The swim cap....a very cranky post....

some of you wanted to see a photo, but after seeing this, I'm sure you all will wish you had NOT seen it! I refuse to be photographed in just the stupid swim cap...this is as good as it's going to get!

Rob is always looking for a project - his latest will be to find me a larger size! The large store I went to said this is as big as they have and it's large....ok...well I must have the largest brain of all the women in Egypt, because after 40 min of having a rubber turnicate around my skull, my brain could bear no more.....

I have decided to swim w/ my hair wrapped in a bun and that'll have to be good enough..and if it's not, we'll just go home...I cannot tolerate the intense pain. I either need to get my hair chopped off like the women who wear these here who are European or I need to get one that's made for big-headed women!

Now you can all let the laughter start, I may be cranky while I type this..but I realize it sounds hilarious.

I have to tell you...that the entire length of the olympic pool, they are chopping up with chisel and hammers...the cement around the pool....it is less than one foot (MY foot, like 8") from the edge of the pool.....cement is flying in....sand...

but heaven forbid, my blonde hairs might get loose!

Keep laughing....I might join you...but definitely not today!

:(

Perhaps the best idiotic thing I saw was that they laid thick tubing for water on top of the chipped up cement..and then they were dragging full wheelbarrows over it...THINK PEOPLE! TAKE OFF THE RUBBER TURNICATES..LET YOUR BRAINS GROW! STOP USING LEADED GAS!! THINK!!!!!!!!! THINK THIS THRU!!! You'll be tearing it up in a year w/ all the holes you're putting in it....

~sigh~

(this photo was obviously taken while at home...when I still found it hilarious.....the kids did too..they are not laughing now since we had to leave early and now momma's cranky! and when momma ain't happy.................)

Cleaning Day 2 - Learning Center

Well, no one still wanted to help us today - but we busted a HUGE move!!! I am so proud of my kids! And wowzers, after 3 hrs, we are seriously tired!!! Since I had the taxi here, I had him take us out of town to get swim caps - it seems since they found out we're not tourists, we need to have swim caps in the pool - sigh. Oh well! We're set now! Ieman and I were both happy ;) ha ha ha!

It's hard to do a project like this and not become frustrated that we're so limited! To need a power screwdriver to EASILY fix the broken desks.....to have supplies and a car available to make quick runs......

but we did the best with what we had! We'll need one more day of 3 hrs there unless someone else steps in. It might happen next week, I am unsure at this pt.

Here's a pic I took just before we walked out today.



The garbage guy came and his eyeballs almost came out! I had to reassure him it's all rubbish! We set up a classroom with clean supplies from folders of every type to games to toys and misc stuff - the principal was so excited because now the teachers can go shopping of sorts in this room and get their rooms ready next fall...and now they can make an educated list of what they actually need.

Papers thrown in from 2001-2005

sorted, trashed and binders saved....by Jasmine, Joshua and Wendy

don't ya just love her enthusiasm? We all caught it! Serving together is PRICELESS!

tho finding cochroaches was NOT!

realizing they're dead was what enabled me to continue working.....blushing at the admission....

same closet - but with sorted, cleaned, labeled - awaiting shelves!
LOOK! I USED DUCT TAPE! lol


Kristen F - guess what? I met a man today who is Australian!! he's from where you were born! But...he was actually BORN...guess where? In the hills of PNG!!!!!! Yep! His parents were missionaries when he was young. They moved back to Australia when he was four. He said they were with the Baptist ministry in the hills, I'm not sure what that means exactly! But he was thrilled to hear of the Bible being taught in the pigeon language!! I thought your family might like to know that!

Ok here's another shot of today...another closet - threw out more dried paint than we kept

A Learning Center....volunteer day!

Missionaries are not allowed in Egypt. So finding volunteers, etc is a difficult task for a learning center! Yes a learning center is basically a school but you can't say school. What a fun day! I was so pleased to wake up and find out 4 other women were coming with me! We wrapped gifts for the graduates and then they had to go, but the kids and I took on cleaning out a horrifically monster of a mess!! We will return Sat to finish.

One of the teachers noticed our noise upstairs (who'd notice OUR noise? tee hee! if you gotta wonder, you don't know my son and I! ha!)...and came to investigate..then he caught the "spring clean fever."



that's some dirty hands!! grity and gooey - LOVE that kind of work!!

