Thursday, April 30, 2009

Yawning along

Well, we didn't make it to the store the other night, Dary.
Soon I guess.
Tomorrow I believe we will be going to Carrefour, which is a large grocery store. I think it's at least 45 minutes or so from here?
And then possibly to a mall afterward, though it will be a lot smaller than City Stars mall was.

I got a hold of an Arabic learning program and am eager to try it out.
It's a bit different than some. I actually need to use a mic and I guess it checks to see if my pronunciation is right?
We shall see how it goes.

We seemingly have located a restaurant that sells bagels here, though it's not close to where we are living. Insha'Allah we'll make it over that way soon and try it out. Though they seemed a bit pricey.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pictures

Just a few pictures today.

Nice sunset from the other night. This was taken from the balcony at parents in law's place.



Most of the taxis have some sort of dash covering. Many seem like they came straight from the 70's and disco and pimps. This particular one was a gray shag.



Picture one of the mall. The architecture/lines were really nice inside. This shows one of the staircases and an elevator.



Picture two is a shot of the five floors. There are actually more floors as you can see, but only 5 that have stores. The other few floors are currently empty/vacant.
The mall was laid out in a strange way and it was not easy to make a circuit of each floor. I can't even describe the convoluted way it's set up.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A gala affair

Well, no spectacular pictures or videos from the mall and drive there, but I'll post something up anyways. But probably tomorrow, as I've not gone through and re-sized things yet.

Swept the floor this morning. With a squeegee.
lol
In Egypt, all the bathroom floors are tile or something similar, and have drains in the floors. As you can imagine, it makes cleaning very easy, especially since all the bathrooms (majority anyways) have wall hoses as well.
So, you can hose off/clean the floor, then squeegee the water etc down the floor drain.
These are not the same size squeegee that you use for car windows, the length of the handle is like that of a broom handle, and the squeegee surface is wider across as well.
So, all in all, it works pretty well.
And that squeegee is what I used to "sweep" the floors of the apartment this morning.
We don't have a broom in here and the dust is just OUTRAGEOUS!!!
So I had to do something.
I figured the squeegee would work, and it did some sort of job, though not as well as a broom, and with much more effort I might add, but I am relatively happy when I see the pile of dust and dust bunnies that I've swept up.
And yes dad, that pile has been sitting for 8 hours now.
I'm not sure when it will get into a garbage bag. We don't have a floor swept picker upper tray thingy.
lol

When we were at the mall the other day, we went to the store Spinneys, which is a large grocery that also sells electronics and clothes and other things.
They have a much bigger selection of food items than the typical corner grocery, or even the other grocery that we visited a week or so ago.
While there, I managed to spy some gala apples, and my heart broke out in song!
Ah, the love of apples, how fine it is.
So, we got a package of six apples, and they have been waiting patiently in the fridge for me since we got back home yesterday.
After a late lunch today, I went and got one of the apples from the fridge, peeled it and sliced it in half, and proceeded to eat the larger half while giving the smaller half to hubby (he insisted, honest!).
It was sooooooo good!!!
I haven't had one in probably a couple of months and they are SO sweet and so delicious.
If you have never had a gala apple, I highly recommend them.
Amazing how food can make you feel yeah?
Alhamdulillah!

I believe we are going to some place tonight called Dary. Pronounced just like dairy. Which is what I kept thinking hubby was talking about going to.
I was thinking to myself, "There's a dairy down the street? And what do we need to go for?"
lol
But, no, this is some kind of all in one place, maybe a bit like Walmart but not exactly, but they are supposed to have stuff that you won't find in the normal stores here. I think. Just household stuffs.
I will report in after we've gone insha'Allah.

We ended up at the parents in law's place from Friday afternoon til Monday afternoon, which was fine. Quieter there and I have company while hubby is at work or out doing other errands and such.

When I said I wanted to give my son a ginormous hug and that I missed him so much, that wasn't to slight anyone else.
I miss you all and wish I could hug every single one of you.
=)

Love to you all.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

That long?

I have been here over 5 weeks now.
The last time I was here, I was only here for 5 weeks total, and I remember by week 3 I was getting pretty homesick. That was the longest I had ever been away from home before.

I can't say it's the same this time. I do miss my family and friends a lot, and I miss the foods I'm used to.
I miss some of the conveniences as well.
And clean air.

However, I asked God for so long to bring me to this place so that I could be with my husband, and after so much waiting (and rather impatiently at that I might add), I finally got my wish.

So, things missed or not, I am happy here, I am happy to be with my husband, I am happy to have the chance for this new experience and happy to learn a different way to live.

I just wish someone would hurry up with inventing the teleportation device so that I could visit with my friends and family that I miss.
I'm really missing my son so much. I wish I could just give him a huge hug.
Insha'Allah I will be able to visit within the year. We shall see.


