Just wanted to pop in and say hello. I have not been able to post in several days. The reason is that we have recently returned to the States. The flight, even though it was long, was pretty uneventful. We had an 11 hour layover in Jordan, but we were given a hotel room to spend most of the night in. I think that helped us stay more rested up than spending the night in the airport.
This is our 4th day in the States, and it seems like we hit the ground running, and have not slowed down since. We are staying with my in-laws, but we are trying to decide what to do about a place to live, since we are back for a year this time. We looked at a lovely apartment which is within walking distance from the school Levi might be attending. We have also been looking for a house (it has to be fairly cheap) to buy. Please keep us in your prayers on this matter.
It has been great to be able to see family, especially our son, who lives here in the States with his grandparents.
Hopefully when things settle down a bit I will be able to get back into blogging mode and keep you all up to date about what we miss from Egypt and about our re integrating back to this culture.
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
McArabias and Mango Sundaes
We all know that different cultures of the world have different foods, but I think one fast food place is becoming very common among most cultures, and that is McDonalds. When we first moved here, I know there were McDonalds restaurants here, but I was really surprised to see how many there were. They are everywhere. Just in the suburb we now live in, I can think of 5.
One of the nice things about living in Egypt is that we can order McDonalds. We can call on the phone, or we can even order on-line. We have just started using the on-line site lately, and it is something I am going to miss. Actually, you can order from any restaurant by phone, and the on-line site has a large variety of restaurants to order from.
Another thing that is neat about McDonalds here is that sometimes they have choices of food that are culturally adapted. By that, I mean that they have items on the menu that you might not see in other parts of the world. Above are some pictures of some of the different foods that are offered here in Egypt. I have tried the McArabia (grilled Kofta) and I have recently discovered the Mango Sundae. The McArabia was very good, but it is a huge sandwich; almost too much for me to eat. And the Mango Sundae: I think I am addicted. I love them. It is too bad we are getting ready to leave Egypt for a while. I will really miss them.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Colors of Egypt
Normally, there is not a lot of color here in Egypt. Because of all of the sand, and the buildings, most everything here is different variations of the color beige. I have been surprised though at how much "green" there is. Egyptians take pride in their park areas, and they are always watering, tending, and sculpting them.
In the States, my favorite season is Fall. I love the way the weather starts to cool, after a hot, humid summer. I love the smells associated with Fall, such as cinnamon, apple cider, and warm pumpkin pies. But my favorite thing about the Fall is the lovely colors the trees turn this time of the year. Well, in Egypt, we don't have much of any of these things in the Fall. It does not cool down much from the summer, if we have the smells, it is only because I, or other foreigners are baking (around Thanksgiving), and the trees do not turn different colors, at least in the fall.
When in Egypt, my favorite season is spring. There are many beautiful colors that come out in the spring, and believe it or not, many of these colors are in the trees. Now, the leaves do not turn colors, or anything like that, but the trees have many different colors of flowers that bloom in them. Now I have to admit, at this point, that I am a little late on catching some of the colors. We have some trees that bloom with lavender and a deep reddish maroon color that I missed getting a picture of, but I did happen to catch a couple of trees with blooms of a bright orange, and one with yellow.
Hope you like the pictures above. I will try to get some more pictures of the colorful trees and bushes and post them soon.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Change of Scenery
The previous view from our balcony.
The narrow street on which we now live.
This is the view of our new apartment from the outside.
Sorry it has been a while since I last posted. There are so many things going on here and it is hard to get the time to post. We just recently moved, and we are still living out of boxes, and it is the end of the school year. So many things go on at this time, and it is very easy to get a little overwhelmed. Also, I like to supply my readers with pictures, and it has been hard to find the time to just get out and take pictures.
In about a month, we will be heading to the States to stay for a year. We have some issues going on that we feel would be better taken care of by doing that at this time. Some of my immediate family is experiencing health problems, our youngest son will be going back to complete his final two years of high-school, etc. So, I want to do a few blogs before we leave. It should be easy to get in several. The area we live in now is much more accessible to different aspects of daily life in Egypt.
This is the first blog pertaining to those things. I wanted to post some pictures just to give you an idea of the difference in scenery. In our last apartment, we were in an area where there were a lot of wide, open spaces. The view out of our window was of large, grassy places where kids gathered to play, but the area we now live in is nothing like that. As you can see from the pictures above, the street we now live on is very narrow, and the apartment buildings are very close to one another. Because of this, there is more noise. It is very usual here to hear people in building next door to you, just having a normal conversation. It gets very interesting though, when the neighbors have an argument. I have heard one or two since moving to the new place, but last night we heard a good one. People were yelling, screaming, slamming doors, etc. For the most part, we just go on with our lives and stay out of their business. In the States, we would have been calling the police because of a domestic disturbance. The people here are a very passionate and expressive people, and we know there is nothing we can do anyway.