HUGE shout of appreciation to my two kids! Joshua at 8, Jasmine at 4..worked SO hard today! Misc tasks - wrapping gifts, washing nasty lego's in our tub (in their skivies - lol), taking old papers (2001-2005) out of folders and keeping the folders, trashing the papers.....4 hrs today!! Always with a happy attitude!

SO PROUD!!

Did we have school today? YOU BET! We learned that it's better to give than to receive!! Giving of our hearts and time!!

BLESS THE LORD!!! HIS GREATNESS NEVER ENDS!!!

Manic days of Ma3adi - Mumkin Maniac

No, that's not a spelling error!

A consonant in Arabic has never been translated. It looks like this font of a 3 only exactly backwards. So while in English we say "mah-dee" in Arabic we say
Ma-AAAAAAH-Dee

got that? try it 5 times fast, see if you've got it! HEY, NOT BAD! keep trying ;)

Just wanted to write notes about Manic days of Maadi.

*Sunday, it was approximately 65 and even a cool breeze! The traffic wasn't hectic and I found myself feeling very relaxed and soaking in some tranquil moments as I wandered thru a large garden area. I could actually smell freshness and some flowers instead of the usual ode'de pollution scent.

I popped out and was hit with sensory overload - the noise of a clanky dying bus, the sight of the ugly thing bounding down the road and the lingering black LEADED gas fog choked me......

*Tuesday I enjoyed a cool walk from the apartment at 7:30 am and saw a man washing his car, amazing how fresh a car wash can smell, hard to describe! I turned my head...to see the military personnel peeing on the cement wall.

*Eating lunch today, my son tells me he's glad we don't see horse flies in Egypt because they could eat the poop on the streets outside, fly in here and then puke on our food.

*Most days we got swimming at the same pool. All the lifeguards now know me, accept I do not have many husbands but somehow I have children who do not look alike....but 2 days ago, decided I had to cover my head to return. Why? Because. But why? Because. I only hope it doesn't get over 100 before I find the appropriate attire!

Of course, when we go swimming, we throw out MANY large chunks of food, bottles of water, etc...etc...etc...etc.....but heaven forbid..my long blonde hair should be floating in the pool!! Jasmine has to wear it too since her hair is taweela (long).

*When I tell someone about the man peeing, the serious response it - thanks be to God it was not #2. Yes, be thankful for the little things - is quite a circumstantial and perspective-oriented statement

*When trying to communicate in Arabic that I like the garden on my balcony.....I told an Egyptian man exactly this - I am on my balcony garden, I love you. I'm glad he found me funny. This was Waleed, poor young man!

*When my Sudanese friend from church, James, asked me if Rob was home, I tried to answer in Arabic and I told him I have no husband. Instead of my husband is gone. Thankfully, he also found me funny and is another person who speaks English to me, me Arabic back to him.

*Thinking I should re-label post this "Wendy in Danger!"

*oh danger! in English we would pronounce this Arabic word "Qatar" - in Arabic is it
Keh - Tar - hmm..interesting, no?!

*The sitter shook my hand today and I forgot it's a rub thing, not a grip and shake thing....I accidentally grabbed and shook - thankfully for her, I did remember she's a woman, so I didn't graple w/ all my might ;)

*My teacher gave me a certificate today, said I was top of the class and now am Certified to begin speaking everywhere here and I wonder if he meant "certifiable everywhere I go." Perhaps his English needs work?

*They don't wear bra's or underwear here..it's become a difficult feat to overcome...because...no selling of it either!

*Today I was sick of waiting for the line of taxi's, so I walked out, held the palm of my hand up (very VERY rude here) and they stopped and yelled at me.....while we all walked across. I think I'm acclimating to the culture now too!

*Saw a very cool wedding ceremony a couple weeks ago - tried to hang out and take photos - but the guy w/ the automatic weapon saw me and waved....I then shrunk back in...and peeked thru curtains in my dark appartment. Even the women's veils were fancy! Never seen such extravagance here!!