We went to the City Stars mall yesterday.
Holy moly!!!
That place is ginormous!
I took some pictures to show you, but we're still at the folks house since Friday and I didn't bring my camera cable with me, so I can't transfer the pictures over to the computer.
It is indeed 5 floors.
Basically we walked around to see all the stores, but didn't actually go shopping in any of them.
And just that, without looking inside, took us 5 hours!
The layout of the mall was confusing as heck and they have a map they give out so you can figure where you are and where you've been, but it isn't as helpful as you might hope.
Next time we go insha'Allah, at least we will know what to expect.
All in all, it was nice.
There was a couple of stores I would like to go back and buy something from. Clothing stores of course.
We had lunch at Sbarro there, which was good.
They have so many restaurant/fast food chains here that are also in the States.
I think the mall had Burger King, KFC, Starbucks, Sbarro, Fuddruckers, Pizza Hut, Chilis, Cinnabon, Johnny Rockets, Ruby Tuesday, McDonalds, Pappa John's Pizza and TGI Fridays. Of course, lots of other restaurants in the mall that aren't American chain places. And of the places I just listed, I'm sure some of the food isn't exactly the same as in the States, though I'm sure there's many items that are.

I'll upload some videos to my youtube and put links when I get them up.
And I'll just put the pictures up here on this site.
I also took some pictures and videos while driving there and back, I'll have to see how they look on the computer to tell if they're any good. It's hard to tell by looking at them on the camera itself.

Mom just brought me some breakfast, which consists of bread products since my stomach has been yelling at me. Apparently I'm not allowed to drink water when my stomach is like this, only sprite. I think it's going to be a long day.
lol

Friday, April 24, 2009

Chirp Chirp Chirp

At the in-laws today. That's the normal Friday thing I guess.

Had a nice lunch and a nice short nap afterwards.

Listening to the birds in the trees outside. Most of the birds stop chirping sometime during the night, but otherwise chirp all day long.
Most of the time I like it, but like anything else, it can get old after a while.

There were 3 weddings last night, and also there was a futbol (soccer) match between two of Egypt's teams, and so there was even more honking than usual last night on the street.
It was a very loud night.

Tomorrow we will go to City Stars mall insha'Allah.
I am looking forward to the shopping, though not so much the drive.
Hopefully traffic will be light.

It seems as though the time changed here, but I'm not positive. Family is saying it changed but there was some confusion as to if it would change during the night last night, or during the night next Thursday.

Very windy and cloudy today. It's nice but it makes me think of rain, and I'm fairly certain it won't rain.
Would be nice if it did though.

Cake tonight for father in law's birthday. They got a cake and some pastries from Royal Bakery, so we shall see how it is!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Inside Outside Upside Down

That is the name of a book that I had when I was a little girl. It was about the Berenstain bears.
I don't know why I think of this stuff when relating the title to what's in the post, but... yeah.

So, last night we went for a walk down to the bakery Le Poire (French for 'the pear' I believe).
They have wonderful pastries of all sorts. We went there when I was in Egypt last time, when we were staying in Alexandria.

As an aside, we passed by some of the "red light" district again last night, and this time we were on the same side of the street as one of the places, and I was just dying to get a look in the door, but of course, everything conspired to keep my prying eyes otherwise occupied! There was too many people walking around right then and I didn't want to bump into anyone, I had to watch the sidewalk as we were right at a curb, and there was traffic as well.
I did manage a quick peek and only saw some posters on the wall, and all they showed, if I remember correctly, was faces of some women.
For now, what goes on inside will remain a mystery. It might be a good thing if it always remained so, but I am indeed a curious woman.

Back to the pastries, which were delicious and if you are ever in Egypt, please let me take you to Le Poire and buy you something.
As another aside, hubby says there is a better bakery, called Royal Bakery, but he doesn't think it is a chain. We'll stop by soon so I can compare. What a hard life I have.
lol
So, back to pastries from Le Poire.
Or pictures rather.
(remember you can click on any picture and get a bigger version - I'm trying to keep them smallish here so that the load time isn't too long for anyone)

Here is the outside of the box that they packed everything into. Very cute.
(This is the outside)



Next we have a shot of everything that was in the box. This does not include the two croissants and two cinnamon rolls, one each of which are now resting comfortably somewhere inside me. Breakfast was good this morning!!!
(This is the inside, and there is no upside down!)



Next we have a close up of the middle round cookie thingy, which I ate just a quarter of. It was really good. Chocolate cookie, some kind of chocolate filling, and a chocolate glaze on the top. It was light and airy and yummy.



Next we have the piece of chocolate cake that can be seen in the bottom right corner of the shot above which shows everything inside the box. Hubby ate it, as it had nuts and I'm not so crazy about nuts. It looked too rich too, with the frosting stuff on the top. Very rich and chocolaty!



Last, but let it not be said least, is the piece of white cake with cream filling, which my husband has very distinctly let me know is not called cake but is actually called Mille-feuille (yes we had to look up the spelling).
This cake was so good.
SO GOOD!
I was thinking about this cake for hours after I ate it.
Thankfully, there is more left!
:D :D :D



Not sure if I'll post any pictures of the rest of the stuff as we eat it, but maybe I'll let you know how good it is.


