Where is my pumpkin cupcake???

Alright, I'm back at the internet cafe that has a bad keyboard and the t key doesn't work so well, so if you see some funny words, they're probably just missing the t.

We slept too late again today. I think it was somewhere just before noon when we got up.
After getting ready, we went to the library (finally!). What a neat building. I took some video inside so I'll eventually post that up. Probably at the same time as all the other videos and I'm guessing it won't be til I'm back home.
It was only 4 pounds to get into the library, but they wanted an additional 20 pounds to see the museum area and I got irritated about that, though in all reality, 20 pounds isn't that much money.

On the way to the library, we took a micro-bus. This time we got to sit in the front seat. I was in the seat right next to the door. It must have been at least 20 minutes to get to the library and it was such a nice ride. You sit higher in the busses and we were in the front seat and I had a perfect view of the sea off to the right, and of everything in front of us. It was so nice and I felt so mellow and at ease. Alhamdulillah.

After the library we took a taxi and went to the mall that is where the Four Seasons hotel is. The mall is not in the hotel, but next to it?
Anyways, the mall is 5 stories or so (small areas for each story though) and also had a food court at the bottom and a movie theater at the top.
We finally went shopping!!!! yay!!!
Ahmed bought me some hijabs and I found some more that I liked that we will go back and buy insha'Allah.
After shopping we went down to the food court and got some food. He let me pick and so I picked someplace called something like Wok City or something such. Chinese fast food. It is the first chinese food I've had in over 3 weeks and it was sooooooo good. Maybe not by normal standards but it was just a nice taste from home and it made me so happy.
Alhamdulillah!!
:D
After eating we went to the grocery store in the mall and picked up a few things before catching a cab back home. Actually, Ahmed dropped me at the internet cafe and he went home and put our stuff away.
The regular internet cafe that we go to, the lines weren't working well, so we are at one I don't like as well (mostly because the keyboards work so badly).

After we're done here we'll go home and watch a movie insha'Allah.
The other night we watched The Thomas Crowne Affair. I hadn't seen it before and I really liked it. I was really surprised at the ending.

Alright, I'll make a post soon about driving/drivers here in Egypt. And about crossing the street. lol

I'll be home in less than two weeks insha'Allah.
love to you all

Almost Halloween

Well, it's hard to believe that tomorrow will be halloween. Mostly because I haven't seen any sign of it this year since I've been here in Egypt.
I've been blissfully saved from the early start to Christmas sales as well.
The only thing (aside from the chocolate) that I miss about halloween is that it is always a reminder that the seasons are changing and Autumn is here.

I'm not sure how I'm managing it (actually I know very well) but I am actually losing weight on my trip. I was so sure I would gain weight but I'm just eating differently here and not as much. Well, when we were at Ahmed's parent's house and I was eating his mom's cooking, I'm sure I wasn't losing anything. If we had stayed there the whole time I probably would have gained weight.
Dad, don't worry, I haven't lost that much, just a few pounds.

I have to say, I am truly blessed with a wonderful husband (and a great mother in law!).
When I was talking to Ahmed about him doing all the "cooking" since I've been here, he said that he had been talking to his mom about what kind of pots and pans to bring with us to Alex that I might need to use, and she told him that since I normally do all the cooking at home, he should give me a break and do all the cooking while I was here on vacation. Way to go Ahmed's mom!! lol
Anyways, not only has he been fixing all the food, he has done the cleaning and laundry as well. Though the laundry is probably just because I have no idea how to work the washing machine.
I'm sure all this will change when we are finally able to settle down in our own apartment and start our life together, but for now I am sure enjoying being spoiled.
And he really does spoil me. If he even thinks that something might be wrong he will find out what it is and "fix" it for me.
*sigh*
I love my hunny bunny.
lol

Okay, enough of that.
There were some more noised today that I can add to the list.
bicycle bell
electric staple gun
carpets being beaten out the window

Not sure what we'll have for dinner tonight. Ahmed was talking about getting shawerma, and he'll get chicken I guess so I told him that I would try it.
The third matrix movie will be on tv so I guess we'll watch it. We both like the matrix series.
And it was toooo humid today. It's 7:15 p.m. now and it's about 75 degrees and 78% humidity. Too much for my liking. Ahmed was telling me that in Kuwait, where his aunt lives, they get humidity in the high 90%'s for months at a time. I guess that's one place I won't be living insha'Allah!