*Had a guy point his AK47 down the street at us today while checking the clip apparently....two days ago, saw a guy sleeping with his nose bent up....with the barrel of his shotgun as the resting place....two weeks ago, I saw 8 guys playing "swords" with their AK47's. (I hear an 80's song "boys will be boys, bad boys bad boys...." tho the rest of that song does NOT apply)

*Had to inform my teacher, that the old love ballad is Lady in Red, not Lady Ingrid, he was heartbroken and embarrassed...but to hear him sing this song...was....hilarious.

*An Egyptian man asked me something yesterday, I couldn't understand one word. I told it to my teacher...the teacher said this man asked me to have lunch with him - OH DEAR! **need** to find a wedding band my size - MUST continue a search! Of course I'm flattered - everyone here thinks I'm low 20's, this guy was maybe 25...but it's just...well....it's so inappropriate since I **am** married!

*The man above, I told him in English, I only speak English. BRAVO, WENDY!

*Have used 4 taxies and only Arabic in the past 10 days...successfully, I might add!

*Am saying English words strangley - I really think I'm speaking 3 languages now...American, Egyptian-English and Egyptian Arabic! "Must go reversing, please" "You car is where?" yep..in English, I say this because I'm working so hard to think it in both languages, it just comes out so wrong!

*Wore a US flag shirt yesterday...and...um....a man gestured across his chest and pointed to mine, I started to storm off and he looked so confused....later Waleed did almost the same thing and I said something to him about it and he was confused...he wanted to know what flag this was, but did not know the English word "flag"

*Have not had a day go by in over a week, where I don't let cats ride in the elevator with me.

*Could use prayers for my sitter! Nadia is having back surgery!!! Will be in bed for 2 months before she can start Physical Therapy. (Bysical Teraby as we say in Egyptian-English).

Truly, I'm not belittling the people or the language here! It's just so cute and I want you to "hear" it!

*Today, the garbage man (bare hands, bare feet, collects garbage, piles in the street 1 block away, walks thru to sort what's still useable and what's not)

*Today, the garabage man offered me his hand and attempted English. I did not accept his hand and I complimented his English. I figured it was the lesser of two evils to refuse the American gesture he was trying to accomplish...than to shake it and then run upstairs freaking out! I think I'd prefer horse flies, thank you!

By the way, Mumkin is maybe......I typed it on accident, but decided to leave it for you to wonder.....wonder away! Until I get it more under control, my language skills feel like that of a 3 yr old

Adios, Amigos!

Heavy Hitter 2010 - last day pics!

Joshua was trophied as the Heavy Hitter of 2010 today!! We played 2 innings in 100+ degrees, full sun, hot breeze....and he hit TWO homeruns..not grounders that couldn't be fielded.....line drives 5' off the ground WAAAAAAAAAAAY past the guys in outfield! Needless to say, we won BIG TIME!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHITE SOX!!

Lots of great team work to make outs, or almost ;)

I'm so thankful to our awesome coaches and 2 spectacular team mom's!!!

Here's a few cool shots of the last day of MLLBA 2010(Maadi Little League Baseball Association), the last day of coach pitch baseball for Joshua!

GO BIG MAN! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STINKIN PROUD OF YOU!!!

Another thing I love about Joshua is his humility - no joke, he and 2 other boys were the best on the team. He can charge the ball, scoop it, field it appropricately and if anyone but those other boys are on the base he's aiming for...they totally miss it..even tho it's right to them.....and he never gets angry, he tells them "nice try!"

THAT'S MY BIG MAN!

Finished Wadi Delga

Alo! First the "news" out of the way....HOORAY my mom's latest test came back good....radiation begins next Mon. Anyone wanna help drive, let me know, I'll give ya details and you can decide if it can work for you one day!
She has to go every day for 6.5 weeks. Her incisions are healing well and she has good range of motion!

Next news is that

I HAVE BASIL!! Thx for praying for me in the herb aisles...don't stop! ;)

Waleed brought me a BEAUTIFUL basil plant, I am **really** looking forward to homemade spaghetti sauce next week!! He says it's from his wife...I have a feeling maybe he showed her the tip Rob gave him...and sent him out to get me something ;)

This morning, our friends picked us up in a van....they have a driver. This was a homeschooling field trip to study rocks. What fun we had! I learned SO much! This particular dad did some studying up to tell us stuff...I brought Joshua's cool geology book (Thx gma and pa R!) and we learned a LOT of cool stuff!!

