We walked how far?

Well, after not being out of the apartment in 3 weeks (perhaps slightly more), the last two nights sure made up for it.
I'm always up for a good walk, but a walk in Cairo is not the same as a walk in a residential neighborhood where I grew up.
lol
I thought last night was crowded and busy, but tonight was even more so.
It was actually a little bit overwhelming, as I was tired, hot/sweaty, hungry and there was no avoiding the crowds, bright lights, honking horns, people babbling loudly, music blaring, and all this while trying to watch your step because you don't want to step in the trash that is on the roads and you never know what that puddle might actually be from and you don't want to step in a hole.
Phew!
By the time we got home tonight all I could say was thank God! The neighborhood where my in-laws live is relatively quiet, though during the day it is fairly active. It's not a main street like we will live on when we move but it's not "dead" either.

Anyways, let me post some food photos like I said I would, and then I will get to telling about last night and tonight. I guess this will be a long post.
lol

This picture shows um.. hmm.. not sure what to call it. They have a similar filling as something called atayif, but the atayif is made of mini pancake looking things that are then folded in half, and these are made from phyllo dough that is filled with a cream and then rolled over and over and then fried. After frying, my MIL soaks them in the sugar syrup.
I tried one the other night. They are alright, but to tell you the truth the sugar syrup is a bit over sweet for me and so I really mostly avoid everything she makes that has it.



Next we have the brownies that I made. I'm not putting the pictures in order, they are getting added by where they are stored alphabetically. lol



Here is the first picture of the lentil soup that my MIL was making. After she cooked it on the stove, she put it through the blender to get it smooth, and made one pot of just the smooth, and another that had a bunch of garlic and bread.



Here is the garlic/bread version. I think I can skip showing the plain version.



Next we have some of the cutest things my MIL has made. Not sure what she calls them but my name for them is meat egg baskets. lol
They started out as a ball of spiced ground beef that had been stuffed with a hard boiled egg (peeled of course). They get wrapped in foil and then boiled in a pan of water. After they are cooked that way, mom cuts them in half shortwise and then fries them. After taking them out and draining, she put a stalk of parsley or something in them to make them look like little baskets. They were too cute.



We also had that rice dish I talked about a little while ago that when I saw it I thought it looked like a pineapple upside down cake. This isn't a great picture as you can't really see the tomatoes well, which looked like cherries in a pineapple cake. That's potato mounded on the top that reminded me of pineapple.



Last up for now is the sugar balls. They are made of flour, and a couple other ingredients, but nothing fancy. MIL squeezes the dough into a ball shape that gets dropped into the oil to fry, and after frying they are soaked in the sugar syrup.
The ones in this picture are actually a day old so they are not shiny and glistening like they are when they're fresh.



With the exception of the brownies (which I made yesterday) and the sugar balls, my MIL made all of this stuff for our dinner on Thursday. Wow she was busy!!!

I took some pictures last night of the roast lamb we had. I didn't know it was lamb til after I was done eating and they asked me if I liked lamb. Oops. I guess I do since it tasted good, but I hadn't had any since I started eating meat again.
But those pictures aren't uploaded yet, maybe I'll get to them tomorrow, along with the pictures I took of the apartment tonight! Yes... finally I got to see it!

Well, last night we went to look at stoves and kitchen items that we'll need to buy to at least get started.
The stove place we had wanted to look at was closed so we just walked on to the kitchen place. Actually, we had been to this place before, it isn't just for kitchen stuff but that's what we went for. It's up on the 4th floor and thankfully the a/c was working this time, unlike last time we visited.
We found many things that we will buy insha'Allah, including pots/pans, plates, silverware (pretty pretty silverware! :D), and a host of smaller items. They have pyrex baking dishes and serving bowls/platters, all kinds of kitchen do dads and ... well... a lot of stuff! lol
I can't wait til we can actually shop and buy the stuff, but we don't want to buy it til we're going to take it straight to the apartment, and that wasn't going to happen last night.

I had wanted to go to the apartment last night but we ended up going tonight instead.
There were many new things since I had been there last. There was a new kitchen sink but we are going to end up replacing with something that will fit down inside a kitchen cabinet. The washer was hooked up (and I found the instruction booklet, all in Arabic - how useful!), the mattress and box spring, the fridge, the temporary kitchen cupboards (which are smelly and need to air out because of whatever finish they painted them with - it smells horrid), and the green room. Which was... not what I was expecting. Maybe it was just because it was dark outside and the only light was coming from a bulb hanging in the ceiling, but it was just a LOT brighter than I wanted. Insha'Allah when I see it with better light I will like it better.