There are stray cats everywhere here in Egypt. More than you would possibly believe. Here in Alexandria, there are many that are at the beach and along the corniche where people are eating. But they are also all over in the neighborhoods. I'm not sure how the "problem" got so out of hand, but I guess they aren't big here on spaying and neutering.
In any case, I have seen some of the cutest possible cats and kittens. Sometimes I want to hold or pet them so much, but even the cutest ones are mangy looking and dirty. The ones that aren't cute look even worse. So no touching the cats, just looking. The kittens are just too cute though. I love seeing them.
I think the most common color of cat are the orange/white ones, and then the gray or gray/white ones. For the most part they just look like the common house cat. I have seen a couple of all black cats and I saw one today that was all white except for the tail, which was orange.
There's no way to tell you how many strays there are, but honestly they are just everywhere.
There are not as many stray dogs but I do see them (and hear them) as well.

Okay, Ahmed is off buying us dinner and I guess I'm done rambling here for the day.

So long, farewell....

That many??

Alright, from the time I woke up (10:45 a.m.) until three hours later, there were no less than 9 carts passing by on our street that were all trying to buy people's old junk. Nine in three hours!!!
Ahmed and I laugh sometimes at the noise. We'll be laying in bed, just lazy and half sleeping.
And some noise will just make us laugh because it's so loud. It's become a joke, what will the next noise be?

Some of the noises that we hear on our street/in the near vicinity (this will change based on what neighborhood you live in, but will, I assume, be fairly similar in most neighborhoods)

cars
mopeds
motorcycles
car horns
moped horns
children running
children screaming
men talking
the donkey carts (selling or buying)
car horns
the gas man who bangs on the empty metal gas canisters (for the kitchen) to let you know he is there and you can buy
arabic music from someone's apartment being played very loudly
hammering
car horns
a bird that sounds like a slide whistle (someone's pet)
empty glass bottles (rattling around) being picked up at the corner grocery store
men arguing
babies crying
car horns
an electric drill
the quran being played loudly in a store or someone's apartment
a siren
another bird that doesn't sound like a slide whistle (again, someone's pet)
car horns
did I mention car horns?
The call to prayer (this happens five times a day)
car radios playing very loudly
oh yeah, and car horns

I know there are some sounds that I'm missing but that's all I can think of at the moment. If I can think of any more I'll add them in another post.

It's 10 p.m. now and I guess we're off to get some dinner and then go home and watch a movie insha'Allah.

See you all tomorrow insha'Allah.

Just another day

Well... let's see... we left the house for the first time today at around 7:30 p.m.
It's not that we were doing anything particularly interesting in the apartment. There were some movies on tv and we napped. Time just seems to pass differently here.

Still no internet at the apartment and we will not be able to run a cable from the internet cafe so we are still trying to get the phone line working. There is some problem in the line. Honestly, at the rate things go here, I doubt it will be fixed before we leave on the Tuesday after next. Who knows though, miracles do happen.

I got a picture today, actually a short video, of one of the donkey carts that goes along the street. This particular guy, instead of yelling, has some sort of megaphone. I don't have to tell you how loud that is do I? Of course everyone leaves their windows open, and we're on the second floor, but it's close to ground level.
The donkey carts who go around the neighborhood either sell or buy things. The things they sell are generally vegetables. Lemons, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. And then the guys that buy, they want your old junk and they'll pay you for it (not much I imagine).
The problem is, they go by at least twice a day. Every day. How much junk can one neighborhood have? I really don't understand it. I guess it's more than one guy going around buying, because I think we heard one that was just yelling, not using a megaphone.
Anyways, this guy is so annoying I had to get a video of it. I'll upload it sooner or later to youtube or something so everyone can see.
I'm not sure the total number of carts that go by in a day with the buying and selling but it's quite a few. I guess they have routes worked out for all the neighborhoods. And I doubt there's any kind of union for them, but they must have some system worked out with each other.
When we were in Cairo, at Ahmed's mom and dad's place, there was a donkey cart which sold foul, which is a bean mixture. Similar in texture at least to refried beans, though not exactly. Taste is different though. And it's pronounced more like fool (fuul?), not foul. Ahmed will show me how he makes it before I go home, though he makes it a bit different than his mom. Both kinds are good. I know it's simple to make, I watched him make some the other day, but I can't remember the exact spices he used and how much.

