Thursday, December 31, 2009

Another one bites the dust

Well, seems the new year is upon us already.  Like most years, there were ups and downs.
Looking forward to a fresh start, though technically we get a fresh start every day that we open our eyes upon waking.

:::

I ended up making the "orange" lemon bars last night.  I haven't tried them yet but hubby says they are good.
Almost the same as the bars using lemon or lime, so it seems that the citrus flavor is pretty interchangeable and the taste stays fairly well the same.

I believe what I used was clementines, but I'm just not sure.  In any case, I will consider it a success.

Not sure about baking things at a higher temperature to avoid browning on the bottom.  I guess I'd have to cover the top with foil to make sure the top didn't get too browned.  lol

In any case, I did make another loaf of bread this morning and I finally got the temperature right without having to adjust it every 5 minutes.  And, the bottom didn't come out too brown, it was almost just right.

I will figure this out!  lol

:::

Foot is still bugging me off and on.  Good excuse to sit around, even though I have things I actually want to do.  I do get some things done, but mopping the place is a no go because we don't have a pail big enough for the mop so I have to use the bathtub and so it means A LOT of trips back and forth to the bathroom while I'm mopping.  Not good for sore feet.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some more comfy shoe slipper thingies for around the house.  Everyone here wears thongs / flip flops around their house, which I find somewhat... odd, but understandable since most floors are wood or tile and tend to build up dirt and get water quite easily.  They call the flip flops "ship ships".  Cute.

:::

I believe we're going to visit the in-laws tomorrow.  There is other family visiting from Kuwait, so it will be nice to see everyone.  Also nice to just visit and not live there.  lol
Though I'll be back for hubby's business trip soon enough.  It sounds like it could be up to 10 days now.  I hope not!

:::

I was looking on the back of a package of pasta we bought the other day, when I read the following, "The company is irresponsible for improper storing."  I was laughing about that for a little while.  Sometimes I really wonder who they get to do their translating.

Many things that have a sell by or use by date will list either, "sell by" or "use by" in English, but then they put the date in the numbers that they use here.  I would call them Arabic numbers, but oddly enough, the numbers that we use in English are the Arabic numbers, and the ones they use here are from somewhere else and I can't remember at the moment.  So anyways, I can never read the date.  Silly.

:::

Happy new year to everyone.  May God always bless you and keep you safe, and keep you traveling down the right path.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Alfred Hitchcock presents....

The Mosquitoes!

We haven't had much by way of mosquitoes at the new place.  We get one or two a night, but we moosh them and then everything is fine. 

Last night, for some very odd reason that we are unable to fathom at this point, there were at least 10 mosquitoes that were in the room, over a period of late night / early morning.

At one point, hubby woke up (I was still up, sitting on the bed reading), and he turned the light on and we saw 3 mosquitoes sitting on the wall directly behind the bed.  Waiting.  Biding their time.

I found another on the wall and got it before sleeping sometime past 6 a.m.

All in all it was pretty weird.

We can't figure out exactly where they're coming from, so it's hard to deal with the problem.  The screen in the kitchen window does have some holes in it, but there happens to be a wood beam across those holes, and none of the other screens have holes that we know of.

I suggested that hubby go by his folks house after work and pick up my mosquito net for us to hang over the bed here.  Better than being bitten all night.

:::

Had a problem with my foot the other day and so had a day of sitting around and reading and doing nothing much more towards getting the apartment fixed up than a few dishes.  lol

I don't know why but sometimes the bottom of my foot, where the ball / pads are, gets very swollen.  This time was the worst and I had to limp around putting no pressure on it at all.

Nice excuse to sit around and be lazy.  Not that I didn't just do exactly that for 9 months.  lol

:::


There is an awful smell that comes up through our kitchen sink drain hole.  I can't figure out exactly what it is except stinky.  We have to keep the plug in the drain hole or you can smell it all the way in the bedroom.  I can't imagine why it would smell, since it's the kitchen drain.  A smell like that I could understand coming from the bathroom drain, but the kitchen?  Another mystery it seems.

