A Thief in the Night

It's spring break and since Jubilee doesn't have school, we seized the opportunity to skip town.  A few days ago we said goodbye to Cairo and our cat and headed off in the direction of the Red Sea.  We asked our Boab (building attendant) if he would feed the cat and water the plants while we were gone.  I thought he would enjoy this job because he is obsessed with making sure that my house plants are watered, especially the ones on our balcony.  Almost every time I see him he mentions it.  "Madame Yusef, you have to water your plants.  When did you water them?  You must water them every other day".  The truth is, they are our left over Christmas trees that I thought would be long dead by now.   Anyway, he was more then happy to help us out and we handed over our precious key. 


It was the first time we have given anyone our key, and as much as I trust him, I was a bit nervous about it.  I pictured him and the cat sitting on the couch eating pop-corn watching Clifford the Big Red Dog again.  I couldn't help but wonder if anything would be missing upon our return.  Of course I felt better when realized that nothing of great value was in the house anyway.  I couldn't dwell on it any longer because the sea was calling us.  We piled into the taxi and drove away with visions of sand castles and powered donuts, from the hotel's breakfast buffet, swimming in our heads. 

On the way there we saw a herd of camels and the sky changed from smoggy grey/brown to a beautiful blue hue.  The weather and company of friends refreshed us.   The beach was perfect for the kids and once a day, when the tide went out, the beach was scattered with marine treasures such as star fish, sea cucumbers, and hermit crabs.  Of course the time was much too short, and before we knew it, we sadly said goodbye to the sea and drove back to Cairo.


As we drove back the sky once again changed from blue to brown/grey.  We opened the door to our flat and carried in the luggage.  Everything looked in place.  Luke ran in to use the restroom and yelled out "Mom, someone stole the bathtub!"  I ran in to see and sure enough, the bathtub was gone.  Out of all the things I possibly could imagine, never did I think that we would come back to a missing bathtub.  

Yes, as you can see...someone stole our bathtub.  Of course, it didn't take long to realized that the landlady was having it replaced because we had a hole in it.  I guess she took the opportunity with us away to have it worked on.  I'm grateful, of course, but it would have been nice to have known ahead of time.  The good news is, it is filled with sand and I can sit in it and imagine that I am sitting on the beach by the Red Sea again.  If anyone is in the neighborhood, our bathtub is now on display on top of a trash heap next to our house.  Now the question remains...how long it will take to fill this hole in our flat.