Yesterday when we were out, we took a microbus. It was the first time that we had taken one. They're all over and very popular. They're cheaper than taking a taxi, though in my opinion, the taxis are pretty cheap as well.
Anyways, the microbus we were in was going pell mell down the corniche (street that runs along the sea). I think that's the fastest I've gone in a vehicle since I've been in Egypt. He probably wasn't going any faster than maybe 45 or 50, but usually the streets are so full that you can't go that fast.
The microbuses just go from one end or area of the corniche to another, back and forth all day. It must get really boring driving that but I guess it's a living of some sort. I think it cost us 15 piasters each for our ride. I don't think that's even like a penny in cents? Very cheap.

We ate at Little Ceasers when we were downtown and it was okay. I had spaghetti (since I eat pizza so often) and because the sauce that it usually comes with has beef in it, I just had it with some red sauce on the side. The first bite I took my eyes got wide. Ahmed took a bite and said it's what they use for the breadsticks or something. It's a tad spicy and opened up my sinuses.
The cheesy garlic bread was good though.
And I had a sprite but it was from a fountain. From what I remember of fountain drinks, they put in a syrup and it mixes with water to make the soda. I was trying to tell Ahmed, because I didn't want to drink it if it was mixed with tap water, but he talked to the waitress and she said it was just like regular soda and they didn't use water.
I didn't believe it but what can you do. I said bismillah and drank it anyways.

Alright.... I guess that's it for now. I feel like I want to write but I'm not sure I have anything interesting to say.
Not sure what we're doing tomorrow.
I'll try to post insha'Allah.

love to you all
miss you!

Am I homesick?

The last couple of days I have been missing many things from back home. Oddly enough, most of it seems to be food, but the food I'm eating here isn't that different (I've been eating alot of pizza since we came to Alex - lol).
If I had the food from home here, would I still be feeling a bit homesick? Probably. Things are so different here. I'll miss it when I go home, but I miss home while I'm here.
Could I live here? I think so. But with trips a couple of times a year back to the states. I guess I'm not ready to give it all up yet.
Of course, there's many things I haven't experienced in Egypt, and there may be things that would help me feel more at home, but with such a short visit, it's hard to even start to experience everything that Egypt has to offer.

Things that I miss (in no particular order)
Togo's sandwhiches
IHOP
Being in a car without 18 million other people next to me on the road
Driving
Quiet
My son (parents, friends, etc)
Washing machines that do more than just wash (they don't even rinse! and no dryers either!)
Screens on windows
Cars that don't spew exhaust
My routine
A bed that doesn't hurt my back
Shower heads with decent water pressure
Incandescent lighting (no matter how bad it is supposed to be)
Frozen organic veggie foods I can get at any grocery store

The thing about being homesick is that it isn't about any one particular thing. I know there is more than what I put on that list, but I can't think of anything right now.
But the feeling - I guess everything is so different here. It's like stepping off a plane into a whole different universe.
I'm not sure how I will feel about things when I get home. Maybe I will go back to taking everything for granted. I hope not.
All I can say is alhamdulillah.

love to you all
Will try to post again tomorrow. Internet situation still not quite worked out, but insha'Allah I'll have internet at the apartment sometime tomorrow.

Is it Friday?

Funny how the days seem to pass when you're on vacation. If I wasn't looking at the computer right now I'd have no idea what the date was.

At another internet cafe, but this one, blessedly, has a working keyboard where every single one of the letters works! Alhamdulillah. lol

Ahmed was just talking with the manager here and trying to see if he could get a line put over at our apartment. It's across the street and about half a block down, and I'm not sure how they would manage it, but Ahmed knows I'm not happy about having to come to a net cafe every time I want to use a computer, so he's trying his best to fix it and make me happy.
=) (does that make me sound horribly spoiled or what?? lol)

Didn't do much today. This is actually the first time I left the house (it's now 7 p.m. ish). Ahmed went out earlier and got some fish and calamari. I ate some of the fish, which was okay, but I didn't want any of the calamari. He had me try some yesterday that was battered and fried? But I can't say I cared for it and figured even if the stuff today was cooked differently, it would probably still be rubbery. Who knows, maybe I missed out on the best calamari I could have ever had.

