Gasoline clean

Well in the continuing saga of the computer being broken and the internet being out, things are still unsettled.  I was using hubby's very small mini laptop for a couple of days which isn't great for editing pictures on and though at the moment I'm on the old "broken" laptop, all my files are on a hard drive which is currently with hubby at work.  So, not sure when I'll get to finishing the editing of pictures from our walk.  I had really hoped to have them up rather quickly.

:::

The other day I noticed it smelled like gasoline in the bathroom and so I closed the window thinking that would keep the smell out.  Only it didn't.  I noticed it the next day as well and mentioned to hubby that it smelled like gasoline in the bathroom.  He said yeah he had noticed it too and that some people use gasoline to clean out their drains.

My mind kind of just boggled at that.  Whaaaaat?????  Who on earth would pour gasoline down their drain to clean it?  Bleach I can understand.  Cleaner specifically for drains I can understand.  But gas???  And especially down a shared drain when you don't know what someone else has put down as well?

Sometimes I'm really just stunned at the things people do here that would never fly or that are illegal in the States.

I'm still constantly amazed at the sight of whole families riding motorcycles and scooters, including newborn and young babies, and none of them wearing helmets.  Not to mention no one wearing seat belts in cars.

I actually heard something that was one of those amusing/sad things the other day.  There were t-shirts being made that had a seat belt printed on them so that it would look like you were wearing your seat belt while driving without you actually having to wear it. 

I'm not sure if people understand that they really do save lives or they think that the enforcement is just another way for the police here to earn money.  Which is what I was assured was the reason for the new enforcement.

This country is so behind in so many ways.  The thinking is so backward.  The education is just completely lacking.  And further, people don't seem to care.  I don't know if this is because they are too busy trying to survive and feed themselves and their families, or if there is some other reason.

Sometimes I feel sure that if everyone in this country could stop looking out for themselves for a while (I mean in terms of being greedy) and put their vision toward the common good and greater goal, this country might actually get somewhere.  But I'm doubtful that will happen. 

:::

A few weeks ago, just before the end of Ramadan, we went shopping at Metro and Alfa markets.  Metro we have been to before, so there wasn't a big surprise in terms of the products and imported goods they carry there, although this particular time they seemed to be lacking in a bunch of the things we are usually looking for.  Whether this was due to Eid coming and people stocking up or just the end of Ramadan and the store being depleted I'm not sure.

However, Alfa market was a whole new experience.  I had been wanting to go for quite some time now, maybe even as long as a year.  It just isn't really on our way anywhere so we never made it, though in reality it isn't all that far away.

Well, they do carry imported goods as well, and the store is quite a bit larger and carrying quite a bit more variety of goods.  Not all imported from the States, many imported from Europe, Germany in particular I noticed.

But, although they had more variety, they were also more expensive.  Remember that we don't try to figure out how much it would cost in dollars, we treat the pound as if it were a dollar.  So paying 30 pounds for some pickle relish was pretty steep.  Would you pay 30 dollars for a bottle of pickle relish?  Nevertheless, we did.  lol

We also bought some cereal.  Cereal is not as big here as it is in the States, and most of what I see is imported or a knockoff of the brands that sell in the States.  Just a few weeks before I had been visiting the folks in California, and had been eating Post lightly frosted shredded wheat for breakfast on many mornings, and though I had not seen any in our regular store here, I did see some at Alfa.  The price was just crazy though.  I told hubby it was too much to spend for a box of cereal.  He really wanted me to just get it so that I would have something to eat for breakfast besides the breads I make all the time.  So, 47 pounds for a box of cereal.   Crazy.

I'm actually just about to open the box now.  We had so much food towards the end of Ramadan and for Eid that I really didn't have a place to keep an open box of cereal, as I wanted to keep it in the fridge.  So... lightly frosted wheat, at 47 pounds, here I come!  I plan to eat small amounts at a time to make it last.  I just can't justify paying that much for cereal on a regular basis.  We also got a box of some knockoff brand of frosted flakes, but the price wasn't nearly as much at *only* 27 pounds.  lol

:::

New foods I have made lately, which will have pictures at some point here, include home made pizza, zucchini carpaccio, nachos, and salsa (no picture on that one).  There could be some more but that's what I'm remembering at the moment. 

I've also made a couple of things for hubby that he's never had before.  Sloppy joes, which I made with a mix I brought back from the States, and "American" style (or maybe just my style, lol) tuna sandwhiches.

Hubby never heard of mixing mayo and mustard and relish with tuna, they don't do that kind of thing here, so though he was skeptical of it he tried it and was actually really pleased with it and had it several times after the first.  He had always heard me talking about making my son tuna sandwiches when I was in the States and so he finally got to try them.  I realize people do tuna differently, some adding onions or celery or pickles or what have you, this is just how mine evolved.  Relish is easier than chopping up pickles.  lol

:::

So, hopefully pictures to come soon, just don't know when.

Oopsy Daisy!

Well my computer is trying to die on me again.  Poor old thing has been much used.