Another noise that is heard here more than at our old apartment is the cats that live on the streets. This is even made louder by the fact that we now live on the ground floor. We have one cat that pretty much "lives" on our balcony. I think she has been tamed by someone before because she is always trying to come in the house, and one day while I was out on the balcony, she was rubbing up against my legs. Now this can be a problem in several ways. First of all, we do not want her to come in because that might draw more cats into the house who are not so tamed. And, second of all, our daughter Kaily is allergic to cats. (I'll try to post some pictures of some of the cats at a later date.)
One more noise I'll mention in this post, is the sound of the street vendors who walk up and down the street trying to sell things. The most common one we hear is the man who sells the local bread. He walks down the street yelling "aieeeeesh" (pronounced with a long "i" sound at the beginning). We have many other types of vendors that do this, and one day, I will post a blog about them too.
It is very different, after being in Elrehab for 3 years, but it is like being with a long lost friend who you haven't seen in a while. I did not realize how much I had missed being away from the things I had gotten used to in our first few years here.
The narrow street on which we now live.
This is the view of our new apartment from the outside.
Sorry it has been a while since I last posted. There are so many things going on here and it is hard to get the time to post. We just recently moved, and we are still living out of boxes, and it is the end of the school year. So many things go on at this time, and it is very easy to get a little overwhelmed. Also, I like to supply my readers with pictures, and it has been hard to find the time to just get out and take pictures.
In about a month, we will be heading to the States to stay for a year. We have some issues going on that we feel would be better taken care of by doing that at this time. Some of my immediate family is experiencing health problems, our youngest son will be going back to complete his final two years of high-school, etc. So, I want to do a few blogs before we leave. It should be easy to get in several. The area we live in now is much more accessible to different aspects of daily life in Egypt.
This is the first blog pertaining to those things. I wanted to post some pictures just to give you an idea of the difference in scenery. In our last apartment, we were in an area where there were a lot of wide, open spaces. The view out of our window was of large, grassy places where kids gathered to play, but the area we now live in is nothing like that. As you can see from the pictures above, the street we now live on is very narrow, and the apartment buildings are very close to one another. Because of this, there is more noise. It is very usual here to hear people in building next door to you, just having a normal conversation. It gets very interesting though, when the neighbors have an argument. I have heard one or two since moving to the new place, but last night we heard a good one. People were yelling, screaming, slamming doors, etc. For the most part, we just go on with our lives and stay out of their business. In the States, we would have been calling the police because of a domestic disturbance. The people here are a very passionate and expressive people, and we know there is nothing we can do anyway.
Another noise that is heard here more than at our old apartment is the cats that live on the streets. This is even made louder by the fact that we now live on the ground floor. We have one cat that pretty much "lives" on our balcony. I think she has been tamed by someone before because she is always trying to come in the house, and one day while I was out on the balcony, she was rubbing up against my legs. Now this can be a problem in several ways. First of all, we do not want her to come in because that might draw more cats into the house who are not so tamed. And, second of all, our daughter Kaily is allergic to cats. (I'll try to post some pictures of some of the cats at a later date.)
One more noise I'll mention in this post, is the sound of the street vendors who walk up and down the street trying to sell things. The most common one we hear is the man who sells the local bread. He walks down the street yelling "aieeeeesh" (pronounced with a long "i" sound at the beginning). We have many other types of vendors that do this, and one day, I will post a blog about them too.
It is very different, after being in Elrehab for 3 years, but it is like being with a long lost friend who you haven't seen in a while. I did not realize how much I had missed being away from the things I had gotten used to in our first few years here.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A Breath of Fresh Air (Literally)
Just thought I'd post a picture of my favorite cup of coffee on Valentine's Day.
A group of kids cleaning the streets of Egypt.
Since last Thursday, February 11th, things have seemed a little different here in Egypt. For the most part, Egyptians are walking with their heads held a little higher and with more of a smile on their faces. When walking the streets of Cairo, you normally see the sadness in their faces. Sometimes they are very angry and hateful in traffic, but we always keep in mind that alot of these people do not have a reason to smile.
As you know though, that pride and happiness they are feeling is coming from their victory in their demonstrations in Tahrir (Liberation) Square last week.