I will have to make a post here soon about the noise. You wouldn't believe how loud it is here. 24/7. It makes San Francisco seem like the countryside. lol
It's really amazing. I'm sure I'll miss all the sounds when I get back home. The signs of life.
But there are times when I really wish I could turn the volume down on it all.
Anyways, post about noise to come soon.

Not sure what we'll do tomorrow. I really want to go shopping for scarves. We might go to the library which we didn't get to the other day.
But it's also the weekend here (their weekend is Friday and Saturday), so some places are closed or have different hours because of the weekend.
But, definitely don't want to spend another day inside, though I needed it today.
Some days you just need a day to be as lazy as humanly possible ya know?
=)

Alright, I think we're off to walk along the sea.
Hope everyone reading this is well.
love to you all

Whining

Well, hello everyone.
We're still in Alexandria. And I'm once again at a net cafe. We still don't have a working phone line at our apartment for me to be able to get online there, so I haven't even checked email since the last time I posted here.
I have a whole list of things I'd like to gripe about, the first one being that the 't' key doesn't work well on this keyboard and I keep having to go back to type it in.
However, I guess both my time and yours could be better spent then with me whining about stuff.
Though it's possible if we get access at the apartment I might change my mind. lol

I have so much that I want to write and share but it's hard when they keyboard doesn't work well and you're sitting in a not so comfy spot with strangers in a dimly lit spare room.
I might just end up doing some writing with paper and pen just to get things out, and then type them up when I get access again. We'll see what happens.

Alexandria is definitely different than Cairo. I think I like many things about Cairo better. The two things Alex has an edge over Cairo on are the sea and the air quality. Other than that, I'm not so sure. But, time will tell, maybe I'll change my mind.

Okay, that's it for now.
love to you all.
Oh, and I woke up yesterday wanting to go to IHOP so badly. Please, everyone who reads this and has he opportunity, go get a nice pancake breakfast and eat it for me would you?? lol

In Alexandria

Hello all.
At an internet cafe and they keyboard doesn't work so well so I'm just saying hi.
I've been sick again. Couldn't talk above a whisper for 2 days.
We might go to the library tomorrow.
Should have internet at a new apartment tomorrow.
Illuminating faith - miss you too! =)

love to you all
will post again soon.

Heliopolis

Well, we took a short trip to Heliopolis last night.
I had a few things to drop off from a friend in the states to her brother here. Her brother owns a kid's clothing store and the clothes were adorable. We sat for some minutes and had a soda and talked.

After that we walked down the street to a cafe called Groppi. There was alot of people smoking shisha there (water pipes) and while I like the smell passing by, I can't say I appreciate sitting around the smell for any period of time. It's rather sickeningly sweet.
And there was this one group of ladies that came in with too many kids and they were all completely without manners. This one little girl kept walking by and staring at me, and I kept smiling at her but I couldn't get anything from her except blank stare. Whatever.

Shortly before we left the cafe, some band started playing music. I guess a wedding party had come and were right to the side of the building? Something like that, but it was hard to see.
Honestly, though I know it's traditional in Egypt to have a wedding party with a band and everyone together dancing etc., it certainly isn't Islamic and I have to say that I don't approve at all. To each their own I guess.
What strikes me is that even though these people were probably Muslims, it's like... tradition is more important to them than what is right or wrong in this case. I guess I don't understand.

After we left the cafe, we went walking around some of the streets, dodging people and looking in windows. There were many shoe and clothing stores, though I guess more shoe stores. It seems everyone comes out with their families and just walks around. I guess it's better than sitting in the house and it's free.
The smell of shawerma when you're walking down the street absolutely fills your nose with the most delightful smell, but once you get abreast of the place selling it, you can't smell it.
If I had to work in a spot where I could smell that all day I'd be fat or crazy. heh

We left and went back home. It's about half an hour or so, if the president isn't blocking traffic. Thankfully we missed it, though we could see the blockage and cars piled up on the other side of the road as we were leaving. It was the same last week when I went to Heliopolis with Ahmed's mother and sister. You wouldn't believe the backup of traffic just because they stop everything to let the president get through. I think I'd start writing letters every day to complain.

