart, Native American-drunks, African-American-gangsters or drug dealers, Latino-good dancers, French-artists or chefs, Australian-love kangaroos; I don't know, I obviously made them up but really, they are everywhere and can be totally ridiculous. Obviously not all Germans were gung-ho with the Nazi idea, just like not all Latinos know how to dance. These days, for Americans, it's not a very good stereotype. I have a love-hate relationship with being asked the question 'what is your nationality'. On the one hand, I hate saying that I am American because I feel like it automatically puts me in a box as a snobby, spoiled person who is rude and loud etc. On the other hand, I like saying I'm American thereby proving to people that not all of us are like that.
On to lighter things, I went and dropped off Talli to school today. Everything went smoothly, the driver was nice although not quite as openly friendly as Mr. Shou'i. He didn't really talk at all. After I got home I just hung out and helped with Sophia until Rigy and I went to pick up Talli from school. After we picked her up we went to lunch at Rubys house, one of Rigys friends. It turned out to be about five women total who all had girls around the same ages and we all hung out for a few hours. The food was pretty good, chicken with a rosemary/honey mustard sauce, it was interesting but I liked it. Also rice mixed with carrots and green beans, that was almost the best rice I ever had, it was amazing. Other side dishes were cooked vegetables and then a salad (carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, red and green and yellow peppers). All in all, I was satisfied with it. The only thing I hate about chicken is taking a bite only to realize its fatty and nasty and not actually meaty. How do you spit that out without being rude? Haha...you don't. Dessert was a pumpkin torte type thing, I didn't really love it, too much cinnamon. Afterwords I took the three oldest girls to play in Cilo's bedroom (Rubys daughter) and took some cute pictures of them. Here is from left to right, Talli, Cilo and Taya (pronounced like tie-yah). I absolutely love Cilos hair. It's this huge fro. Amazing. And Talli and Taya both have ringlets, also really cute.

Driving Miss Daisy

2009-03-11T16:16:00.000+02:00

Today was a weird day. Talli and Tarek left early as usual; Rigy was really tired today so I got the baby around 9am and fed her, changed her and put her to sleep and slept next to her until around noon, I guess it was. That was nice, I haven't been sleeping well, I think it may be because I want to be sure im up early so that if Rigy needs me I'll be awake. I purposely keep myself sleeping light or something. Anyway, after all that, I went to pick Talli up for school. Just me and my driver, Mr. Shou'i, Rigy was still very tired. Mr. Shou'i was pretty funny, he really spoke about ten words in English and I know just a bit more than that in Arabic and he was talking to me trying to explain something and I was talking to him but neither of us understood the other. We both just ended up laughing and not knowing what the other one was talking about most of the time. It is about a two hour round trip, I think I may have mentioned that before, but today it took about two hours to get there. There was a huge wreck and we were pretty much at a standstill for half an hour. On the bright side, it got me out of the house which was nice and I love people watching so I did a lot of that. Nothing very exciting in that department today, except that I am more conviced that I want to drive a motorcycle in this crazy traffic scene. I mean, I want to ride one all the time, but particularly here, it would be crazy.
I know some of the food I describe seems less than appetizing, but the one thing here that is absolutely delicious is their yogurt. All the dairy products, in my opinion, seem better here; thicker, richer, taste better. That's exactly what the yogurt is like. MMM. I eat it for breakfast sometimes. I have been having fried egg sandwiches for breakfast quite a bit too. I know I used to hate them when I was little, although mom thought they were the best thing in the world, I really thought they tasted like garbage. Lately though, I have developed a taste for them and I love having them for breakfast; I do miss cereal though. I might ask Tarek to get some the next time he goes to the store.
So let me think, what else happened today..? Oh, baby Sophia. She is so cute and tiny, as you guys well know by now, and today I helped Rigy give her a bath. It was so cute and she was just this precious little baby with this big stomach and tiny little feet and hands, just hating the water until she held my hand and then I was stroking her face with my finger and she stopped crying. Babies are amazing. Tomorrow I am taking Talli to school, I'll have a different driver tomorrow but hopefully things work out. Tarek has a meeting so he can't take her like he usually does.

Extremely tiny and equally cute things.

2009-03-10T23:28:00.001+02:00

Sophias tiny amazing little feet. They are so cute and about as long as my index finger. My tiny amazing and LONG (Cyrus...) fingernails.

Oh what a dream it was.