I took pictures of stuff and will post tomorrow or soon.

After we had our fill of swimming on our new bed with the a/c on, and generally basking in the glow of new apartmentness, we left and walked to another branch of the same kitchen store that we went to last night.
They had mostly the same stuff, but a few more items and better laid out.

It turns out that the vacuums here use bags that are not disposable. They are the same shape as the disposable ones, but they are made of some type of cloth that you pull out and there is something on the bottom that holds it shut and you just take that thing off and empty out the junk. I was like... what??? Where's the vacuums that have the bags that you throw out??
It seems that those are a fairly NEW development here and that people don't like them. I imagine it is because you have to pay for them and people are poor and cheap as well. :p
I told Ahmed it was fine, we could get one that you had to empty, but he was going to have to do it. Gross. And dusty.

After we looked around at the store, which was not just crowded full of very LOUD people, but also had a loudspeaker that was being used constantly and that was on full blast and that I couldn't seem to get away from, we left and walked down the street a ways to another area. It is where hubby used to get my munchies from when we lived on Pyramid Street.
Well... we passed by a cigarette factory on the way. Wow. Just wow. The smell was overwhelming and disgusting and I could taste it in my mouth. I was very glad to get out of the vicinity of that place. I couldn't imagine living near there. And it was right in the middle of a crowded neighborhood full of housing and stores.

We finally got down to the bakery, which took some time of walking through the loud, bustling street, and we were looking at what they had. We had looked at a couple of other bakeries on the way.
It seems that during the month of Ramadan, everyone makes different sweets instead of their regular kind.
Well... we were looking at what this place had and I was thinking about what we could buy, when I looked down on the ground (the bakery is open onto the street itself) and I saw the most ginormous cockroach.
Well, lol, after hubby saw it, we left.
I don't think it bothered him so much but he probably figured I wouldn't want anything from the bakery after seeing it.
It wasn't necessarily inside the bakery, but the bakery is open to the elements and just... yuck.

I told him if I EVER see a roach that big in my apartment, that I will actually leave the apartment and find someone to kill it. I am a strong woman, but that is just too much. The small dark colored ones I think I could kill, but this one was some weird brown and yellow color and so large!!!!

Anyways, after some MORE walking, we got to a bus and ended up riding that back home.

Wow, I'm beat!

Also... I think I figured out the thing that bothers me the most about Egypt. The cleanliness. Or lack thereof rather.
It's pervasive, and really, no matter what part of Egypt you are in, you can't get away from it. There might be areas that are somewhat cleaner, and some that are very dirty, but it just never stops. It never ends. There is always another pile of dirt, another pile of trash, another pile of broken bricks. People freely toss their litter in the street, and all manner of litter.
I'm just really super tired of how dirty it is here.
I will need to find a way to adjust and deal with it though as long as I'm here.

Food food and more food.

No stove last night, hubby had to go out.
But, insha'Allah we'll be going out tonight to shop.

I took a whole slew of pictures yesterday of what my MIL made for our dinner and I've got them ready to post but I'll save it for tomorrow.

Also, I made brownies today. For some reason they didn't turn out the same as when I make them in the States. Perhaps it was due to different chocolate and vanillan instead of real vanilla. Anyways, they are okay enough, just not superb like I was expecting. The recipe is Moosewood Fudge Brownies if you are interested in looking it up online. I add cinnamon and chocolate chips as the extras. Yum!

Oh, also, every year it seems that the Boston Globe puts up some pictures of Ramadan around the world. Or at least in the Middle and Far East.
pictures

If you look at pictures 2, 7, 14, and 26, they all relate to things here in Cairo.

Picture 2 is of a guy getting ready to go out and bang a drum to wake everyone for the pre-dawn meal, like I talked about the other day.

Picture 7 is of a man making the dough that is used to make konafa, which I talked about and showed a picture of the finished dessert the other day. This is the dough itself being made, then it will be sold and we would use it to make the dessert.

In picture 14 you see two trays of sweets. They are made the same I think, just different shapes. My MIL makes the round ones, which I call sugar balls, and I have a picture of them to post tomorrow. They are made of a simple dough that is fried and then steeped in sugar syrup.

