When It Rains, It Pours!

To my dismay, and to my 1 year old's pleasure, I am sad to say that yesterday we left the stroller in a taxi.  Yes, first my backpack and now the stroller.  At least the baby wasn't in it.  I guess we better buy a donkey now, it's probably cheaper then buying a new stroller.  

Ode to my Backpack...

Today we took Grandpa and Aunt Trina to the Saqqara pyramid (AKA The Step Pyramid).  I always enjoy this set of Pyramids over the "biggie-bigs" in Giza, because not many people visit them.  Also, there is a cool movie shown there with Omar Sharif as the narrator.  Very few people ask you for tips and even less try to sell you cheep souvenirs for not so cheep prices.  On the way there, we passed a truck of camels that were bought at the local camel market this morning...

..and here we are at the Jubilee Temple.  

If you look closely, you can see my backpack in the right side of the picture behind the wall.  Do you see the black strap?

Well, that backpack is no longer mine.  It is most likely in the possession of a Bedouin lady that asked me for money in front of our restaurant tonight.  I can see her now in her little Bedouin home, talking on my cell phone to another Bedouin lady about how she got more then two months pay tonight ($55).  Perhaps she is putting on my lip gloss.  I doubt she can read, and for sure she can't read English, but if she could, she might read this book before she goes to bed tonight...

...and maybe wear these sunglasses tomorrow through the sand dunes.  Alas, (*sniff*) this is a picture of my backpack earlier this week.  Goodbye credit cards, goodbye driver's license from America, and goodbye favorite wallet.  

Cheese!

I have no idea who these people are, but they sure took a lot of pictures of the baby with their cell phone.  I only thought it was right that I be allowed to take a picture of them and blog about it.

To An Unknown Soul

After three years living in a middle eastern country, I have learned much about the subject of cultural sensitivity.  I have learned to filter every situation through the following thought: How do I respond to this situation in a way that will not offend the people?  I have found that it is only through the humbling and emptying of my own culture that this sensitivity can this be achieved.  Yesterday, however, I discovered that this thought can be taken too far.  I realized that a person can become so concerned about not offending, that they miss out on the sheer humor and emotion of humanity.  Let me tell you a story...

The last few days we visited an orphanage outside of Cairo.  This sweet home, of about 300 children, holds a special place within our family. Past generations have had the opportunity to participate in impacting the lives of the children living there.  In fact, my husband's great aunt died there, as a baby, and is buried in a nearby cemetery.  It has been one of my Father-in-law's dreams to be able to see her resting place.

Today, with our 2 police car escort, we were able to make that dream a reality.  As we drove through this beautiful, green little town, I couldn't help but notice that there were more donkeys and bicycles than cars and before long, we arrived in front of a small cemetery.

With our host leading, we stopped in front of a walled off plot that belonged to the orphanage.   We found that someone had jammed the lock, but after a bit of manipulation we were able to unlock the doors and step inside.  The walls were blinding white and yellow and the searing sun caused us to blink in offense until our eyes had adjusted. Once inside, we beheld a simple relief marker with kind words written on it about the founder of the orphanage.  With the exception of two sets of stairs, that lead to small doors, the plot was empty. We were told that behind the small doors housed the coffins of all the children and people associated with the orphanage that had died while in service there.  It was a somber site.

So what does that have to do with cultural sensitivity?  I'm getting to that.  As I sat in silence, taking in the frailty of humanity, I couldn't help but notice a smooth rock resting at the bottom of the stairway.  I looked again, thinking, "Surely, that isn't what I think it is...is it?".

Then, remembering a subject used during an oil painting class I once took, my brain responded, "Yes, that IS a human skull right there below the steps!".  Naturally, then, filtered through my careful study of cultural sensitivity, my next thought was: How do I mention to our Egyptian host that there is a human skull on the steps?   After brooding for a moment on this dilemma, I suddenly realized that this wasn't a cultural situation at all; this was an unusual human experience!

With that realization, I simply mentioned to my father-in-law, "Does that rock look like a human skull?", then sat back and enjoyed the humanity unfold.  At first my husband and his dad argued for a moment whether or not it was a skull, and if it was, was it human.  They looked so intently at it that it drew the attention of our guide, who seemed pretty sure of the fact that it was a human skull and not wanting it touch it himself called over our driver.  The driver put it in a plastic grocery bag that he found on the ground and took it outside of the walled off area and left it on the ground.

