Moo-Hot-Uht Muslee (Station of Egypt)

Egyptian Museum / Cairo Museum / Museum of Antiquities in Cairo

all one in the same, depends on your origin, your language and your age, I think too
;)

What a GREAT family field trip! Rob and I were **pleasantly** surprised at how clean, organized and great the facilities are there! The guide book I read before we go anywhere and take along too - was right on when it said there are minimal signs and even at that, it's sketchy...so we were happy to hire a trained guide (not a blood thirsty thug this time) from the museum itself, to walk us thru King Tut-Anhk-Amon's stuff and a Ramses II

VERY "awe" - just "whoa!!"

I mean we stood near, ate lunch with, pieces of the first recorded history!!

There is also a Greco-Roman area that was neat to read about their unification of "gods" / religion as well. No photos are allowed inside, so sorry ;) But you did see the replica's from the Pharaonic Village, but we even saw the REAL stuff!! Joshua at age 8 is larger than the "real size" sculpture of King Tut at age 12!! King Tut's smallest inner case at age 18 is SMALLER THAN ME! and that's the outside of it!

We also learned today, we've caught wind of this, but learned today that Egyptians are NOT considered (by themselves) to be African's. To them, everyone else on this continent is an African and is "under their feet" but they are Egyptians, set alone within the world ;) This is something that started eon's ago....we saw it on the Pharoah's foot rests are all "black people" (tho that's the nice way of how the guide put it and how we've heard around here). This is truly surprising to us!!! Quite unexpected!

There are Egyptians here that we'd call "black" or African American in every sense of the word - skin, hair, nose bridge, etc.....but they are infact Egyptians....Nubians. But Egyptians nonetheless.

Just a bit of "history" and "culture" for you today! :-)

Here's a few fun photos!!! Ieman drove us again, and came back for us, he really is a smooth driver - I cannot begint to tell you how that goes here! Today we were actually on a road with LINES and it was 4 lanes in one direction...and we were six cars wide bumper to bumper ;) I told Rob that my mom's gonna have to ride in the front and be reminded not to squeal or to hit the driver - ha ha! Sorry, mom, it's one of the drawbacks of your visit ;) The driving....more likely...the riding!! Can't wait for YOU guys to see all this!!

We had the guide for 1 hr and finished the museum in 3 more hours, then relaxed outside wandering the grounds, eating lunch, etc. I took some pics of European families / friends together in front of different places, it was kinda fun! :-) They are tourists, we are not, so they crack up at me talking to the Egyptians ;)

We did a bit of shopping - Rob got himself a set of alabaster pyramids - the Giza 3 and a 10" tall rosetta stone (THE ORIGINAL WAS SO COOL!!) Jasmine got a small touristy-spoon w/ Queen Nefirtiti, Joshua got himself a Tut magnet (the mask). I am waiting to go to Khan El Khalili again ;)

Me...I got pics, memories and lots of information! oodles of smiles and fun!! Here's the shots we got..

I think one thing that's incredible, is that this stuff here is OUTSIDE!! there's nothing to hurt it except tourists..and the army guards with compact sub-machine guns every 10' deter anyone from even picking their nose and flicking it.

The last 2 days and next 3 will be low 70's - really great weather! Wish Rob was home this week to go to Saqqara while it's cool - but it won't happen until April now. His trip to Syria went well. Anas is half Syrian, so they visited his extended family. Rob brought us back some Baklava - which Rob can't get enough of, I like it alright...but it ain't no krispy cream pastry! ;) Syrians and Egyptians both speak Arabic, the forms are VERY close. Syrians I believe speak classic, I believe. Just the other day, I had a Sudanese man translate English to Arabic - a cat got into the garbage locked stairwell somehow.....and wouldn't come to me and it was breaking my heart ;) Sudanese language is close to Arabic apparently, but if I understand the man correctly, it's NOT called Arabic. Keeping up w/ that? ;)

also - thanks for humoring me and looking at that bird a couple times - I just **love** these birds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was stoked when Rob told me to sit still and I'd be **in** a pic with one! :-) We actually saw them on oblisques (spell?) and cartooshes today (spelling is off, but you get the idea and a chuckle!).