And picture 26 is just a ginormous version of something my MIL makes. She makes little itty bitty ones like that, and then puts either cream, nuts, or raisins/coconut, and then you fold the dough in half and then fry it. Then it gets dipped in the sugar syrup. I think I have a picture of that to post as well tomorrow.

Yay for food and traditions!

Something at least

Well, we didn't go shopping until last night.

We got 2 sets of sheets, one set each of bath towels (mine are pink and his are brown) and we also bought two pillows (Egyptian cotton ones but in a regular pillow shape, not the long skinny things). Down pillow to come later as they're a bit pricey since they're imported.
I was very happy to have some movement in the area of buying things for the apartment.

Tonight we are supposed to go pick out the stove.

Not sure about when we will buy kitchen stuff, I hate making guesses anymore because nothing ever happens when it's "supposed" to and it's really been disappointing.

Anyways, we've made a start so alhamdulillah.

Day 6 of fasting here and it's going fine. I'm glad I don't have to work so I can take it pretty easy, but I'm not sleeping all day long either.

My MIL is making a lot of really nice foods during Ramadan, which I guess many people do, though to my mind it goes against the whole point of fasting and doing without. lol
Oh well, it is their cultural tradition, and not part of Islam, but I'm not going to be able to change that.
Things will be different (I hope) at my house, though I love to make food anyways, so who knows. I'd rather save the special stuff for the celebration after Ramadan is over. Eid is celebrated the day after fasting finishes, and it lasts 3 days here in Egypt.

When we went out last night, there were decorations everywhere. Mostly strings of colorful bright lights and also many fanoos hanging.
Ramadan/Eid is for Muslims like Christmas is for Christians (or all people who celebrate Christmas). So think about how decorated everything gets in the States at Christmas, and that's kind of how it is here now, except without the santas and all that. lol


Hopefully I'll be able to update tomorrow that we purchased a stove!

Food and light

Here is the konafa that my MIL made yesterday.
Yum yum.



And here is the fanoos (lamp) that is hanging between our building and the next. There are little holes in a pattern on the lamp so that the light comes out in nice patterns.




We didn't end up going shopping today as hubby found out Monday night that he needed to go into the office on today for something important, so we are supposed to go tomorrow.
Will update if we go and what we bought.

I still have that short little video of the fanoos my MIL bought me but I haven't uploaded it to youtube yet. Maybe tomorrow.

2 down, 27 to go

Well, we have finished fasting our second day of the month of Ramadan.
Thankfully I am not working, that would make it so much harder.
We are up very late every night (morning) and then in the late afternoon I'm tired and weak and resting/napping.
We get to eat around 6:40 or something, not sure the exact time, but it can never get here soon enough. lol
We break our fast with dates and liquid. Water for me and milk for hubby and the in-laws.

It's a bit of a struggle the first few days as people adjust, but hopefully it will get easier as time goes.

There are a lot of traditions that go with Ramadan, one of which is fanoos.
They are lanterns that are hung on ropes or strings going between buildings, or on patios, and they are generally made with different colors of glass or plastic, so that when the light is on they give off pretty and festive colors.
There is one hanging between our building and the building next to us, which I took a picture of but haven't uploaded yet. My MIL also bought one that is a tiny plastic one that has flashing LED lights in it. It also has sound, but it's tinny and hard to understand. I took a short video, but again, not uploaded yet.
I'll try to post the video and picture tomorrow.

Another tradition is that there is a man who walks the streets before suhoor (I hear him go by our place around 2 a.m.), which is the meal we eat before fasting starts at dawn, and he beats a drum with a particular beat, and shouts for people to wake up and eat. It used to be that you could pay him money and he would mention any name you gave him as he walked down the street. I'm not sure but I guess people must give him money even if they don't ask him to say particular names.
It actually sounds nice and it's one of the traditions that I like. I remember it from the last time I was here in 2007.
I'm not sure if we'll have a guy in our new neighborhood or not, but I kind of hope so.

One of the things I'm not fond of is that the neighborhood kids, who are *always* down in the street playing and shouting, have taken it upon themselves to set off what is called "bombs" every 5 to 10 minutes for a couple of hours after the sun goes down.
Apparently they use some sort of gunpowder and put it in a cloth with a rock and then tie it with metal wire and when you throw them, they make an explosion.
A very LOUD explosion and it's unsettling and scares the bejeepers out of me every time they go off.
It's past annoying and I was telling hubby to go out and yell at them.
It's like having 4th of July fireworks in your front yard every night for a couple of hours.
I hope they get tired of this soon.
And if not, at least we will be moving soon insha'Allah, and hopefully the new neighborhood won't have the same problem.