2009-03-10T20:35:00.000+02:00

Tonight was a good night. Talli was pretty much amazing and we had fun and played and she didn't really have a temper almost at all and she was so cute and precious, it made me remember why I love kids so much and why I wanted to come here in the first place. When kids are like that it makes me love them all over again. We danced and did puzzles and ran around and played hide and seek. It was good. Sophia on the other hand has been particularly difficult the past few days, I think something may be off with her. She is so cute and tiny though. Well, the best part of the story for my avid readers is coming up. The dinner story. Now, I know most of you out there know I am a picky eater. I am, and I am fine with that. On the other hand though, I make an effort to try everything at least once and unfortunately, I have gotten myself into some less than savory situations. Haha...oh, sick. So here I am, hungry, and dinner was just brought to the house. So I get a plate and scoop on some rice and mystery meat (that is what I am calling all the meat here, as it may be a little sketchy, but I eat it anyways) and peppers in a fajita smelling sauce. Ok, doesn't sound bad, ey? Well, as I was wrong, you are too. Let me tell you, it was not meat. It was organs. But, since it didn't look so sick, I tasted. It tasted way worse than it looked. I think I choked down about 2-3 pieces of it before I couldn't eat it anymore. The smell, though, the smell when you cut into it smelled like a dead animal. I ate some rice and yogurt instead. Sick, sick, sick. But hey, I did try it after all.

Sometimes you just have to nod and say ok.

2009-03-10T12:22:00.000+02:00

Language is a funny thing. There are so many languages and each of those languages has a branch of their own dialect. Things can get confusing. Sometimes when I am talking to Fi'a or even Rigy, things can get misinterpreted, if they are in fact interpreted at all. With Fi'a both of us are speaking our own language and the other is totally confused as to what is being said. There are times when you just have to nod and say ok, and go with the flow, even when you don't know what is going on. haha. Ah, as it turns out, I will be trying out volunteering in a very poor school's nursery (ages 2-6, perfect for me) and I will also try an orphanage. After I go to both I will pick which one I like better and will continue doing that about twice a week. I am getting so excited. I can't start until next week because Rigy doesn't get any sleep at night because of the baby and she doesn't have the energy for driving me and getting up early and whatnot. They are trying to find me a driver and hopefully I will have one by next week. Also, Rigy is feeling bad that I am so often cooped up in the house so she offered to have her cousins take me out and see some cool things in Egypt. I told her that would be cool and we should go one day this week. Well, Sophia is crying, I have to get her. Love to all.

delicious and disgusting.

2009-03-09T17:51:00.000+02:00

Today was a pretty good day, it is the Islamic New Year so Talli and Tarek didn't go to school/work. Tareks mother came by and we all went out to eat at the mall. The food was good, I just got a nice club sandwich and some fries, not very cultural food, but I was craving it. The best part though, was dessert. Normally, I don't like to get chocolate cake anywhere except for P.F. Changs because it isn't very good anywhere else. For those of you who have had P.F.s cake, you know what I mean. Well, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find that this cake was better. It was so amazing but I couldn't finish it. MMM, delicous.

Can I just say, in all my years of working with babies (mostly boy babies, at that), not once have I had one pee on me. Sophia peed on me today and I was pretty surprised, haha. I always thought if it did happen, it would be by a boy, that is more likely I would have thought; but no, no indeed, it was tiny stinky little Sophia. And it was gross but also kind of funny. Talli goes back to school tomorrow, that will be nice. I have to have A LOT of patience if I have her for the whole day. The way she is really frustrates me but I have to treat her how her parents do, so I have to give her whatever she wants. Today we were coloring and stamping and doing very messy things and she got some red marker on her leg. She was pretending it was a cut and of course, I had to make a big ordeal about it and pretend to doctor her up. After all that however, she was just like "I have to show my mommy!" and I couldn't fix it by anything but she would show her mother and it would only take a tiny kiss to fix it. It just goes to show, some things can only be fixed by mothers. Funny how that happens. But it was cute. I think I am starting to volunteer tomorrow, Rigy said we would do it but we'll see how she's feeling and if the baby hopefully gets some sleep tonight. I am pretty excited. Keep me in your prayers and keep America in your prayers as well.

Hiccups, Cookies and lots of crying.