We might go to the city stars mall on Friday insha'Allah. I was telling hubby how many stores it had. I still can't believe how many.
I hope we don't get too worn out.
I also hope we can find some nice inexpensive things to buy.
Like maybe some new hijabs.
:D

I went to bed pretty late last night. It was around 2:30. I was just drifting off to sleep around 3:15 when hubby decides to wake up and get out of bed. He told me to cover my eyes while he turned the light on, then proceeded on a mosquito hunt.
He was successful, but not before both of us got bit.
I got 4 on my leg and one on my arm.
Itch Itch Itch!
Thankfully we've been pretty mosquito free so far, alhamdulillah!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Some pictures

Well, nothing much to speak of so I'll just put up some pictures.
As with all of the images that I post, if you click on them, it should take you to a larger sized image.

The first shows our water heater in the bathroom. Cute.



Here is a picture of both a plug socket, and also the switch for the water heater. The switch on the right is for the water heater, and I had it switched on. After I took a shower, I turned it off, so it would show the green label like the one on the left side.



Next we have a grocery receipt from when we went to the store the other night. Good luck figuring out what we bought. lol
The prices are in Egyptian pounds, not dollars.



Here we have the view across the street when standing on the balcony. The large tanks on top of the buildings are where the water is stored.



And this is lunch from... yesterday? Chicken, cabbage, frozen veggies (better than no veggies at all), some flatbread and some onions that have lime and black pepper on them. The onions, eaten raw, are for the hubby. Raw onions would give me heartburn for ages upon ages. lol



I think that's it for today.
I had wanted to mention something interesting (amusing) that happened today, but I'm not sure what I'm allowed to talk about or not in terms of free speech here, so I'll just leave it for now.
Monkey says hello to everyone!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Before and after

We had some chicken today for lunch.
Ahmed brought it from his parents house. I guess his mom gets the chicken and then puts all the spices/marinade on it for us so that we can just cook it, since our kitchen isn't so equipped here in our temp apartment.

Anyways, the chicken smelled sooooo good before it was cooked. I tried to pick out what the spices were but was having a hard time. It smelled a bit like onion, garlic and mustard and the marinade was yellow but I don't know what it was. Hubby thinks it might have been curry but I have no idea. I always thought curry was more spicy, and this wasn't too spicy. I mean, it wasn't hot spicy at all, just flavor spicy. But not too much at that.

It didn't taste the same as it smelled after it was cooked, but it did taste nice.
There is another half chicken with the same spice that we have yet to cook, and also some chicken with a different spice. Yum chicken!

I took some pictures of before and after.

This first picture is of the chicken as it came to us, in the bag, marinating.



Next is the chicken as it starts to cook on the grill.



And the last of the chicken pictures, is the very guilty monkey with what is left of the cooked chicken. We had put out all of the chicken and went to the kitchen to get the cabbage ready, and when we came back, this is all that was left!




I'm also putting up a picture of the cabbage, which had been soaking in lime juice, as I like the colors. Pretty. :D





The weather was a bit windy today. Since none of the windows or doors in this apartment actually fit right, when it's really windy you can hear it whistle through the window frames.
Should be about 89 tomorrow, and Tuesday and Wednesday are forecast to be mid 90's.
It's getting hot!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Monkey see....

Not much happened on Wednesday or Thursday. Friday was nice and actually almost busy!

We arrived at the parent's in law's house just before noon on Friday. Hubby went out for the noon prayers and I spent some time online. Lunch about 3 and then a nap for a couple of hours and then home.

After dropping our stuff at the apartment, we went for a walk to the grocery store. Ahmed hadn't been to this particular one before but knew of it by the name as there are 3 others or so here in Cairo. It was a bit of a walk. Over a mile I guess. Thankfully we took a taxi back as I was a bit wore out. Walking here is not the same as walking in the States. lol

We passed through what amounts to a kind of a red light district. There were a few clubs and I don't think they are exactly like a strip club type of place, but there is some nudity and alcohol is served and I don't know what actually goes on. I hope I never have to find out.

There was one area of the walk where we were passing an abandoned field type area. There were rushes (?) growing and I actually heard a cricket!! It was lovely and made me so happy to hear. You don't hear much by way or crickets in Cairo. At least not in any busy part of the city.

We stopped at another furniture store on the way and it was 3 stories of furniture, but the bottom floor was just office type furniture. Pretty much all of the furniture in the place was horrid. Totally not my taste at all. Much of the country here seems to be in love with furniture that looks like it belongs in Windsor Castle and I just can't stand it. Plus the prices at this place were way too high for the quality. The place we stopped the other night had much better items and for less cost. We will look at some other furniture places insha'Allah before deciding on anything. Furniture shopping is fun actually. And I can't wait to shop for some carpets, though they won't be like the ones you can get in Iran? I guess they have very nice carpets there but you can't import them and they cost an arm and a leg anyways. But, I'm sure we can find many nice rugs here too.

The grocery store itself was small by standards of something like Safeway but it was bigger than the little corner markets. They had a meat and deli/cheese department and then the usual kind of shelf items. Just kind of like a mini store I guess. They don't refrigerate eggs here, which freaks me out. They stamp a date that they were packed and then on the label it says they are good for 21 days from the date of the stamp. I know it must be okay, as the people here in Egypt are still alive, even after eating unrefrigerated eggs, but I don't feel particularly safe about it.
But, I wanted eggs so that we could make french toast. Yum. Just need to pick up some powdered sugar and we'll be set. I did bring a whole bottle of maple syrup with me. :D I don't think it's readily available here. Hopefully the bottle will last for some time.