One thing that has resulted from this is that the people feel a little more proud of being Egyptian. Because of this pride, people have decided to try to "clean" up Egypt, literally. You see, normaly the streets of Egypt are filled with trash. There are people who are hired to clean the streets, and because of that, people are very used to just throwing their trash in the streets.
I just happened to be walking down the street with my family last Saturday, and we saw a young group of people cleaning some trash off the street, so I asked them if I could take their picture and they said yes.
Also, people are in better moods because all of the normal shops and restaurants are open again. Just thought I'd post a picture of what my husband's mocha from Costa looked like on Valentine's Day. I know that I am much more cheerful now that my favorite coffee shop is open again.
A group of kids cleaning the streets of Egypt.
Since last Thursday, February 11th, things have seemed a little different here in Egypt. For the most part, Egyptians are walking with their heads held a little higher and with more of a smile on their faces. When walking the streets of Cairo, you normally see the sadness in their faces. Sometimes they are very angry and hateful in traffic, but we always keep in mind that alot of these people do not have a reason to smile.
As you know though, that pride and happiness they are feeling is coming from their victory in their demonstrations in Tahrir (Liberation) Square last week.
One thing that has resulted from this is that the people feel a little more proud of being Egyptian. Because of this pride, people have decided to try to "clean" up Egypt, literally. You see, normaly the streets of Egypt are filled with trash. There are people who are hired to clean the streets, and because of that, people are very used to just throwing their trash in the streets.
I just happened to be walking down the street with my family last Saturday, and we saw a young group of people cleaning some trash off the street, so I asked them if I could take their picture and they said yes.
Also, people are in better moods because all of the normal shops and restaurants are open again. Just thought I'd post a picture of what my husband's mocha from Costa looked like on Valentine's Day. I know that I am much more cheerful now that my favorite coffee shop is open again.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Focus on the Good
A widely circulated photo of Christians surrounding Muslims during their prayer time to keep them safe.
Egyptians are using whatever they can find to make barriers into neighborhoods to protect the people and their belongings.
These next 2 photos are of the men who have come together and are protecting the streets, literally around the clock.
The whole world is watching what is going on in Egypt. It is kind of surreal being here at this time. As my younger son said "It's kind of cool being here right now." For those of you who know him, you understand. Our family has received so many emails, phone calls, and posts on Facebook to tell us they are praying for us. There is nothing like being in a country going through a revolution to help you get thrown to the forefront of peoples' minds. We are so thankful for all of the prayers.
The sad thing is, in lots of cases, people who have reached us have told us of things they have heard on the news that is not true or are over exaggerated.
For one, someone told us they heard on the news that the US was recommending all US citizens should get out of Egypt. A dear friend of mine called Washington, and my husband called the US Embassy here. They both told us the same thing. They said they are advising Americans, if they have enough food, to stay put. They did not know why people were getting the idea the US was promoting the idea of "getting out". There are reportedly somewhere between 50,000 and 90,000 Americans in Egypt, and the last I heard, there had been only around 2,000 that have left.
Another thing that had been reported was that the violence had turned towards foreigners living here and that foreigners were being hunted down, kidnapped, etc. This is very untrue. The Egyptians are very focused on the revolution. They are very focused on coming together, Christian and Muslim, young and old, rich and poor, for one reason: their freedom. They are not even thinking about the foreigners living here right now.
One of the things that can really hurt is the way the media goes about reporting the news. Usually they focus on the bad things that are happening. They fail to focus on the good things. There are so many good things happening here. Neighbors are helping each other. We have met neighbors we may have never met before. They are asking if we are doing ok and if we need anything. We had neighbors bring us water one day when the water had been turned off. This has never happened before. Neighborhoods all over Egypt have formed "Neighborhood watch" groups, to protect their homes, families, and friends.
As a Christian, I read from the Bible that we go through trials. Those trials come into our lives to make us stronger. This is our prayer for Egypt right now. We are praying that what they are going through right now will make them a better and stronger nation. There have been inspiring pictures of people helping each other and putting their differences aside, such as the picture above of the Christians surrounding the Muslims to keep them safe as they pray. This mirrors what happened a few weeks ago when Muslims surrounded churches to keep them safe after a bombing of a church in Alexandria.
How ironic as I am sitting here writing this that CNN is doing a report on how people are helping each other with food and drinks down in Tahrir Square. It is showing how everyone is bringing food and drinks and sharing it with each other. They even offered the reporter and the camera man some. I hope that many across the world see this report of acts of kindness amid all of the reports of violence and anger.