2009-03-08T20:08:00.000+02:00

Today was a pretty slow day. We never left the house. No relatives came over. The baby was extra difficult today but I just managed to put her down, we'll see how long it lasts. In bed at 9:06, that isn't bad, usually it is later. Sophia has been hiccuping almost every time after she nurses and I have got them twice now. They are kinda funny, but I think she scares herself when she hiccups. The only exciting thing that happened today was Talli and I made cookies. They don't really have all the necessities to make cookies here, so we had to do the cut-out cookie recipe and I even had to use my imagination with that. The sugar here isn't fine and so it does not dissolve in the butter. We didn't even have enough butter, so I had to use a mixture of olive and sunflower oil. The only vanilla they had was dry and in a small packet mixed with sugar and there was no salt to be found. The cookies turned out ok, certainly edible, but they didn't taste how they were meant to taste. Something funny, and a bit gross happened while we were baking. Talli has had a runny nose all day and I just let her crack the egg into the bowl and she was leaning over it to look in and some snot almost dripped into the bowl on the egg. I kinda laughed but I am glad I had a kleenex near by. Here are some pictures we took today.Talli cleaning with an already dirty paper towel

Doctor Talli

2009-03-07T11:58:00.000+02:00

One thing I really appreciate is cute dads. What I mean by that is Dads who really seem to care about their children. Dads that play with them and chase them and put them to sleep and it is really plain to see they love their kids. I have come across a few men like this, and Tarek is one of them. It is so precious, I really love it. Tarek plays with Talli when he is home and they are very close. They are playing Doctor right now and sitting on the couch eating ice cream out of the carton and sharing a spoon. Cute. Anyway, just something sweet I wanted to share. Love.

Have you smelled a baby today?

2009-03-06T11:31:00.000+02:00

If you haven't, you should. Babies smell good. Plus they are really cute and they will probably brighten your day. Anyway, I though we were going to church today but we didn't. I think it may have been because I slept so late...I feel bad about that. I slept until about 11am, that really shocks me. I haven't been sleeping well the past few days and then last night I went to bed the earliest yet, around midnight...and I slept until 11. That is crazy, especially for me. I am hoping that is the last of the jet-lag or whatever is going on to cause this sleep craze. Anyway, after I woke up we all went to the big (and only) mall here, City Stars. It is really nice. Seven stories tall or something of that amount. Totally crazy. The family and I went and then we met this woman (I forget her name) and her two children Cilo and something (I forgot the other girls name too). We all ate breakfast together and then went to Toys R Us and bought the kids one thing each. Afterwards we went to Noosa and her husbands house and ate dinner. Noosa made a ton of fish or fish like items and then she was like "Russ, I know how much you like fish, so I made this all for you" I just started laughing and Noosa said "Russ, why are you laughing?" I was like "well, fish isn't exactly my favorite food" and Noosa just kindof laughed and said "I know, I know, I made you some chicken". It was really sweet of her to do that. Before all of this happened, however, let me tell you guys about some things I saw while driving. First, I saw a soldier holding his rifle. That is pretty normal. But the way he was doing it made me laugh. He was sitting on the corner of the side walk and was holding his rifle barrel up and had his cheek resting right on the barrel. It looked as if any moment that thing might go off because he was being so careless and he was just looking around aimlessly. The second thing that I love is people driving mopeds. They're everywhere. Usually they have a little metal box thing on the back that they use for deliveries and they have whichever restaurants logo written on them as well. Honking and sneaking their way through traffic; it would definitely be my choice of transportation if I drove here. Ah, I don't want to forget to tell you what was going on inside the car while I was people watching. I was holding the baby. Just holding her. No carseat or anything of the sort. It felt weird, like I kept watching for disapproving eyes. In the states you would probably have your child taken away be charged with child abuse or something insane. On the way over to Noosas house we stopped and got a torte to bring them. If you are ever hungry and you are in Egypt, go to someones house, they will feed you without even asking. Seriously, its amazing, I love it. If you go to someones house the first thing they do is make you sit, make tea and bring you a pastry or some type of food. So friendly here, I love everything about it. Once at Noosas as I said there was a big dinner and then dessert. I was playing with Talli and a little mini Daschund. It made me miss barbie. :( (but thank you Maggie for the pic!) After that I just sat on the couch and hung out, Noosas husband and Tarek were talking about me and asked me my age; when I said 18 they seemed shocked. Tarek thought I was 23. I thought that was a bit humorous. This last picture is for Elly. (Torte. and it will be gooood.)

Mr. Brown can moo, can you?

2009-03-05T23:20:00.000+02:00

It's weird having a cleaning lady here. She cleaned my room today. It was clean to begin with but she just straightened everything up more and folded my princess blanket and stacked my shoes...It was nice but still weird. Anyway, I find myself speaking English in an Egyptian accent more and more every day and incorporating Arabic into it as well. I had another Arabic lesson from Fi'a today. It is pretty fun, we studied for about two hours. I learned colors and counted to 100 (maya) and learned some body parts and did a lot of writing. I want to learn how to write but everyone keeps telling me it is not really practical because even Egyptians can't write well because it is too hard. Tomorrow is church and hopefully I will get hooked up with people who know where I can volunteer. I am still trying to get ahold of Fadia to ask her if she can tutor me, please pray for that. Here are cute pictures of me and Talli and Sophia smiling.

