A Woman of Egypt

2009-04-04T17:46:00.010+02:00

The human condition....played out on the global theatre. Ohh, what a tangled web one can weave. I have been watching the global deterioration of the human condition from my sofa all March. I had a case of the flu and it seems a "nasty" abscess (per Dr. Tamer, my ever faithful dentist). While enjoying what I feel has been pure theatre, something akin to the Divine Comedy, I have taken to turning the TV off and covering my head with a pillow. Escapism....my next post. I pass this gentleman in this picture on days when I walk home from school. He is our laundry/dry cleaning guy. We do have modern and updated dry cleaners as well, but this is our standard laundry facility. I personally do not use the maquege as we call them here, but many people do. They provide an excellent service by the way. It can get hot and dusty in that small little room and they do not use air conditioning. He could not afford to pay the bill. I want you to imagine working in that small, hot room with only a fan blowing hot air and exhaust fumes in your face all day. I do wonder what this man understands about capitalism vs. socialism? I wonder if anyone told him that American kids are getting assessed for depression in the US school systems? I wonder if he realizes that this global economic catastrophe will literally sweep away trillions of dollars, an estimated 30 million jobs and the life savings of millions more? I do wonder what his opinion is about that? I have come to the sad realization over the past month that my grandmother was woefully wrong when she taught me about human nature. She explained that people are essentially good by nature, and that sometimes when good people are faced with adversity, they can react in a bad way. Well, tell that to the maquege. If that is not facing adversity daily, I don't know who is and I am pretty sure he is not twittering his financial adviser daily. Capitalism, socialism, it all boils down to the same stew, greed. Greed has become a part of the human condition whether you are a capitalist or a socialist. This whole global crisis is the end result of greed and the complete and utter lack of moral restraint played out on the global theatre. I support Barak Obama, but if I were on his economic team I would whole heartedly let GM, AIG and all those banks fail. I wouldn't put one dime of tax payers money into any of them. Our globalized institutions are dinosaurs. They don't operate efficiently and they haven't been operating efficiently for some time. It is all too clear watching their CEO's testifying on TV that they don't truly grasp or understand what is going on in their own organizations. What a comedy, what theatre. A friend of mine works for a large marketing firm here in Egypt. He creates and produces commercials and videos for a certain client base. He went to his daughters school about an issue that required both his and his wife's attention. In the middle of the whole dog and pony show this friend spoke up and said, "Listen, don't sell me illusions and dreams...I create those on a daily basis." That is what happened to the global economy...funds managers, financial advisors, and banks sold people illusions. I am so tired of listening to whining from individuals all over the world about nationalism and capitalism, socialism and all the other "isms." Banks are not capitalists...manufacturers are capitalists...people who create TANGIBLE things are capitalists. There is difference.

Greed.....the essence of the human condition.....on the global theatre.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2009-02-27T08:17:00.038+02:00

It's peaceful and quiet this last Friday morning of February 2009. It actually looks as if it will rain. It is not unusual to have rain in Cairo in the winter. This year has been an exception, which I attribute to global warming. I am working on lesson plans and activities for the upcoming month. It has been a busy academic year, personally and professionaly. Our school grew exponentially this year. This is only our third academic year, but we have more than doubled our capacity. As we move into the last few months of the school year, I cannot help but reflect on my performance as a teacher; my expectations from my students and if I am close to meeting my goals for the year. After reviewing my curriculum, I know that I am on target for learning goals and expectations. I have some students I red flagged for different reasons; from behavioral to learning problems. I am taking a proactive approach in meeting these individual students needs and thankfully, their parents are onboard. I have now started reflecting on my school community and whether my students are contributing to a healthy and vibrant community of learners. I truly believe they are learning to be a part of a bigger picture. The values and belief system of my school takes a long time to instill in our Egyptian culture. Forming a line, waiting in line, is unheard of here and it is not commonly practiced. For example, asking students to stand in line is contrary to his/her social norms. If you enter any bank, office, or in particular any grocery store you find people pushing through lines to get to the front without any regard for others. I once had an older well dressed, seemingly educated gentleman push his way to the counter in front of me to purchase a coffee in the Gezira Club. When I told him in Arabic that I was waiting ahead of him, he replied to me in English "why are you complaining to me, he took my money." I didn't bother to argue with him. I realized that there was no point. He exemplified everything I find sad, wrong and disappointing in this country that I love so much. Complete and utter disregard for consideration of others. To me, he was no longer considered important enough to argue with. Regardless of his family name, his level of education or his background, henceforth, he was simply ignorant, irrelivant and unworthy of my time. I face this same issue daily as an educator in Egypt. Respect for others, inclusiveness, tolerance and consideration are imbedded in our schools philosophy and belief system. I put credence in it, and I plant it in my classroom as seeds; nurturing it, caring for it daily. The problem with that philosophy and belief system is that it is not recognized outside of my classroom or our school community. Respect for others and self at school does not work well in a class based society outside of school. Each day, for eight hours a day, I remind my students to stay organized, keep up with personal items, pick up and clean up after themselves, put trash in the garbage cans. Once they leave the school, their drivers pick them up, their maids clean up after them, carry their bags, pick up their plates, pick up their garbage. Each day, I try to teach my students personal responsibility, that respect is earned not a given. I am sure at times it is confusing for them. Our culture is based on entitlement; My family name is such and such, so I am entitled to do as I like. I paid the schools fees, so I am entitled to treat you like my employee. I am the brother of such and such, and I can buy you, force you, coerce you to conform. Each day, I try to model behaviors of consideration and compassion. I am sure that is difficult for them to comprehend when their parents teach them that the maids or the workers are beneath them, a different class than they are and they are not worthy of any concern or respect. God has placed them on this earth to serve them, and that is and always will be their only place. It is a daily struggle and many days I feel defeated. I wonder if I have lost my mind, to continue trying to practice what I preach. Yet, I do continue, because I believe in my students and I place my faith in them.

This is my last academic year in Egypt for a while. I will be returning to the US during the upcoming summer. I can only hope with the economy the way it is to find a job in education upon my return. Only time will reveal those opportunities. Whatever those opportunities may be, I know I am up to the challenge. Seven years of working in education in Egypt has prepared me for any challenges that may lie ahead.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2009-02-13T11:44:00.009+02:00

Valentine's Day! Thoughts of candy, balloons, flowers, presents wrapped in bright red ribbon, surprises for loved ones. Valentine's Day has made me take some time to consider what is really important in my life. I read somewhere that someone once said the best expression of love is time. I am short on time these days. The importance of things can best be measured by the amount of time you are willing to put into it. The more you value it, the more time you put into it. I am wondering if I value myself and my time too dearly. I am highly focused and goal oriented when it comes to my profession. I have a tendency to let my personal health and relationships take a backseat to my professional demands. I am unable to find balance at times, and it shows. I gain weight and lose contact with people. When my schedule becomes overloaded, I start skimming on my relationships with others. I am firmly convinced that the ultimate success in our lives is our relationships with other people. Are our loved ones lives better because of our presence? I guess that can only be determined by our ability to be present, giving of our time. Giving of myself at times can be a sacrafice. My own selfish needs put away to give of myself to others. This Valentine's Day weekend I have made a vow to myself to not become preoccupied with my own professional demands. I will make a concious effort to be present in the lives of those that I love and care about. I will give of my most precious commodity...time.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2009-02-05T12:01:00.037+02:00