Well off to the club to play - beef stew is simmering. This gives us 1.5 hrs to play in the comfortable weather! Rob's off to Geneva tomorrow then Pisa nex then back home Sat night late. Right now he's home Sun - Th :-) Oh and he and Wyel got the mattress up here......Rob doesn't like it :-( Friday he goes to Turkey for just 2 days/1 night. Oh surprisingly, it was hard for an American to get into Syria....but...after some political clarifications, I "got the picture"

Entitled Americans.......

I have strongly believed for a LONG time that the biggest problem with the youth (even when I was one) was the idea of "entitlement."

can you hear the whiney voice?

I'M ENTITLED TO HAVE AS MUCH CANDY AS JOHNNY DID TODAY IN SCHOOL, MOM, GO YELL AT MY TEACHER!

right? Many of us have faced these similar situations.....

At preschool once I had a mother get appauled at me that when I bring my daughter with food allergies, her very own snack (pretzels, rice cakes) when they have cupcakes and cookies...she said to me

"Well that's not fair! My little "darling" wanted some of Jasmine's snacks and there wasn't enough! There should be enough for every child if Jasmine's going to have it"

yes, this mother KNEW why jasmine had it..so I politely said...the best thing would be for them to not have any snacks at all, then there'd be no problems of fairness or allergies, right?

She never brought it up again.

Ok THAT is not the type of entitlement I'm talking about today ;)

I am still the American who feels entitled

TO GET WHAT I WAS PROMISED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, I'm yelling!! and yes I did yell..and yes, I raised my voice and yes I talked too fast and too loud for the "messenger" to understand - yes, i wanted to "kill the messenger."

When I purchase a queen sized bed so that my husband will finally sleep with me.....and I give my address and ask for it to be delivered and he says "I understand, we bring it Wed" and I say "no no, Wed is bad, can you bring it Thursday" and he says "Yes, yes, Thursday ok we call first."

I AM ENTITLED

TO

GET

MY

QUEEN

SIZED

BED

DELIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRED!

ON

THURSDAY!!!

right?

Well, there's no arguing it...there's no customer is always right, there's no way to get what you paid for.....

NO

WAY!

I am playing the entitled American brat today...and I am VERY unhappy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've let boxes get lost in the mail, I've gone without water for 3 hrs and smelled a horrific smell in the building that an outhouse could run a stink race against, I've slept in 89 degree weather and no a/c or electricity, I've called for soy milk and arrive 15 min later and find they haven't had it for DAYS.....

BUT....

100 DEGREES.....AND YOU DON'T DELIVER??????????????????

AND I'M UP 5 FLIGHTS????????????????????????????????????????

INFORMATION THAT WOULD'VE BEEN USEFUL YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After my ranting and pacing.......I finally prayed and my b/p did come down ;)

I am ashamed of my bad example cuz the guy who called had NO idea my "agreement" of course.......and there's nothing on paper...

I mean...people...I paid the trash guy 40 LE in cash "cuz he said so" - there's no paper, there's no agreement,t here's NOTHING!!!???

it's not even about the language..it's just.....

ANOTHER RIP OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

argh!

I called this guy Cecil who's been doing some deliveries for me, doesn't struggle to hold eye contact and talks as freely w/ Rob as me - women know what I'm getting at
;)

(SaySoul is how you say his name, say it quickly)

He is going to come do some stuff for me Thurs, first is to acquire a taxi and help me get the stupid mattress upstairs...and if Rob won't sleep with me....

I think I should stop the threats there ;)

and let you all chuckle at what I might've said and didn't ;)

Of course the store doesn't open until 10, so by the time we get back it'll be pushin 90 degrees...........

you've SEEN the elevator photos right? Today after going to the market, only our stuff fit on the elevator, not bodies - lol. And after lugging it that far in 95 and sun, I had NO intention of being in the stinky elevator and letting the nasty carpeted walls TOUCH me

I've had enough today!!!!!!

No, I'm not packing up and coming back to the US, nothing short of war is going to get me to make that flight again ANYTIME soon!