I'm still in the process of getting the pyramid walk pictures ready to post.  And until the computer is a little more stable that's kind of on hold.  Hopefully we will "fix" the computer in the next day or two and I can get back to editing pictures.

The weather has been much nicer as of late.  High 80's to low 90's.  Fall is coming for sure and I can't wait.
Of course, when it gets colder and I go to take a hot shower and the hot water doesn't last long enough I'll be wishing for warmer weather again. lol

I've done some nice baking and made some new dishes lately.  Exciting stuff.  I'll write about it later.

So, this is not really a post but kind of a post.  Just a holler that I'm still alive and as soon as this piece of... uh.. *ahem*, computer is fixed, I'll get back to posting and pictures insha'Allah.

This morning

Woke up waaaaay too early this morning.  Our sleep schedule since Ramadan ended has been very irregular and trying to get back to a decent schedule is painful.  I feel like a zombie.  lol

But, the plus side of getting up at or before 6 a.m. (4:45 a.m. this morning, unintentionally to be sure), instead of going to bed around that time, is that, well.... hmmm... I was sure I had a point there for a minute but upon further reflection, I can't think of anything.  lol

However the sky was interesting this morning.  Full of clouds and colors and not as humid as usual but still a bit damp.  It gets SO humid at night/early morning here.  Yesterday morning or the day before when we got up, there was actually a slight chill in the air and hardly any humidity.  Plus a bit of a breeze.  Very nice.

So anyways, back to the sky this morning, I took a picture, though I don't think this really captures how it looked in person.  The grey stuff that almost looks like buildings at the back of the skyline is just clouds!  Or smog.  Or uh, something.  It seems being precise isn't one of my strong points at 7 a.m.  lol

Walkabout

Well, we finally did it, we walked to the pyramids!  Wow it was a long walk, about two hours, but I got some great photo's along the way and at the pyramids themselves.

Will be making a page like I did for my vacation photo's so that it won't be too download heavy with pictures on the main page here.  I will link to it when I do, hopefully in the next day or so, but I hope to have at least a few photo's to post here in the main section within the next day.

Right now I'm exhausted (can't imagine how I'll feel tomorrow) and so more details will have to wait.


** Alright, it's officially tomorrow now.  Still tired but feeling some better.  I posted these photo's on facebook so if you've seen them there then there is nothing new.  Haven't started to work on the rest yet.  All in good time.  But I do need to get the writing done soon or I'll start forgetting, so hopefully in just a little bit.


Okay, it seems that blogger doesn't want to upload any of my pictures right now, so I'll try again later, sorry!

Eid Mubarak!

Well our month of fasting, Ramadan, is over.  Now we have our 3 days of celebration, Eid

I will try to post a little more this afternoon and add a few miscellaneous pictures.  At the moment I have pizza dough rising and I am about to make some cookies!

Hopefully tomorrow we'll be doing the special thing I mentioned in my last post and insha'Allah I will have some great pictures to go with a post about it.


** Pizza is out of the oven and eaten and MAN was it good!!  Relatively easy to make as well.  Will post a link to the dough recipe I used later, which is actually a 5 minute instruction video from youtube.  Yum!!
Looks like we'll be having pizza more regularly around here insha'Allah. 

=)

Best Days

Last night as I was laying (lying?) in bed and trying to sleep, I was thinking that I would ask my husband in the morning, what were his best days.  Not necessarily the happiest, but the best.

And then I started thinking of my own best days.

The first one I thought of, and this will sound weird until I explain it, is the day that I left to move to Egypt.

It was a sad day to be sure, leaving family and friends and home.

But it was also a day when I felt the love for my so so strongly.  And felt how much he really means to me.

It seems that in our day to day lives, when we live with people (or work with them or what have you), we tend to take them for granted.  We do the same things over and over, falling into ruts and grooves.  We forget how much we value someone and what they mean to us.  Even if you know you love them, until something happens to bump you from your rut or groove, you maybe forget the depth or strength.

My son means the world to me and I value him and the fact that he is in my life.  He is a wonderful individual and I'm so looking forward to seeing what he will contribute to this world.

Anyways, that was the first best day I thought of.  A reminder of how much I loved my son.

The second was the day I first visited Egypt and met my fiance (now husband).  Wow what a best day that was.  I don't remember all the details from that day.  But I remember riding in the cab on the way from the airport to his parent's house, and thinking how happy I was to be with him and in Egypt.

There are other days of course.  Hopefully we've all had many best days.  And many best days to come. 

:::

I meant to post more during Ramadan but that didn't seem to happen.  We're drawing to a close for the month with just under a week or so left to fast.  I believe the last day of fasting will be next Thursday insha'Allah.
And then we will have 3 days of Eid, in which most people are off work and celebrating.  It's kind of like Christmas in the States.  Visiting with family, lots of good food, wearing nice clothes, etc.

We have a plan during Eid, to do something special, but I don't want to talk about it until we do it insha'Allah and then hopefully I'll have some pictures to post.  I'm really excited and can't wait.