I had to go out this morning to run some errands. We have been on midyear holiday from school and I needed to pay off my credit card and buy some groceries. I decided to walk to the bank which is only about 25 minutes on foot. My route to the bank takes me through a market called Soloman Gohar. I like this market... it has everything and anything a household might need. It was very early in the morning and since I was in no rush I was able to spend some time pricing the different vegetable carts and shops, absorbing the atmosphere around me. The gentleman in this photo was busy making pillows for a bedroom set. He's quick, and I am sure he made several sets today. I take this route home every afternoon from school. The mornings and the afternooons in Soloman Gohar have a completely different rythm. In the afternoons it is very crowded with people, cars, carts and donkeys, people shoving and arguing their way through their purchases. In the mornings, people are amiable, smiling and there is an air of gentle calm. I saw the woman who works on the street behind my home parking cars near the Kuwaiti Embassy. She had purchased a huge cabbage and was carrying it on her head along with several loaves of bread in a plastic bag. I greeted her when she passed me and her little boy kept smiling at me until he turned the corner. I saw an American woman who works for a school here in Cairo. We stopped and chatted for about 20 minutes and then I moved on towards the bank. I couldn't help but think about those two women during my walk. Two women, from completely different cultural backgrounds, living the same life style, both poor, both struggling to raise their kids, both primary income earners for their families. Everyday I see the Egyptian mother parking cars near the Kuwaiti Embassy beside my home. She's very tall, slim, and carries herself in a way that is almost elegant. She is attractive, and with some new clothes, I am sure she would pass for some of the higher class Caireens in any five star hotel lobby. She always has a smile on her face, moderate voice in dealing with others, and always looks clean. Her son is always playing near her, but I have never seen him misbehave. He is quite and mannerly. Her husband is there too...always sitting in a white plastic chair, smoking his cigarettes and drinking his tea. He doesn't even look like someone she would be married too. He is unkempt, dirty and looks uneducated. I have never seen him get up out of that chair and do any work in all these years. Only his wife. She as an Egyptian female, growing up in the socioeconomic class that she did, probably feels she is doing ok. She is married, has a son, makes some money, and her struggles are not unlike her neighbors, her sisters, or even her mother's. Perhaps to some degree, she is better off in many aspects than others of her class level. I don't know, and I would surely never ask her. I respect her, and I admire her resiliance and integrity. The American teacher....well, it has never ceased to amaze me with all the stories I hear or the women I have met in all these years here in Cairo, how any Americans growing up in the United States of America with our freedoms and the right to choice, would choose to come to Egypt and live like the Egyptian mom I just spoke about. A friend and I were talking about this the other day and her experience with these types of women has been more than mine. She thinks if you are going to end up marrying some poor, uneducated Egyptian, and live in a poor district of Cairo then you should have stayed in the states, married some poor, uneducated nobody, moved into the projects and lived on state aid. For sure you would be living better there, than here. I tend to agree. If I had a penny for every story I have heard about women coming here, falling in love with some poor Egyptian man, someone like the guy in this picture, getting married, immediately getting pregnant, and then realizing that the "love of their life" turns out to be the "biggest mistake of their life." Stories of women buying homes, thinking that they are going to be building lives with the men they love, and then getting kicked out, only to realize that the home was bought and purchased with her money, but in his name. Women who have married these men, and never knew that they were a second wife. Women who have had money stolen from them, their children stolen from them, and their lives destroyed. And there are many, who stick it out, because they don't know what else they should do, don't want to lose their children, and have no other choices. Some do make it out, but many stay. I feel empathy for these women, but I am unable to build friendships with them. I have nothing in common with these women, even if we share the same nationality. I completed my errand at the bank and on the way home I greeted the Egyptian mom and waved to her son. I realized in the lift on the way up to my flat, that I had lost respect for the American mom I had chatted with today in the souk. Her choice to stay in the situation she had described to me earlier was illogical and incomprehensible to me. I felt sad and guilty that I could so easily dismiss her and discount her right to choice. Was it right for me to judge her based on her choices? Was it really correct for me to impose my standards of success upon her? I don't think so, but I still could not help but feel the way I did. I will see both of those women again, perhaps on the street, maybe at an educational conference. The outcome of these meetings will always be the same for me. I will admire the one that is striving to do her best with the social class that she has been born into, and I will always be congenial but reluctant to engage the American, who I feel threw away all the priviliges it is to be American, right to choice and the right to personal success.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2009-01-31T07:17:00.002+02:00

I wrote a note for FaceBook entitled "25 Things About Me" and I decided that I would use it as a blog post as well. The following is copied from my FaceBook post.

1. My zodiac sign is a Scorpio...it is the only sign in the zodiac with three animal totems..the scorpion, eagle and the dove.
2. My Chinese sign is the Monkey. I assume this is where my insatiable curiosity about the world comes from.
3. My mother told me I never slept in a fetal position as an infant and I potty trained earlier than children my age. It seems I preferred to potty instead of wearing dirty diapers. Who wouldn't?
4. As a preschooler, I did not like to wear socks. I did not like the way they felt on my toes..I felt constricted. That was a daily argument.
5. I did not like to wash, brush, or wear hair barrets, pig tails, and/or pony tails in my hair. My mother and Nana (the black lady who raised my sisters and I) were both heavy handed and rough. That too, was a daily argument and one that I won on many occasions as witnessed by several preschool photos where my hair looked like a Crisco commercial and let's not even discuss the way my hair was parted.
6. I did not like black patent leather shoes. They were hard and the soles were slick. I refused to wear black patent leather shoes. If I had my way, I would have been barefoot daily.
7. My mission in life as a primary student was to make sure I was at my grandmothers every Saturday morning by 7:00 am to have a cup of instant coffee with a slice of hoop cheese in it, eat eggs and toast, watch cartoons, and help her "clean her house" before we went "shopping" at Roses dimestore later that afternoon. I was making my phone calls to her home by 6:30 a.m. to get my grandfather to come and pick me up....and he always would.
8. I remember trying to get "rid" of my sister Emeri by placing her in the middle of Bonner Street and sitting and waiting on the curb for someone to come and "pick" her up. There was not much traffic, but finally a neighbor came by and got both of us out of the street and I of course got in trouble for that.
9. We lived beside a cemetary and I used to play and set up camp in and around the gravestones. I was so scared when some of the neighborhood boys told us that dead people came out of those places at night and would come to get anyone that messed with their graves and KILL them. That was the end of my play days in the cemetary.
10. I realized when I was ten years old how words can hurt to the core when those very same boys called me a "N**gg*r lover" and I quickly proceeded to ask my beloved Nana (the black woman that raised my sisters and I) what that meant, and I can't forget the look of hurt and pain on her face. That was a defining moment in my life.
11. I refused to learn math in Mr. Tettertons 3rd grade math class. I could not understand why I had to learn division and multiplication tables when it made no sense to me in the "reality of my life" at that time. I would tune him out, turn the class off, and open a book and read through the whole math class. I REFUSED to do it and both Mr. Tetterton and my parents were at a loss to manage me. I never did math that year. I read the whole of the Nancy Drew series in his math class that year.
11. Reading and books were my passion. I found a new passion during the 5th grade and that was about the world. I got a library pass one day for whatever reason (probably math class) and when I went to the library, the librarian gave me a book to read called "Born Free." Elsa and her familys adventures became my new passion. After that, I was onto a whole new level of thinking and I realized there was a big wide world outside of Washington, NC and I needed to see it.
12. When I was 14, I realized that I never wanted to get married and have kids. I can't remember how or why I came to this profound inner knowledge, but I knew that I never would.
13. I did get married, and this is my second marriage. I married foreigners on both occasions. I do beleive I have found my mate in this one. I never did have kids.
14. I once flew back from Dubai with refresh wipes over my face to block the horrific body odor of the passenger sitting next to my husband. I had to ask the steward to bring me extras. My husband was embarrased...but I didn't care. It was either the refresh wipes, or me giving that passenger a lecture about the foul effects of poor hygiene. I think the wet wipes were better.
15. One day while I was studying for my teaching certificate from Cambridge University, I went to the on campus bookstore to purchase some study guides. While making my purchase I had a conciliatory conversation with an African man about the weather and etc. I paid and said goodbye. When I went back to my class, I was a huge hit with the staff and students as it seemed that the African gentleman I was speaking to was Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe. I had no idea who the man was and it seems that all campus traffic was halted while he was ordering books for his schools. I have no idea why they let me in while he was there, but I did start reading more about African politics from that point.
16. I have met many well known people while living here in Cairo. I had a well known female singer tell me that I needed to go on a diet. I met Yasser Arafat's nephew at the club through my husband, and I had a member of parliament ask me for private English lessons. That was a bit shady, and I never did. I also saw one of Osama bin Laden's sons at the grocery store next to my home. I didn't know who he was at the time, but I told my husband "check out that Arab with the dread locks." We later saw him on a local TV program promoting a desert horse race through the Arab Peninsula. He is very attractive by the way.
17. I have no fear of death...and no fear of my immortality. I feel that nobody lives past the time that God has designated for them. I do fear one thing, and that is a DENTAL visit. That is the ultimate test of my courage, the dentist.
18. I suffer from body dysmorphia. In my mind, I am a dynamic, articulate, well read, well traveled, poised, highly energetic, mover and shaker with abounding confidence. When I look at my figure in the mirror, I see some saggy breasts, donut rolls, cottage cheese dimpled skin, a rear like a dump truck, and some serious vericose veins. I think, whoooo, who is THAT, and I have to take a second look. I still can't align the body with the spirit even now at 40+.
19. I dislike men with a weak character.
20. Even more than I dislike weak, cowardly men...I have a distaste for weak women who accept anything less than common courtesy and consideration.
21. I love to eat local and ethnic food from the carts on the streets of places that I have traveled. This is not a good thing, and is a serious cause for hepatitis..but I adore these places.
22. The older I get the more suspicious I am of other peoples motives. I rarely allow people into my personal confidance.
23. I hope to grow old gracefully, without Botox injections and medical interventions with the sags and bags. So far I don't beleive in that plastic surgery farce, but you never know what may happen in 10 years.
24. I am fearful that I will grow old and be a burden on my husband in our old age. I do not want this to happen, and I can only PRAY to God that it will not. I told him if I ever get senile and crazier than I am now, just drop me at the nearest nursing home and drive off, they will know what to do.
25. I am my biggest fan, and so should anything ever happen to me, know that I DID NOT commit suicide.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2009-01-22T18:07:00.016+02:00