Oh...the building owner cut off that giant flower, we never saw it blossom...for some reason THAT JUST TAKES THE CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course it IS their flower - lol. I'm just mad at the store!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Cecil comes, I'm going to have HIM call the store and CONFIRM they're even OPEN!!!!!!!! He is happy to help me ;) He makes more for me in an hr than all day at the market ;) 40LE/day is the wages for a FAMILY!!!! It costs 100 LE just to SEE a doctor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll have to post our pic w/ this beast in the stairwell for you all......

Cecil reminds me of my brother - short but packs a big punch ;) I may be bigger, but he's got more gusto - lol!

Love from gripe city,
An Entitled American

Photos by Joshua

I took the first two today, the others are Joshua's from the last few days.
Yes, this flower IS bigger than Jasmine's head, it is NOT the 'angle' - no worries, I'll photograph to show you how it opens - REALLY stunning and intriguing! This is the garden just outside our building main entrance.

The next photo reminded me of my childhood memories of laughter with my big brother.....us playing at my Grandma's house....this TOTALLY reminds me of Grandma's gardens! This is just outside the British Embassy's "club house" (like our sports club) - this is not even 2 blocks away, it is where we go for weekly playgroups (or hope to when kids cooperate and sidewalks stop jumping at us) with the homeschooling group here in Egypt.




Super Hero Sister......(this photo REALLY makes me laugh!)



Joshua and I never cease to be in "awe" over the archiecture here. I think what's more stunning..is to realize below it...is such poverty we could never imagine! Rob told us he drives by this every day to/from work w/ his work driver...and never notices it...so I love how Joshua brings such 'beauty' to our world!



Mango Jello - you can see what each child thought...VERY clearly HA! Joshua wants you all to know, it's better than no sweet snack at all, but he wouldn't ever want to bring it to America! ha!


One of the street families (I call them affectionately not disrespectfully, but to explain) who sell by the roadside, we buy from them often ;) Joshua said I needed to take this one - of course - lol


one of the guys at the grocery store who talks to the kids - I'm sure he is laughing it up...wondering what Joshua's mother thought when she got home and saw his picture! HA HA! boys will be boys...at EVERY age ;)


This is the most "popular" car here that's personally owned - whatever the b/w taxi's are seem to be the 2nd more typical car to see! LOL



these line the street where we typically shop, he likes these and the "delivery bikes" - those who are really lucky, have bikes - my guy carries the watercooler refill ON HIS SHOULDERS......but I tip him WELL ;)


a woman whom we purchased her dried/dyed stuff from - Joshua wanted her photo, she happily complied. This is just outside the post office, can't take photos of the post office - it's a gov't building :-) But I did manage to get EVERYTHING mailed that we've written/collect thus far this week.


he is constantly amazed by the "artistic way" of the Arabic written text - I love what his eyes see...and what his HEART enjoys!!



a trinket he wishes to purchase....



**Misc Notes**
this is the possibly non-kid friendly stuff ;)

Toilet Paper - yes it's sold here..and I think my sweet, tender Jasmine should do the commerical in a frilly dress and twirl and sweetly say

IT'S ROUGH
IT'S TOUGH
AND IT CHAFFE'S MY BUTT

cuz seriously.....bounty paper towels in the US are more pleasant! So i guess I should update my toilet post previously...no we do NOT wipe...we just dab ;)

Rob's flying to Syria tomorrow. Let that sink in a minute....ah...there we go ;)
Won't be any sight seeing ;)

He has one day off this week.

I'm really getting just more acclimated to the weather and the food and the "I'll never be clean again" feeling ;) But I **cannot** wear sandals here....the thought of the caked on ooze just makes me cringe! LOL

Hey, speaking of clubs earlier.....did I tell you that the glorified park we go to (Maadi Sports Club) is the oldest and most famous club in all of Egypt! It is the hottest place to film movies, etc....

why just the other day they were filming...and almost had some idiotic white chic and her two children walk on stage...

of course the man yells

READ SIGN! READ SIGN!

I'm never really sure when they yell this at me if I should crawl in a hole or laugh my butt off

I

CAN'T

READ

ARABIC!

I am sorry, truly...but..

it's HILARIOUS!

Well, Rob dropped my largest glass dish full of beef stew on the marble floor....it's gonna be a busy night....he's leaving again at 6 tomorrow...so we've got a lot to do before he can pack and hit the sack!

Nighty night, all!

Grit....