:::

The dish set that we bought is really great.  Except for the fact that there don't seem to be any dinner sized plates.  lol

There are little plates for the tea cups and the coffee cups.  There are dessert plates and what I would guess are something like salad plates.  But no big plates. 

And the bowls are quite tiny as well.  I'm sure you could get one ladle of soup in there, but I'm not sure if you could get much more.

We have found some plates that we like but they are sold as separates, and we can never find more than a few pieces, in assorted colors, at a time.

We'd like to get some of these as they are nice, so as soon as we can find some complimentary colors, I think we'll get them.

:::

Made another batch of cinnamon swirl bread.  This was the first time I lit and used the oven all by myself.

I put in the additional tray, hoping it would help keep some of the heat from the bottom of the bread pan.  It seems to maybe have helped some, since even though the bottom did get very dark, it wasn't quite as bad as the last time, and I had the bread baking for about 15 or 20 minutes longer this time since I was having trouble getting the oven temperature regulated.  lol

Hubby wants something like lemon squares only with oranges.  Not sure how that would work as oranges or tangerines or whatever aren't nearly as sour as limes and lemons.  I'm afraid if I didn't adjust the sugar it would just taste awful.  We'll see.

He also wants me to bake up a couple of batches of lemon squares for his trip to Kuwait.  lol

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  Perhaps it's true.

:::

I'm sure there must be something more interesting to report but it's just escaping me at the moment.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

ho ho

Well.... one more ho and it would be quite seasonal, but we could stop at two and remember the choclate and creme filled snack instead?  lol

It doesn't seem like Christmas here at all.  I have to keep checking the calender to see what day it is so that I can wish those who celebrate a merry Christmas.  :D

I did see a couple of stores that were somewhat decorated on the outside for the holiday, but it really isn't celebrated much here except by ex-pats and by orthodox Christians who celebrate it on January 7th I believe.

:::

I finally uploaded the goat movie.  It's only about 12 seconds long so it shouldn't take too long to download.
I've not checked on the goats in a couple of days but I assume they are still there, munching their way around the roof.

Roof goats

At least they aren't noisy.  lol

:::

I went to make some rice to go with dinner tonight.  I was going to make it with some chicken bouillon and just a smidge of butter.

I got the water in the pan, stuck the bouillon and butter in and started the flame under the pan.

I went to get the rice out, and finished one package with not quite enough rice, so I opened a new package.
I was measuring the rice into the strainer to wash it, and I saw some black spots.  I thought, no big deal, just some dirt or something and it will wash off.  But... of course... lol, not dirt.  They were bugs.  And when I started looking, I saw there were quite a few of them.  Gross!

Well, obviously not washing that rice to eat so I dumped the rice back into the box but then didn't know what to do with the box.  We don't have a bin outside that I can toss the garbage into, it is collected by the door man downstairs and who knows what he does with it.

I finally found a big ziplock bag that I could stick the whole box in so that I could close it up and no bugs would escape.

Not sure even what kind of bugs they were!  They were similar in size to ants, but looked a bit different and moved fairly slowly. 

Well, dinner was saved by using a couple of packets of ramen noodles with the water and bouillon, unhealthy as ramen noodles are.  lol
But it tasted great actually!

Hubby is down at the store right now trying to get a refund or something or more rice (bug free insha'Allah).  He took the bug rice with him and the receipt.  I hope it's not a big problem.  People tend to get a bit over heated here sometimes about things. 

:::

I made some quick bread last night.  Cinnamon Swirl bread.  Not sure what is up with me and cinnamon lately but I can't seem to stay away from the stuff.

We still haven't figured the oven temp out yet.  Hubby stayed by the oven and watched the temp while the bread was baking to make sure it didn't go up too high.  Everything was going fine until the very end.  It had been smelling soooo good!!  You know how things baking in the oven smell.  It makes the whole place smell like heaven.  Well, all of a sudden, it stopped smelling good.  lol 

I checked it several times because I wanted to make sure that it got cooked all the way through.  This was the first time I had made this recipe so I didn't have anything to compare it with.  And we don't have any toothpicks for me to check doneness, so I was using a fork, which doesn't work quite as well.