This has been a very exhausting week and I am so happy to see it wrapped up. If someone told me on Saturday what my work week would be like, I may have taken an exten
ded holiday. Living in Cairo is not for the faint of heart. Its dense population has created horrific traffic challenges, short tempers, and a mindless disregard for others. I faced the aforementioned as an educator this week. The mother of one of my students came to school and interrupted my first class to tell me that she had informed her son that should any student hit him, then he should hit him back, with force. I explained to this mother that we had a "Hands Off" policy at school and are trying to teach our students to use words not fists when facing a problem. She said "No, this is wrong, and it doesn't work." She felt that each child has the right to defend himself and that our school policy should be changed. After realizing that I would never be able to convince her otherwise, I asked her to please speak to my principal about the matter. On one hand, I do understand the complex reasons behind her feelings and I can appreciate her logic. Even armed with an understanding of the complexities of our culture, I still felt let down that she didn't trust the school enough to support our endeavors to create change within our school community. That was just the first day of the week, things deteriorated even further. Our fourth and fifth grade class were scheduled to go on a field trip. The day arrived, the kids were outside ready to board the bus, and from out of the blue two of the fourth grade parents showed up and would not allow the bus to leave with the kids on it. Their sons were in in-school suspension and were not allowed to go on the field trip. Both sets of these parents created a scene in the middle of our street, in front of our school, used inappropriate language, took the keys from the bus driver and refused to give it back until their children were allowed to board the bus. Cars were backed up on the street and began blowing their horns and drivers started yelling. Our school director arrived to take care of the situation and the bus finally left for the trip. It seems that several threats were used by the parents to persuade our director to let the boys attend the field trip, and thankfully, our director held firm to her position. After several other issues cropped up during the week, our school secretary decided to play quron and burn bohur in the early morning to rid our school of the evil elements. Even though this is a nice thing we do as a part of our culture, it didn't seem to work. My week ended with a parent and her two sons in the principals office confirming what we knew to be a family living in a very difficult and trying family situation. Each person in that meetings was brought to tears and I ached for this family. I left immediately after school with a very heavy heart. I reflected on the week on my way home. How can we as educators try to instil in our students respect for others, respect for self, community awareness and philanthropy, and small acts of kindness when our parents are not modeling approprate behavior nor supporting our efforts... or if providing support, then only superficially? Where did we go wrong as educators in communicating school policy? Have we lost the parents trust in our school and its judgement when it comes to school policy and enforcement? Could it be that we live in a city where just getting out the door of your home is a struggle, to move your car out of a parking space on the street or garage costs you money, a city where we don't have space to move, a city where Peter robs Paul, then Paul robs Peter back, just to stay afloat? A city where nobody trusts or beleives in the other? I am not sure....but it is depressing. I hope that the upcoming week is going to start on a high note.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2009-01-17T13:47:00.022+02:00

Change....the new buzz word. Change is coming to America, change is coming to Washington. Yes We Can t-shirts, bumper stickers, and pins can be seen everywhere. On January 20, 2009, America will embark upon creating a new history for itself. Personally, I am more than ready for this new president to become a part of creating America's new history. The world is ready to create a new history. Change on a global level, a national level and a local level. Change is relative. For instance, while waiting for my husband to do some shopping for his son on the day after Christmas, my sister Jackie and I sat in the center of the mall and did some people watching. After about 20 minutes I told her "I have not seen one authentic person walk past us in this mall since we have been sitting here." In the time that we sat waiting, all the women that walked past us had the same style haircut. The inverted bob, like Victoria Beckham. They carried the same style handbag, the knock off from Dooney & Burke...the one that looks like cow leather and they all had the same style shoes. It tells you a lot about society.....change is relative on many levels. My stepson is the same way, not one authentic thought in his brain. If society says Gap is cool, he will wear Gap...if society tells him Gap is out, then out with all the Gap. I find the "herd mentality" draining. Authenticity and character are high on my priority list. Authenticity is one of the reasons I voted for and support Barak Obama. The man is completely authentic. As soon as he held a press conference and addressed the issues of race in America, I knew he would be our next president. Not many people have the balls to go against the "herd mentality" and address the American public in regards to race relations in America as he did, and so eloquently. Even that garnered respect from his critics. The second reason I voted for him is that he is culturally aware. He has substance. The third reason is because he is pragmatic. I hope that he will use those same character assets to go against the "herd mentality" regarding American foreign policy. America has never really changed its status quo in regards to foreign policy in the world. Some issues are impervious to change. I am not banking on Obama doing much "changing" there. One can only go against the herd for so long before getting trampled. I have faith that he will find a pragmatic way of dealing with America's foreign policy problems, though. He certainly seems to have the substance to do so. I do believe he will take on a different posture from the previous president. On a personal level, I embrace change. I started making significant changes in my life after my parents died. I have never looked back, only forward. Change for others is not so easy. It takes skill and confidence to live a life without regret. My principal told me the other day she wished that Obama had never won the US presidency...maybe then I would not be leaving her and my school to move back to the states. Change on a local level....perhaps for her it's not so easy. Obama is not the reason I am moving back to the US, but the change in the American administration sure is a perk. I need to make some changes in my own attitude towards people. For instance, I have zero empathy for weak men. Once I realize that a man has no backbone, no strength to stand up for what he knows to be right in the face of adversity....I immediately lose respect for him and can completely emasculate him without regret. I am putting a half hearted effort into changing this tendency, primarily due to the fact that I cannot get past the point that if a man doesn't have the balls to stand up for what is right on his own, why should I empathize with that? I also have zero tolerance for whimpering, simpering women who tolerate maltreatment from others and never take responsibility for their own happiness and well being. I am working on developing more empathy in this area, too. It is not easy, but I realize not everyone is a lion heart. I also need to change my tolerance level for others that have no interest in becoming more aware of what is happening in the world around them, or their uncanny ability to be superficially informed from only one news source??!!!! Change...it is all relative. Americans are pinning their hopes on Barak Obama to bring about change in the US and our image abroad. I wish him luck and I have no doubt that he will be a faithful steward to the United States. I just hope that Americans realize that the word change can be used as a noun and a verb......which requires action. Action not only on a governmental, state and local level...but an individual one as well.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2009-01-07T16:25:00.010+02:00

A new year....2009. I spent the holiday in the US for the first time in several years. My husband and I decided to take advantage of the poor economic situation here and purchase a home. We spent the past month looking at every home in Raleigh, NC. I dare say we left no site unturned. We made 3 offers, two of which were rejected and one still pending. We leave tomorrow and I am sure we will be in Egypt by the time we here from the last. We have been so busy I really haven't had time to think about moving back to the US. I thought perhaps I might feel torn between two countries with a sense of not belonging to either place. I now know that is not an issue. I feel very comfortable in both places and they both feel like home. I am very sure that if I move back to the states that Raleigh is about the smallest city I could live in. I don't believe I could live in a small town after residing in Cairo for all these years with its mass population. On the other hand, I cannot deny my general discontent of living in the city of Cairo and its traffic, noise, and general daily chaos. I do hope we can sell our flat downtown and find another one in the suburbs of Cairo before we move back to the US this summer. I guess that will have to be put on my "to do list" upon returning back to Egypt. I found out during my time here that many people are reading this blog. I was rather amazed and astounded. I started this blog for my family and friends in the US a couple of years back to eliminate writing the same email over and over regarding my life in Egypt. It evolved from just my life in Egypt to ramblings and thoughts of my own mind. I tend to place it on the back burner when I get busy. I hope that I can post more often this year. While here, many of my fellow Americans inquired as to the state of affairs in Gaza. I feel at an unfair advantage many times when I discuss that issue with others. Due to my proximity with my neighbors Israel and Palestine (and the Middle East in general) my understanding and knowledge is deeper and less superficial than Americans. That bothers me tremendously. I feel that I am completely "cut off" from the rest of the world when I am here. My Aunt Sandra and Uncle Bobby asked my husband and I at dinner one evening "Well....isn't that a good thing??" and we both answered a very strong "NO!!"". That is one of my greatest concerns about returning to the US....living unconsciously in a bubble. I have been living as a citizen of the planet for the past several years of my life in Egypt. I will never be able to return to a mindless and unplugged existence relying solely on local news programing for information on in the rest of the world. For this reason, I hope to always keep a residence outside of the US. I am sad that we couldn't get a firm yes and close this home buying ordeal prior to leaving tomorrow. I am happy that we know which neighborhood we wish to live in and I am very grateful for the fact that I am looking forward to coming back to the US for a couple of years. Prior to arriving, I wasn't keen on the idea completely. Thankfully, those apprehensions have been erased. I am also grateful for the peace and quiet of the morning, with nothing but the wind blowing through the trees to catch up my blog. One of God's gifts to North Carolina, pine trees.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-09-17T15:05:00.002+02:00

We are midway through September, and I felt that I needed to take some time to reflect and assess my progress after my Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008. So far, I have completely lost the focus on Mind, Body and Soul. It only took 15 days, and I am totally off track. I am not sure what happened....perhaps returning to school, the change in rythm due to Ramadan...it could be any number of things. Perhaps I am unable to manage being one with Mind, Body and Soul. It seems that working with one variable is enough for me. My small "household" experiment turned out exactly the way I assumed it would. I am still picking up and putting away. The gym bag in the hallway was there for at least 3 weeks, and the bags around the trash can just kept piling up. It seems that I am the only one bothered by a mess. Perhaps I need to learn to relax and let go. Maybe I need a year long Mind, Body and Soul Mission. A year in Tibet might be good.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-09-14T21:44:00.003+02:00