My MIL made some konafa today, which was VERY yummy! Sakes alive it's one of the tastiest desserts you can have. It's a shredded dough, which is soft before baking, but when baked is similar to shredded wheat, but the center is filled with cream or cheese and it can also have nuts in it, and then you pour over it a sugar syrup with makes it sweet and moist. My MIL puts vanilla in her syrup which gives it an even nicer flavor.
I took a picture of it but will post after uploading.


As to moving - not positive. Insha'Allah sometime this week.
We are *supposed* to go out tomorrow and get the stove and some sheets/towels and some pots/pans and plates, etc., enough things to just get by, but I'm not sure how well I'll fare with fasting and walking around shopping.
I'm happy at least we have the mattress in the apartment and that that is taken care of.
Hubby said Monday for moving but I'd be surprised if it was before Wednesday. Even that is just a guess and as you have all seen by now, the date continues to move out, so we will just have to wait and see.

Hubby is planning to send me home on a visit later this year so I am a little bit excited thinking about it, though I wish he was coming with me.
I think I posted about that the other day yeah?
Anyways, trying to figure out if I should come around the Thanksgiving holiday or the Christmas holiday.
Mom, dad, how long do you want company for? lol
:D
So, I'm eager to get more details set for the trip and I will have to make some lists of things that I want to bring back with me to Egypt after visiting.
Just wish hubby could come with me.
I think he plans to travel either to Kuwait or Qatar for work while I'm gone, so that he doesn't have to leave me again when he travels.
Not excited about the Qatar bit, but I don't have enough details on that yet.

Pictures and videos tomorrow insha'Allah.

Alrighty then

Well, I have direct confirmation that our mattress and box spring are currently residing, peacefully and it would seem lonely, in our apartment.
Hubby and 2 other guys hefted them up the 4 flights of stairs since they couldn't fit them in the elevator. He said the box spring was VERY heavy. lol

Don't think we're moving til closer to Monday. That date is of course subject to change and it could be later.
I wasn't real thrilled about that but such is life.
Nothing is ever on time in Egypt.

I'll try to update in more detail tomorrow.

And also, tomorrow (Saturday) starts the first day of fasting for the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan kareem!
=)

Ice cream sandwiches

Well... from what I hear, the mattress and box spring are being delivered to our apartment this evening. It's 8 p.m. now, so I assume sometime before the night is over they will be there.
I don't think we are moving until maybe Friday but really I'm not sure. Every time I think I know it changes, so I won't try to say a definite date. lol

We need to buy a table and chairs so we have someplace to sit other than the bed.
And some sheets for the bed.

Also, we need to buy some food.
Even though Ramadan is going to start and it's a month of fasting, boy don't keep us from eating when we are able! There better be food in the house. lol
I have some nice ideas for healthy and filling meals for the month.

Hubby might be able to send me home to the States for a visit later this year. I wish he could come but I don't think we can both afford to come on a visit too soon, but he knows I miss my son and family, so he offered to send me.
We shall see what transpires.

Looking forward to air conditioning, though it has been in the low 90's instead of the high 90's and low 100's. Of course, the lower the temp, the higher the humidity seems to go. Anyways, the a/c will be a welcome change and will make sleeping much easier. In fact, I'll probably complain about being cold and have to wear warm pajamas. lol

I was thinking about making some cranberry chocolate chip cookies, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. I've mentioned it to both hubby and my sister in law but I don't know ... I guess it will wait until we move and buy some kitchen items.
Though I don't think it will be the first thing I bake. I'm thinking of baking some breads for during Ramadan. Though some snickerdoodles would be nice for sweet snacks.

We ordered in from a restaurant the other night and the food was really good. They had what I think of as quesadillas, or at least that was what we had ordered. I guess they call them wraps here. We had 4 different kinds, and I had 2 of them, one with mozarella cheese, and one with spinach/lemon.
Wow!!
It was so good and totally reminded me of home. Very nice.
I haven't had any spinach since I've been here.
I asked hubby about getting some broccoli, because I haven't had any of that either, and he said it's not the right time for it, so maybe I will see if I can find some decent frozen broccoli.