I wish I could have packed more when coming, but it was expensive for luggage. I brought over some jelly belly's for hubby since he loves them, but we will run out soon enough. Maybe we can find them in Kuwait when we go there insha'Allah. They seem to cater to some wealthy people in the country in general, and I read that recently they put in a Dean & DeLuca which is some kind of upscale foody store.

I hope we will have some news about Kuwait soon but I guess it will be some time still. Hubby will have to go for a trip there soon to arrange some things business wise, and so I will be staying at his parent's house while he is gone. I hope he will only be gone for 3 or 4 days, but I have a feeling it might be more like 5 days. *whine*
Only real problem is the language barrier with his folks. His sister and brother speak English okay but of course they work during the day so it's not so helpful.
But, ya know... I'm sure I'll survive. lol

We should be going to City Stars soon insha'Allah, which is a big mall here. I believe it's 5 stories and looking at the website, it says there are over 640 stores! Wow that's a lot!
http://www.citystars.com.eg/citystars/starscentre/

I think I forgot to mention in my post about the micro-buses, that I actually like seeing them, as it reminds me of home. I know they aren't an American car, but they were so popular in the states and so when I see them I think of home. It feels kind of funny though, like "what did they bring our buses over here for"? Silly of me I know.

Below is a picture of the offending doorknob which bruised my hand, and me with monkey, who made the trip with me to Egypt and is a delightful housemate. In this picture we are on the balcony at Ahmed's parent's house.




Wednesday, April 15, 2009

All bruisy like...

...Or how I got a bruise on my hand!
One of my favorite movie lines is from the movie Drop Dead Fred. The female lead is wearing a new dress in shades of purple, and her imaginary childhood friend tells her that she looks like a big bruise. lol
Yesterday it was pretty hot. The last two days actually. Temps were high 90's. It wasn't too bad inside the apartment, but Ahmed decided to turn the a/c on in the bedroom before he took a nap to get the room cool. After turning the a/c on, he closed the bedroom door. It's the first time the bedroom door has been closed as there's really no reason to close it, since no one lives here but us.
Anyways, after the a/c had been on for a while, I decided to open up the door and see how cool the room had gotten. The only problem was, I couldn't get the door open. For some reason the handle required the strength of ten men to open. The door handles aren't the typical round ones we are used to in the states but actual handles that you have to twist (turn) downwards. After giving it all my might and not being able to open it, Ahmed got the door open. The room was quite frigid, reminding me of winter in the States. lol
Well, he didn't close the door all the way after that, just left it slightly ajar.
But I noticed shortly afterward that my hand was hurting and when I looked I noticed I had a bruise starting. I couldn't believe I bruised my hand from trying to open a door!!!!! How silly is that?
Anyways, it's all bruisy-like. I'd take a picture to post but I don't think anyone really wants to see. lol

Well, as mentioned, it was pretty hot out the last two days. In addition, the air looked like someone tipped a full ashtray over and let the ashes settle down into the air, kind of like how when you shake a snowglobe and the fake snow floats around. lol
Yeah, it was gross.
I stood outside on the balcony on Sunday for about 10 minutes, just to watch the traffic and people, and after just standing there, when I went inside I noticed that I had sweated. From just standing! It didn't feel that hot when I was outside, but maybe just because it was low humidity. I'm not looking forward to when the humidity gets high, which I'm assured it does. Blech. Though.. maybe we'll be in Kuwait then, so who knows. It gets hotter in Kuwait. Not sure about the humidity. Ahmed told me that it has gotten up to 60 celcius there in Kuwait. That's absolutely crazy. lol
He told me that when his family lived there when he was a child, they would get up at the dawn call to prayer (at that time of the year it was around 5 am or maybe a little earlier), get ready and pack a picnic and go down to the beach. By 7:30 a.m., they would have to go back home because it was too hot! Wow!!!!

When I was out on the balcony, I saw a truck go by, the back of which was crammed full of sheep. Or sheeps as my hubby calls them. :D
It was amusing to see. Stuff like that always just kind of cracks me up. I guess because it's so different to what I'm used to seeing.

We finally took a walk yesterday. Or last night rather. We went out at just after ten and got home sometime around 11:45 or so. We stopped at a furniture store on the way but I don't remember what it was called. They had a few nice things and the prices weren't too high. Not exactly cheap but not overly expensive.
There was a lot of people out still. Not sure if it's because it was too hot during the day or not.
And I forgot that you walk a lot in the street, as opposed to the sidewalks here. For one thing, there aren't always sidewalks available to walk on. Also, sometimes they're just too cracked and broken up as well.
We stopped at Mo'men on the way back, which is a fast food place. We got some food to go, and for some reason they gave us a complimentary ice cream cone on the way out. Maybe if you spend a certain amount they give you one? Anyways, it was soft serve and at first I didn't want to try any, because I'm so picky about food and I haven't had any ice cream in a long while, but I tried it and it was quite yummy. I didn't have the whole thing, I had maybe a third of the ice cream and gave the rest to hubby. Chocolate.... yummm....