A friend of mine sent me this article in an e-mail. I thought it was profound and decided to share it. You can read the whole article in its entirety at:

http://www.economist.com/

With most of its people struggling, and reform blocked, Egypt faces an uncertain and possibly dangerous future. EGYPTIANS have long excelled at putting a good face on things. Four millennia ago they built temples whose towering facades and grand doorways hid dark and cramped interiors. Relief carvings depicted giant pharaohs smiting dwarf-like enemies, and showed the Nile teeming withfish and waterfowl. In reality, ancient Egypt was often invaded. Ruinous famines punctuated its years of plenty. Today, a blinkered visitor might choose to see nothing of Egypt but posh beach resorts and gleaming factories, and hear of little but strong economic growth and a stable, secular government committed to reform. In the Smart Village, a campuslike technology park on Cairo's western outskirts, construction cranes glint in the mirrored glass of office blocks bearing multinational logos such as Microsoft, Oracle and Vodafone, as well as those of fast-expanding home-grown IT firms. Beyond its perimeter, past a strip of hypermarkets, fast-food outlets and car dealerships, stretch thousands of acres of new suburbs, complete with gated communities, golf courses and private schools. Twenty years ago, the highway that stretches 200km from there to Alexandria ran through empty desert. Lush fields now line the entire crowded, six-lane route, many planted with drip-irrigated garden crops for lucrative European markets. But remove the blinkers, and the flood of impressions could be starkly different. A glance down one of the narrow, rubbish-strewn alleyways of brick tenements where half of Cairo's people actually live may reveal a crowd of head-scarved housewives pushing and cursing in an early-morning queue for government-subsidised bread. Such daily humiliations are punctuated by bigger tragedies which, all too often, prove to be the consequence of government negligence. Earlier this month a cliff collapsed on the eastern edge of the capital, hurling giant boulders into a warren of flimsy slum dwellings that had been erected, illegally, in defiance of dire warnings that the site was unsafe. The rockfall buried dozens, perhaps hundreds, of residents alive. Locals complain that long-promised alternative housing had been given to friends and relations of government officials, rather than the needy. The fact is that most of Egypt's 75m people struggle to get by, their ambitions thwarted by rising prices, appalling state schools, capricious judges, a plodding and corrupt bureaucracy and a cronyist regime that pretends democracy but in fact crushes all challengers and excludes all participation. The visitor might well conclude that by damming up the normal flow of politics, Egypt's rulers risk bringing on a deluge. Given rising resentment against the government and a generation-long resurgence of religious feeling, and given the simple fact that Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president of the past 27 years, is now 80 years old with no clear successor, it takes little imagination to conjure up an Islamic-tinged revolution sweeping away the autocratic state created in the wake of Egypt's last big dynastic upheaval, the officers' coup of July 1952 that overthrew King Farouk. Considering Egypt's position as the most populous, politically weighty and geographically pivotal Arab state, the ripples could spread wider, too, upsetting the region's already fragile power structure. Such visions seem to be common these days. A recent book in English carries the subtitle "The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of Revolution". Another, in Arabic, simply titled "The Final Days", sports a scowling caricature of President Mubarak on its cover. "This regime is clinically dead and we merely await its funeral," writes the author, Hamdi Qandil, a prominent Egyptian journalist and critic of the regime. "All paths for peaceful and gradual change are blocked," he concludes. "The only course left is civil disobedience." Many Egyptians appear to have adopted this advice of late. Spontaneous protests have erupted with alarming regularity, ranging from factory strikes to land disputes to urban riots over food prices that have risen even faster than the current, unnerving overall inflation rate of 23%. So far such outbursts have remained disjointed and localised, allowing the government to parry them with a mix of carrots and sticks. Brutal policing has silenced some activists. Wage increases--such as a 30% rise for government workers in May--and a promised widening of state subsidies for essential goods have soothed a few tempers. Yet the common refrain in Cairo salons is of how similar the mood is to the pre-revolutionary atmosphere of 1952. Then, as now, the gap between a very rich few and the teeming mass of have-nots seemed to yawn ever wider. Then, 2,000 vast estates occupied half of Egypt's fertile land, while millions of illiterate peasants toiled as sharecroppers. Today, 44% of Egyptians still count as poor or extremely poor, with some 2.6m people so destitute that their entire income cannot cover basic food needs, let alone other expenses. Yet ranks of private jets clutter Cairo's airport. The flower arrangements at a recent posh wedding, where whisky flowed and the gowns fluttered in from Paris and Milan, were reputed to have cost $60,000 in a country where the average wage is less than $100 a month. THE BAND OF BROTHERS Lurking in the background then, as now, was the shadowy force of the Muslim Brotherhood. Having helped prepare the ground for the 1952 coup, the Brothers may have expected reward from the army officers in charge. Instead they were hounded and imprisoned, and allowed to resurface in Egyptian politics only 30 years later. Their suppression radicalised some Islamists, helping spread jihadist ideas such as those that inspired al-Qaeda. Yet the core of Brotherhood supporters remained committed to a strategy of peaceful change. Since the 1980s the Brotherhood has emerged as the strongest force in a political opposition mostly made up of tiny, fractious parties. It captured a fifth of parliamentary seats at the last elections, in 2005, and would have taken more without blunt police intervention at the polls. That success so irked the government that, in the interim, it has moved again to squeeze the Brotherhood. Aside from changing the constitution so that it formally banned parties based on religion, it has mounted repeated campaigns of arrest and harassment, including confiscation of business assets. Having postponed municipal elections scheduled for 2006 until earlier this year, the regime simply disqualified all but a handful of Brotherhood candidates. The ruling>National Democratic Party ran unopposed in 80% of districts, winning all but 1,000 of the 52,000 seats. Voter turnout was reckoned at less than 5%, reflecting widespread disgust with the charade. Yet the Brotherhood displays some of the same flaws as its oppressors. Its leadership is also ageing and opaque, and has proved slow to respond to events. Recent changes in its hierarchy, arranged behind closed doors, have seen the promotion of conservative ideologues at the expense of younger reformers. Perhaps more important, the Brotherhood's diminishing capacity to deliver benefits to constituents has prompted pragmatists, the probable silent majority in a country with an incomparably long and justifiably sceptical political memory, to look elsewhere for patronage and> > protection. And there is another clear obstacle to the Brotherhood's progress. The 10% Coptic Christian minority, made nervous anyhow by sporadic outbreaks of sectarian violence, wholeheartedly rejects the Brothers, while fear of further sectarian unrest makes many Muslim Egyptians wary of them, too. But if most Egyptians appear to prefer evolution to revolution, there is no clear trajectory. The government itself, a behemoth with 6m employees, appears divided. Its ministries sound like those in other states, but many are run like medieval fiefs. The army, police, secret police, justice, the lucrative petroleum industry and foreign relations fall under the purview of the presidency, which tends to view all of them through a prism of state security and regime survival. This relegates to the hard-working prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, a diminished portfolio restricted to economic and social policy. Since his appointment in 2004, Mr Nazif and his team of technocrats, many of them Western-educated businessmen, have enacted long-delayed economic reforms. A dramatic slashing of tariffs and taxes, along with crucial changes to investment rules, has helped push the overall growth rate from below 4% to above 7%. Exports have more than doubled, from $9 billion in 2003 to $24 billion last year, with trade volume growing from 46% to 66% of a GDP that is expected to top $150 billion this year. Revenues have been boosted not only by high oil prices and the coming on stream of sizeable gas exports but, more significantly, by a doubling of income from the Suez Canal, a surge in industrial exports and a doubling of tourist arrivals, which reached a record 13m last year. With Cairo's stock index soaring (at least until a recent> > summertime slump, in line with the rest of the world), with exchange> > rates holding steady and property values booming, foreign direct investment has also accelerated, reaching $11 billion in 2007--five times the 2004 level--and a probable similar amount this year. CARS AND BREAD Many complain that while Egypt's industrialists have profited mightily, new wealth has failed to trickle down. Unskilled wages do remain dismally low, yet plenty of evidence points to broadening prosperity. Sales of private cars, for instance, have quadrupled since 2004 as a whole new class of Egyptians has taken to the ever-more-clogged roads. Franchise outlets sprout not only in wealthy parts of Cairo, but in dowdy provincial towns where state-run department stores once offered the only dusty glimpse of glamour. Amid a claimed fall in unemployment from 11% to just over 8% between 2003 and 2008, shortages of skilled labour have rapidly boosted white-collar wages. Indeed, some businessmen reckon that the biggest damper on growth just now is the dismal quality of Egypt's university graduates. Although statistics in Egypt are notoriously wobbly, there are signs that some pressing social tensions have eased. Ten years ago, for instance, 63% of Egyptian men remained unmarried at 30, a frightening indicator in a tradition-bound society where marriage is seen as a prerequisite for independence and adulthood. That figure fell to 45% in 2006. This shows that the cost of marriage, which typically includes the purchase and furnishing of a house, remains prohibitive for many, but it also suggests that the level of youth frustration may be dropping. Crucially, too, for a country whose inhabited area is barely the size of the Netherlands, the rate of population growth has slowed, from 2.3% a year in the 1980s to 1.9% today. And although Egyptians moan, with reason, about accelerating inflation,consumers have been spared the sting of global commodity-price spikes. Bread, the staple food, is still widely available at a subsidised price equal to one American cent a loaf, a fraction of its real price. Bottled cooking gas sells at one-sixth of its cost to the government. And despite a recent hike in petrol prices, a litre still costs one-eighth of its average price in Europe. Prices for other goods are still surging, but the government, made jittery by the ugly public mood, does try to help. To pay for May's 30%wage rise, it raised taxes on non-essential items such as cigarettes and luxury cars and put up energy costs for power-intensive industries. A proposed new property tax will exempt most householders, targeting only the relatively well-off. In an effort to hold down local prices,> rice exports have been banned. WHITTLING AT FREEDOM But the government's relative nimbleness on the economy has not been> > matched on other fronts. The crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood comes in the context of a broader shift towards greater authoritarianism, and in direct contradiction to promises of political reform. Before he started his fifth term in office, in 2005, Mr Mubarak promised more democracy. But despite some advances, for instance in allowing a more critical, privately owned press to flourish, his regime has systematically whittled away civic freedoms. In May, for instance, the government abruptly extended for two years the official state of emergency, saying that new antiterrorism laws were not yet ready. The emergency laws, which are meant to be applied only against violent threats to the state, have in fact been wielded against every manner of dissent. In one form or another they have been in force for all but three of the past 50 years. More recently, in an effort to tackle the indiscipline and deaths on Egyptian roads, the government passed a traffic law that applies stiff fines and prison sentences for minor infractions. The public is outraged at the higher bribes that police now command. Despite the occasional disciplining of officers, the regime's security forces operate with scant accountability. Charges of torture are commonplace. Court action is slow, and subject to both manipulation from above and bribery from below. Citizens therefore resort to private vendettas and the state resorts to security measures, such as sending in riot police, rather than social policies to make things better.In May the American president, George Bush, raised hackles by declaring, in the resort boomtown of Sharm el-Sheikh, that Egypt had disappointed hopes that it might lead the region in democratic reform. "Too often in the Middle East," he intoned, "politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail." His host disdained to listen to the speech, and even many of Mr Mubarak's Egyptian critics bristled at being lectured by a singularly unpopular Western leader. Yet many admitted, too, that Mr Bush was on target, especially considering that Ayman Nour, a young, secular politician who was the distant runner-up to Mr Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election, has languished in jail ever since, on flimsy charges of forgery. The displeasure signalled by Mr Bush reflected another fact. During his administration Egypt's relations with the United States have sunk to their lowest point since the 1973 war with Israel. This reflects not just a shift in American attention towards other parts of the region,and American ire at Egypt's ugly human-rights record, but also Egyptian annoyance over policies such as the invasion of Iraq and the Bush administration's uncritical embrace of Israel. Diplomats on both sides downplay differences, ascribing recent bitterness to the kind of sharp words exchanged between friends. Yet Egypt now has few supporters in Washington. Its influence in the region is also diminished. Egypt has recently struggled simply to effect a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist party that seized power last year in neighbouring Gaza, or to calm the squabbling Palestinian factions. Since he has been in office, Mr Mubarak has cleverly used the occasional sign of difference with America to bolster his nationalist credentials, while using Egypt's regional weight to please Washington. Such LEGERDEMAIN is no longer possible. What concentrates both American and Egyptian minds just now is not what Egypt's president will do, but what happens after he goes. This, understandably, is a staple of Cairo conversation. Government spokesmen point to rules that call for elections within 60 days of the presidential office being vacated. The constitution's finer print stipulates that candidates can come only from parties that are legal, have held parliamentary seats for at least five years and can garner signatures from hundreds of elected local officials. The only party that can easily fulfil all these criteria is Mr Mubarak's National Democratic Party, which might then choose, for the sake of window-dressing, to endorse a few rival candidates from the handful of weak secular parties. There is little doubt who the NDP would choose for its own presidential ticket. The party's vast patronage network, which began as a legacy of one-party rule in the socialist 1960s, has been slowly taken over by a newer breed of businessmen loyal to Mr Mubarak's 44-year-old son Gamal, who chairs its policy committee. A MURKY SUCCESSION Yet although the younger Mr Mubarak has been an earnest champion of economic liberalism, the word among Cairo's chattering classes is that he lacks popular appeal, representing precisely the business elite that ordinary Egyptians have come to loathe. More important, it remains an open question whether Gamal Mubarak has the support of the army, police and intelligence services. Some assert that this "deep state" would not countenance an inherited presidency, preferring instead to promote a more trusted figure from within, in a Putin-like shift to ungloved control. As yet, however, no such person has developed the kind of public profile that might be expected of a likely contender. Indeed, one of the reasons for the elder Mr Mubarak's endurance, aside from his aversion to risk, has been his skill at sidelining potential rivals and playing the various security branches against each other. In another country, the murkiness of the succession, at such a time of> > severe social strain, would be a cause for grave alarm. Many Egyptians are, in fact, worried. Yet the consensus is still that, in line with previous transitions between Egyptian presidents, serious unrest is not likely to accompany the change, whether it is brought about by the rules, or in breach of them. The security establishment, assuming it remains unified, is large and ruthless. The frailty of Egypt's economy, with its reliance on tourism and foreign investment, makes a powerful argument for pursuing continuity rather than taking radical departures. And the mix of Egypt's geostrategic importance with its weakness suggests that it could continue to rely on generous foreign patrons. The country's future administrators may be tempted to make populist gestures, and would likely reap a quick reward of loud public relief, after too long under familiar rule. They might even opt for a tactical alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood. But the fact is that, whoever runs Egypt, the task of housing, feeding and schooling all those millions, let alone overhauling the country's myriad crumbling institutions, will leave little energy for other adventures. No wonder that most Egyptians, when asked what is in store for their country, tend to use the open-handed shrug with which they meet life's daily mysteries, and invoke the protection of God.

