I hate it. I love it. It's okay.
It's smelly, it's dirty.
It's full of life.
I've been back and forth lately about my feelings for this city I live in. I feel sure I could find one hundred things I love about it, but also one hundred things that I hate.
I think this is probably normal? I've come to the conclusion that there is no perfect place as such, anywhere on earth. The only perfection we're going to find is the peace we find inside, no matter where we are living.
I find joy here. In the smallest things. A smile, a child walking along with its mother, the way people share with each other, the men who walk arm in arm as friends, there are really so many things and my mind has gone blank.
But I also find so much misery here, and things that make me despair. The beggars you find everywhere, the dirty crumbling buildings, the cart animals that are treated so badly, again there are so many things.
But I do find peace here. Despite the dirt and decay and rudeness and everyday lies people tell each other.
This city, it is full of life. I know there are many cities that could be said of. New York City, Chicago, San Francisco. Most large cities are full of life right? But it's different here. Each city has its own flavor so to speak, and I find that I don't care for San Francisco's flavor at all. It's nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. But Cairo, wow! The feeling here is just sublime. If you can let go and really feel this city, how can you not love it?
And now we're back to the wearing down. The traffic, the horns, the yelling, trash everywhere.
I hate it, I love it, It's okay.
:::
We went to visit the in-laws the other day and have lunch. When we got to the door and my mother in law opened it, the first thing she said when she saw me was "Mafeesh". lol
This word means finished in Egyptian. I have maybe lost a few pounds since she saw me last so this was her way of saying I am too thin, like I am all done. She is too funny.
:::
One thing I meant to mention which I don't think I did, was that really, it's a very BAD idea to wear jeans in the humidity here.
I never noticed this fact before because California isn't all that humid (it's actually pretty dry compared to most of the rest of the States), and I have not traveled enough in the humidity to other states at a time when I wore jeans it seems.
But, really, it's ugly. It doesn't matter if your jeans are lightweight and loose, you will still feel like you are the sweatiest thing around on two legs. It is VERY uncomfortable.
I thought I learned this the first time I wore them here on a humid night, but it seems I needed to wear them on another occasion to really get this lesson down. The second time I wore them was on a walk of about 45 minutes, so I had plenty of time for that to really sink in. lol
Am I the only one this affects? Or is the humidity here different? Is there some universal unwritten law that everyone knew but me about not wearing jeans in humidity?
Anyways, winter is coming alhamdulillah and jeans will be on the menu, humidity free! Woo!
:::
We recently celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Time is such a strange thing. Every year when I think about how long I have know my husband, somehow I'm always adding a year or two to the actual number of years. Why this happens I don't know except that time.... well, apparently it's not a constant in my mind.
I'm not sure we did anything too special that night, but I'm not sure we needed to?
Taking a few moments to acknowledge each other and how much we love each other, despite the normal ups and downs, that's enough right?
I remind myself often that even though things aren't perfect here in this country, they aren't perfect anywhere, and I'm happy that I can be with the one that I love. Alhamdulillah.
:::
No pictures this time but next time I'll try to post up some of Cairo tower (different or better than what I posted on Facebook) and also maybe a short video or two I took of it.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
What would you dooo-ooouuooo!
So, it seems that Fall has been teasing us for a while here, coming and going as it pleases. I'd appreciate it so much more if it would just stay for a while, until Winter lets say. The temperature at the moment is 104 degrees!
I know that even in November we could get an occasional day of 90's, but 104 in mid October? Bleeehhhhh.....
:::
We have a game here at the apartment that we play. I'll call it "What's That Noise?".
As it so happens, Cairo is a city that is chock a block full of more noises than you could possibly imagine. Hence the title of our game. Sometimes I think we can guess fairly well, and other times we are both left wondering.
There are often sounds which resemble a gunshot, but which could be a car back firing. And really, it could be either.
Quite often we hear loud bangs, as if someone has dropped a load of something heavy from a tall building onto the street. This is also quite possible but hard to verify unless it's happening within sight, which isn't likely.
There is one sound in particular which I hear, though hubby doesn't usually hear it as it seems to be more of a daytime sound. It's reminiscent of something you might hear at a fair. Kind of a squeaky horn type of deal. Or a badly tuned violin. The thing is, sometimes I hear it from further away, and sometimes it sounds very close. So it's apparently a mobile sound. But it's not the kind of thing you'd think would be a car horn, it's not loud and insistent enough to perform a horn's intended purpose. And it seems too loud and unlikely to be a bicycle horn. So this one is really a mystery.
We hear a lot of yelling. Sometimes from actual fights and sometimes people just talking over a longer distance. There is also a couple of periods during the day when kids get out of school (they have staggered start times so they get out a couple times a day) and they are very loud in the street. I wouldn't call it yelling so much but perhaps shouting. There's a difference ya know!