I am almost not emotionally effected by the grit on my teeth on windy days!

And today...when I opened my beloved twix I got yesterday and saved for "just one of those days" (which today was) I opened it. I grabbed a twix and started eating...

PEOPLE!! I AM FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINALLY USED TO GRIT ON MY HANDS! I didn't have to open, dump it, wash my hands from the grit on the pkg THEN eat it...I just ate it like a "normal" human being.....and the grit didn't effect me one bit!

Big cheesey smile for me!

Standing ovation, anyone?

Some questions asked....

When we go to the Maadi Club, I purposefully choose my photos so as not to add a bunch of others and intrude on their privacy ESPECIALLY at the pool. The shot of Rob is DURING school hrs, we were one of 9 people in one of the three OLYMPIC size pools. There is LOTS of people there tho otherwise. The playground is PACKED all day w/ giggling mothers and rambunctous toddlers :-) But anything about 85 is TOOOO hot for me to go to the playground when the pool is just 20' away!! :-)

How do I get to and from the pool w/ such hot weather and those layers....I put my veil (scarft) over my shoulders. Here's one of my 3 favorite skirts here! VERY light linen...aaaah! airy and comfy - these women in jeans STILL blow my mind ;) My linen crop pants are MARVELOUS - awaiting the next bazaar to find me another color of those!

What can we watch on tv here? NOTHING! we don't watch tv! and well, we only watched it in the US on the weekends for 1-2 hrs depending...now IIIIII watched it cuz I spent so many evenings alone ;) But here w/ Rob here and cards, etc...we don't watch tv. We can rent movies over iTunes and hook the laptop to the large flat screen tv that came w/ the apartment....and we have like 15 kids movies that way too that we bought before coming even :-)

Even if we got satelite tv here (the only option) we couldn't understand it! ha! Even American movies are played over in Arabic ;)

A mystery has been solved by Mr. Thomas via skype! THANKS! So when we shop at Street Nine, the cars pull straight in the park....and then people PARALLEL park behind them...so I am like - WOW that's dangerous in America! If you were lucky enough to only get towed....let alone keying, etc....well....one day I saw people pushing a car??? and I thought it was broken down...adding it all together, Mr. Thomas cleared it all up....

you see...the double parked car leaves it in neutral.....so....when the other car is ready, the community notices, pushes the car, the other leaves, they push that car in!!!!!!!!!!! NO KIDDING! I've seen it, just did not understand WHAT was going on!!??

Yesterday, I had a "Cairo Meltdown" - you know....when like one guy calls and says he'll come fix this one burner on the stove......but three days pass...and then he calls about something completely different as if it never transpired? Or another guy calls and says...

C (in English) I say 12, but come 2:30, why you not there?

W - completely baffled - if you say 12, why would I expect you at 2:30?

C - Hmm...interesting.

eye rolls please!

Rob and I both cannot get over how CLEAR the sky is here! You would think w/ the city lights and smog...but..EVERY night (excluding cloudy nights), it is SOOOO crisp and clear....breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that's it for today :-)

Oh wait..no it's not! I got a taxi to an Egyptian orphanage today. I can indeed go and the kids and I can play w/ the young children, etc...BUT...we must call first because it should be arranged for an American to visit...I know enough to know what conclusions to draw...

anywho - I was glad to know! And I can walk there (Thomas, it's by CAC).

We have lights!!

You Americans are thinkin American and scratching your heads, right? Going..

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay...yes...you have lights.....soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!?!?

Well, we have BATTERY LIGHTS! 4 flourescent bulbs in two lamps!! Woo hoo!! You see, we loos electricity at random times...when it goes off before bedtime, it's quite "disconcerting." It's not like we packed oil lamps and flashlights.....ain't no Walgreens on every corner ;)

We loose power EVERY single day..for how long really depends, but I think the longest was 4 hrs in the very wee hours of morning.....inevitably....Joshua freaks out.....wakes us all up and then we realize we're also hot because the a/c's been off.

So....we looked for flashlights to no avail...I'd like the kids to have flashlights so they can feel some "power" over the lack thereof.