See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/email/confirm.cfm> > > > Go to http://www.economist.com/ for more global news, views and analysis from the Economist Group.> > > > - ABOUT ECONOMIST.COM -

2008-08-19T09:35:00.007+02:00

We have all complained about having to pick up after our family members. We pick up socks, shoes, dishes, glasses, bags, and a multitude of other items that would take too long to list. I have decided to conduct an "unofficial" study of the behaviors and habits of the occupants of my home. I want to see just how long it will take for them to notice these items and "if" they respond by A) picking it up (and/or) B) leave it for me to pick up. I have collected four forms of evidence that I will be "tracking" over the next few days.
Evidence Exhibit A) In the photo above you will notice that our "family/tv room" is well used. It is always occupied and a place for computer games, school work, watching tv, eating breakfast, snacks, drinking tea, eating biscuits, talking on the mobile, and gathering. If one wishes to take an afternoon nap, it would be much more comfortable for HIM (and us) to sleep in the BEDROOM and leaving the rest of us to eat, snack, talk on the mobile, watch tv, play computer and gather in peace.

Evidence Exhibit B) This is a basket where I keep prayer rugs, blanket throws, and the days newspaper. As you can see, it has now become a catch all for empty plastic bags. As you may see, to the immediate left is a TRASH CAN. Go figure?!

Evidence Exhibit C) A gym bag has been thrown on the floor in the hallway in front of a bedroom door. This is a high-traffic area and this bag needs to be stepped around to enter and exit the bedroom. It is also sticking out a little from the wall inside the hallway and one could possibly get tangled up the handle and fall into the outer doors which happen to have glass, thus injuring themselves. Mailesche, what is a cut or two?

Evidence Exhibit D) A towel used after the shower has been left on the bed. I am sure the person will bring another tomorrow to join this one. Never mind that it is all wet, and crumpled.

Now, I have other exhibits...tea cups, cookie wrappers, dishes and other items I could include. Socks, that is a whole blog in and of itself. However, I will track these few items over the next few days and we will see what has transpired. I am sure that I will be the only one bothered....but I am willing to let my need to control everything around me to go for this experiement. Stay tuned to the updates over the next several days!
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2008-08-18T06:35:00.003+02:00

In the past couple of months two members of the Nedi Gezira (Egypts version of a Country Club) have had heart attacks and died on the way to the hospital. One at the squash courts and one in the mens locker room. My husband was in the vicinity of both of these emergencies, along with several other doctors, and neither one of these men lived. Our club has an ambulance which is located on the club premises. Basically, this ambulance is a microbus. The ambulance contains a stretcher, 2 air tanks, and the drivers. On both of these occasions, only one air tank was working and it seems that it had critical air flow problems. Every single physician that attended to both of these poor men felt that if they had a decent ambulance with the neccessary lifesaving equipment that perhaps both of these fatalities may have been avoided. Egypt has recently implemented much more stringent traffic laws. I am hoping that they will consider equipping their ambulances with the things that one needs to save lives here in Egypt as well. Training for personel and basic life saving support is a must.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2008-08-14T06:33:00.002+02:00