Last night we watched the last 4 episodes of season 4 of the show 24. I had never watched the show before coming here, but they were running all of season 4 starting at Eid and were running 4 shows a night. Somehow I got hooked and so we watched the whole season.
They're starting with season 5 tonight, but only running 2 shows a night.
Now I feel like when I'm back in the states I'll want to rent the first few seasons to watch, but I know I could spend my time more wisely. We'll see I guess.

Alright, off to Alexandria tomorrow insha'Allah!
Not sure what time we're leaving, but by noon or so I guess.
I'll be without computer access for at least 24 hours. What will I do??!!! lol
I guess I'll survive. I'll just have to pester my new husband more.
=)

Much love to you all. I hope everyone is well and happy.

Finally, the pyramids

Well, I didn't think we would make it today, as the driver that Ahmed's family uses was supposed to be busy today, so we were going to do some other things instead, but then the driver called (his name is Mohsen) and said he was available to pick us up at 10:30!

So... I finished getting ready and we headed off!
The traffic was light so it only took us about half an hour to get there. We didn't go straight down pyramid street though, his driver kept cutting through the streets in a zig zag pattern. I'm not sure why but we got there just fine.

It was neat driving there. The closer we got, you could see the tops of the pyramids behind all the buildings.

The entrance fee is cheaper if you're Egyptian. I think it cost Ahmed something like 2 Egyptian pounds to get in, but it cost 50 Egyptian pounds for me. And there's no cheating it because you have to show I.D.

Now I had heard and read that you will be assaulted by so many people trying to sell you things and get you to ride their horse/camel.
There were certainly people who asked us, but it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be.
However, I will say, the people that did ask you if you wanted something never took no the first time Ahmed said it. Like they kept bugging him and he just kept saying shukran (thank you) and leh (no). He said some other words but that was basically the gist of it. I'm sure I would have lost my patience with them after saying no twice. Good thing Ahmed was doing the talking.
=)

So really, it's hard to imagine how big the pyramids are until you are there. You can see lots of pictures and videos but really they are just enormous in size. When you think about individuals building these structures and how long it took and how hard they worked! SubhanAllah, it's just amazing.

We ended up just walking when we got there because I really didn't want to take a horse or camel. And besides which, the camels make a really creepy noise and I didn't want to be on one.

So we walked up the hill to get to the pyramids. You pass the sphinx on the way up the hill. Very neat to see.
And then at the top of the hill there are the three pyramids. I can't remember their names but I know it's easy enough to look them up for anyone who is interested.

We walked around the pyramids themselves. Well, the two big ones we walked around. The third (smallest of the three) was a bit of a walk and neither one of us felt like walking to it, so we just took a couple of pictures.

One of the bigger pyramids was roped off and you couldn't get closer than 10 feet or so. I guess there have been too many accidents with people climbing and falling off.
The other pyramid you could get right up to, but you still couldn't climb it.

Both of them, looking up, they just seem to go up so high. And I had always kind of thought the rocks would be uniform but they aren't. I made sure to get some pictures showing how the sizes of them differ.
Now maybe they were closer in size at one point and they have eroded since their original caps (cover) came off. I'm not sure.

Also, there are the most ginormous ants out there on the ground. Like really huge. I'm sure if you got enough of them together they could carry you away. I should have taken a picture of one of the little buggers but I didn't.

We only stayed just over an hour. Long enough to look around and see and get a feeling for them. Of course Ahmed has been many times, though not recently.
I felt like I should have stayed longer or something but I was ready to go. I had seen them, I had taken pictures, I had been somewhat awed.

I know we were there when it wasn't as crowded as in the high tourist season, but there were still a fair amount of people there.
Perhaps if we had gone and it had been quieter and less crowded, I might have been able to really relax and take them in more.
But I'm not disappointed. I'm happy we went and I finally got to see them.

I was thankful for the breeze. Even though it's not blazing hot here at the moment, it's still fairly warm, and having a scarf wrapped around your head a couple of times seems to keep the heat in. So the wind was nice. Alhamdulillah for the wind!
=)

After we left we stopped by some place on the way back and Ahmed got us some lunch. Little sandwhiches he called them. They were actually like little pita breads. One had falafal and one had foul (a bean mixture for those who don't know). He also got some rice pudding. I like the taste well enough but I'm not too fond of mushy food.
Anyways, I didn't eat in the car, I waited til we got to his parent's apartment, which we had promised to stop by.
So I had lunch there and then ended up taking a nap for a couple of hours.