And now, I hear some chocolate ice cream calling my name.
=)

**update - we do not have the mattress and box spring yet. The guy hasn't called to let us know his truck is coming, so hopefully it will be tomorrow. :(

Do not remove under penalty of law

That's what it says on the mattress tags right? lol

Well, hubby just got word that we will get the mattress and box spring on Tuesday insha'Allah. Not sure what time on Tuesday and I did want to air it out first so I don't know if we'll be sleeping there Tuesday night or not til Wednesday. Or... you know, later for some reason or other.

They installed the washing machine today.

Nothing else going on in terms of the apartment. At least that I know of.


Sat down to lunch yesterday and saw what looked to be a pineapple upside down cake, but which turned out to be rice with chunks of potato and pieces of tomato.
lol
It was slightly yellow in color from some spice or other, and really looked so much like the cake.
However it did not taste like cake.
I think my MIL picked the tomatoes off the serving she had set on my plate because there weren't any when I sat down to the table.

Not quite sure why my MIL dishes everyone up. I mean, if they're at the table it's fine, but if you aren't at the table, then how can you decide how much you want? My plate is constantly overfilled by the time I sit down at the table, and I hate leaving any food on the plate because then it's wasted and it's not right to waste food. But sometimes I can't eat it all, and more often than not, I'm over full when I'm done. Which I don't approve of and don't like AT ALL. Food isn't about just stuffing yourself because it tastes good or it's on your plate.

Speaking of food, not sure how well I will do with Ramadan this year. I couldn't fast last year due to health reasons, and I should have an easier time of it here, as my schedule will allow more down time, but it's still hard. I mean if you are fasting the whole month, by the end of the month it is somewhat easier to get through the day, but you still are eager after all that time to get back to your regular schedule.
Insha'Allah I will be able to fast okay. You really feel like you are missing something when you can't fast.

It's not always true

They say that no news is good news, but that does not always apply.

The water heaters got installed today.
A different guy has to come out tomorrow to install the washing machine.

No word yet on the mattress and box springs.

Or anything else.

I am more than a little bit discouraged.

And Ramadan will be here in less than a week.

Liver?

Alright I have the pictures hubby took of the apartment.

This is one of the two walls that got painted whatever color that is. lol
It's like a dark adobe peach color or something.



I think it came out fairly well, though we might be a little challenged when picking out furniture.

The green room, from what I can see, turned out okay. However, I know that the color in the pictures can be misleading from when I was there and took pictures myself. And as you will see in the second picture.

This first one shows the wall and ceiling in what I believe to be the true color of the room, or what it should be, seeing as how I haven't been there since they painted it. I like the shade and I think it turned out well.



However, in this photo, we have a weird color of green from the lighting in the room. It is just... wrong. lol
Not a color I would want. It's just a little too off or something.
Also, here is where you see why we need carpet covering the floor.
Wow, what a combination huh?
I'd never have picked that green if we couldn't get some carpet in there.



I am looking forward to seeing the color that they painted the front door. In the hallway outside that is, not inside.
We had been talking about colors and I said well maybe like coffee with a little milk, or milk chocolate, and then I decided on maroon.
I think there was some confusion on hubby's part, and so I'm not sure the exact color.

Hoping to hear about the mattress and box springs today.

Oh and we need to get a gas can for the kitchen.
We are not hooked up on a central line. I think most places aren't. Like us, most places either buy gas cans from the guys that come down the street, or they have them delivered from the gas company.
Either way, we need to get a gas can to start with. I can't remember but I think they cost a bit.
After you get one, you just trade it when you need a new one and you only pay for the gas, not the can. You just keep trading whenever you need more gas.
I'm hoping we can have them delivered from the company, as I was told that the company washes them off, while I heard that the ones you buy off the guys in the street usually carry roaches on the rims or such. Eww.

Speaking of eww, I went in to the kitchen this morning and my MIL was marinating some meats. Livers or kidneys or something, I dunno. lol
Whatever it was, I don't want any. I hope she made something else as well.

Cotton mattress topic will come perhaps um... tomorrow if there is no other news.

Tomorrow, tomorrow

Well, not much news about the apartment.

It has been just over a month now since the lease was signed.

We are supposed to hear *something* about the mattress and box spring tomorrow, but I don't know if that means we're getting it tomorrow or what. It's been about 10 days since it was ordered and I thought it was only going to take 7.
Plus, I want to air it out for a day before we sleep on it.

Hubby took some pics of the apartment yesterday when he went by. I'll upload and post them in the next day or two.