Only a few weeks left of my summer holiday and my Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008. This summer has been spent in reflection and introspection and I do believe I made progress towards a higher level of personal awareness. I finally acknowledge that I dislike living in a classist society and that I will never really FULLY integrate into the mindset of those around me. I am relieved on one hand to know that my moral compass is strong, but burdened knowing that my moral compass and the society around me will always live in conflict together. I understand now that I will battle this personally whether I am in America or here in Egypt. I finally recognize that I have an innate sense to understand people around me and what makes them tick. I believe this comes from a deep capacity to feel empathy at many levels for others. This is also taxing, as I find myself putting myself in everyone elses shoes, which leaves me little time to stand in mine and also leaves room for me to loose myself in others issues. I have zero tolerance for racism and social injustice and at times see these complex issues in black and white. I also view the world now as a whole, not broken up into continents, countries, or cities. I see people pluralistically, instead of through nationality, race, gender, religion, etc. I hear the news and I can relate to the place and/or subject. Take Georgia for instance, a five hour flight from Amsterdam to Cairo, during which I had a lengthy conversation with a gentleman from Georgia. I thought of that man every time I watched the news this past week. I wonder about him, his family, if he is ok, is he displaced, does he need medical help. It is real to me now. Sudan's Darfur is real, I have a sudanese maid....I often wonder what he has been subjected to in his life and I wonder about his family. Iraq, Afganistan, Japan, Spain, everything is real to me now. I will continue my efforts over the next couple of weeks to improve my level of awareness and hopefully implement my new personal knowledge about myself to create a better life. I am still working on the same character defects and personality issues that I have been working on for 20 years, these may never change. I am happy to be able to declare that they exist and own them. I find serenity in the understanding that you never live one minute longer or one minute less than what God has deemed for you to live on this journey in life. I also find peace in the affirmation that we take nothing with us when we leave this world, but we are responsible for what we leave behind. There is great power in that knowledge and with great power comes great responsibility. I hope that I will be able to move forward in my adult life as a faithful steward to the people and issues that I care about. I pray that when I leave this earth, I will leave the people and the places that I have visited a little bit better from having known me.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-08-08T08:15:00.002+02:00

I read an article online yesterday about middle class families in the US turning to food pantries for help feeding their families. The article had a photo of the family standing in front of their kitchen cabinets with the doors open. The cabinets were sparsly filled, a few packets of macaroni, some salt, maybe a couple of cans of some unknown item. The mother of this family was very embarrased to have to resort to such methods in order to manage her families day to day food needs. It seems her husband was injured in a work related accident and they are now living off of disability. I felt for this family, but I cracked a smile because that is exactly how my kitchen cabinets look. I guess my kitchen resembles a needy family, too. My fridge has milk, eggs, cheese, bread, tomatoes and cucumbers...my kitchen cabinets have some macaroni packets, tuna, beans, and some oatmeal. I only cook meals with meat or chicken twice per week now. We eat a lot of pasta, beans, tuna and salad, and I never throw food away. We have really poor people in Egypt so I always give any leftovers to my bowab and he gives it to a poor person on the street. Food costs have risen to international prices in Egypt over the past few months. On an average, my husband and I spend at least 900 USD or more, depending on the month, for household expenses, and our home and car are paid for. For Egypt, this is a lot for two people. I have friends here, who have several maids, drivers, and kids and they are spending 3,000.00 USD on household expenses. That is not including their private school tuition, traveling abroad, and other similar expenses. The world is expensive now, and Egypt has not been spared. I am always looking for ways to cut expenses and save money, and I have no problem with my cupboards looking the way they do. I know that a lot of other families in Egypt and around the world are living with less. Reading that article made me feel sad for my fellow Americans who need to learn to live within their financial means and perhaps be happier with less. It is always good to check into reality.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-24T13:24:00.003+02:00

My Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008 got a little off track over the past 7 days. My husband decided that we are moving to North Carolina next summer. This is great, but I had to spend some time getting organized, like filing TAXES, 6 years worth to be exact....who knew you have to file US taxes when you earn a foreign income?? Once I have a task to complete, I have to do it and finish it. The problem was my undertaking took several days at home on the PC and I put on 3 pounds. My summer mission has really been insightful. Not only have I learned that I need to start working on my negative attitude and that I have taken on the identity of the city I am living in, but I also have a problem eating when I am bored. If I am engaged in an activity that is keeping me busy, I don't snack. Over the past few days at home working on my PC, I probably spent most of that time standing in front of the fridge with the door open, as though something new has popped in since the last hour. I hate to acknowledge all these negative attributes about myself, but if I am going to get real and work my own self-improvement program for the summer, I have to be honest. It is hard to realize that I am picking up some really bad habits, and exuding some really negative vibes. I read in Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth that "I am doing just fine, thank you" is a role the ego plays more commonly in America than in certain other countries where being and looking miserable is the norm and therefore more socially acceptable." When I read that my mouth dropped to the floor. That is such a profound statement, and so true, for myself as an American and as an Egyptian. No wonder I am in such a flux, as an American I want to fake it and smile and "be right", and as an Egyptian I want to ventilate and "be right." Either way, I want to be right about everything and to be validated that I am right, and then have a snack. Yep, it is difficult working the Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008 program. Perhaps I don't need to know myself that well.....to much knowledge about ones self has to be detrimental to your mental health.
On that note..
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-17T06:26:00.006+02:00

As an elementary school teacher, I above many others realize how powerful a picture can be. I couldn't help but wring my hands together when one of the most liberal magazines in America, The New Yorker, used this cartoon as its cover. I understand that it is giving the proverbial "stick that in your pipe and smoke it you bigoted, racist, ignorant, lack of education and understanding American idiots." The problem is, I am not so sure the rest of the US voting population will "get it" nor will the international readers of this magazine be able to filter the humor from the picture. With that said, aside from my "paid" job as an elementary school teacher, I also represent the United States of America on a daily basis. This job is non paid and on a volunteer basis, but I am commited nonetheless. Every day is a challenge in the classroom, but I find working as a representative of America more difficult. Explaining a democratic society to some of the places I have traveled to in the world can get rather dicey, especially when some of what we put out to the rest of the world is a bit messy. For example, the word "Freedom"...when I explain freedom to non English speakers and non westerners, I say.."My freedom ends when and where your rights begin. That helps create the basis for a democratic society of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, tolerance, acceptance, cooperation and compromise for all people, regardless of race, gender and sexual or religious affiliation." Now, unbenownst to The New Yorker, they have just expanded my volunteer efforts in my "non paid" job as a US representative not only abroad, but in the US as well. In all honesty and let's cut "through the fat" as we say in the south, tolerance, acceptance and religious freedom for anyone ín the US depends greatly on who is on the receiving end. Let's take Barak Obama for example since the cover was about him. I personally beleive Barak Obama is "quintessential Americana" as its best. He is half white, half black (by the way, the half black is PURE black African with a father from Kenya, we all know that the white part is not PURE American, since we cannot trace his roots back to the NATIVE American Indians which were the TRUE and RIGHTFUL inhabitants of America before the Queen kicked out all the lackeys and drunkards from the jails of England to America and Australia to expand her territories) his first name Barak is a popular Jewish name, I know 3 Isreali's with the name Barak, his middle name Hussein is a popular Middle Eastern/Islamic name, and of course his last name is Obama, his family name. His father was unavailable for parental duties, his mom did her best with what she could, and eventually he was raised by his grandparents. he went on to graduate from some of the most prestigious schools in America. Well, what do you know, that sounds like the life story of most Americans, one mixed up, jumbled up, messy, dysfunctional American family. In my most humble opinion, regardless of whether you support Barak Obama or not, every American should be offended by this deragatory picture of A) An American family B) The American political structure and C) the blatant display of disrespect that only serves to encourage prejudice and anti-American sentiment around the world. If one wishes to invoke his/her rights to freedom of speech, then perhaps he/she needs to consider the responsibility of those rights. If any American wishes to use satire to ridicule or scorn another American or for that matter, other people of the world, then have some self respect and at least let it be thought provoking, insightful, and open lines of communicaton for discussion or debate. America needs to start cleaning up its own backyard and consider the fact that with great power, comes great responsibility.We don't even respect, appreciate or understand our own basic democratic society, how should we propose to continue to extole its virtues around the world.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-16T08:07:00.002+02:00

As part of my Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008 the dreaded dental visit was a part of the plan. I realize that caring for your mouth is good for your overall well being. I just have a problem with the whole idea of "the dentist." The anxiety I feel as soon as I smell the dentist office is too much. I scheduled my dental work, sticking true to my plan of working my mission for the summer, and my dentist told me I had to replace one filling that was cracked, have two root canals and one implant. The was just wonderful and I was soo excited. Thankfully, my root canals ended up being fillings and my implant can be put off...as in indefinitely. I had my teeth cleaned and scaled and the only thing left to do was have two of my fillings covered with crowns. Life was looking so much better. I have no idea why I have such anxiety in regards to the dentist. By the way, my dentist is super and I will include his information for anyone living in Egypt. He works with several different doctors in a very clean, professional clinic.