We finally took it out of the oven, because it was past the suggested limit and I decided it was done enough.
After letting it cool for 15 minutes in the pan, I took it out and we discovered what the earlier smell was.  The bottom of the bread had ever so slightly burned.  Not completely black but just about.  However, it was a very small layer, so the bread is fine.  Hubby even ate the bottom crust, though I picked mine off.

I've noticed on all three things that I've baked, that they do develop a darker crust layer on the bottom of the pan.  Whether this is due to the gas, the glass pans, the heat or what I don't know.

There was an additional solid metal sheet that went into the oven that we took out and put under the bottom since it didn't seem useful, but I suggested we put it back in to give some extra insulation from the direct heat coming up from below.  There is a sheet in place, but maybe the second sheet will help.

This bread though... wow it's SO good!  So moist, just sweet enough, and with the slight touch of cinnamon it's just divine.  It has 1 cup of milk and 1/3 cup of oil.  I generally don't like using oil in recipes but this didn't call for any butter and 1/3 cup doesn't sound like too much.

Next up is something called Koulourakia (Butter Cookie Braids), which I've never made before but sounds good for breakfast with tea or some such.  Though I might make another batch of this bread, it's so good!

:::

Just got word, hubby's trip should be taking place sometime a week or so into January.  I hope it's a short trip.  I'll be back staying at the in-laws while he's gone.  I don't want him to leave!!!

:::

To all my friends and family who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tuesday

Even though I had planned to bake today, hubby somehow convinced me to bake something last night.  It didn't finish baking til about 12:30 a.m., so it was a bit late, but I guess we were both happy about the end result.

The recipe was called Snickerdoodle scones.  And the topping of cinnamon and sugar was indeed reminiscent of snickerdoodles.  The scone part was... well... not exactly like the scones I'm used to making, but it still tasted okay.  I'm not sure if I'll make the recipe again any time soon since I have so many others I want to try.

At the moment, I can hear hubby coming through the front door.  He was on a quest to find powdered sugar because he has asked me numerous times today about making lemon bars and I finally told him that when he went to the store and got some powdered sugar I would make some.  Well, lol, that got him dressed and out of the house very quickly.

So, shortly I will be off to make lemon bars.  Only with limes because we don't have lemons.  Don't know if they will taste okay or not.  I'm wondering if they would need a little more sugar since limes seem to be a bit more tart that lemons?  Gosh who knows.  We'll see how they turn out.

:::

I guess it's okay that the washing machine takes so long to run a load since I have to hang the clothes to dry anyways, and in the winter we don't get much sun so they take a while to dry.  One or two loads a day in the winter will be the max I guess.  During the summer it should be easier as it will be hot enough for the clothes to dry, sun or not.

The way our apartment faces, we get the rising sun and so by mid day we are shaded.  This should be nice for the hot summer months in general, but for winter, it's a bit chilly.

:::

Still haven't fixed the goat pictures for upload but I think I'll upload the short video I took instead.  The pictures didn't turn out all that well.  Insha'Allah I'll do that tomorrow.

:::

Oh, lol, we had an adventure with the oven last night.  I asked hubby to read the manual to see if there was anything we needed to do before using the oven for the first time.  I'm not sure how thoroughly he read the thing but he didn't see anything that stated we needed to do anything specific before use.

He turned the oven on and after a couple of seconds smoke was coming out.  Stinky smoke.  So we turned it off and opened the kitchen window.  We looked at the oven and couldn't see anything that could be burning, so I went into the bedroom and closed the door to avoid the smell while he lit the oven again and let the smoke burn off, which it did shortly, leaving the oven ready to use for the snickerdoodle scones.

:::

I had a sudden craving for ravioli tonight and was telling hubby about them.  I'm not sure if they sell them in Cairo or not, but we will have a search for them, and if they don't sell them, then perhaps at some point I will make an attempt at a home made version.  However that is not very high on my priority list at the moment.