We hear so many noises that I can't begin to describe. It's kind of amusing. Because if we don't let it amuse us, it will drive us crazy.
:::
In a slightly related issue, we also have a "game" called, "What's That Smell??". This one is usually food related and so mostly enjoyable, but occasionally it is not food related and then it becomes quite less enjoyable.
The bad smells are usually coming from the kitchen drain. I don't know what people use in there but the variety of bad smells is truly amazing at times. It was actually fine for a while but recently I've taken to having to keep the plug in the drain so the smell doesn't permeate the entire kitchen and outwards.
We have a neighbor somewhere nearby that likes to cook up seemingly large batches of garlic at odd hours. We keep pretty late hours, so we are often up at 3 or 4 and we can smell the garlic as if we were standing in a field of it. It's just crazy. And this is with windows closed mind you.
I love the smell of garlic but sometimes it's a little much. The eyes water and I get a little sneezy.
I think the most fun is when I can smell something familiar cooking and I can't quite place it, so I kind of walk around doing whatever, sniffing every so often trying to figure out what it is. Sometimes I can catch part of what it is but am left wondering at other parts. Or I know that I've smelled it before, say at the in-laws, but don't know what it is.
And then there is the ever present smell of exhaust/bbq/smog. I know I've talked about it before. To me, if I was asked to pick one smell that represented this city, that would be it. And I have to say it's not all together a bad smell. I mean, it's not like having a bowl or roses on the table, but it's not stinky. Just a smell. The smell of home.
:::
We recently saw the movie Cairo Time, and I have to say, although the story was a bit slow, and that might be an understatement, the scenes from Cairo are amazingly real. Of course, they shot the movie here so it should seem real, but sometimes even when shooting a movie they can make it seem like something that it isn't. This film really gave a pretty good look at some ordinary life here. I'd say it's well worth a look if you're interested in seeing what daily life looks like here.
:::
The breast cancer walk is coming up this Saturday but I'm not sure if we're going to make it or not. We had wanted to go, or rather I had wanted to go, but sometimes things just don't pan out. I'm trying to remain positive but I just have a feeling we're going to miss this one.
We did talk about going to City Stars on Thursday though, which would be nice. It's the 5 story mall here that is actually one of the largest malls in the Middle East? It's certainly the largest mall in Egypt. It's quite huge. It might even be more than 5 stories, I can't remember.
But we thought we could walk around and maybe catch a film in the theater there. We tried to find the theater last time we were there but I think it's located in a slightly separate area than the mall itself and we weren't able to locate it.
And I've only been there once. And all we kind of did was take 5 hours to walk around the whole place, without actually really getting to look at too much in the stores themselves.
Sooo... not sure what the rest of the week will bring but hopefully we'll get out one way or another.
:::
Hopefully some good news coming regarding my mostly broken computer. It's at the HP certified repair/sales place right now. They said to call Thursday and they would let us know what was wrong.
We think it's a power issue, as it seems to be dying all the time. But weather it's the battery or the power cord, or possibly both, or something else all together we don't know.
We are hoping for an inexpensive fix, at which point we will fix it and sell it and get something better insha'Allah.
:::
Here's hoping for some cooler weather!
I know that even in November we could get an occasional day of 90's, but 104 in mid October? Bleeehhhhh.....
:::
We have a game here at the apartment that we play. I'll call it "What's That Noise?".
As it so happens, Cairo is a city that is chock a block full of more noises than you could possibly imagine. Hence the title of our game. Sometimes I think we can guess fairly well, and other times we are both left wondering.
There are often sounds which resemble a gunshot, but which could be a car back firing. And really, it could be either.
Quite often we hear loud bangs, as if someone has dropped a load of something heavy from a tall building onto the street. This is also quite possible but hard to verify unless it's happening within sight, which isn't likely.
There is one sound in particular which I hear, though hubby doesn't usually hear it as it seems to be more of a daytime sound. It's reminiscent of something you might hear at a fair. Kind of a squeaky horn type of deal. Or a badly tuned violin. The thing is, sometimes I hear it from further away, and sometimes it sounds very close. So it's apparently a mobile sound. But it's not the kind of thing you'd think would be a car horn, it's not loud and insistent enough to perform a horn's intended purpose. And it seems too loud and unlikely to be a bicycle horn. So this one is really a mystery.
We hear a lot of yelling. Sometimes from actual fights and sometimes people just talking over a longer distance. There is also a couple of periods during the day when kids get out of school (they have staggered start times so they get out a couple times a day) and they are very loud in the street. I wouldn't call it yelling so much but perhaps shouting. There's a difference ya know!