Just in case any of you were missing my sweet face

2009-03-05T09:51:00.000+02:00

Here it is. haha.

It's just a nervous tic motion of your head to the left

2009-03-04T21:29:00.000+02:00

Here is a picture of my wall. I think it's mold. We are friends.

5 pounds. Self explanatory.

My first hair cut here. I was going to grow a mullet but I changed my mind. Here is the result.

Princess Sophia.

Now for the juice of the blog...I went with Rigy to pick up Talli from madrasa (school) today. It is about a 2 hour drive round trip. It was fun, we just talked about some things and got to know each other better and it was cool. Mostly I loved getting out of the beyt (house). Seeing the city. Rigy named some sites for me and pointed out some things and its so beautiful. Dirty. Polluted. Dry. But beautiful. I love the driving scene. It is crazy. I wish I could drive here or learn to. There are no rules. Its insane. A two lane highway is turned into four lanes or three. People crossing the street at any given moment. No one waits for anyone else. If you need to get into a lane you just have to drive that way and hope no one hits you. Horns honking nonstop. I can hear them even now. Just like I said. Organized chaos. That is the best way to describe it. The funniest and also most awkward thing though, when I go out, is the staring. People just stare. Mostly the men because I'm American and have blue eyes and whatnot. Luckily I don't have my blonde hair, that would draw more unneeded attention. Today, we were stuck in traffic and there was this man driving a semi of sorts and he looked down and then continued to stare. We were pretty much stuck next to him for like twenty minutes and when he passed us by about two car lengths he cleaned his mirror with a towel and was just staring at me the whole time. It did get a bit awkward, but I just tried to not glance his way. Anyway, I have another funny story. I got home and of course all the Aunts etc. were there (about five women besides me and Rigy) and we were hanging out, eating dinner (I'll get to the food part later). I was at the kitchen table alone, everyone else was in the kitchen, so I brought out my Arabiiya (Arabic) book and started studying. Whenever people see me study they seem to be surprised that I actually want to learn the language and they always wish me good luck because it is hard, haha. Anyway, this woman named Fia came and sat down next to me and was fascinated with me trying to learn and so she was sitting there and telling me to read it and telling me how to pronounce things (mind you, she can only speak about 5 words in English) so she was talking and we were trying to communicate and it was just really funny. We studied for about an hour I would guess and she wanted to come tomorrow and help me again. I'm trying to teach her English and she will teach me Arabiiya. Fia will not be my real tutor though, I am trying to get in touch with a lady that I met last year who tutored Elly. Ah, so back to the food. Tonight dinner was chicken, rice, meat in a curious pickle tasting broth (it was disgusting, I do not like pickles) and salad. I know I haven't said much about salad here, but it is quite good. Not like salad in the states. Here they pretty much just chop up vegetables and call it a salad, maybe with a little cabbage or something. A lot of tomatoes and cucumbers. The cucmbers here are so good, too. They are small, maybe the size of a nickel in circumference. Ahh, and I forgot to say how I got my food. Like I have mentioned before, they LOVE to make you eat here. I was in the kitchen hanging out and suddenly Fia tells me to go to the table to eat because she had made me a plate of food. I should actually say plates. Arba'a (four) to be exact. Wahed (one) plateful of rice. Wahed plateful of salad. Wahed plate of chicken. Finally Wahed plateful of the curious pickle meat. It was pretty funny, I was like 'do you guys seriously expect me to eat all of this...' and five minutes later she brings me some pita bread. That is a lot of food for tiny ol' me. I mean, I'm not that tiny, but it is a lot of food. Now, enough about food. Something that is very strange to me here is how people treat me with the baby and Talli. Let me explain something to you guys. You may or may not have felt this before. When someone comes to me and does not speak English very well and they need to know how to do something or what to do, I try to explain, but I always am unsure if they every really understood me. In a way, I feel they are incompetent. I know they aren't and I am sure if someone explained it to them in their own language they wouldn't even have a problem, but because of the language barrier it's hard to know if you got your point across. Now, having explained, let me just say that I am currently on the other side of that now. It is a weird feeling. People here question my ability to take care of the baby and to know what I am doing. Now, everyone who knows me knows that I am great with kids and I know what to do with them and how to take care of them very well. I have so much experience with so many different ages, including newborns. The thing is, no one here knows any of that. Yesterday Rigy asked me if i knew how to change a diaper then one of the aunts asked me if I knew how to burp her. I almost just laughed. My first thought was 'if you weren't sure I could change a diaper, why did you hire me?' My second thought was what I just explained, the incompetence feeling because of language barrier and whatnot. Just an interesting thing. Lastly, a funny short story. Today I wanted to make beda (eggs) and I couldn't find a spatula and so I asked Rigy but she didn't have any idea what I was talking about. I was like trying to explain a spatula and how to use it with beda but she just didn't really get it. Another example of the language thing. If anyone knows the Arabiiya word for spatula, let me know.