Hubby picked up some croissants for me last week. There are many neighborhood bakeries. They sell mostly... bread type items. Not fancy cakes or anything like that. Anyways, the croissants were pretty good, though the flavor was lacking. They were flaky enough, in the right way, but they didn't have any butter taste at all, they just tasted kind of plain. Except for some flavor that I can't place. It had the faintest hint of something like a chocolate taste, but there was no chocolate in it, and I really just couldn't tell what the flavor was. I tried to figure it out as I went through the croissants (I think there were about 5 of them), but I never could figure it. They had a scent as well that I couldn't place, perhaps coming from the flavor I couldn't place. Hmmm...

There was an interesting story about the taxis here in Cairo.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/942/eg4.htm
I really hope they can replace them. That's one thing that I'm sure will make a big difference to the air quality here.
I forgot that when walking on the street here, you inhale so much junk from the cars on the road. Gross.
You would think people would be more concerned about the air quality here, but I don't see it. Maybe it's just a matter of most direct need being met first. The "it's not hurting me now, why should I worry about it when I have a family to feed, etc" type of thinking, since it costs money to make improvements, etc.

Alright, I guess that's enough miscellany for now.
I have some assorted pictures to post, maybe I'll do that tomorrow. Though there's nothing that exciting. Mostly food related.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Spot the Microbus






There are several different types of public transportation here.
The one used most often other than taxis, at least as far as I can see (not including the metro - underground), is the VW Microbus.
They are literally everywhere on the roads.
They follow a certain route, back and forth, and pick up passengers along the way. I haven't quite got down how you know which bus you need since they aren't labeled as far as I can see, but I think they slow down and someone yells out the destination of the bus. However don't quote me on that.
In any case, when you find your bus, you hop on, forward your fare to the front and wait til you get to where you want to go, then ask the driver to let you off.
It seems as though they leave the side doors open while the bus is moving for easier passenger on and off, though there are some with doors closed. Maybe for longer trips.
I rode a couple of them when I was in Alexandria but haven't taken one yet here in Cairo. Hubby takes them every day to get back and forth to work. It's definitely cheaper than taking a taxi, which is what we have done so far.

I have yet to take the Metro, which runs both above and below ground, similar to BART I guess, which is our light rail in the Bay Area.
I'm looking forward to trying it, though I might not be so excited about it after having experienced the ride.
I hear that it's most often just packed and hot and not that nice. Though it can be a lot quicker than taking a taxi or bus when the roads are jammed, so it's a nice option anyways.
They also have at least a couple of cars that are reserved just for women riders, which is nice. I can't remember if it's the first couple of cars on the train. It seems like they changed it a year or so ago and I can't quite recall.
When I end up riding it I'll post about it. Not sure about pictures, we'll see.
There are some restrictions on taking pictures here but I think it's mostly about bridges, airports and government buildings?


Happy birtday to my Jane mom. :D
Seems we're both hitting "big" numbers this year.
Hope you have a wonderful day.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Satellites



Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder.
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping tom for the mother station

Winters cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite

Satellite, headlines read
Someones secrets you've seen
Eyes and ears have been
Satellite dish in my yard
Tell me more, tell me more
Whos the king of your satellite castle?

Winters cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite

Rest high above the clouds no resrictions
Television we bounce round the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling,
I laugh about the weathermans satellite eyes.

Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder.
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping tom for the mother station

Winters cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite

Rest high above the clouds no restrictions
Television you bounce from the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling
I laugh about this world in my satellite eyes.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCpRrwF7whg&feature=related
(the video is the music that goes with the above lyrics)
(you can click on the picture at the top of this post to get a slightly bigger view of it)

The skyline here is basically filled with satellite dishes. You will see them on every rooftop. Just a few on some and dozens on others.
What would the world be without tv??
Something to think about.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Daydreamer

Today is the perfect day it seems for daydreaming.
This feeling has persisted for several hours.
Now that I think about it, perhaps daydreaming isn't the right term.
But I feel sweetly stuck somehow in a past that never was.

We are at parent's in law's apartment.
I love going out on their balcony and listening to the birds.
It's also much more quiet than the apartment we live in.
It's rather peaceful to sit out on the balcony here.

After we got here, I went out and stood on the balcony.
It was lovely to feel the sun coming down on me.
The weather is just perfectly spring. There is a light breeze in the air but it is warm enough not to need much extra covering.
Perfect weather for a nap out on the back porch, or the kind of day to have a snooze in a hammock if you have one.

While I was standing there on the balcony, I started to feel my childhood, but...
not my childhood.
My childhood as if I had lived my life in Egypt.
I felt fleeting memories and impressions of childhood experiences that never were.
It felt so very dreamy and delicious.
Remembering a childhood and feeling that happiness of memories that come from the innocence of children.

I don't understand my "call" to this country I'm in. But it speaks to me.
Maybe my life before was only part of a dream.
Maybe this is when I will wake up.
That is not to say I don't value my past 39 years.
Or that it wasn't important.
Or that I don't love the people in my life up until now.
But for whatever reason....I feel so awake here, and interested in life.