The colors on the walls look nice, but the green room most definitely needs some carpet, because I never would have picked that color for the walls if you would be able to see the floor. However, I don't think we're getting a carpet for the room too soon, so I'll have to live with it for a little while at least.

Still need to go by and pick out the stove.

Aaaand, hubby says he'll call the manufacturer of the washing machine and water heaters tomorrow, as apparently they have to come out and install them in order for the warranty to be valid.
I'm really hoping they can come out like... in a day or something. I think hubby places way too much optimism on them being available at any time. This is Egypt after all.

The weather has cooled down to the low 90's. Still plenty humid though.
I can't wait til winter time, when I'm sure you will hear me complaining about how cold it is. lol

The drums!

For some reason I have become overly enamored of exclamation points. Please excuse this. lol

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I have some videos to post from a party that was held at one of the apartments across from us a couple of nights ago.
We are on the 4th floor and they are on either the 4th or 5th, not sure.
In any case, they had the balcony curtained off, so I couldn't see inside, much to the dismay of my curiosity!

But, I could hear perfectly well.
There were drums and some of the songs had singing. All of the singing was done by one guy except for one song was done by a female. The people at the party would sometimes be clapping and sometimes be making loud yelling noises.

I'm assuming it was a wedding party but I don't know for sure.
And for some reason I thought they might have had a belly dancer there, but hubby doesn't think so. Who knows though, since we couldn't see.

The first video is shorter, at 30 seconds, and the second video is longer, at 2 minutes.
I actually like the second video better as I really love the drumming in it. For some reason drums just really get me going and I was tapping my foot the whole time they were playing. lol

The music didn't start til midnight by the way. And it lasted at least til shortly after 2 a.m., though exactly when it stopped I'm not sure, as I had headed back to the bedroom.

Sorry there isn't much to see in the video, but it was dark out and since the balcony was covered, all you can see is a white patch.
But, since I was filming it for the sound anyways, I guess it doesn't matter too much.

You might have to turn your speakers up, but you should be able to hear it okay. It sounded great in person. He was just really getting it on with those drums!!!

shorter video


longer video

In other, not so exciting news, I woke up to some kind of allergy attack this morning. Never did figure out what it was from but it was crazy. It felt like I had stuck my head in a vase of fresh flowers and left it there.
After a few hours it tapered off, though I still feel a bit off, so maybe it was the start of a cold and not allergies? Who knows and time will tell.

No news on the apartment. Hubby took the camera with him to work today because he was going to stop by the apartment after work and take pictures, but when I called him a bit ago, he was still at work and coming home afterward, so no pictures I don't think.

Ramadan is coming in less than 2 weeks. I am thankful we will have an air conditioned apartment to live in during the month, but I had hoped to be a little more settled in before the month started. I guess it just means I need to work a little more on preparing now.

Unexpected

I had been planning to write today about cotton mattresses here in Egypt. It's an interesting subject to some degree. And it's all new information for me, so maybe it will be new for some of you as well, though older folks reading this will probably be more familiar with the subject.

In any case, the mattresses will wait for another day I guess as there is something else on my mind.

I was sitting after finishing lunch, talking with my mother in law. My sister in law is usually with us for lunch, but today it was just my MIL and FIL and myself, and after eating, my father in law left.

My MIL started talking about a woman that she knows, and this woman's family and situation. This woman's mother is dead. Her father is ill. She has 3 brothers and 1 sister, some of which live on the family farm, and one of which lives out of the country. The woman, she does not make a huge amount of money, but she sends money home for her sick father, while none of her brothers or sister gives any money. They are all pretty poor. In describing the situation, I imagine myself in that place and all I could think was alhamdulillah for what I have.

Often times, if you are upset about something not going your way, you will hear people say that you should be grateful for what you have, and to think of all those poor unfortunate people in the world who have so little and are in bad life situations.

Well, that's all great and everything, but more often than not, I feel so far removed from those unfortunate people and their situations, that I can't even begin to relate, and if I can't relate, then how can I take anything from their life and apply it in mine?

I mean, thank God for the fortunes in my life, I don't want to sound ungrateful at all. I know that I have a lot more than many people in this world. I just generally have a hard time feeling anything other than my own "injustices".

Maybe it means I'm selfish, I'm not really sure. I mean, I certainly feel for other people, I am empathetic to a fault (ask my hubby about that!!! lol) but it somehow doesn't stop what amounts to my righteous indignation over things not going my way.