Rigy has really pretty fingernails.

2009-03-03T18:50:00.000+02:00

I have a fetish with fingernails, I can't help it, and Rigys are really pretty. Almost as small as mine, too.
Tiny sleeping Sophia. Its blurry because I didn't want it to flash in her face.
Tomorrow Talli starts school back up, she goes from 7am-2pm and Rigy and I will be picking her up afterwards. That will be my first time out of the house since I came here. I wore a skirt today. I know that seems pretty uninteresting but before you decide not to finish this blog out of boredom, let me explain. My skirt cuts just below the knee. It isn't short, it's a nice length and I have worn it many times before. When I put it on today I felt really exposed. It's just the culture here, people are very modest and I felt weird showing my lower calf. It's kindof funny to think about. When you compare that to how people dress in the states, for instance, girls passing off shirts as dresses...now everyone knows that is short. Here, that would practically be naked. Or maybe just like you should be roaming the streets late at night getting into all kinds of trouble. I really feel uncomfortable in a skirt that is by my normal standards, totally modest. That is just an interesting comparison between American and Egyptian culture that I thought most of my dedicated and somewhat crazy readers would like to hear about. Ah, and something I decided today, I will teach you guys some Arabic sometimes when I post a blog. Todays lesson is numbers. Oh, and numbers, unlike the alphabet, are read from left to right like our numbers.

Today was a pretty chill day, I just hung out with Talli and the baby slept a lot. Funny story about Sophia, she really likes to suck on things; her thumb, her whole hand, your shirt, anything. She now has pacifiers, but yesterday, she was on my shoulder and I was burping her and she was turning her head all around and my head was kindof leaning close to her and she sucked on part of my lip. It was pretty funny, it kindof took me by surprise and was like, 'what is going on?' haha. Talli, I discovered, loves my princess blanket. She was romping around in it today, loving it. Also I had some really yummy food today. Rice and some beef and spinach and mmm. It was really good. And also. I love it here. I love the people. I love the language. I love everything about it. And last of all, please pray for me...Talli can be trying at times with her temper. I have a lot of patience...but I need more now and then. Love you guys.

Special note to Anna...

2009-03-02T19:38:00.000+02:00

Just to let you know. You would probably not survive here. I eat way more than you and it still is apparently not enough. The question I am asked more than any single thing is 'did you eat?' quickly followed by 'did you get enough?' and thirdly 'are you sure?' I'm running out of suitable answers. All I say is yes, yes, I'm not starving to death, I promise. haha.

Now, something I forgot to mention about Sophia, I think she will become very close to me because I feed her and put her to sleep about two times a day. ;)

Long nights, stickers and stringy onion chicken.