On the drive over, I was thinking about how much I wish that my friends and family could experience even just a few days here in Egypt.
Knowing the people in my life as I do, I try to imagine their responses to the every day experiences here and it really kind of makes me smirk.
In particular, thinking about people's reactions to driving in traffic here.
It's pretty crazy and it's hard to believe at first, coming from the States, but you adjust to it and it seems normal after some time.
There are generally no seat belts (at least in the older cars, which most are, at least in terms of taxis) and you will find people crammed in all manner of cars or on motor bikes. You can find a whole family on a scooter, no helmets.

I wish for you all the beautiful feelings that I'm having, and a chance to experience new things.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Friday of sorts

Well, today is the States' version of Friday. So happy Friday to me! lol

There really isn't a log going on here.
And I have a few posts saved for when I can put pictures up.
Should be within a few days.
Hubby has the software at his old apartment and just has to get it for me.
Which might happen tomorrow.
But then I wouldn't be using it til Saturday most likely, since we will be at his folks house Friday for at least the afternoon.

There was a wedding last night. Seems strange to get married during the week instead of a weekend, but maybe they were in a hurry? Who knows.

I stood outside on the balcony yesterday for about ten minutes watching the general scene. The traffic is just non-stop of course. As is the amount of people walking around on the street.
I never get tired of watching people trying to cross the street.
The cars won't hit you on purpose, but it's really up to you to make sure that you aren't in the way to get hit. People and cars kind of weave together like a very well oiled and tightly run machine. Wherever there is an empty space, a person will try to fit, but of course, there is some zigzagging, as you will never find a straight way across. So it's in front of one car then behind another then running in front of the third and making the fourth stop and etc.
The space between humans and cars can be, and probably most of the time is, less than the width of a person. Or rather.. the depth? lol
It's not a lot of space in any case.

Roasting the other chicken today. At least I know what to expect this time. And today I'll move the roaster onto the dining room table, so at least I can sit down while I'm roasting, since I am not going to leave it unattended in the kitchen.
Also, there is a higher ceiling in the dining room, so if the chicken does catch fire, it won't burn the bottom of the kitchen cupboards.
:D

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Adventures with chicken

Grilled a chicken today on an indoor grill.
Never done that before.
Was not familiar with the grill.
Was pretty sure at one point that I was going to burn the apartment building down, and worried because I don't know the word for fire in Arabic.
Was worried it would be undercooked and we would get sick from salmonella poisoning.

Chicken turned out fine and even tasted good.
Pictures to follow soon.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Slippery When Wet

Well, the saying really is true. At least if we're talking about my shower/tub thingy. I'm really not sure what to call it. It's not a full tub, but it's more than a shower. A shub? lol
Anyways, every time I use it I get a close call at some point and am always thankful to have managed to stay upright. Alhamdulillah.
What it really needs is some of those plastic stickers with the stubbly surface that you put down on the bottom. Hopefully we won't be here that much longer.

And eureka, we have light in the kitchen. All the time. lol
Ahmed came home last night with some device, which I have never seen before but which seems like an obvious and wonderful gadget, that lets you plug a light bulb into a plug socket.
So basically it's a little black plug, but on the side opposite the plug prongs, you screw a light bulb in. It's possible that electrically, maybe it's not the right thing to do. I don't know about wattages and all that, but it works and like I said the idea of it is great, so I am not complaining.
Ahmed said he has one at his old apartment that has an on/off switch, so that we don't have to leave it on all the time.

Hubby brought home a pizza tonight. As soon as I saw it my heart sank. I love pizza. I adore pizza. It's one of my favorite foods, but I've recently stopped eating tomatoes, and so I have to order pizza either without sauce, or with white sauce. I'm fine either way and it wasn't a problem in the States.
But here where we're living (I'm tempted to say "in Egypt", but that's not entirely fair), they don't seem to understand the concept of food without tomatoes or tomato sauce. We've ordered from several restaurants, and not just pizza but other foods as well, and whenever he orders with no tomatoes or sauce, it comes with tomatoes and or sauce. Dissapointing!!!!!!!!!
So I was sad when he opened the pizza tonight and he told me not to worry, that he ordered it without sauce, and then I saw it and it had sauce anyways.
So, I moped about it for some time and then while he was napping I had a bun with some "luncheon". lol
To me, the word luncheon means an event where other people are in attendance, and there is food served, either at a restaurant or even someone's house.
Here, the word luncheon means a particular kind of lunch meat. Or maybe it's several kinds. But lunch meat.
It looks like some kind of bologna, and who knows what's in it, as he brings it from the store sliced on a foam tray wrapped in plastic, but it doesn't taste exactly like bologna and it isn't half bad.
Though pizza would have been better!!

I finally put a new pair of contacts in today and was disappointed to find that the prescription doesn't seem to be right. I bought 100 bucks worth of contacts and they are essentially useless to me. I'm not sure what to do. It would be great if Kaiser would take them back and exchange them for me with my old prescription, which was a bit outdated but I could see better than with the new prescription, which makes things blurry and with which I can't read anything close at all, but neither can I read far away. lol
Squinting doesn't even help, and even if it did, I can't go around squinting all the time.
So, have to figure that out.