 It was, with cultural sensitivity, that they explained to us that sometimes kids mess around with the graves and throw the bones around.  Unfortunately, the bones of this poor creature had landed inside of the orphanage's plot.  So the moral of this story:  Egypt is not only a land of surprises and adventures behind every door, sometimes they are found in front of them too.

Happy Ground Hog Day...I mean Father's Day.

Today we celebrated Father's day and tonight my husband found out that tomorrow is also Father's Day in Egypt.  Who knew?  This means that we have to wake up and do the day all over again.  We had a very nice day, although it was very, very hot!  Jubilee made her father a treasure hunt and sent him all over the house looking for his gifts.  It's so much fun that she can read and write now.  Next, we went to the pyramids (that was the hot part) and then had lunch at the beautiful historic Mena House Hotel.  What a day!  We are staying very busy painting the town with family.  Tomorrow we leave Cairo and will be traveling to an orphanage 7 hours away.  That should be a very interesting ride with 3 kids.  Here are some photos of the day...

"Hey Mom, what are those things?"

This picture makes me a bit nervous.

Just Chill'n!  You can only see them so many times, after that, you have to bring a book.

Anyone want to go climbing?

The Presidential suite at the Mena House.  It was is beautiful but will cost you about 1100 Euros a night.

This is what happens when you ask Grandpa to watch the kids for a minute so that you can use the restroom...

So much fun!

Gad is Good

One of our favorite places to eat out in Cairo is a restaurant called Gad.  It has your typical Egyptian fare, minus Koshary (see photo), is kid friendly (the waiters practically babysit), and some of the restaurants have Middle Eastern pop music or "Football" games on for you dining entertainment.  Can you guess what they are playing this week?

Koshary: rice, vermicelli, macaroni, sometimes spaghetti noodles,

 lentils, chickpeas, fried onions, tomato sauce, and a garlic vinegar sauce.

Also, the fruit pies are heavenly.  Although, I am not sure why they call them a fruit pie, it's more like a crape with nuts and sweetened condensed milk.  I think one time they had grapes on them.  That's what's so exciting about Gad, you never know what you are going to get.  Among the Shishs and Shawarmas, you can also order things like the "Viagra Sandwich".  Why they named it that, I will never know.

                  

This was my conversation the other day with the waiter.

Me:  I would like a shish kabab sandwich

Waiter:  Oh, so sorry, no Shish kabab today

Me:  No kabab?  Alright, I will have the shish tawook sandwich

Waiter:  And to drink?

Me:  a lemon juice

Waiter: Oh, so sorry, no Lemon juice only strawberry and mango

Me:  I'll just have a diet coke

Waiter: no diet coke, we have fanta or 7

Me:  maybe just a bottled water.

And there you go, a fantastic lunch you didn't even know you wanted!  Isn't this just like life?  I may plan for one thing and end up getting something else entirely, but it's still fantastic.  Whenever we drive by the place we can't help but say "Gad is good, all the time...All the time, Gad is good!"

Happy Days

I am very happy about the next few weeks.  My husband's father and sister are coming from America to visit us.  I love it when family comes for lots of reasons.  One, I miss family tremendously.  Two, I get things worked on in the flat that normally would sit on the mental to do list.  Third, there are lots of bounty in tow.  And lastly, I get to do sight seeing and take lots of pictures.

Another reason I am excited is that we have a car, thanks to our friends, who are on holiday in Holland.  Hear ye, hear ye...Cairo is a very different city if you have your own car.

Note to Taxi drivers: I am sorry to say, even though you give me tons to write about, everyone needs a season of change.

A very cool thing about the car is it tells what the temperature is and today I was thinking to myself...Wow, it's 118F, no wonder it feels like the AC isn't working.  I also drove for the first time in Egypt.  My husband had double parked and ran into a store.  Of course, the man who owned the other car came back and wanted to leave.  I drove a whole 3 yards.  Here are some photos I took while driving around today...

(I bought the little light green water melon on the right.)

(Oh, the looks we get!)

(That's right, gasp, no car seat!  We should have one next week when Grandpa comes:))

Mummyhood

Last week I was just a mom.  In fact, the day this photo was taken was the first time I left the house in several days.  It was for Jubilee's end of year celebration and she almost didn't make it, not because she wasn't smart enough, but because she had the flu.  Her little body was able to recover and ...Here is our new 2nd grader!  She is minus a tooth since we took this picture.  It's amazing that girl can still chew.