2009-03-02T17:39:00.000+02:00

Now, I know almost all of you out there have had your late crazy nights when you didn't get home until 5am. I was up until 5 am last night, only my reason wasn't as heathen as yours probably was. I have been so tired, ready to fall asleep around 8 or so every night but every night Talli hasn't been going to bed until around 11 because of her jet lag, so I stay up and play with her. Luck of all luck, she went to bed finally around 9 last night and I put the baby to sleep around 10 so I was good to go. I get ready for bed and am in by 11. But as I crawled into bed and layed my head on my pillow I realized...I was entirely wide awake. And awake I stayed until 5 am just laying in bed. Laughing occasionally at the ludicrous situation, but I could NOT fall asleep. I wasn't even the smallest amount tired. I heard Sophia and Talli wake up all through the night and Tarek and Rigy put them back to bed only to hear them cry again. Finally, I was so annoyed at being awake that at 5am I did all the ridiculous things to do when you cant fall asleep. Count sheep. Count blessings. Breathing exercises. Calm music. Laughing intermittently throughout, I don't know why, I just did. I'm not sure how long it took, but I eventually fell asleep and then woke up at around 11am. Rigy was still in bed with the girls as they had a very bad nights sleep too. Anyway, apart from that excitement, I am working on my Arabic every day. I have put sticker with Arabic names on some things around my room and say them every time I see them. I'm already remembering a lot from when I took it in school. The most common words I find myself saying are 'khalas-enough' 'habibti-an endearing name for kids or boyfriends or girlfriends or whatever, my use is obviously for children' 'la-no' and 'min fahdlik-please' I especially have to use the last two a lot with Talli. Talli is wild, I find out more everyday. She is very active and happy but also has a red-hot temper. Sophia is cute and tiny, but nothing at all like Shy; she isn't as calm and relaxed about everything, it's funny to see the difference. Now it's time for : FOOD DISCUSSION! Haha. More chicken. Less stringy today, but stringy nonetheless. I may be becoming attached. That also might only be because it sticks between my teeth and I have no other choice. I did eat something extra good though. For those of you who like coconut (Josh, avert your eyes from this next sentence) it was a small bar with sweet coconut on either side and in the middle was pistachios. It was rather delicious. Hm, more about food...I made breakfast this morning. It was going to be really yummy. I asked Talli if she wanted eggs but she didn't, so I only made enough for me. So I finished the eggs, got some toast with jelly and I turned my back for one minute to get some juice and Talli was like 'yummy! for me!' and she ate my breakfast. I was sad. haha.Well, that's all about the food today, folks. Next on the agenda is Cairo, at least, what I see of it from out the window. Number one-I love the crazy driving and honking and organized chaos, I guess you could call it. Number two-starving dogs. Just like Mexico. It makes me sad to see that. I feel so bad for the poor, most likely rabid, stinky but cute animals. I just want to feed them all tons of food. And last, but definitely not least, (as I have been meaning to write about this for awhile) is how lame America is for having to be one of the only countries to not use the metric system. I am having to convert everything. The oven, the degrees outside. It is all in centigrade and mL and kilometers. Blast.

russ (as in loose. and roll the 'r')

2009-03-01T20:16:00.000+02:00

That is what everyone is calling me these day. It's weird because they have the 'th' in the Arabic alphabet...but instead all I hear is RUSSS! RUSSSS! It makes me laugh.

I've never eaten dog before...

2009-03-01T18:06:00.000+02:00

It wasn't dog. But it was the stringiest chicken I've ever eaten....haha. I am finally unpacked! Rigys brother left today and so I am finally moved in to my room. I took some pictures so you guys can have more of a feel of it.

Sophia

My favorite part of the room. My shoes.
My closet.

The fam. So I can pretend everyone is here with me.

In case anyone every doubted that I was a Goodhart, this stack of books I brought should reassure them.

My bed. Notice the Princess blanket.

min fadlahk wa shukran. (please and thank you)

2009-03-01T13:52:00.000+02:00

Something about Talli, like I said, she has messy hair always. But more than that, I try to put it up and five minutes later its right back out of the pony tail/barrette and back in her face. Normally on kids I never cared if it was in their face if they didn't care. However, thanks to Anjali, I find myself always trying to pin back her hair that constantly flops in her face. She prefers it that way, and tries wriggle away when I try to put it up. I did manage to get pigtails yesterday, they were pretty cute. We made cupcakes today. Heart shaped cupcakes. She loves Curious George and watches it at least once a day or so. Today while she was watching it, Rigy and Sophia were sleeping and I was studying Arabic. I forgot that I used to know quite a bit. It's coming back, I'm trying to speak the few words I know, but it comes intermittently. Talli has been throwing a lot of fits lately, I think it is because she is still so tired and out of it from the time transition. I'm still not moved into my room, Rigy's brother Mina (I dont really know if that is how they spell it, but I assume) is still staying here. Hopefully I can move in soon and unpack everything, that will help me to feel more at home although I am feeling more comfortable every day anyway. I should probably get back to studying, all you guys in America are sleeping anyway. It's only 5:15am there.

Kogler hospitality

2009-02-28T21:09:00.001+02:00

More pictures of Talli. She is so cute. Rigys family has been coming by every day to see the baby and whatnot. All I have to say is, I got a taste of this with the Miles family, and also with Al's side of the family and what I mean is this- if they don't see you eating every second they think you don't like the food or you are crazy. It's pretty hilarious to me, people handing me food left and right. I am just like "thanks, I've got some already" and they just give it to me anyway. Insist upon it. Don't get me wrong, the food is good, but there is only so much one can consume at any given moment. First it's a great big dinner (tonight was crab and shrimp...I obviously had chicken leftovers from the night before) and salad. Later its coffee, tea and pastries and dessert...haha. I guess I won't get skinny from living here after all. If anything, I'll come back so huge I will have to buy two seats on the plane instead of just one. Other than that, things are slow. Still hanging out, still tired, still happy. Until tomorrow, you crazy crazy people.