I know I had more to write about but I can't think of anything at the moment.  We're still busy getting things done and cleaning up around here.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Wow, tired

Well, I meant to get a post in yesterday but I was just beat with all the cleaning and figuring stuff out here at the apartment.

Things are going well, if a bit slow.  Lots of cleaning to do.  And we're still acquiring things we need.

Got the washing machine working and kind of have the cycles figured out.  Was able to get hubby to kind of translate the different loads, though I still have some confusion.  A manual in English would be great, but I think I'll be able to work it fine.  I've done a load of towels and a load of sheets.   Both hanging to dry right now.

The stove works, and I'm assuming the oven does, though I've not tried to light it yet.  One interesting thing that I didn't notice about the appliance while buying it, is that the oven knob does not have any temperatures listed on it.  At all.  There is a small and large flame, just like for the burners.   Hmmmm....
Good thing I have an oven thermometer or I'd be pretty lost.  I think I'm going to make some tick marks on the stove at 25 or 50 degrees around where the dial turns, or I'll always have to kind of be guessing where to set it and then checking the thermometer.

We did cook on the stove.  I made some rice tonight and it seems that I had the flame too high since the result was a bit... um, well... dry.  The bottom was hard and crusty and kind of hurt to chew, but I gave Ahmed all the fluffier rice.  lol   It did have decent taste, just a bit too crispy. 
In any case, next time I know to turn the flame lower.

The thing about the washing machine that I'm not entirely happy with is that it takes anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hours to do a load of wash.  Which seems pretty outrageous to me.  Not that I'll always have a ton of laundry to do, it just seems like a very long time.  And right now it seems more so because I do have piles of laundry to do.

Been unpacking and washing the kitchen stuff that we've bought.  I lined the kitchen cupboard shelves temporarily with foil as I didn't want to put stuff down on the unfinished wood and we don't have any shelf lining paper yet.  I thought the foil might just be okay, but it appears to be on the thin side and prone to tearing, so we will have to get some liner.

We found some great rugs for a VERY cheap price.  Very nice oriental looking ones, I forget what they're called, but we found some for 100 to 200 pounds.  Which is like 20 to 40 bucks.  And they're a decent size.  So we're pretty happy about that, though we still need to pick a couple up.

Lots going on.  Hoping to bake something tomorrow.  We'll see.

Oh yeah.  We have a rooster nearby.  It cockle doodle doo's at odd hours during the night.  Last night was around 2 a.m. or so, and the night before was around 5 a.m., though it wasn't light out yet.

Alright, tired, will try to post more tomorrow.  And will post some pictures too insha'Allah.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Wahooooo!

Just a short update to say we are here at our apartment.  We got here around 2:30 this afternoon, but it's almost 3 a.m. now and I'm beat so I'll try to write some details tomorrow.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Update 3

Well, yesterday, Thursday, hubby wasn't able to get all that much done at the apartment.  He and his helper did some more cleaning and other assorted small items.

They were supposed to get the stove upstairs and connected, but apparently the elevator is out again.  I don't blame the guys for not wanting to walk it up 4 flights of stairs.  lol

Today, we left the house early afternoon and walked across the street and bought some pots, pans, flatware, and a few other small items, and then walked down the block and bought our plate settings and a few tupperware like containers.

Funny thing about the dish set we ended up getting, is that there was only 1 set left in the pattern I wanted, and that was the set that was in the display window.  Well, guess what, no problem at all for them to take it down and pack it all up.  Hurray!  Great customer service.

After gathering our purchases, we headed over to our apartment.  Hubby traipsed most of the items upstairs, though I did carry one bag.  lol

Oh, I forgot, lol, after we brought everything upstairs, all 4 flights of stairs, we opened up the windows and were just generally checking things out, and I looked across the building from us, and there were 2 shaggy goats living on a roof.  Um... yeah.  lol

They are on the second floor I guess so I can easily look down on them.  I guess that is where they are being raised, though it doesn't seem like a very nice environment.  In any case, I took some pictures and a short video which I totally forgot about til just now, so I will have to upload those later.