Ahmed woke me when it was time for the family to have lunch. Mom made chicken and rice and a red sauce. They said it is similiar to what briyani would be for Indians, but not with the spices and maybe the sauce was different. Anyways, I had mine without the chicken. Mom made some mushroom soup for me. It comes out of a packet but I swear it's some of the best soup I've ever had. I'm going to have to bring some home with me for sure.

Before I could eat lunch with the family though, my phone was ringing and I answered it. It was my son. The poor guy broke his arm again, about a centimeter from where he broke it almost exactly a year ago. He was at tae kwan do and doing a double kick and fell and landed on his wrist. Anyways, he said he was fine and he knew what to expect since he broke it last year. He sounded good, and I'm not too worried, just wish I could be there to give him a hug.
But, if everyone reading this could send a good thought his way I would appreciate it.
Almahdulillah he is alright.

Okay, enough for today!

Rain, rain, rain...

Well, it is still storming this morning. Much thunder and it is raining again.
I guess we won't go to the pyramids today, though I'm not sure what we *will* do.
I don't feel like sitting around all day watching t.v.
Sooo... I guess I'll post later on. Maybe if I get bored I'll post some about driving here or one of the other subjects that I wanted to write about.

An evening stroll

As an aside, there's an awesome thunder/lightning storm going on now. It's not exactly right where we are but we can hear the thunder and see the lightning lighting up the sky. MashAllah!
I love to watch them.

So tonight we went for a walk. I thought we were just going to walk down to the Nile and Ahmed said that it was just 5 minutes from our apartment.
Well, he was right, the Nile is just 5 minutes away. But we didn't stop when we got there.
We were walking across the first half of the bridge (there's an island in the middle of the bridge where we were crossing), and it actually started sprinkling. I don't know why but I found it so funny that it would rain while I was here. I know it doesn't rain here all that often.
Anyways, after we crossed the first half of the bridge we walked around the Opera House and then on to cross the other side of the bridge to get to the other side of the Nile.

The bridge is sooo crowded full of people walking. We stopped for just a minute to look out at the water. It was pretty windy out and the water was rippling quite a bit.

After crossing the whole bridge, I was pretty tired because we had been walking pretty fast ever since we had left our apartment. We ended up at Tahrir square and found a small cafe in a mall nearby. The mall used to be just clothes and shoes but I guess there are many stores there now for computer accessories. The cafe we went to was called something like... Cafe de Paris or Cafe de Rose or something like that. We just sat for about 10 minutes and I rested.

After we left the cafe we were basically downtown so we just walked around downtown for a while and I tried my best to visually take in all that I could. There's just so much to see. Part of me wanted to window shop and part of me wanted to watch the people and in addition to all that, wherever you happen to be walking, you need to keep at least half an eye on the ground because the pavement isn't even and there are often holes or other things that could trip you up.

I was really surprised by the number of clothing stores, but I guess in a city with so many millions of people, you need more than just a few stores.

Eeek, the storm is getting closer. I can't see the lightning in this room but the thunder is getting louder every time it booms.

So, anyways, we were on talaat Harb (I think that's how it's spelled) and walked around on some other streets that I had heard the names of before.
It's so strange to have read about a place for so long and then finally be there.
It almost doesn't seem real. Or maybe I feel I've known about it so long that it's just anti-climatic to be here walking around.
But not really right?
I mean... this is Cairo!
:D

After walking around a bit downtown we ended up catching a taxi back to our apartment.
I will soon make a post about driving and taxi's in Cairo. It's a big subject and I won't be able to cover it all and I don't know everything there is to know, but it's a subject that interesting, at least coming from outside the area.

I guess that's it. Insha'Allah we'll head to the pyramids in the morning unless it's too windy, and then perhaps we'll go to the khan instead? Not sure. Tomorrow will tell.

Pyramids ahoy!

Well, we have just been relaxing the last couple of days.
Tomorrow morning we'll head out to see the pyramids insha'Allah.
The weather has been pretty nice since I've been here almahdulillah! I can understand why it wouldn't be as nice here with the summer weather. Although most places seem to have wall mounted a/c's, it's not quite the same if you're used to central a/c everywhere you go.
And being stuck in traffic when it's over 100 out and with taxi's not having a/c, then you can imagine it would be pretty miserable.
Anyways, I'm looking forward to the pyramids. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.
Not sure what we'll do the rest of the week but I think we might go to the kahn al khalili (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) and a couple of other places. Maybe Al Azhar.