I don't know why, but my MIL talking about the woman she knows this afternoon, it really knocked me down.
In a good way.
And was totally unexpected.
I have been so busy being upset about things not going my way that I had lost sight of some more important things in life.
That doesn't mean I'm not still irritated with things, lol, but I definitely feel a little more level headed, at least for now.


Hubby says the bathroom is done in the apartment. I haven't been to the apartment since they were painting paint samples on the walls. I would really like to see how things are looking. No idea when I will get to go over and see it. Still no word on the mattresses. And I would like to leave the mattresses to air out for a day before we sleep on them. Someone was saying they spray them with all kinds of fire retardant chemicals and they off-gas from the materials that they are made of. Yuck.

No other news.
Oh.
I have some video to upload of a wedding party that happened across the street the other night. You can't really see anything, and the reason I took the video was just for the audio portion. I'll try to upload those tomorrow.

Brown and green?

Nothing much going on the last couple days.

Hubby trying to get some things finished in the apartment. The paint is apparently still a bit smelly so he's been airing the place out.

He's also been "testing" the air conditioning. Rough job yeah?

He says we need weather stripping or some type of padding for the window and door shutters (since we don't have "regular" windows), as too much air comes in even when they are shut, and it will let in dirty air and hot air too. Basically, we have the same type of wooden windows that are at the in-laws, it's just that the one at our apartment have a screen opening on them, which is... nicer than not having one, it just means that we still don't have anything air tight. It also means, if we can't get some kind of seal going, that I'll get to do a lot of dusting. Or more than I had planned in any case, since I know that everywhere here gets dusty.

Still no idea when our mattress and boxspring will be ready. So, still no idea when we will be moving in. I hope it is within a week.
This coming Tuesday will be 4 weeks since we signed the contract.
Hubby thought it would be 2 weeks to move in, I told him 4.
I have learned to double the time that anyone tells me for anything, and I usually hit it just about right.
Not that that makes me happy. lol

We think we found a couch we like for our living room. I haven't seen it in person, just some video that hubby's brother took. Not sure when we will go look at it. Soonish. Just have to figure out what color to get since it's going into a green room. Even though I didn't want any brown/tan/beige in the house, a dark brown couch would probably look nice. Hubby thinks navy blue. I still have to see the paint since they finished to be able to decide for sure.

Here's a video I took the other day while we were waiting for the paint samples to be painted on the walls at the apartment.
It's the guy leading his donkey cart. As I mentioned, not sure what he's yelling out, but all the vendors just usually shout out the name of what they're selling.

donkey cart

This brings to mind another subject, which is the way animals are treated here, but I will leave that for a future post.

It's amazing

There is such a huge difference in getting an apartment here and getting one in the States. I imagine there are some slight differences throughout the States, but I guess it is mostly the same.

There is nothing in the apartment's here except in the bathroom, which has a toilet, sink and some form of shower, which may just be a nozzle in the wall and an inch high border on the floor in the shape of a shower to keep some of the water from flooding everywhere. (oh, some bathrooms might not have a sitting toilet, they may just have a hole in the floor... sort of an indoor outhouse!!!!)

There are no light fixtures, yet the room in every ceiling has a hole and wires hanging down for some sort of light fixture to be put in.

There is nothing in the kitchen at all except possibly a sink, and by sink, I mean the physical sink, but not any cabinet surrounding it. There are no cupboards or counters, no fridge, no oven/stove, and you must be crazy if you think there would be a dishwasher there.

The walls are not painted before you move in, so they can be in any sort of state depending on who lived there before you, and you are lucky if your grout isn't black from grime, in both kitchen and bathroom.

The windows will not be cleaned before you move in. Neither will the light switch plates or door handles.

And if you have a clean stairway/hallway outside your apartment, you are truly lucky.

We are buying anything and everything to be able to move in, though we can't buy it all at once. As you can imagine, having to buy all the appliances plus furniture and everything else is quite a task.

It is truly a herculean effort to move into an apartment if you don't have everything ready from a previous apartment. Next time we move it won't be so hard insha'Allah, as we will have already bought everything and will just need to cart if off to the new place! Though I'm sure there will still be cleaning involved. lol

Okay, some pictures!

This is a light fixture that I saw and absolutely fell in love with. I couldn't stop thinking about it for a while after we saw it. It was just gorgeous and the picture doesn't do it any justice at all.
The balls that are hanging are faceted crystal balls in a teardrop sort of shape. Mostly round but pointed at the top. And above the flat layer of crystal balls, are little crystal disks spaced out in the shape of a pyramid.
I can't remember if this was 2500 pounds or 3500 pounds, but either way it is currently out of our price range for a lamp. lol
And I'm not sure it would fit in our apartment in terms of style. But I still love it!