I have also come to the conclusion that wherever I put my nail clippers when I moved, they are not here in Egypt with me.
Oddly enough, I'm pretty put out about this. lol
They were the baby nail clippers that we got at Jake's baby shower, and it's not for that reason that I'm put out, it's just that I like them so much and they are so much easier for me to use than the normal sized ones.
I have looked through everything I brought with me at least twice and they are nowhere to be found. But I can't imagine what I would have done with them. I wouldn't have purposely left them behind.
I asked Ahmed if they had baby stores here and maybe we could find some new ones, and he said he will ask.
Insha'Allah I will find some new baby nail clippers soon.
:D

I guess that's enough of a whine for today.

I read some more about Kuwait today. I haven't been there, but the feeling I get is that it's... trying too hard to be Western. There are so many stores and restaurants in Kuwait that we had in the States, and so many shopping malls.
Part of the reason that I love Egypt (to date anyways, lol) is because it is not a cardboard cutout, with each store having the same thing as every other store, and all the restaurants serving the same horrible malnourishing food. There is such a wide variety here and so many little places and everything is... just different.
If Kuwait is trying to be like the States, and succeeding in any way, I have a feeling I will be disappointed.
I like the fact that there is not as much commercialization here, though of course it exists. Or maybe I don't get all of it since I don't know Arabic.
It just seems more like a little bit of everything here in Egypt, instead of a whole lot of the same thing.
I mean, ice cream is great, but if that's the only thing you get to eat, after a while even that will get dull.

Started reading the book To Kill A Mockingbird today. One of the few books I brought with me, and brought because it has been a favorite since I first read it back.....25 or so years ago.
After I started reading it the movie came to mind, and the monologue, and how lovely it is. I will have to find a copy to watch. Wonderful film.
That's someplace, Maycomb, that I could imagine living. Perhaps I would get bored there. Maybe it's the time I'm interested in more than the place itself.
It certainly seems like an odd statement coming on the heels of liking Cairo over the suburban States.
Hmmmm....
Anyways, I plan to enjoy the book insha'Allah.
Lets see how long I can make it last.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Bits and Pieces

Sunday afternoon but it feels like Monday or Tuesday.
Still haven't adjusted to the fact that weekends here are generally Friday and Saturday, not Saturday and Sunday. And since hubby only takes Friday off and works Saturday, that makes my week seem really off.

Took some pictures today. Took some the other day as well, but need to get my photo editing software going. I have a disc for an older version of Photoshop, but I seem to have misplaced the serial number, so I can't install it.
I know there are programs like Gimp, which is good for being free and all, but I'm not that familiar with it and I really just want to go in and do what I want, not have to learn a new application.
So, when the pictures will get posted is anyone's guess, but insha'Allah this week.

The light in the kitchen is out. It worked the first few days we were here. Then it popped one day. Hubby replaced the bulb, but it only lasted a day or two before popping again. At that point I figured it was bad wiring or some such thing. I think we put one more bulb in before giving up. So for the most part we have a very dark kitchen. There is a window in there, but it only opens up to the interior airway shute thingy on the inside of the building, so there isn't really much helpful light coming from there. We can leave the far hall area light on, but it doesn't go beyond the doorway of the kitchen, so... it's just dark.
Of course, if this was the kitchen in the apartment we will get to live in for more long term, we would do something about it, but seeing as there isn't a whole lot of cooking going on anyways, and we won't be here too much longer insha'Allah, it's workable.
Hubby said that incandescent bulbs often burn like that and aren't as reliable as fluorescent bulbs. I agree that fluorescent bulbs should last longer, but almost all of the incandescent bulbs that I used in the States lasted a full life, rather than just popping after a short time. I have a feeling that the electrical system here is overloaded in general, and that the wiring might not always be up to code.

Ahmed's mom has been doing my laundry. We have a washer here but it's the round type that you just hook the hose up. I'm sure we could use it, but there doesn't seem to be a line to hang the clothes on out on the balcony, and since the shower doesn't have any kind of curtain or rod, we can't hang clothes from there either.
Anyways, whenever I get my clean clothes from hubby's mom, they smell like the detergent she uses. It isn't bad, but you know I'm pretty picky about detergents. So while it's not bad, I'd prefer something with no smell at all. In any case, I now associate this smell with hubby's mom. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. lol
I really don't mind the fact that dryers aren't typically used here, except for one item, and that is towels. Hard crusty towels aren't nice. At all.
However, if that is my worst lot in life, I think I will manage to survive. Alhamdulillah.

I have been drinking bottled water. It appears (for now) that that's how things will remain. I could try and adjust myself to the tap water, seeing as how I brush my teeth with it anyways, however the smell and taste of the water leave a little something to be desired. I think it comes from chlorinating the water? It smells like bleach in any case and I have heard before that that is what they do. I guess if you grow up with it you are used to it? Maybe boiling will take the taste/smell out, I'm not sure. If that's the case I don't mind boiling it, as buying bottled water all the time is a pain. This will be something to be considered with a better equipped kitchen.