There is a slight issue with water in the apartment, in what appears to be inside the walls?  Hubby says it's just water, but to me, the areas on the wall where there is a problem, it looks more like someone spilled something caustic on the wall and it's kind of... calcified up or something.  I dunno.  I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow.  I'm not happy about it whether it's water or something else.  Mold and mildew inside walls can cause a lot of health problems. 

And while we were there, the guys who worked in the owner's store downstairs carried the stove 4 flights up and set it up.  We still need to buy the gas tank for it but we are supposedly getting that tomorrow from the owner.  Of course, the stove manual is all in Arabic.  Not very helpful.  Oh, it has a rotisserie thingy inside the oven.  Not sure if we'll ever use it but it might be fun to try sometime.  Just not with company coming.  lol
Hubby says he'll read the manual to me.  I mean, not like I don't know how to operate a stove, but I've never used a brand new stove before to my recollection, and I want to make sure there's nothing to be done before we start using it.

Okay, are you tired of reading yet?  lol

Tomorrow, the plan is to leave sometime mid-morning with what belongings we have here at the in-laws, and then head over to another branch of one of the stores we went to today which is close to our apartment, to pick up so last few things to get settled into the apartment, and then insha'Allah, tomorrow we will stay!

I have SO much cleaning to do.  As in, washing all the kitchen items before use, cleaning out the kitchen cupboards and then lining the shelves, figuring out laundry, etc., etc. 
I plan to keep hubby busy.  :D

Hopefully my next post will be saying that we are all moved in.

I asked hubby what he wanted the first thing I cooked to be and he said lemon bars.  lol
I said, no, not baking and sweets, what do you want your first meal to be.  He said lemon bars.  hehe
My sweety.

I've been browsing all the recipes I've been collecting on the computer and I have a few here and there that I plan to make which are fairly simple since we won't have a fully equipped kitchen just yet.

Let's see how cooking with a gas stove and oven goes.  Should prove interesting.  I'm sure it's nicer in some respects but it's an adjustment.  Plus... fire!  lol

Alright, that's enough.  See you all tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Update 2

Well, hubby was busy today!

He and his helper were at the apartment doing a few things.

They took the wooden shutters down and washed them in the tub.  At least I think that's where they washed them.  Yes I will be cleaning the tub quite well before I step even a single bitty toe in it.

Before putting the shutters back on, they took what I believe from the description to be a staple gun, and stapled some sort of plastic sheeting to the outside, so that they are air tight and won't let dust in.

There is still areas around the edges of the windows and balcony doors where the air/dust can get in, but insha'Allah what they did today will decrease the amount of dust greatly.  Hubby says most of the dust was coming in through the shutters.

Hubby also contacted the guy who was doing the kitchen sink/cabinet.  He will go ahead and finish it, though I'm not sure when it will be done.  The basic frame is done but he needs to put on the outside wood layer and then put the marble on top.

We need to haul the stove up from the store downstairs that's been holding it for us.  The building owner and our landlord also runs a store on the bottom floor.  How convenient.  Only we didn't but the stove from there, he was just holding it for us.

I think the plan for tomorrow is to start buying some things for the kitchen and at least a couple of chairs to sit on.

Until we can get the carpet we would like for our personal living room, we'll put down a layer of... well, it's not exactly carpet padding like we know it in the States, it's some kind of thin material that um, I have no idea what it's made of.  We'll put that down and then perhaps some wall to wall carpet.  But I think that carpet will probably be thin and we'll end up getting a nice area carpet to go on top.  That all sounds kind of strange, so I dunno, we'll see.  But that room, with it's very bright green paint, definitely needs the floor completely covered so that the tile doesn't show.

Will update more tomorrow.

Not an update

We didn't get to bed til quite late last night, around 4:30 a.m.

During the evening, I had been sitting on the bed closer to the window in our bedroom, and I noticed that there were some strong winds outside for most of the night.