Sophia

2009-02-28T15:35:00.000+02:00

23 days old today

Orange juice, legos and restless nights

2009-02-28T13:32:00.000+02:00

<--This is Talli. She is so cute. 3 years old. Her hair is crazy all the time. My favorite part is her tiny adorable gap-toothed smile. It's amazing. We're sitting on her bed playing legos. That is, she is playing legos, I'm obviously on the computer. I am so tired still. Restless sleep last night and now its 1:30pm and I could just fall right asleep. It's weird a little bit, trying to be so at home in such a new place. I just went in the kitchen and helped myself to breakfast and sat in the living room and read my book this morning and it felt weird, but I am trying to ignore that feeling. Well, thats all about these lazy hazy crazy days of mine.

Raves and night life

2009-02-27T23:01:00.000+02:00

I forgot to mention in my last slightly boring post what my plans are. I have decided to write an equally boring one to tell you about them. So far I've got this- 2 mornings a week I will be volunteering in a school and also 2 days a week I will be taking Arabic lessons. That covers my week mornings mostly (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday, not Saturday and Sunday; Fridays I will be going to church with Rigy). In the afternoons around 2pm I will go with Rigy to pick up Talli at school and then help out with her the rest of the day. Also in case any of you who didn't know, I am nine hours ahead of Colorado. Also, I have skype. rlmcg5.

oh the places you'll go

2009-02-27T15:43:00.000+02:00

Well, I have an adapter now. yay. Im still tired. I could go to sleep right now...buts its not even 4pm. Sophia is so cute and so tiny. Talli (Ta-as in la-) is warming up to me, she is really precious. We hung out today. Something funny I read in my devotions today "Woe to them that go to Egypt for help" Isaiah 31:1 haha. I read the first part of that verse and just laughed a little bit. The second thing "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth" Proverbs 27:1. Also humorous. So true for me right now. It rained today. Unusual. Nothing funny or exciting to write about today. <3

Home at long loooong last.

2009-02-27T01:22:00.000+02:00

24 hours. two flights. one 8 hour layover. 100 stinky people on planes. 2 men pick me up at the airport. one great car ride to the house. annd.....Im here.

it just goes on forever

2009-02-26T17:17:00.000+02:00

I forgot to bring my outlet adapter...my computer has approx. 13% of battery left. I am about dying of boredom. If I try to read I fall asleep because I am so sleep deprived. My day- walk, sit, doze, repeat. Longest day ever. I am so tired. I got almost no sleep on the plane ride over here. zzzzz....12% left.....

Hot feet, accents and airport food

2009-02-26T13:56:00.000+02:00

Arrived in London a few hours ago. 5 things I hate about flying-
1. temperature change in the plane. hot. cold. hot. cold. the worst thing ever is to have hot feet.
2. the food. the gross, processed, unappetizing food that you have to eat anyway because if you don't, you may starve to death on the airplane. And we all know no one wants to sit next to a rotting corpse for eight hours.
3. turbulence. turbulence. turbulence. up, down, up down. there are only so many times my poor stomach can handle that.
4. the snoring people next to you. although it can be comical, generally, i want to plug their nose, but so far I have resisted.
5. the video/radio controls. let me share with you a funny story that happened to me one time on an airplane. I was sitting in the middle of two people. The man to my left was watching a movie. I wanted to watch a movie too. So I plug my headphones into the armrest and its too quiet for me to hear, so I begin to turn the volume up. And up. And up...finally when I notice my volume not getting any louder and the man to my left looking at me like I was a psycho, I realized I was turning up his volume instead of mine. I just laughed and apologized, there was nothing left I could do. For that reason, the controls are always a nuisance and I have to be extra careful to look before I press anything.
I really wanted to go out into London today, but security took longer than I expected and I just wouldn't have had enough time since it is a forty minutes taxi ride from the airport. Instead, I have been roaming around the airport, people watching, listening to beautiful accents, ordering some food. There are tons of shops in here, its like a regular mall. If I wanted to, I could go and buy all the ties I would ever need, or perhaps perfume, but the most appealing to me is the shoe store...ahhh. But alas, unfortunately for me (but fortunately for my bank account) I did not go inside. So here I am, stuck for another 5 long hours. I have half a sandwich left, almost no battery left on my computer and nothing but time on my hands. What to do...too bad this is an airport or I would go buy really funny things and stick them in peoples bags without them noticing...but I don't think the security guards would think that was very funny. I suppose it is back to my sandwich and book. Actually, let me just tell you what my napkin that they gave me says-" This napkin is made from 100% recycled stock (Pret's environment department is militant, we're making headway). If Pret staff get all serviette-ish and hand you huge bunches of napkins (which you don't need or want) please give them the evil eye. Waste not want not. " I thought it was funny. Alright, Im out. Love.