But for now....they can have light (w/o candles - asthma+candles+add kid = DANGER) and I can still cook dinner or etc in another room :-)

On the way, we got a treat from McDonald's, had to show ya! :-) Fries and shakes taste JUST like Michigan :-)

Also HAD to get a good shot of this tree w/ the roots coming DOWN from the branches!!!!! do you see the trunk is "roots" and the branches of "roots" coming DOWN?! whoa! cool!

And the last one...we found another cute "used" bookstore - they had ONE Clive Cussler book - now I have RAISE THE TITANIC!! I have finished 2 books now in the last month ;) and I paid $4 and w/o shipping ;) Joshua read 6 "2nd level" readers today, he wanted you all to know :-) He's mighty proud :-) I ask him questions and he writes or sketches little reports...reading is one thing..comprehending is another.

He found my 6th grade rendition of Moby Dick and read it himself outloud......learned a lot of "language" and then wrote a 6 PAGE report :-) with 4 sketches to tell more.

Ok so back to the pic of ME! Rob takes the pic of me, says my hair looks great..and I'm all - HEY, IT'S NOT WC, IT'S WD! Then I chuckled......at my friend WC!!! I was also happy it doesn't say "toilet" :-) whew! not a toilet pic, just the wrong Wendy ;) that may only make sense to WC ;) that's ok with me!! Just sendin love across the ocean over an "everyday" type post!

Oh for $21 we're having Fillet Mignon, mashed potatoes, spring rolls for each of us DELIVERED for supper! :-) :-) :-)

My rosemary should be here in 35 min also. If I do well, Rob says he'll get me a rose bush out there too! :-) I will miss my gardens in Kentwood....but alas, fresh strawberries tonight that were picked this morning, I shan't whine ;)

Salaam, mi amigos!

lol

I love the internet!!

Even tho I wanted you to see how my heart aches, I forgot to tell you how my heart soars! Not only is God near us......but He has given us wonderful friends who love us and still email with us! I think of missionaries who are in remote locations and have no access to family and friends! My parents skype me almost every day and even w/ the time difference, I'm sorta able to email with friends almost in a timely manner ;)

I LOVE THE INTERNET!! Truly....like last night when we lost electricity for 30 min and lit the big candles......I was just so excited Rob still got to skype w/ Mr. Thomas....when we first didn't even have eletricity! ha!!

OK enough of the ooyey gooyey heart stuff ;)

well...for now ;) ha!! let that be your warning for the next time ;)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox to my beloveds!!

please pray for Yrene, she has food poisoning...I put on jeans so I could stride better.....and ran some charcoal pills over there w/ instructions......

please pray for my mom - she's still so sick from the last round of meds and needs real Godly intervention.....

please pray for new REAL friendships to start for the kids thru church and the homeschooling group.....

please pray that I can be what my family needs from me

Hottest Day Thus Far - 97 and full sun

I know we got to the 90's not too long ago, but today nearly just sucked the oxygen RIGHT out of our lungs...if any humidity, it wasn't felt ;) but we ARE Michiganders - humidity is our middle name, so it'd take a lot for us to notice.

The weather channel is auto on my "desktop" and today it says 97, has a bright sun and a cactus! HA HA! never seen THAT before in Michigan ;)

School is going well this week. We joined a homeschooling group one week ago...I get emails about outtings. This Wed is a trip to a science museum....the 3 of us are going!! We'll need a taxi, as it's further S and W than we are from Cairo even. Rob says maybe 20 min one day.

Today when school was out - we headed for the pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Three hours in the pool - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

I confess yesterday I felt SOOO disappointed...you see when we swam and it was 70 something, I enjoyed that there's "hot to the touch" water blasting every few feet into the pool...yesterday it was still there...

TODAY IT WAS COLD WATER BLASING IN!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Don't get me wrong, the pool is NOT cool, but at least it's the same temp as the weather, not hotter than it! ha ha!!

I had a request for "normal everyday life pics" more often - so I've added some. i see Rob took some good ones today too!