Well....owing to the fact that we have shutters and wooden windows with glass inset, and also to the building being a good 40+ years old, there isn't a way to keep the window and shutters from rattling in the wind.  Nothing fits tight or close anymore.

I woke up around 7:30 and was convinced I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.  I was worried about hubby going out later and if he would be okay.  Also worried about the 5 million pounds of dust I was surely inhaling while I slept.

Woke up again around 9 when hubby's alarm went off.  Also the window had blown open.  The "locking" mechanism on it is a little... worn and so it doesn't stay put for too long if there's enough wind.

Well.... it seems there is dust along with the wind, but not like the dust we had after I first got here.  That made the skies a horrible brownish color.  They are just kind of... very gray/dusty looking right now.

Winds roughly 30 miles per hour according to yahoo, though I think it's very likely we're getting gusts higher than that.  Hard for me to put a number on it.

It whips down the sides of the buildings and lashes against all of the trees around the apartment, banging them into the walls.

Also, it says it's 75 degrees!  I'm not sure I believe it, it still feels a bit chilly to me.

Definitely strange weather.

Hubby is at the apartment so I will update about that later.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Update 1

Well, no move today, but we did look at some stuff to buy and will be buying it tomorrow insha'Allah.

Hubby plans to go with a couple guys so they can do a quick clean on the floors because they are so dusty and he doesn't want me inhaling all the dust.

Then he plans to cover part of the windows/doors on the outside that is letting in all the dust.  He'll hopefully be getting some clear plastic sheeting that he can staple onto the wood shutters.

When we went out tonight to look at things, it was 20 minutes to walk to the store (at hubby's normally fast pace), 15 minutes of looking around, 20 minutes to walk to KFC where we waited 5 minutes for what turned out to be a horrible tasting sandwhich, and then 5 minutes back home.  It was a quick trip, just over an hour in all.  But nice to get out.  Well, except for all the exhaust we breathed in.  lol

I'll update again tomorrow with what is happening.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Maybe, just maybe

It seems that hubby's trip to Kuwait has been most probably put off until January, which is fine with me.
=)
I wish he didn't have to go, but hopefully it will bring in some more business, which is always good.

:::

I've been told.... that we might.... MOVE tomorrow.
Now... let's not get our hopes up, but it's possible.

We have stuff to buy, so it might be a couple days of buying stuff since hubby is taking 4 days or so off work, and after buying stuff, then maybe we will move.

In any case, a cautious yippee coming from me!

:::

My in-laws and I, minus hubby who was at work, went through some old family photos last night.
Hubby was so cute when he was little.  And he was so skinny!!  lol
There's definitely some keeper/blackmail photos in there. :D
It's always fun to see pictures of the people you love when they were younger.  When you only see them as adults, it's hard to remember they weren't always grown up.

Friday, December 11, 2009

No distance

Family is a topic that has more to write about and speak about than any one person has the time or probably the inclination.

We are all born of a mother and father, and even without siblings, the ancestors reach further back in time than we can easily trace.

There are a lot of sayings about family.  One that comes immediately to mind for me is, "blood is thicker than water", but here is a whole page full of sayings that are funny and quite often true, Family Sayings

I don't believe there is such a thing as a perfect family.  Even when we are alike, we are all so different.
There are bound to be squabbles over many things, the more mundane such as food and larger things such as politics or religion.

And yet, for the most part, most of us are lucky and blessed enough to love our family and be loved in return.

I feel doubly blessed because I've had the opportunity to have more than the normal family unit.  Since I was adopted, I have my biological family, and I have my adoptive family.  Two families instead of just one.  How lucky is that?  There could be twice the amount of squabbles, but what I have ultimately found is that really there is twice the love.

Although I am separated by quite a distance from the family I have grown to know and love, they are always with me in spirit, and in my heart.

There will always be memories I cherish that will bring my family so close to me it is as if there is no distance at all.

I have wonderful memories of taking longs walks with my father and discussing anything and everything.  That is something I won't forget, that I will hold dear for the rest of my life.