alone at last

2009-02-26T00:27:00.000+02:00

To people who may not have had a recent airport experience, you don't know what you're missing. Long lines, cranky people, crowded and very very large community bathrooms. Let me tell you, trying to wash your tattoo on your back and be half decent is not as easy as it may sound, though it is quite comical. On the bright side, there are about ten restaurants every 100 ft, plenty of food to fill any number of people with chemicals and fats of all kinds. A buffet of sorts. Then let us not forget the vast amount of people under 2ft tall running around of of their parents control. Although cute, they always appear to be up to no good. My flight is delayed about half an hour. Just more time for me to spend enjoying the great airport atmosphere. Ah, I also have another story. Depending on your experience, your chauffeur to/from the airport can be extremely boring, and may just drop you off or pick you up right outside. Fortunately for me, my experiences with this have been rather good, and today was especially great. I was about to go through security, saying my final goodbyes for three months. It was sad. I finally start going through the line and my trio of girls (Deannah, Mari and Jes) begin singing " so long, farewell, I leave and say adieu. Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you. " It made my day. I hope anyone traveling soon has as good of family as mine. MMM. I just finished my last meal in the states-2 dramamine pills. I recommend them (or bonine which is mostly non-drowsy) for anyone who gets motion sickness. I do, and it is not fun to go through without medicine. It's not very fun with medicine either, but it does make it better. Well, with passport and boarding pass in hand, I leave you all. If you guys want the address of where I am staying or anything like that email me. rlmcg5@yahoo.com

T minus 19 hours

2009-02-25T06:41:00.000+02:00

Can you even believe it...I surely cannot. I will be in England in less than twenty four hours, and in Egypt in less than 48 hours. I have an 8 hour flight to England, an 8 hour layover in London, and then a 5 hour flight to Cairo. I think I may go into the city for awhile because 8 hours is quite a lot of time to kill in an airport. I have done it before. I had dinner with some of the siblings tonight. Cyrus, Mari, Jes, Justin, Dee, Anna, Maggie, Riley. Of course I cried, I can thank my mum for that...anyway, I am actually really really excited to go. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I will try to keep this updated with what is going on over there. Funny stories, pictures, life as I will know it. All the great things that will be going on. Hopefully I will be so engulfed in the experience that I wont have much time to write you guys...but that is wishful thinking. Love you guys.

meticulous

2009-02-20T04:45:00.000+02:00

Less than a week to go. 141 hours and 15 minutes to be more precise. Rigy emailed me today and I will be coming back in the first week of August rather than September to be at/in Michael and Ellys wedding. I am finishing pack right now. I actually am not, obviously. I am writing an update for all the wonderful people who read this, but I should be, and will be when I am finished here. I am updating my ipod, it is getting very frustrating because I am transferring all of my music from my ipod to my computer and then back to the ipod. Tomorrow is my last day working for the Hartmans, I will probably cry, no surprise there. I will really miss Kaitlyn, as I do all the children I leave. My trip to Montrose was a success I suppose; I went to visit my dad and my friends for a few days. I also visited Carolyn Highland and her two adorable little boys who I used to nanny for; we hung out for a few hours and then went bowling the next day. Loads of fun. Anna bought me some Dr. Seuss notes as part of my going away present, so I leave you with his wise words - 'When there's work to be done, there's no need to be sad. As soon as it's over there's fun to be had!'

Ten days to go.

2009-02-15T06:54:00.000+02:00

Ten days until I move out of the country for six months. A very drastic change, but I feel excited (followed quickly by anxiety, but thankfully the excitement is first). I'm packing up the house, packing my suitcases (2 plus a backpack as a carry-on). Packing is easier than I thought; you would be surprised to learn what are the essentials in life, and even then I'm sure I have more packed than the necessities. I am going to miss everyone here, but I am also excited to be away from everything. The American life. Living in a different country, or even staying in one for more than a couple weeks can have a pretty large impact on you, and I am excited to see how that will work out. Also, if anyone ever wanted to come to Egypt, now is your chance. ;)