My cold is doing better. Just a dry cough now.
And I think I figured out what the smell was that I've been smelling. I kept thinking there was a bbq somewhere but I think it's just the smell of the air here.

Mabrookalations!

Well, we got married this evening alhamdulillah!
I'm so very happy.
:D
We will spend the night at our apartment and then tomorrow night we will come back to Ahmed's parent's house and have the wedding party. It will just be some family tomorrow night.
A couple of Ahmed's friends are over right now because they won't be able to come tomorrow night, but since the women and men will be seperate I wouldn't meet them anyhow.

Ahmed's sister is lending me the most beautiful dress to wear tomorrow insha'Allah.
It's pink and long and ties up the back and I feel just like a princess in it. I'll see if we can get some pictures.

We did take video of part of the marriage signing and stuff tonight so I will have that but won't be putting that up online (yes mom and dad I will show you).
However, we did get a few pictures as well and I will post those or send them in emails appropriately.

A special thank you to all of you who helped to get me here.
I appreciate it more than I can say.

Oh yeah. I'm still sick. Cold or throat thing or something but insha'Allah I'll be better within a couple of days or so. Ahmed's mom is being just like my own parents with taking care of me.
:D

We got the rings

Well, we went out tonight to do several things.
We checked out the apartment that we'll be staying in for the next week insha'Allah.
Ahmed wanted to make sure about anything I wanted for the place.
Then we went and got rings. :D
Simple, silver, pretty. I'm very happy with them.

After that we were driving around trying to find some cookies that Ahmed's mom wanted for Eid, but the first bakery we went to was out of what we wanted, the second one didn't sell it, and the third one, I forget what it's called - Pfeffers or something like that - the place was packed full of people and we couldn't get waited on so we left after about ten minutes and came home.
I keep forgetting to bring my face mask with me when we go out to help with all the car exhaust. Walking isn't too bad but being in a car you get all kinds of muck and it tends to make me a wee bit nauseated.

There were several people tonight who I think were trying to beg money from me. Since I don't speak the language I'm not sure what they were saying, but I guess the signs for begging are fairly international. Ahmed was on the phone both times and didn't see the people asking me for whatever it was they wanted. I just raised my hands to them and shrugged my shoulders.

I'm still feeling like I'm coming down with a cold but insha'Allah I'll be better tomorrow.
When we got back from errands tonight, his mom made me a glass of water with lime in it and a bit of sugar. I guess for the vitamin c, though I'm not sure how much vitamin c is in one of those tiny limes. They're so cute. And yellow. They look like baby lemons.

Not sure if we'll stay up most of the night or not.
I wanted to go to Eid prayers in the morning (around 6 I think) but if I'm still not feeling well then I guess I'll stay home. I missed the Eid prayers last year because of work so I was really looking forward to going this year.

The mosquitos aren't too bad for me. I have four bites on my hands and one or two on my right foot. They don't particularly itch unless I'm rubbing at them, so I just try not to do that. lol

Okay, that's enough for now. I still have a backlog of stuff to post about but I'm tired and I guess that's enough for now.

Just a few more hours til maghrib here. Not sure if it's Eid yet back in the states, but Eid Mubarak to all who are already and will be celebrating!
=)

I think I'm coming down with a cold or something. We'll see how I feel later.
We're going shopping for wedding rings tonight insha'Allah!
yippeee!!!
I'm still taking notes about everything and it seems as though we'll have dsl in the apartment we'll be staying at so insha'Allah I'll be able to post more in a couple of days or so.

Assalamu alaykum!
Sorry I haven't made any posts yet.
I've been keeping some short written notes so I won't forget everything that I wanted to write about.
It's just hard to find the time to sit and write at the moment.
Insha'Allah in the next few days I'll get some substance up here.

Hope everyone is well.
And yes I'm enjoying myself immensely, I love it here!
Salaam

One week left

Alright, this is the blog I'll keep while in Egypt.
I'm not sure how frequently I'll post but I'll try to check in as much as I can.

Please feel free to leave comments, or you can email me as well.

I'll try to upload pictures online when I can, but the connection will probably be dial-up, which takes a while, so we'll see.

And yay, just one week til I go!!
:)