We started about half way back in, climbed up steep and then drove to the end (the drive in the bedrock river floor makes me envision wagon trains heading West in the US! my word it's rough!). The "end" was a GIIIIIIIIIIIIIANT waterfall. Dried up, yes...but AMAZING nonetheless! The carving that the water did was breathtaking! The walls seemed "burled" like large oak and maples. The bedrock itself gave you the impression it was moving....REALLY awesome!

Well, I hope you enjoy the photos! We had SO much fun! Best part is, another family from homeschool group last minute got to come, they met us there! So there's Jill, Gary and their daughter Elizabeth. Then Ei-Ei, Jay and their boys Sage and Kiden. We had SO much fun! Rob, I cannot wait to take you! We'll have to pay Ieman to wait for us tho ;) it's too rough to go back and forth..he'll have to wait..or join us! ha!

Our driver, Mohammed was really great! He did some climbs with us, he got onto this ledge and I got a shot of him. Also, Jay and Ei-Ei took some photos of me w/ the camera. I am trying to be intentional about getting myself photographed ;) The hat works GREAT! it pulls so far down over my ears, that the wind didn't steal it ;)

Mom, get a hat that ties underneat...JUST in case ;) and yes, I wore shorts again!

Last GREAT NEWS! I HAD ICE CREAM THAT TASTED LIKE ICE CREAM!! McDonald's, of all places! HA! ice cream with fudge mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!! took a photo of the delivery-peds parked outside...but with Jill's camera, so I'll save that for another day. Happy viewing!

Sadly enough, our day was so long, we missed church :( But we can hear the music from here! Also have to tell you that we saw about 30 some people having an Islamic service at the top of one of the cliffs- REALLY beautiful! The weather was 89 and soft cool breeze occasionally blew thru - for here, that's QUITE comfortable! But I wouldn't recommend riding in our elevator after we did for awhile..needs to air out.....

Oh oh! I found antique pottery! Jill is taking it to be cleaned, etc. She found a red agate!! Joshua found petrified wood! I hauled that home too.








a PRIME example of organic limestone - very cool!!



looking down from where we just climbed up....

"inside" the waterfall area itself.....

on top at the ledge with my geologist.....

inspecting a group of bugs - us adults informed the kids that was a pack of dung beetles...guess what they were working around in the cave? Eeeeew!





not so close to the edge please, Jasmine!!! eek!!

Wordless Wednesday

because a picture is worth a thousand words....even if only in the eye of the photographer!

Dust Storm, Migraines and Tours..oh my!

So today we woke up to our 3rd dust storm....it was so humid - ain't no ozone action day in Michigan could hold a candle to the weather here today! The pollution was visible and you could actually taste something different - nasty! Joshua didn't leave the apartment all day. I struggled to breathe to get Jasmine and me to school/home. Jasmine and Rob were unphased for their short bursts out there...thankfully!!

Tonight it's clearing up and INSANELY windy...so it'll literally all blow over for tomorrow. Temps in 100's again so VERY thankful we live in a well-kept building, so we keep our power when others lose it, etc.....great to have the a/c on and the purifiers working!!

Got hit with a migaine again tonight. I used to get them periodically in the US - had a very thorough doc did brain scans, heart scans, etc....all centered around strss. This is the 5th time it's taken me to the floor. I mean, momma's cant just stop cuz they feel badly...but this momma must sometimes...like when the vertigo sets in and I slink to the floor - ick! :-( After an hour in the dark and some time praying and crying, I am feeling like I'll survive another day. Tomorrow I'll have lingering effects of a normal migraine like light sensitivity, fatigue, touch sensitivity...but it'll be such an improvement! I'm so glad Rob was here.....usually these scare my children, of course! :-( bless their hearts!! Hi Judy! You saw me during my first big one...that's why I don't keep going..so it doesn't get THAT bad again!!

It's hard to admit how stressed I get here! It's hard to take everything in stride...you know....like when a guy with a machine gun tells you to do something but you realize he's trying to get you alone so you ignore him, and hope he doesn't shoot....kind of a stressful day!!! Ugh! Life is full of idiots on every corner of the earth ;)

Well, here's a few fun photos. I didnt want you all to think it's always roses and sunshine here - well it is, but only literally ;) So I had to give you a bit of reality - ha!

now for some fun.....Here's some pics from today. Rob was in Cyprus (check out his blog) and got us some gifts!! Jasmine gave Rob her gift of a crown she made for him - it's TAPED to his forehead!

