A Trip to the Salon

Since being back in the States, I have made a couple of trips to the salon. Once for a slight trim and low-lights, and once for a manicure and pedicure. The prices for things here are much higher than they are in Egypt. I get a cut for about $5.00 there, compared to $18.00 here, and the manicure and pedicure there would cost me around $3.50 (total) compared to $20.00 here. Now, I have to admit I go to a Cosmetology school and have the manicure and pedicure done because I refuse to pay what you would normally pay in a normal salon.

I have gone to the same guy in Egypt for about 8 years. His name is Osama. He is a really nice guy and speaks excellent English. That is one of the reasons I go to him. I speak Arabic pretty well, but my hair is not something I want to be misunderstood on.

This is Osama.

Also, I have become very good friends with some of the women who work there doing manicures, pedicures, etc. It was really nice because a couple of months before we came back to the States, we moved to an apartment that was within walking distance from my salon. This made it nice for me to just be able to pop in on them and visit.

A Very Dangerous Discovery

In my last post, I mentioned that I miss our favorite coffee place called Costa, in Egypt. I also mentioned that, in Egypt, there is a coffee shop on almost every corner. Well, here in the States, it is that way with ice cream, frozen yogurt and frozen custard places. This can be much more dangerous due to the amount of fat and calories in these items.

Inside "The Orange Leaf"

Well, recently, some good friends took my husband and I out to eat. After dinner, they took us to a place called "The Orange Leaf". This place is AMAZING! It is a frozen yogurt shop, and it works like this:

1st, you get your bowl. They come in two sizes: large and extra-large.

2nd, you walk around the room and get as much and as many flavors of frozen yogurt as you want. The choices of flavors are:

Tart, Vanilla, Chocolate, Honeydew, Green Tea, Kiwi, Strawberry, Mango, Pomegranate, Mint Chocolate, Coffee Lover, Raspberry, Lemon, Orange, Peach, Green Apple, Passion Fruit, Watermelon, Cherry, Dole Pineapple, Blueberry, Peanut Butter, Cheese Cake, Cookies & Cream, White Chocolate, Banana, Coconut, Cake Batter, Red Velvet, Pistachio and Chocolate Raspberry

This picture shows a lady getting ready to choose which kinds of frozen yogurt she wants from the many flavors available.

3rd, you put toppings on top. Again, you can choose as many toppings as you want. The toppings to choose from are:

Kiwi, Pear, Mochi, Pecan, Peach, Honey, Mango, Banana, Granola, Coconut, Nuts, Pineapple, Blueberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, Raspberry, Honey Dew, Jelly Bellies, Cranberries, Watermelon, Oreos, Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Pebbles, Brownie, Gummy Bears, Dark Chocolate, Captain Crunch, Sunflower Seed, Dried Fruits, Graham Cracker, M&M's, Sprinkles, Marshmallows, Butterfinger, Reeses Cups.

A small section of the selection of toppings.

4th, you weigh and pay. Your yogurt is weighed and you pay for the amount you have taken.

And last but not least, enjoy your one-of-a-kind masterpiece you made yourself.

A sample picture of what your "masterpiece" could look like.

Like my title says, this is a very dangerous discovery for me. I love frozen yogurt, but I hope I can resist the temptation to stop at "The Orange Leaf" when I am passing by.

Things I Miss

We have been back in the States for 2 weeks now. Even though it has been such a short time, there are things I miss.

One thing I miss is the wonderful coffee shops in Cairo. When we arrived in Cairo back in 2002, there was really only one place that we found that offered a good variety of coffee choices. Now, there are lots of different places to choose from. The place that has our favorite coffee is a place called "Costa", but there are other places such as Starbucks, Cilantro, Harris Cafe, Beanos, Gloria Jeans, and probably several others I am forgetting.


My favorite choice of coffee from Egypt: Cafe Mocha from Costa.

Another thing I miss is being to get almost anything you need delivered to your home. We especially took advantage of the restaurants that delivered. I think I have mentioned this in a post before, but almost all food places in Egypt deliver. You can order by phone, or there is a wonderful website you can go to and order almost anything there, and it is usually delivered to your home in 30 minutes to an hour.


These are the motorcycles McDonalds uses to deliver with. All restaurants, pharmacies and other places deliver with these types of motorcycles.

A third thing I miss is all the wonderful friends we have made while living in Cairo. Not only has God blessed us with many Egyptian friends, but we have made friends from many countries. We have been blessed beyond measure to have been given the opportunity and pleasure of meeting so many interesting and wonderful people.


This is Samea. Samea works at the hair salon I have been going to for around 8 to 8 1/2 years now. I have known her for most of that. The day I went in to say good-bye, she cried.

And last, but definitely not least, the thing I miss the most is my daughter. Our daughter came back to Cairo to live with us last year. She taught some classes at the school our son attends, and when we decided to come back to the States (this time for a year), she decided to stay and teach for another year. It was such a blessing to have her back with us after being away from her for 4 years. Now the tables have turned though, and we are in the States and she is on the other side of the world. It feels different knowing she is there without us, but we do not worry about her much. Remember those friends I talked about earlier? Well, there are enough of them there that I know she will be well taken care of, and besides that, I know God is there with her and watching over her.


Our daughter with some of her students. She is such a good teacher, and she loves her students so much. I'm so proud of her.

I'm sure in the months to come there will be many more things I will start missing about Cairo: this place that has been our home for the past 9 1/2 years, but for now, I'm going to try to enjoy the things I have missed from the States. I'll be posting on those things in the days to come.

Settling In

Well, we have been back to the States for a week-and-a-half. We literally hit the ground running and have not slowed down. There are so many things to do to try to settle in for a whole year. Usually when we are here, we are only here for a couple of months so we stay with my in-laws, but I really doubt they want us hanging around and living with them for a whole year.

We have kept very busy during the time we have been here. That is why I have not been able to post much lately. We have been to a family reunion, bought a car, bought cell phones and gotten service, celebrated Independence Day with family, went to Silver Dollar City (an old-fashioned theme park in Branson, Mo.), and, as I mentioned in my last post, been looking for a home to either rent or buy. We actually decided on renting, and today found a house to rent. We are both happy with the house we found. It is very close to the school our son will be attending, plus, it is only a stone's throw away from Wal-Mart: LITERALLY! When we look out our back door we can see Wal-Mart. Of course, this is the part that made me happy. The house will not be ready to move into for 2 more weeks, but that is ok. I think my in-laws may be able to put up with us for that long.

Sorry there have been no pictures for the last two posts. Hope to get some soon though.