So, even though there have been very rough times during the last week and a half, there is a lot of good coming out of the situation as well. As we say in Egypt, elhumdulallah (sp?), which means "the praise goes to God". This is our prayer.
Egyptians are using whatever they can find to make barriers into neighborhoods to protect the people and their belongings.
These next 2 photos are of the men who have come together and are protecting the streets, literally around the clock.
The whole world is watching what is going on in Egypt. It is kind of surreal being here at this time. As my younger son said "It's kind of cool being here right now." For those of you who know him, you understand. Our family has received so many emails, phone calls, and posts on Facebook to tell us they are praying for us. There is nothing like being in a country going through a revolution to help you get thrown to the forefront of peoples' minds. We are so thankful for all of the prayers.
The sad thing is, in lots of cases, people who have reached us have told us of things they have heard on the news that is not true or are over exaggerated.
For one, someone told us they heard on the news that the US was recommending all US citizens should get out of Egypt. A dear friend of mine called Washington, and my husband called the US Embassy here. They both told us the same thing. They said they are advising Americans, if they have enough food, to stay put. They did not know why people were getting the idea the US was promoting the idea of "getting out". There are reportedly somewhere between 50,000 and 90,000 Americans in Egypt, and the last I heard, there had been only around 2,000 that have left.
Another thing that had been reported was that the violence had turned towards foreigners living here and that foreigners were being hunted down, kidnapped, etc. This is very untrue. The Egyptians are very focused on the revolution. They are very focused on coming together, Christian and Muslim, young and old, rich and poor, for one reason: their freedom. They are not even thinking about the foreigners living here right now.
One of the things that can really hurt is the way the media goes about reporting the news. Usually they focus on the bad things that are happening. They fail to focus on the good things. There are so many good things happening here. Neighbors are helping each other. We have met neighbors we may have never met before. They are asking if we are doing ok and if we need anything. We had neighbors bring us water one day when the water had been turned off. This has never happened before. Neighborhoods all over Egypt have formed "Neighborhood watch" groups, to protect their homes, families, and friends.
As a Christian, I read from the Bible that we go through trials. Those trials come into our lives to make us stronger. This is our prayer for Egypt right now. We are praying that what they are going through right now will make them a better and stronger nation. There have been inspiring pictures of people helping each other and putting their differences aside, such as the picture above of the Christians surrounding the Muslims to keep them safe as they pray. This mirrors what happened a few weeks ago when Muslims surrounded churches to keep them safe after a bombing of a church in Alexandria.
How ironic as I am sitting here writing this that CNN is doing a report on how people are helping each other with food and drinks down in Tahrir Square. It is showing how everyone is bringing food and drinks and sharing it with each other. They even offered the reporter and the camera man some. I hope that many across the world see this report of acts of kindness amid all of the reports of violence and anger.
So, even though there have been very rough times during the last week and a half, there is a lot of good coming out of the situation as well. As we say in Egypt, elhumdulallah (sp?), which means "the praise goes to God". This is our prayer.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
A Wonderful Experience
My husband, youngest son and I at the top.
This is what it looked like from the top no matter which way you looked. Amazing, huh?
And finally, another picture of me, at the top.
This past weekend, my husband, son and I got to experience something wonderful. If you live in Egypt or plan to visit, one thing that is a must is to be able to climb Mt. Sinai. We have lived in Egypt for 8 years now and have always planned on doing this, but for some reason we put it off till now. I will tell you it was not an easy experience, and along the way I had my doubts I would make it all the way to the top, but I can be pretty determined at times. So, I just kept pushing and pushing till finally, I was at the top. They say, it usually takes people 2-4 hours to reach the top, and it took me 3. Then we spent 30-45 minutes at the top before we began our descent, whick took 2 hours. So all in all it took us about 6 hours. Boy were we exhausted and ready to go to bed.
There are two ways to get up the mountain. One of them is a "camel path" that you can walk or ride a camel up, and we chose to walk. It is a 3-mile long path, with plenty of twists and turns and some obstacles (such as big stones) in your way. Then there is the wind and the cold. The wind, at times, was horrendous, and the farther up you got, the colder it got. The other way to get up the mountain is by steps. We did not take this way, so I do not know much about it, but I do know there are 3,750 steps. Like I said, I don't know much about this way, so I don't know if it would be easier or harder. Maybe, (and that's a big maybe) if we ever decide to go back we will try the stairs and be able to compare the two paths. In all probability though, if we ever decide to go back, we will probably ride the camels. ;o)
For right now I'm just going to post a few pictures of our wonderful experience, and I will save some of the other exciting information about the whole experience for future posts.