We hear so many noises that I can't begin to describe. It's kind of amusing. Because if we don't let it amuse us, it will drive us crazy.
:::
In a slightly related issue, we also have a "game" called, "What's That Smell??". This one is usually food related and so mostly enjoyable, but occasionally it is not food related and then it becomes quite less enjoyable.
The bad smells are usually coming from the kitchen drain. I don't know what people use in there but the variety of bad smells is truly amazing at times. It was actually fine for a while but recently I've taken to having to keep the plug in the drain so the smell doesn't permeate the entire kitchen and outwards.
We have a neighbor somewhere nearby that likes to cook up seemingly large batches of garlic at odd hours. We keep pretty late hours, so we are often up at 3 or 4 and we can smell the garlic as if we were standing in a field of it. It's just crazy. And this is with windows closed mind you.
I love the smell of garlic but sometimes it's a little much. The eyes water and I get a little sneezy.
I think the most fun is when I can smell something familiar cooking and I can't quite place it, so I kind of walk around doing whatever, sniffing every so often trying to figure out what it is. Sometimes I can catch part of what it is but am left wondering at other parts. Or I know that I've smelled it before, say at the in-laws, but don't know what it is.
And then there is the ever present smell of exhaust/bbq/smog. I know I've talked about it before. To me, if I was asked to pick one smell that represented this city, that would be it. And I have to say it's not all together a bad smell. I mean, it's not like having a bowl or roses on the table, but it's not stinky. Just a smell. The smell of home.
:::
We recently saw the movie Cairo Time, and I have to say, although the story was a bit slow, and that might be an understatement, the scenes from Cairo are amazingly real. Of course, they shot the movie here so it should seem real, but sometimes even when shooting a movie they can make it seem like something that it isn't. This film really gave a pretty good look at some ordinary life here. I'd say it's well worth a look if you're interested in seeing what daily life looks like here.
:::
The breast cancer walk is coming up this Saturday but I'm not sure if we're going to make it or not. We had wanted to go, or rather I had wanted to go, but sometimes things just don't pan out. I'm trying to remain positive but I just have a feeling we're going to miss this one.
We did talk about going to City Stars on Thursday though, which would be nice. It's the 5 story mall here that is actually one of the largest malls in the Middle East? It's certainly the largest mall in Egypt. It's quite huge. It might even be more than 5 stories, I can't remember.
But we thought we could walk around and maybe catch a film in the theater there. We tried to find the theater last time we were there but I think it's located in a slightly separate area than the mall itself and we weren't able to locate it.
And I've only been there once. And all we kind of did was take 5 hours to walk around the whole place, without actually really getting to look at too much in the stores themselves.
Sooo... not sure what the rest of the week will bring but hopefully we'll get out one way or another.
:::
Hopefully some good news coming regarding my mostly broken computer. It's at the HP certified repair/sales place right now. They said to call Thursday and they would let us know what was wrong.
We think it's a power issue, as it seems to be dying all the time. But weather it's the battery or the power cord, or possibly both, or something else all together we don't know.
We are hoping for an inexpensive fix, at which point we will fix it and sell it and get something better insha'Allah.
:::
Here's hoping for some cooler weather!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Picture day v 2.0
Whoopsie daisy! All those posts I have written in my head somehow haven't made it to the page here. Imagine that. :D
I've been able to do some photo editing so getting a little closer on the pyramid photo's. And in the meantime, here are some miscellaneous food ones. I think I mentioned them in my last post.
First up is the zucchini carpaccio. We liked it so much I think we had it 3 times that week. lol
Just thinly sliced zucchini with oil and lemon drizzled over, then some salt and pepper and last some asiago type cheese on top. Very yummy!
Next we have a couple of pictures of trying to figure out how to bake cookies since I don't have actual cookie sheets. I had been using a large pan tray thingy, but I found that the sides really hindered the baking.
Since this wasn't working well at all, I finally found something flat to use, with a slight modification. It's a uh, thingy you use over pans so that they don't splatter grease. At least I think that's what it's for. I just covered it with foil and it actually worked fairly well, so it is my current cookie sheet. Only having one, baking cookies is a slow and drawn out process.
Next we have the pizza I made from scratch. Well, I made the dough from scratch. I'm not quite making my own cheese yet. lol
The dough turned out really good and it was super super easy. I've been meaning to make it again but haven't yet. Soon insha'Allah.
So this is a before it went into the oven and an after it came out of the oven slide.
Here we have shots of my slices of pizza, minus sauce, and hubby's slices, which did have sauce.
And the final picture for this post, birthday cake! My husband and father kind of but not quite but still almost share a birthday. lol
So this cake was made for both of them, though unfortunately my dad did not get to taste any. Sorry dad!