And likewise I have fond memories of my mother as well.  I think what we probably came closest on over the years was food, and a love of recipes and cooking.  She was always patient with me in the kitchen and always willing to show me how to do something or explain what she was doing.

So though at times I feel lonely for family and friends I knew, really they are right here with me, keeping me company in my memories and thoughts.

And, as it often happens in life, I now have a third family, the one that I married into!  And though it requires some patience and a lot of learning and adjusting, I care for them and they for me, like I belonged here all along.

Alhamdulillah for family, for love, and for memories.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Boats, planes and trains, oh my!

The last couple of days, hubby and I have been discussing a trip to the States.

At this point, it would be easier for me to go by myself (read cheaper), but I do want him to come and meet my family, and he is eager to visit the States in any case.

We talked about some different ways to travel instead of just straight plane trips the whole way.

One thought was to take the train to Alexandria, then take a boat over to Italy (or thereabouts) and then fly from Italy to the States.

After that, we can either fly direct in to San Francisco, or we can fly to the east coast and take an Amtrak train across the States, which takes a couple of days but would be exciting for the both of us.

I have traveled across the States in a car before, so I've seen a bunch of things, but Ahmed has never been in the US, and I think it would be really great for him to get this chance.

Also, we could stop and visit other family that way.

The only thing is, although the train trip isn't that expensive in itself, add to that the cost of flying, renting cars and staying in hotels while in California, and it stops being so cheap.

In any case, perhaps we can skip the boat part since I was having trouble finding any information on that anyways.  We can fly from Cairo to say Boston or so, start the Amtrak there and take it across the States, and then on our return just fly straight to Cairo.

Of course, it all depends on money.  Hubby thinks we will need like $10k for the trip, which sounds like a bit much to me, and I don't know when we'd ever have that much saved up, but we shall see.  I want to get there for spring break, which is beginning of April.

:::

I'm finally out of the hair conditioner that I brought with me from the States.  I use it sparingly, so it's lasted quite some time, but alas, it is done! 

This is a bit of a shame, as it was a nice organic conditioner, with no scent added.

Since I'm particularly sensitive to scents, this is of utmost importance when buying shampoo and conditioner.

I'm hoping I'll be able to find something to replace it.  I have heard some people using olive oil or egg or all kinds of food in their hair, but honestly, that just sounds way too messy for me.  Plus, I'd like to keep my food on the inside.  lol

I also ran out of the soap that I brought with me.  Ran out a couple of months ago actually.  Thankfully, we did find something to replace that.  I had been using Dove sensitive skin/ unscented.  The unscented part being the most important. 

They do sell Dove here, but not unscented, so that was a no go.  And they do sell 5 million kinds of scented soaps here, none of which appealed to me.

We finally found a glycerin soap that has no scent.  It's made in Egypt which is nice, as we can support the economy here instead of me buying all imported stuff.  I wish that they listed exactly what was in the soap though.  All I know is that it's glycerin and unscented.  I think they often times add other ingredients as well.

That is something I have noticed with products here, both beauty products and food, is that if it's produced in Egypt, they often don't have very comprehensive labeling.  Bakeries don't label anything with an ingredient list, which drives me crazy.

I guess the regulations here don't call for it.  Which is a shame.  At least as far as I'm concerned.

Monday, December 7, 2009

No ark just yet

I follow the weather forecast here, checking a few times a week, though these days there really isn't all that much variation.

I'd been looking the last few days and keeping track on the weather for today, as it said there was a 20% chance of rain.  I've seen that before in the forecast, a slim chance of rain, and it never happens, so I really wasn't expecting anything.  Particularly as I awoke to blue skies this morning.

But sure enough, a little after 3 p.m., it started pitter pattering outside.  Of course this required me to go out onto the back balcony and watch.

The skies still looked blue out the window while walking toward the balcony, which made it seem odd that it would be raining, but when I got outside and looked up I could see there was a big gray cloud overhead.