Esha Integrated Dentofacial Center

Dr. Tamer H. Farahat

154 El Nile Street

3-761-0288

3-336-3345

They speak Arabic and English and are very helpful.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-13T10:08:00.003+02:00

In retrospect, I have come to realize that my attitude and general unhappiness over the past year is my own doing. I returned from my summer holiday last year in Europe with a heavy heart, and I have felt burdened since. I did not want to come back, and that has been reflected in my attitude towards myself and others over the past year. I thought that if I made a spiritual journey, I would come back with my batteries recharged and a new prospective. My trip for Umrah was set up for failure on my part, because I expected something which did not thappen. I don't know if I thought I would hear harps playing, see Angels, have a personality change...I have no idea. I do know that I "got it" once I returned from Saudi Arabia. I realized that when I came back to Cairo last summer, I actually did not want to be here. I wanted to be with my husband, I missed him and loved him, I love my job and I wanted to return to work, but I did not want to live in this city any longer. If I could take my husband and my job out of the city, I would be very happy. I resented in some small way having to come back, and as soon as my flight landed in Cairo from Italy, I was primed with a grievance. That grievance snow balled over the year, and as a consequence I reacted to anything and everything with negativity. I was charged and what compounded my problem is that the other 28 million people in the city are charged in the same negative way. The moment you step outside of your home in Cairo you encounter a struggle. Everyone is struggling for space, air, recognition, money, peace of mind....you name it, we are struggling. I had lost my perspective, and I had become part of the problem. I was finding fault with everyone around me. I had comepletely lost my identity and absorbed the ones around me. I became a living, breathing, aggressive, defensive, argumentative whiner that was taking everything around me personally. I can't tell you how many times I told my husband that the taxi drivers know me now, and I have to argue with them all daily or otherwise they don't pick me up at all. That is incredible, and I have no idea how I came to that informed idea as we have millions of taxis in the city alone. I am sure in retrospect they do not know me personally. I had taken on the crazy, chaotic lifestyle of this city as my identity, and I was not handling it well at all. I was not optimistic and/or looking on the bright side of anything or anyone. I viewed everyone and all ideas with sarcasm and derision, I was not a happy camper and I did not like myself. That is one of the reasons why I decided to work on Mind, Body and Soul during the summer holiday. My trip to Umrah was a part of that experience, and my dissatisfaction had nothing to do with my trip. I needed to change my perspective.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-12T12:57:00.002+02:00

My time in Mecca got better after I realized that I had to toughen up and forget about the behavior of others. I made my prayers and supplications as I wanted and I learned to look past the people that were around me. I had been warned that the weather would be bad and the toilets even worse. I can't complain about either. Living in Egypt had already introduced me to both and the weather in Saudi Arabia was super. We made a second Umrah on our last night there, which was much better than the first and I completed everything I wanted to do during that time. I felt better, but was still happy to be headed home the next day. I met some truly nice people, like Heba's sister-in-law Sahar and her kids, God bless her and her scarves. She was a God send, and I had lots of hugs and greetings from people I don't know and will probably never meet again. We were able to meet an Egyptian who works in Saudi Arabia as a school director and her intervention with inquiries in regards to my nationality were greatly appreciated. Thanks so much to her and her quick wit. I had two little boys around 7 or 8 ask me if I was from Palestine (that was a new one) and they even turned around to double check my answer. I guess they couldn't beleive I was American, living in Egypt and speaking Arabic. My husband was about to crack up. Our flight home was beyond any comedy show you could imagine. We flew on some Phuket Air/Thailand Sky airbus, that had first come- first serve seating, no A/C, staff that was terribly ill-equipped to deal with a bunch of hot, irritated, tired, fed up, and frustrated Egyptians after a 1 and 1/2 hour delay in departure. I truly felt we were flying in a chicken coop with wings. I was not sure the poor aircraft was going to make lift-off, and lots of things were swinging in the air, seats were flying back (thank GOD, we made it home) but only after some major laughing. My husband lost his temper with one of the cabin crew (I just kept fanning him with the airline safety brochure, no need to interrupt a free movie) people were complaining about the A/C, the flight crew took off their jackets and they were WET with perspiration, food trays were being thrown in the aisles, and a general air of unhappiness and discontent was present. I personally was over the top THRILLED with the whole scenario and to me it was the best part of the trip. I have never laughed so much during air travel. Once we returned to Cairo my sister-in-law Soheir and my brother-in-law Sameh came over and asked me how I liked my trip. I replied that "I didn't" and they didn't know what to say. I realized that my response was negating everything about the act of pilgrimage not only for myself, but for them as well. I felt quilty, and I started asking myself why was I so negative all the time. I think the lightbulb went off in that moment for me and I started reflecting on my experience and the reasons for my disillusionment.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-11T13:57:00.003+02:00

After the Umrah the night before, and my disappointment with my inability to feel the "moving religious awakening" that I thought would miraculously appear, I had no idea that the next day would be one of my breaking points. Perhaps it was due to exhaustion, maybe it had even more to do with the fact that I was on day 12 of a hormone to delay the onset of my menstruation, only God knows...but I know that I was ill equipped to deal with the events of the next day. After finding a spot to pray (it was very busy at the noon prayer) in the middle of my supplications that I could not make the night before, I felt some slight fiddling around my ankles. I looked down, in the middle of "God, please give everyone clean, safe drinking water".... to find two women investigating my white galabaya, pants, and socks. I could not beleive what I was seeing, they were actually lifting it up and looking at the stitching of my pants and socks. I was so flabbergasted, I did not know what to do. How on earth could I pray about preserving and taking care of our natural resources when the people in the mosque needed some serious supplications themselves. I completely lost all train of thought and eventually they noticed me looking at them and they gave my galabaya a good tug, as though to straighten it out, and started looking forward. The mosque was really starting to fill up and I ended up praying on top of my bag that held my shoes and all the while someone else was poking my feet from behind to get me to move, as though there was any room to move. When the prayer ended, I got out and met my husband and I was in tears. I told him the whole experience was terrible and I was ready to leave and come back home to Cairo. He looked crestfallen and did not know what to say. I only wanted to get out of that area and go to my room, and NEVER leave it again until our flight. He made me stop in the grocery store (against my will) and we made some purchases. I was in such a state, I could barely contain myself waiting for him to choose which deodorant he wanted. We finally paid and he asked me to wait while he went back in to look at something else. I was so irritated, tired, and frustrated and I was just biting my tongue to not start crying. I have never felt so torn inside. The spiritual awakening I had anticipated for my Body, Soul and Mind Mission Summer 2008 was not panning out. I hated the crowd, I hated praying in a jumble of people, I hated the whole mess and now I was standing outside of a grocery store, against my will, waiting for my husband to look for a tea kettle. I wanted to go back to Cairo and sooner, rather than later. We had purchased some cold pepsi's and water and so I took one out of the bags I was holding and opened it and took a swallow. In that moment, a woman wearing a niqab came by and pointed to my Pepsi and my hand. I asked her in Arabic what happened, and she responded in English that I was drinkng out of the wrong hand, and how long had I been a muslim and I had a lot to learn! Well, that was it. I walked off, left my husband, went to the room and I swore I was never coming back out till we left for the airport. Heba, my colleague (my Umrah guide and companion, God bless her) came in with some Baskin and Robbins and we had a good laugh about people's behavior and she told me that I had to get strong, toughen up and get with the program, it was my personal Jihad (struggle) to deal with everything and I had better get my mind straight. She was right, and I was able to get my program back on track. I think that what I expected of Mecca was different from what I found, and I was disappointed....not from the place, but from what I had expected it to be.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-10T15:09:00.002+02:00

On our way to Mecca we had to stop at a certain place and make our Ihram (our intention for Umrah) before continuing on our journey. The place to wash yourself was very crowded as was the area for prayer. I was seriously trying to keep it all together, but doubts were creeping in as to my ability to keep my temper in check on the way to my Umrah. I couldn't understand why we left a 5 star hotel only moments before, showered and clean, and then had to go and wash ourselves in an area that was overly crowded and dirty. I was seriously thinking that my Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008 was severely off track. Nevertheless, I made my intention, I prayed and we returned to the bus. Our trip into Mecca was without incident and we were all very hungry when we arrived. We ate around 11:30 p.m. and then returned to our rooms to shower and perform our Umrah. The whole area where the Holy Mosque is located is really overwhelming beautiful. I couldn't help but think of all the history surrounded by large, towering skyscrapers. It is a sight to behold. We entered the Mosque and the first thing you notice are the people. That whole area is full of people, day and night. At night, there is enough lighting to make you feel as if it is daylight outside. We pushed our way down to the main area where the Kabba is located and we started our Umrah. Thankfully, we were able to complete our curcumbulations around the Kabba very quickly. The only problem was that you could not be focused on your prayers or supplications due to the people stopping in the middle of everyone, to pray, supplicate, or to just stand in awe of the Kabba. Emad wanted me to get closer to the inside area of the traffic to see everything, but I prefered to stay on the outside lane. Wheelchairs and their drivers were hissing and bumping into people, bodies pushing and shoving, random persons stopping to pray in the middle of your stride, people pressing their bodies up to the Kabba to wipe clothing, even themselves on the Kabba. I felt I constantly had to look out for what the other person was doing, step around or over someone, and to keep a look out for wheelchairs behind me that might knock me down. When we moved onto the Safwa and Marwa, I was disappointed, as I had a whole list of what I wanted make supplications for and to show gratitidue for while I was in the Kabba area, and I never got to do one. I never knew that the next feat would prove to be impossible. With all the construction, the area for Safwa and Marwa was very hot and congested. I think I ran the whole seven rounds and at one point was almost lifted off the ground and pushed through by the crowd. We completed our Uhmrah and I had not made one of my supplications. We prayed the morning prayer and went back to our room. We were thoroughly exhausted and we managed to get some rest and went to pray the noon prayer in the mosque. I do beleive this prayer for the noon prayer was my breaking point.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-09T11:13:00.002+02:00