Today I also got us signed up for 4 tours in June! **stoked** bent pyramid, Saqqara, Cave churches, Citadel....WOO HOOO!!

I'm so glad Rob found me a hat that I've been needing! I felt much better outside knowing I had shade and Melaluca sunscreen!!! While I haven't burned, the top of my head has!! All this hair, there's no way to apply sunscreen up there!! Practicality verses vanity!!!

Sha' Aarr fi MiSree

if you see a ' you know it's a "stop" it's like having the air cut off when you're speaking...just happens abruptly!

I made 2 r's so you'd remember that the R's here are bold and strong, not like wimpy French and American ones (as my teacher would say ha!).

Joshua got his hair cut today!

Hair - Sha' Aarr!

He had it cut awhile ago here with the spike and gold, right? Well today, he wanted to go Egyptian! The man who spoke 5 words in English kept saying

Short? sure? Short? Sure?

I kept explaining in Arabic, details what Joshua wanted it..but it was SOOOOOOO much hair to lose! (Tanya, I spelled that correctly for YOU!)

Now THIS is a tanline! ha!



So hot, took a taxi to there and home from there, cost me $2 USD - totally worth it! ha ha!

Hair of Egyptian man

Simple Pleasures of Life

Pools and A/C
Another of Joshua, Jorge and Jasmine from the other day!


It got to 49 Celcius here last Sunday! While most of us could barely function, I found that these trees bloomed amazing red blossoms!



And found a cat sleeping in the sun on top of the church canvas roof! ha! It was moving a bit, so I'm sure it wasn't dead (no worries!).


Praise be to the Lord that we live in such a "well kept" building! more on why later!

Colonization?
Living alongside the Middle Eastern Islamic peoples, I have become confused by educated people who have been here and think women here need "freedom."

What IS freedom? Is freedom to be lacking of boundaries? Well then shouldn't we be free to have intercourse with any person anytime without regard for age, gender, marriage, etc? Wouldn't I not then be free to kill you if your freedom allowed you to slap me?

Freedom comes with safety, wouldn't we all agree? There's a level of safety that gives us a level of freedom, right? They basically go hand in hand.

Why is America so set that Islamic women must live like American women? So you're all going "But the Q'uran says it's Ok for a man to beat his wife in order to subdue her"

I didn't say I was for the Q'uran! I don't follow a man, I follow THE GOD!

I also didn't say that I think when the Bible says "spare the rod, spoil the child" that it means you can beat your children either, thank you very much! We need freedom to think!

Do not women and men beat their children, their spouses, their entrusted in America?

Simple Pleasures of Life - is that the women here want to maintain their culture! The English and French - our American ancestors - worked VERY hard to take away the Native American culture...and now we scream "THAT WAS WRONG! THAT WAS TERRIBLE!"

and yet...are we of the mindset in the news media and discussion, generally, that Islamic women in Middle Eastern countries need to be FREE TO NOT BE FULLY COVERED?!

Why can we not respect their desire to keep an ancient tradition? Why must we colonize and look down upon or pity these women? They are proud in a healthy way, humble in a strong way.

Do some want to be like an American in the string bikini's? YEP!

Do I? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE! does that make me less American? Or just weird? Why can't it just mean I have my own FREEDOM to choose? Why can we only choose immodesty to seem "normal" ???

The news makes it seems like these poor women are abused and subdued and....you know what? SO ARE MANY WOMEN IN AMERICA! AND SO ARE MANY CHILDREN BECAUSE OF THEIR MOTHER'S IN AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!

But please, don't be blinded!! No longer pity these women as a whole. While I long to believe our troops are still keeping the terrorists busy in the Middle East instead of my beautiful homeland.....I have **no** desire to PUSH American "rules" upon them.

The Middle East should keep their simple pleasures of life and not be required to be colonized!

Ok nuff ranting, thanks for listening! No worries, I once believed the media too.

Feline Fancy

I will try to draw a picture to help bring things "smaller" of who's who!