After reading back, I realize this post sounds like a whole bunch of griping, but I'm really okay with all this stuff, just writing about it is all. So lest you think otherwise, I am not in a huff over here about things not being perfect or the way that I'm used to them.
If you can't adjust yourself to the fact that things won't be like you're used to here, than I guess you won't last for long.

I started doing some research today on Kuwait. Still getting info, but found a few interesting quick facts to share.

Taken from the CIA factbook site

Kuwait is slightly smaller than New Jersey
pop: 2,691,158 note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals
non-Kuwaitis represent about 80% of the labor force

I have some information saved to read offline that I will get to in the next few days insha'Allah.

The last two days have been what appeared to be dusty, but I'm not sure. Hubby says Saturday was dusty but not like normal dusty. This morning appeared to be dusty but then cleared up some but was still not really clear.
Dreading the first dust storm but insha'Allah it will be okay.

Got some sweets/snacks from the bakery the other day. Or Ahmed did anyways. There are three kinds. One I'm gaga over, one I'm okay with after I scrape off the seeds, and the third I didn't like at all, so Ahmed can have all of those. lol

I have two mosquito bites. Both on my right wrist. The first one I got, just a couple of days ago is itching like crazy, but I think just because it comes in contact with alot of stuff. The second one I got just last night and it's not itching too much yet.
Seeing as I've been here for two and half weeks, two mosquito bites isn't so bad.
Though it could just be because I haven't been outside much. lol
The ones I got bit by were inside, though they have been appropriately killed by the bug killer in the house, whose name is Ahmed. :D

Okay, enough random stuff for one post. Pictures coming soon!
Much love

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Happy Happy Happy

Today's post is just for mom and dad. It's their 45th wedding anniversary today! I can't imagine being married that long and perhaps they didn't imagine it either when they first got married. lol
I wish them many more years of happiness and togetherness.
There's nothing like growing old with the one you love.
With hugs and kisses and much love.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

In the Summertime.....

when the weather's high,
you can stretch right up and touch the sky

It's a beautiful day here. Not exactly summer but the weather is certainly fine.
I am now sitting out on the balcony at hubby's parent's house.
There are birds chirping in the tree just next to the building. I'm not sure what kind of birds they are but I always like to hear them.

I was thinking today, on our taxi ride here, about how much I love to see the differences between the States and Egypt.
Every little street we go down, my head is craned to try to get a look and see what I can find. From the women walking with baskets and other things balanced on their heads, to the little fruit stands all over with large gourds or other fruits hanging in sacks, to the men walking down the street in the galabyas calling out for you to buy their lemons or foul. Even just to watching the people riding in the micro buses, or crossing the street.
I mean, life is life anywhere, people need to make a living, to eat, to make friends and enjoy their life as best they can.
So even though things are so different here, I guess they really are the same.
I wonder if I will get tired of watching or just start not to notice the differences at some point. I would think it would be inevitable, but who knows. Time will tell insha'Allah.

Sometimes I feel like I could get lost here. Like I'm in a novel from days gone by, when things were more genteel. When everything seemed easier somehow, at least by the novels. Am I living someone's novel? Or is this my life?

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Greasy Spoon

Ahmed found a new place for us to get take out from yesterday. He brought it home for lunch and I additionally had leftovers for dinner as well.
I can't remember the name of the place and it's in Arabic, so it wouldn't be much help anyways.
What he brought was two servings of rice (Egyptian rice, plain except for some oil - which I find they want to put on everything, and which I find generally disgusting), some roasted chicken, and then a small little cup of pickled cucumbers (for me) and salad (tomato and cucumber - for him).
The rice was eatable though I would have preferred it without the oil. I really don't understand the love affair here with greasing everything up, though it probably helps explain the rampant obesity I've seen.
The chicken however - sent directly from heaven!
As in...
oh
my
God!
There wasn't much spice on it, maybe some salt, pepper and something else I couldn't quite place, but it was so light instead of the normally heavily spiced foods, and even inside (since I wasn't eating the skin), the chicken was just succulent.
It was Oh So Good!
What I haven't gotten used to, however, when eating chicken here, is that at least from what I have observed (with hubby and family) they use their hands to pull the meat off the bone and eat it like that, instead of perhaps holding the chicken piece and eating off it with the mouth directly, or using a knife and fork.
The first time I ate it this way (pulling apart with fingers) was last week and I can't say I was all too happy about it.
I wasn't really all that more used to it yesterday and honestly it makes me feel like a caveman or something, which is really pretty strange.
However, this chicken yesterday was so good that by evening, when I was having cold leftovers, I really didn't care so much.
One side effect though, with eating meat this way, is that your fingers get very very very greasy! Which means, of course, that anything else you touch will get greasy as well.
I had started off yesterday eating the rice and then after a bit moved on to the chicken. When I wanted to go back to eating some rice, what I noticed was that my fingers were entirely greasy, meaning the spoon that I was eating the rice with got entirely greasy as well.
I really don't enjoy being dirty, but this chicken was definitely worth it.
I think we'll be ordering lunch from there again today, whenever hubby wakes up fromhis nap. It's almost 5 now and I'm thinking maybe I'll wake him, as it's getting a bit late and he still has to order the food.