But I thought of you when I was eating it. :D
:::
Since we're still having trouble with my laptop and I'm not able to use the computer as much, I'm doing more cleaning. There isn't a lot else to do. No tv and there's only so much laundry and dishes to do.
It's nice to get the cleaning done, though it tends to leave me a bit tired afterward. Also, it always feels slightly futile, especially any cleaning that gets done to the balconies, as I know that the dust will be back sooner that you can shake a rag at it. Nevertheless, it feels really nice to be surrounded by clean.
Still a couple of projects to be done, and then I'm not sure what I'll get up to. Still wishing on a sewing machine but not sure when I'll get it. I thought I would buy one when I got back from my trip to the States but holding off for now.
I do have plenty of books to read, however they are all on the computer, and so when it dies quite often, and with no warning, trying to read is a little frustrating. If we had libraries here like we do in the States I imagine I could keep quite occupied.
Hubby actually remembered a library that he used to go to when he was younger and so we will check that out soon insha'Allah and see if they loan books or have any in English.
:::
I found some information on the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt. They are having a walk later this month, well a walk/run, up at the pyramids. It's in connection with the Susan G. Komen foundation and also the Suzanne Muburak Peace Foundation (can't remember it's exact name - she's the President's wife).
The walk itself isn't that long, it's only supposed to last for a total of 45 minutes and I believe it's less than a mile. After the walk they'll have a parade and some ceremony type of thing. Everyone is welcome to join, men, women and children.
I've convinced hubby that we should do the walk. It's not that expensive and the money goes towards a good cause.
Here's a link to the page linky link
I'm really looking forward to this! Will try to take pictures of course.
And that's all folks!
I've been able to do some photo editing so getting a little closer on the pyramid photo's. And in the meantime, here are some miscellaneous food ones. I think I mentioned them in my last post.
First up is the zucchini carpaccio. We liked it so much I think we had it 3 times that week. lol
Just thinly sliced zucchini with oil and lemon drizzled over, then some salt and pepper and last some asiago type cheese on top. Very yummy!
Next we have a couple of pictures of trying to figure out how to bake cookies since I don't have actual cookie sheets. I had been using a large pan tray thingy, but I found that the sides really hindered the baking.
Since this wasn't working well at all, I finally found something flat to use, with a slight modification. It's a uh, thingy you use over pans so that they don't splatter grease. At least I think that's what it's for. I just covered it with foil and it actually worked fairly well, so it is my current cookie sheet. Only having one, baking cookies is a slow and drawn out process.
Next we have the pizza I made from scratch. Well, I made the dough from scratch. I'm not quite making my own cheese yet. lol
The dough turned out really good and it was super super easy. I've been meaning to make it again but haven't yet. Soon insha'Allah.
So this is a before it went into the oven and an after it came out of the oven slide.
Here we have shots of my slices of pizza, minus sauce, and hubby's slices, which did have sauce.
And the final picture for this post, birthday cake! My husband and father kind of but not quite but still almost share a birthday. lol
So this cake was made for both of them, though unfortunately my dad did not get to taste any. Sorry dad!
But I thought of you when I was eating it. :D
:::
Since we're still having trouble with my laptop and I'm not able to use the computer as much, I'm doing more cleaning. There isn't a lot else to do. No tv and there's only so much laundry and dishes to do.
It's nice to get the cleaning done, though it tends to leave me a bit tired afterward. Also, it always feels slightly futile, especially any cleaning that gets done to the balconies, as I know that the dust will be back sooner that you can shake a rag at it. Nevertheless, it feels really nice to be surrounded by clean.
Still a couple of projects to be done, and then I'm not sure what I'll get up to. Still wishing on a sewing machine but not sure when I'll get it. I thought I would buy one when I got back from my trip to the States but holding off for now.
I do have plenty of books to read, however they are all on the computer, and so when it dies quite often, and with no warning, trying to read is a little frustrating. If we had libraries here like we do in the States I imagine I could keep quite occupied.
Hubby actually remembered a library that he used to go to when he was younger and so we will check that out soon insha'Allah and see if they loan books or have any in English.
:::
I found some information on the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt. They are having a walk later this month, well a walk/run, up at the pyramids. It's in connection with the Susan G. Komen foundation and also the Suzanne Muburak Peace Foundation (can't remember it's exact name - she's the President's wife).
The walk itself isn't that long, it's only supposed to last for a total of 45 minutes and I believe it's less than a mile. After the walk they'll have a parade and some ceremony type of thing. Everyone is welcome to join, men, women and children.
I've convinced hubby that we should do the walk. It's not that expensive and the money goes towards a good cause.
Here's a link to the page linky link
I'm really looking forward to this! Will try to take pictures of course.
And that's all folks!
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