This is what it looked like from the top no matter which way you looked. Amazing, huh?
And finally, another picture of me, at the top.
This past weekend, my husband, son and I got to experience something wonderful. If you live in Egypt or plan to visit, one thing that is a must is to be able to climb Mt. Sinai. We have lived in Egypt for 8 years now and have always planned on doing this, but for some reason we put it off till now. I will tell you it was not an easy experience, and along the way I had my doubts I would make it all the way to the top, but I can be pretty determined at times. So, I just kept pushing and pushing till finally, I was at the top. They say, it usually takes people 2-4 hours to reach the top, and it took me 3. Then we spent 30-45 minutes at the top before we began our descent, whick took 2 hours. So all in all it took us about 6 hours. Boy were we exhausted and ready to go to bed.
There are two ways to get up the mountain. One of them is a "camel path" that you can walk or ride a camel up, and we chose to walk. It is a 3-mile long path, with plenty of twists and turns and some obstacles (such as big stones) in your way. Then there is the wind and the cold. The wind, at times, was horrendous, and the farther up you got, the colder it got. The other way to get up the mountain is by steps. We did not take this way, so I do not know much about it, but I do know there are 3,750 steps. Like I said, I don't know much about this way, so I don't know if it would be easier or harder. Maybe, (and that's a big maybe) if we ever decide to go back we will try the stairs and be able to compare the two paths. In all probability though, if we ever decide to go back, we will probably ride the camels. ;o)
For right now I'm just going to post a few pictures of our wonderful experience, and I will save some of the other exciting information about the whole experience for future posts.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Pictures From the Past
An old sausage press.
Can anyone tell me what this is? (Answer on bottom.)
The picture above, that I asked about, is a toaster. Some of you may have known, but it really threw me at first.
These are just some more pictures I took at Wilson's Creek Battlefield.
Can anyone tell me what this is? (Answer on bottom.)
The picture above, that I asked about, is a toaster. Some of you may have known, but it really threw me at first.
These are just some more pictures I took at Wilson's Creek Battlefield.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
You'd never see "That" in Cairo #1
A view from one of our previous apartments in Cairo. We lived on the 18th floor here.
The front of my in-laws' home.
The back of my in-laws' home.
A view of their back yard.
As I was driving around today, I kept seeing things that made me think "Hmm, you'd never see that in Cairo". So, I decided to do a series of posts of things that one might see here in the States (or in Missouri) but you would never see in Cairo, or things that might be different.
I thought I'd do the first one on the place we are staying in the States. We are staying with my husband's parents, and they have a beautiful, ranch-style home with a basement. Also, their home sits on 10 acres. There is a lot of wooded area, and they have several horses on the back part of it. Most homes in Cairo are apartments, and one has lots and lots of people around, above and under them. My in-laws have neighbors, but only one family to the South of them and one family to the North.
Where we stay in the States has lots of "green" around it. By this I mean trees and grass. In Cairo, there is just a lot of "beige". Most of the buildings are one form of this color, and then you have the desert. Most of the land mass around my in-laws home is grass-covered land, and in Cairo it is mainly concrete.
Fortunately, Tim and I have moved to a new area just a little outside of Cairo, and there is a little more greenery in the form of grass and trees. So we have a bit of a mixture of what we are used to in the State, and what there is in Cairo.
The front of my in-laws' home.
The back of my in-laws' home.
A view of their back yard.
As I was driving around today, I kept seeing things that made me think "Hmm, you'd never see that in Cairo". So, I decided to do a series of posts of things that one might see here in the States (or in Missouri) but you would never see in Cairo, or things that might be different.
I thought I'd do the first one on the place we are staying in the States. We are staying with my husband's parents, and they have a beautiful, ranch-style home with a basement. Also, their home sits on 10 acres. There is a lot of wooded area, and they have several horses on the back part of it. Most homes in Cairo are apartments, and one has lots and lots of people around, above and under them. My in-laws have neighbors, but only one family to the South of them and one family to the North.
Where we stay in the States has lots of "green" around it. By this I mean trees and grass. In Cairo, there is just a lot of "beige". Most of the buildings are one form of this color, and then you have the desert. Most of the land mass around my in-laws home is grass-covered land, and in Cairo it is mainly concrete.
Fortunately, Tim and I have moved to a new area just a little outside of Cairo, and there is a little more greenery in the form of grass and trees. So we have a bit of a mixture of what we are used to in the State, and what there is in Cairo.
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