The boys didn't really feel like celebrating and found something better to do...

Anyway, I was just a mom.  I spent a good 24 hours cleaning up vomit, both my boys had huge purple and blue bumps on their foreheads from falling off the sofa, and I found myself playing "Rambo" with messes like this...

Which actually doubled as my husbands "crazy hair" for crazy hair day at school.  My husband applied his new "Rambo" skill on our roach infestation.  Ahhh, the joys of city life!

Did you know that people in Cairo keep animals on their rooftops?  I was reminded of this while playing "mommy nurse" at 4:00 am.  I could hear a rooster singing along with the call of prayer.  Most of the time all I hear are car horns and the clanking sound of men hitting wrenches on propane tanks trying to make a sale.  Along with roosters, chickens, and pigeons (Egyptian's birds of choice for food), people keep goats and sheep rooftop too.   Once, a friend of ours even told us a story about a cow that jumped off the balcony of a building.  It is also common to be driving through the city and see scenes like this...

Growing up in the mountains, I often find myself craving nature.  With so many people around, nature has a tendency to blend into the background.  It was nice to hear that rooster and it was nice to be just a mom.

I married Rambo?

This weekend, the fam pack five jumped into a white taxi with stars and headed to the Magic Planet at Carrefore.   To those who don't live in Egypt, this may sound like the beginning of a science fiction book.  For those who live in Egypt you may be thinking this sounds like an adventure/horror story.

Here are some definitions for both:

Fam Pack Five:
Our chosen family team name

Star Taxi:  Taxis here are mostly black with a bit of white and are held together with duct tape and prayers to Allah.  The government has given great perks to exchange these clunkers for brand new white taxis with a checkered decal around them.  There are new taxi's, however, with shapes like stars, hearts and butterflies.  Instead of playing slug bug, the children play a similar game when driving throughout the city with these types of taxis.

Slug bug:  A game when a person yells out "SLUG BUG" upon seeing a VW bug.  This gives the person the right to hit their brother or sister as hard as they can.

Magic Planet:
A dark section of a small strip mall, where shopping carts can not enter.  It is filled with loud noises and lights from video games and small amusiment park rides like carousels and bumper cars.  The play area, since it is mostly dark, resembles more of a haunted house then a play area.  You must purchase a special game credit card to enjoy the fun.  Think of a dark ChuckECheese with no pizza.


Carrefour (car-4):
A dutch company similar to Wal-Mart in Egypt.  Like Wal-Mart, there are certain times you should avoid this place (ie: sales, holidays, and of course, weekends).  By the way, if you ever want to learn how to drive in Egypt, Carrefour is the place to go.  Packed with people, buggies, and carts, you soon learn the secret to survival is don't stop!  Whatever you do just keep driving!

not my photo

On with the story...

The children's favorite things to do at the Magic Planet is to ride the bumper cars and to ride on a small rocking pirate ship.  Jubilee gets to drive the bumper cars and Luke gets to drive the pirate ship.  Theo also gets a chance to drive the pirate ship.  I have taken the kids there before, but this was my husbands first time to go with us.  My husband, being young at heart, decided to join in on the fun.  Luckily, that didn't include him riding the bumper cars or pirate ship.  There it was, a blow 'em up army man game with machine guns.  Oh yes, it beckoned to him.

this is obviously not my photo:)

As we all stood around and watched him destroy the enemy, I became physically sick to my stomach.  I felt so grateful that he never had to go to war and somehow watching him play this video game, in the Middle East, caused me to think about this for the first time.  I finally couldn't watch anymore, and neither did I want our children to watch it, so I turned around and tempted the children with the offer of another ride on the pirate ship.  As I turned around, there were two covered Egyptian women watching this scene unfold.  We made eye contact with each other and I didn't know what else to do but to shake my head at the fact that my husband was blowing pretend people up with a pretend machine gun.  What happened next surprised me, the women smiled and nodded as if they fully understood.  At that moment all cultural differences melted away and all that remained was the fact that we were just women married to men who like to play with big plastic guns.

Sand Storm

This is what it looks like during a sand storm.  It is about 110 degrees and windy.

He really wanted that Taboo buzzer!