There were a few ladies in the building across the way who were dragging their laundry in off of the line so that it wouldn't get any more wet than it was.  Also... I have a feeling the rain is actually pretty dirty, and might leave your clothes dirtier than before you washed them!

I called hubby to see if it was raining at his work and it was.  He even saw a rainbow, though from the balcony I couldn't spot it.  That would have been just lovely.

The rain was short lived.  Less than 5 minutes.  But it was very refreshing and very welcome and it did cheer me up.

Needless to say, we are not building an ark just yet, but you never know, one of these days....

Sunday, December 6, 2009

In the middle

I've noticed that quite a few of the tubs/showers here have their incoming water spout/shower head in the middle of the side of the tub instead of at one end or the other.

This creates a little bit of an issue, as when you are standing in the middle of the tub, there isn't much room to move except from side to side, and that's not where the water is pointing to.

It means that taking a shower is always awkward.  Always.

Thankfully, at our new apartment the shower head is at the end of the tub.  Not that I've had a chance to actually use the shower yet.  lol

Another thing that causes me to ponder while in the shower is the water pressure.  Or lack thereof of a constant water pressure.  And along with that, lack of constant water temperature.

I don't know why the pressure isn't constant.  It seems to cycle up and down on a regular basis during the course of a shower.  When the pressure is at its height, the water is at the temp you like, when the pressure gets to its low spot, the water temperature cools down to a temp that is not exactly what you would like.

If you adjust the temp of the water to be what you like on the down pressure, it's too hot when it's at high pressure.

So... for our showering pleasure, we are trapped awkwardly in the middle of the tub, with varying water pressure and temperature.

Gotta love it.

:::

It's interesting to note that we often don't think about things that we can't see.  Hubby opened the blinds in the bedroom yesterday upon waking, and I could immediately see all the dust in the rays of sun streaming in.

The dust is always there, and yet we don't think about it when we can't see it.

Does that mean I should keep the blinds closed all the time so I don't see the dust?  lol

:::

No word on the Kuwait trip yet.

I thought I understood about being patient before I moved here, but it seems I was wrong.

I guess there is no way to know your limits until you really test them.  No matter how many times you think you can't take any more, you find a way when you need to.

:::

It's downright chilly here.  And the days are so short.  We're almost at the middle point, the shortest day, and then we will work our way back to lighter days.

It's almost a shame.  I can't say I care for such long dark days, however I'm definitely liking this weather better than the heat of the summer, which lasts for about 8 months of the year here. 

Four months of nice temps is not enough. 

Is there someplace in the world that's at about a constant 76 degrees with low humidity?  If so, I'd like to move there please.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

No lights

Because I am Muslim, and living in a country that is full of Muslims, I won't be witnessing the Christmas and holiday season like I would if I was living in the States.

I won't be hearing the sale ads on the radio and on television.

No Christmas specials on tv and no holiday cooking shows.

There will be no driving past many a house decorated brightly with all manner of lights and sparkly festive items.

And I miss it.

I thought it would be nice to get a break from the incessant advertising and commercialism that comes with the holiday season, and yeah, that part is nice to get a break from.  But it's only a small part of what makes the holiday season in the States.

Even though I don't technically celebrate Christmas anymore, the feeling that the holidays brings comes regardless of what holidays I celebrate.  When October and November hit, that holiday feeling starts up!

After 40 years of living through the holidays, that feeling of "holiday" is part of who I am I suppose.

The cold weather, the baking, the cheerful songs on the radio, people bustling around trying to get things done, and in general, people getting excited about something.

I don't miss the gifts, I just miss the feeling of being in the middle of and surrounded by everyone else getting excited and celebrating.  Well, and lets be honest, who doesn't like gifts, no matter the occasion?  lol

I guess this isn't coming out as clearly as I had wanted it to.

But I miss being in the States during the holidays.  Insha'Allah next year I will be able to visit, though if I'm visiting earlier in the year, around springtime, then perhaps I still won't be there for the holidays later in the year.

All things for the best.  I just need to remind myself that I'm here because it's where I need to be right now.

And after all, I can still carry that happy holiday spirit around in my heart.