A hundred things

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.


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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.

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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.