Eye-Eee-Mon (Ieman) is the taxi driver, you've seen him in beginning posts. He is a safe driver and still treats me at hands-length and with respect. This is typically who drives us, tho sometimes I just grab a "new white cab" for short jaunts when it's too hot since I know it's less than $1 and has a/c! woo hoo!!

Yrene and John - John is the one who "introduced" Rob to the job here. They have 4 kids total. They are in an American academy here. Jorge and Joseph are too young. They have a nanny, but sometimes we go play together. I talk about them alot in seperate instances, but they all belong together! Wy-el is their driver, he has helped me in a pinch over the phone or whatnot ;)

Building Owner - the woman who owns the building where we live, also lives here. She occupies the entire top floor. She looks to be in her 80's tho she is VERY spry and agile. She has a maid, a helper, a driver, a shopper, a chef - that's all I've met so far. THEN she has people for the building itself. Whaleed does the gardens (you've met him via photos), Mohammed does the cleaning of the stairwells and entryway, Tuney is the night watchman and Said (sigh-eed) is the day doorman (boab). Obviously, she likes things nice - WE'RE IN A GREAT SPOT! woo hoo!

Her sister has 3/4 of the floor we live on - we are in 1/4 of it. This is the neighbor who feeds the neighborhood cats......now onto the feline fancy....

we're on the 4th floor......the SERVANTS can't use the elevator (this is a class society, it works for them, while it bothers me)....HOWEVER, she will send the cats DOWN and call the boab to let them out!!!!!!!!!!

Well...these fancy felines.....have become accustomed to riding UP with US now...yep....we ride in elevators with cats......the first time, the cat actually reached up towards the buttons, then sat in front of the door. Everytime, when we open the door, they look at us and meow as if to say "thank you" obviously in Arabic tho!

Organizing the Kitchen
So the ants and cochroaches here eat THRU plastic bags....cereal boxes, etc. Ieman took us far away to Carrefour again (haven't been there in at least one month) to get a bunch of things.

I can now safely store our noodles, cereals, flours, sugars, etc.



AND...I can even make a side dish of COOKED something or other. I only had 1 skillet and 1 small pot and 1 deep pot. Now I can scramble eggs, stir fry veggies to add to a homemade sauce, boil 2 types of noodles at once, OH THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF MY LIFE! WOO HOOO!

A toaster and slotted spoons - LIFE IS GRAND!!

and, I got a couple containers so that our school stuff doesn't just lay in a pile! woo hoo!!

Movies
self explanatory about this simple pleasure ;)

Katamaya - Yesterday

Yrene and John are gold members of this REALLY exclusive club. You can go ahead and think European or American here - REALLY astounding! Like nuttin I'd ever see even in America on my own dime! HA HA! John is the chief pilot for the man who owns Katamaya, hence....the car and exclusive membership ;) They can get us in for free...so sometimes we get to go together. It is approx 45 min from our homes. Lewis' live VERY near us. And since they have the car/driver, it's easy to just go together...they're SOO generous to invite us into their lives! we are blessed by their friendship! Well here's some pics! This is the "kids pools" yep, plural ;)

Enjoy the pics! Joshua, Jorge, Jasmine. Baby Joseph too!! I call Yrene by her Mexican name now too - and Jorge is Jorge not Georgie anymore too ;)
Yaye - Rain-aye isn't that pretty?

The purple room and the purple go cart were photographed JUST for my own daddy-o!

Do babies GET any cuter than this? I think NOT!!

My beloved Seester in Christ (gotta throw in her cute Mexican accent) yrene and her "babies" Jorge and Joseph




I'm not sure WHAT this is called
Crazy Corkscrews by Children? WHAT A HOOT!! so much fun!!




Sometimes I forget I'm in Egypt...I have a day that's mostly just "us" and not a bunch of noisey strangers ;) and we speak English and then...I go to the bathroom...OR....need a bottle of water ;) oh but it's GREAT!! I realize now that Mr. Anas was right when he said "Wendy will **need** the sports club, Rob" he was so right! It may not be quiet or tranquil or easy at our EGYPTIAN club, but it IS nice to get a bit of surreal w/ our heavy reality ;)

*mom's radition consult today, prayers please!*