Here is a picture of my poor dirty floors. The painters made a huge mess while they were working. It should be getting cleaned up today.



We decided on painting our personal living room green and we should be putting carpets down on the floor so it won't look horrible next to the tile.
In any case, the color I picked out was kind of a light sea foam mossy green. A fairly pale shade. But when they painted it on, it turned out soooo bright!! This picture doesn't show you how bright it is for some reason but it was really horrid. Nothing you could live in.



This is another picture after they painted a couple of samples on the wall. You can't tell but the background color is the same scary green from the previous photo. I guess because of the lighting in the room it doesn't look as bad in this photo.
Anyways, we are going with the color that is painted in the smaller square sample, not the larger one, though they were both nice colors. The bottom was a little more blue but not exactly the color I would want.
I hope it turned out okay on the re-paint!! Green gone bad is no joke folks! lol



There are a couple of walls in the front area that we are painting a color that will um.. go with the floor. This shows two samples, a lighter and darker. We are going with the darker. It will be painted on the wall to the left of the samples, on the little piece of wall that the samples are painted on, and on the wall that the front door is on. I decided that the lighter color was too light and the darker was a better contrast for the floor.
Interestingly enough, the color on the wall to the right of the samples is the new overall color of the rest of the walls. If you see it next to the crown molding, which is white, it looks kind of like butter, but next to the two wall color samples, it makes the color look sort of ever so slightly pink. Weird.



Last, while I was waiting for them to paint samples yesterday, I was out on the balcony. This guy came by with his donkey and cart, the cart loaded with vegetables. I got a short video, maybe I'll upload it. You can hear him shouting out something in Arabic, which I assume was something like, "come buy my delicious fresh yummy vegetables, they are so cheap and you will love them". lol

Too tired

Well, I have a few pictures that I need to get ready to post but I'm just too tired. We were out today checking out how the painting is going at the new place and we walked down to the appliance place to check out stoves again.
It was just too hot and I hadn't eaten breakfast before leaving and didn't drink anything while I was out and it just took a lot out of me. Didn't end up eating til normal lunch time around 4 or so this afternoon.

Anyways, the painting is going well and should be finished by tomorrow.
Then the plumber will have to come.
And we have to get some furniture as we have none at the moment, though the mattress and box spring have been ordered.

As far as I can tell, we should be moving in by Thursday or Friday. That, however, like everything else in regards to getting the apartment ready, is subject to change.
lol

Ahmed is working so hard to get everything ready for me, and I know he needs to be at work instead of taking off so much time getting everything done. Poor guy is busy and beat! He will need a vacation after we finally move in. lol

Painting etc

We picked out the paint colors this morning. The painters started today and are supposed to finish in three days. I will believe it when I see it. :p

I will take pictures when the painting is all done.

We also picked out the mattress we wanted today, but it seems they are backlogged on the box springs, and it will be 20 days until we can get one from the store we are getting our mattress from. Which is pretty ridiculous. Hubby is trying to see if we can get one from somewhere else, as I don't particularly want to sleep on a mattress on the floor for over 2 weeks. Anyways, we didn't purchase the mattress yet, just picked out what we wanted. We don't need to actually buy it until we're going to move, though I suppose it could probably do with a couple of days of airing out.

Tried to pick out a stove/oven today, but that didn't exactly work out how anyone planned and we are still looking.
Apparently the one that I liked that we saw a couple weeks ago is not made of stainless steel. I assumed that all ovens were made of the same thing. Silly me.

It turns out that the guy who owns our apartment building has a store down on the first floor that sells appliances. Hubby ended up getting our fridge and washing machine from there, and thought that the stove they had would be okay, but I didn't care for it. At all. In the slightest. lol
Call me picky if you must, but this is something I have to look at and live with and use on a daily basis, and I want the things I own to be a joy to me, not a misery.

We stopped in to look at the apartment and it's a total mess from the workers. The two a/c's have been installed. So that is some yay news.

The bathroom still needs a few things to be done, as does the kitchen.

Hubby thought we might be able to move in by Monday night or Tuesday, but unless there is a miracle in the coming few days, I'd say it's more like a week before we move in, not 3 days.
We shall see.