But first...just some neat photos of plant life! Wait..no first...is a food note ;)

So I figured out that coke DOES have a lot more caffeine than I'm used to and since I usually drank caff-free coke and my source of caff was choc ;) which doesn't have as much..it was the excessive caff that made me sick....so...no more coke glutteny for me! lol

I also succeeded in some yummy rice krispy treats this week! No butter for the kids, so I used just a hint of olive oil instead of all that butter, so it was healthier anyway...they turned out fine, truly...BUT ooooooooh the grease of the butter REALLY makes rice krispies a hit with me! I miss their greasy butter on them! HA HA! Maybe when Gma and Gpa come in Dec, they can freeze some and bring for us! WOO HOOO!! The kids could have rice and potatoes w/ butter for awhile! YAAAAY!


This was last night - MMMmmmmmMMmmmmMmmmm- pickin's of fresh sweat peas! They went from the field, to a bag, to a bowl, to our mouths...MmmmMMmmmMmmm...whenever I left to get the camera, they FOUGHT over how close the bowl was to each other - goodness! fighting over vegetables! HOORAY! ;)



Three days ago, this tree we always walk by blossomed! Look at it's unique "willow" shape and oh the delicate, superb flowers!! The bees LOVE 'em!




below is different flowers we've wanted to show you. Remember the tall tree that looked like giant red leaves? got another here too...well the flower Jasmine is holding is how big they are! They have NO scent - neither does the big one Joshua found and is next to :-)





ps - Joshua said his tongue was out, so you'd know he's really hot!

Joshua and I just LOVE the knobby "evergreens" - and Joshua loves the big pots and this one palm tree, so there ya have his delights! :-) We took the pepsi shot for Gpa!! Since I started the post w/ Coke, I have to make it up to my father ;)

You can see Jasmine's much more comfortable in the water, as it's a nearly every day occurance now ;)







This is the typical street signage :-) and THIS is my FAVORITE street sign!! :-)





Is the VW totally righteous or WHAT?! the interior is crushed velvet....PURPLE crushed velvet!!

People always sweetly wanna know how we're REALLY doing...in a nutshell...if you've ever moved a long ways from home" this is even harder - an international move is intense.....an international move w/o your language...and w/o daily conveniences of a powerful nation like the US......well...it's hard! it REALLY is...but the thing is....it's a reminder of God's control over our lives. Sometimes I face a day and I feel so lonely that thru this entire day, I'll never ever talk to one friend...oh people will be friendly and maybe today might hold a day I meet a new "real" friend - but every day I know I'll never talk to a friend...whatever happens to me, I only have God.

Do I regret it? Nope!! I sometimes have setbacks where I think "did I intercept a message meant for someone else, God?" and then His Holy Spirit washes scripture over me........

This is where we're meant to be and we know that.....sorta like St Patrick! He knew he had to return to Ireland where he was treated poorly.....and he did it....and he felt peace, but he always ached to return to his family....but he never stopped doing what God called him to do..and he had abundant peace!!

How is homeschooling going?
Well someone asked me point blank tonight - as many of you have ;) And I told his person in TX - you know, the duct tape works great on the tough days...

in all honesty, I think I'm surprising myself ;) Or more likely...once I got out of God's way...HE is amazing me ;)

Ok nuff rambles!! Thanks for sharing our Egyptian life!! Rob just walked off in 77 degree weather and dark to get us FRESH Cinnabuns WOO HOOO!! never had one in my life! MmmMmmmMmmm!! OH AND the pizza hut pizza here is DEEEEEEEELICIOUS!! Really, it's the same...but w/o the dripping pile of grease.....which is good and bad..cuz then like..now I sorta umm...eat 4 pcs in one sitting.....

good thing it's not a regular dinner here! ha!

Off to plan a summer trip w/ Anas' family to Sharm el Sheik ( Sharm El Shake) which is in the 'promised land' but now Egypt...and plan our Thanksgiving trip to

THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS!

Yes, Bruce...we've almost got the trip on the calender! :-)

Nope, no new news about the orphanage....will bide my time until Aug...then see if Yrene will take me over there to see what's what with timing. We want to hire our helper to cook there the day I am there too :-) perhaps we could punch out enough in one day together, to feed them for the NEXT day :-)

Oh one of the MOST annoying things here..is lack of personal space - while I love the sense of community, I miss being confident, no one would pet me like a dog or pick up my child to kiss her and swing her in the air.......

I am awaiting rosemary plants for a window box..if those go well, I hope to add a rose bush!!!!!!!!! The roses here grow all year round of course! :-)