When you go to Saudi Arabia on Umrah, one needs to be covered. I found wearing the higab a bit uncomfortable and itchy. I takes time to adapt. We arrived in Medinah and checked into our hotel late in the evening. The weather was not bad. It was much better than Cairo which was humid and hot. Medinah was hot during the day and relatively cool in the evening. This was my first time to pray in large groups at the mosque and I found the whole thing a bit disconcerting. The early morning prayers were enjoyable, as it was not so crowded and you could find a place to pray with ease. The prayers during the day were more crowded and for the noon prayer and afternoon prayers, I found it easier to pray outside of the mosque in the sun. I realized that I could not focus on my prayers and worship when I was getting pushed, shoved, stepped on, and jostled. During my time in Medinah, I was able to visit an area where the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and two of his companions are buried. There is also an area where you can pray and make your supplications. The area is quite small and they allow people in during certain times. You are moving within a group and you have a leader who speaks that language. Egyptians with their group, Turkish with their group, Iranians with their group, Malaysians with their group, etc. There are signs and workers to keep you with your group. I have seen things during this time period which I found completely incredible. Women were hugging and kissing the pillars, one group of women knocked down a portable dividier to keep an area segregated. Female workers were hanging from pillars shouting out directions to get people to move and stay in a certain area. It was complete mayhem. My husband told me about an incident where a Saudi man slapped a Bangladeshi man because the Bangledeshi man would not move and allow the Saudi room to pray. This first visit for Umrah, for these first few days started to put seeds of doubt in my mind of having made the right decision to go to Umrah. This was not what I had signed on for...I thought I would go and have a spiritual awakening, a renewal, a feeling of serenity and peace. I found the opposite happening, a niggling of doubt about what I was doing, who I was worshipping with, was I EVEN able to worship with all that chaos and confusion?! How could I, or anyone else for that matter, focus on my prayers and supplications when you are constantly interrupted due to other people's behavior?! This is not what I thought the religion was about. Bad behavior, disregard for people and place, ignorance, and body odor were rampant. I had no clue as to what I was in for when I left Madinah and moved on to Mecca.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-07-08T16:44:00.003+02:00

My Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008 is still in operation. My quest for inner peace and tranquility comes on the heels after a year of feeling emotionally disconnected, some personal dissatisfaction, and the general malaise of living in a city with 28 million people (according to a tour guide at Christmas) as my neighbors. I decided that since we were not planning to travel during July and August, I would spend this summer trying to reach a level of spiritual awareness to improve myself over the summer. This would be achieved by exercise, reading books on health and wellbeing, and watching my diet. During the planning stages of my summer mission, a friend of mine told me about a trip to Saudi Arabia for Umrah that she and her husband would be going on at the end of June. She invited us to join her family, and of course my husband was thrilled with the idea about going to Umrah. We took the decision to go and our plans started from there. I was very excited about the whole prospect, since this would go along perfectly with my Mind, Body and Soul Mission Summer 2008. I went to have the shots, applied for the visa, bought all the galabeyas, abayas and higabs, worked out all the details, and prepared my list to make supplications or "dua'" for all the people who are important to me. I felt I was on the right path towards my spiritual journey of the summer. I readied my mind, I prepared my heart, and I was all set for the journey. I was still working out daily at the gym, meeting all my goals for physical exercise and I felt primed. On the day of our departure, my house was ready, my bags were packed, and we were set to go. All was going as planned. My husband was experiencing some stomach discomfort, but other than popping some medicine to alleviate that, everything was going well. We arrived at the aiport late as usual, we never get to any international flight on time. We boarded the plane and we were off, higab and all. Ready to begin my spiritual journey, ready to be moved into a larger awakening, a different level of conciousness. I surely needed a different frequency than what I had experienced over the past year. I encountered even more than what I expected, although I am not sure exactly what it was I expected. My next blog entries will be about what I experienced and learned during the beginning of my summer mission.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2008-06-19T18:13:00.002+02:00

Summer time...school's out.....no early morning alarms......no lesson planning....just me and some peace of mind. I have decided that this summer is going to be about mind, body and spirit! I put my watches away in my jewelry boxes so that I will not feel so tied to the element of time. I am trying to push my control boundaries, let's see how that works. I am going to work out faithfully at the gym at least 6 days a week, and will attend my aerobics and pilates classes on a regular basis. All I need now are some good self-help books and I will be on my way to a healthy summer holiday! I will keep you posted as to my arrival in zen.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2007-11-23T22:24:00.000+02:00

I spent my whole Thanksgiving weekend decorating my home for Christmas. I decided to post these photos as everyone is always curious as to whether we celebrate Christmas here in Egypt. Yes, we have Christians in Egypt as well as Muslims. Most of the Christians here are Coptic and they celebrate on January 7. I live in a Muslim household and I decorate for all holidays. I spent most of the day working on this tree which is located in my reception area. I hope that I will complete this area tomorrow.

This is a nativity scene. It is hard to see everything, but it has Mary, and Joseph, the baby Jesus, Wise men, and all. This nativity scene belonged to my maternal grandmother. It is made of porcelain and I do cherish it.

I have a smaller Christmas tree in my living room (TV room). We spend most of our time here so we have to have some Christmas spirit here, too.

I love to hang garland on top of my TV center. I gotta have the garland going on, otherwise it is just not Christmas.

I hope now that some of the stereotypical ideas of Muslim households within Egypt have been circumvented. I know many Muslims that decorate their homes with trees and garland during this time of year. Not all Muslims will do so, but many do. Muslims also celebrate with nonmuslims. Egyptians are social creatures, any feast or celebration is a good time for us to get together.

I will keep you posted on my decorating . It normally takes me a good five days to get everything done that I need to do.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-11-16T07:19:00.000+02:00

This blog entry is dedicated to all those wonderful, frustrating, and lovable creatures that we refer to as "the men in our lives." Yes, I am sure you know who I am talking about....the ones that share the same closet, towels, and living space that we do. I once heard someone say that no matter where men are from, India, Arabia, Europe, Chile, or North American...if you put them all in a box, shake them up, and dump them out....they all fall out the same way. This is such a profound statement, and I have found it to be so true. I am a creature of habit. I perform the same routine daily. Each morning I wake up, collect all the tea cups, glasses, left over cookie wrappers, empty the ash trays, load the dishwasher, and throw in a load of clothes. I then get ready for work. It never ceases to amaze me as to WHY I have to be the one to always pick up these items since I don't drink tea, or smoke late at night. Why do I have to be the one to put water in the iron EVERY day?! Anyone that has read my blog, or knows me on a personal basis has full knowledge that I am not a domesticated female. I don't like cooking, and baking, and child rearing. I like working, traveling, and reading. I only spend one to two minutes a day ironing my clothing. I use public transportation in Egypt. Once I get out of a taxi, my clothes are either torn, wrinkled or having spots from someones leftover candy bar or foul sandwich. Practicality wins over fashion and appearances for me on a daily basis. My husband can spend an hour ironing one shirt. I am sure he uses the steam button. Why doesn't he refill the iron? While I am on my soapbox, why is it that I am the only one to observe that the toilet paper roll, the paper towel roll, and the table napkins are empty? I can assure each of you, if the toilet paper roll is empty, then the moment you step into the kitchen, the paper towel roll will need to be refilled. Everything empties at the same time. Why do men have to leave cabinet doors and drawers open? Don't they know how to shut anything? And how can men pour water out of a pitcher and not NOTICE that it needs to be refilled, and they put it back in the fridge empty? I am always amazed at their uncanny ability to observe and note only what they WISH to take note of. Recently, my husband made a statement that he TRULY believes in his heart. He said that most of the clothes that get washed are mine, so I am not really that bothered or busy with taking care of him???!!!! Besides, his theory is that the washing machine, dishwasher, dryer, and the vacuum do all the work???!!! So, what is the problem?

Many times, I am left without words. I just sit, my mind completely void of any brain matter, wondering if I will trip over his shoes during the night in the darkness on the way to the toilet.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-08-31T08:32:00.000+02:00

I have had the pleasure of working with these kids for the past two weeks at the British Council here in Egypt. They are super smart and a lots of fun. We are creating an island and a pirate ship in tribute to our summer reading program The Adventures of Captain Pugwash.

Here we are busily working in our teams. This group is cutting out the pirates for our pirate ship.

These girls are working on making the leaves for our palm trees. Soon they will start cutting out the tree trunks in brown.

This group is building our pirate ship. They are learning how to solve problems and work cooperatively.

2007-08-24T09:01:00.000+02:00

Since I returned from my holiday, this is where I have been spending most of my time. My kitchen is relatively large compared to most Egyptian kitchens and it affords me a nice view when I open the curtains. The main problem for this kitchen is that in the summer time, it is like an oven. I do not have AC in my kitchen, compared to the rest of my home. Once you start cooking and if you should need to use the oven, watch out. It is like a furnace. I decided a long time ago in my teens that I never wished to have children. I am glad that I had such awareness of my own limitations at such an early age. I am not one for raising children on a full-time basis. I have incredible respect for moms, especially working moms. Working moms who work all day, and still have to come home to fulfill their duties at home....nagging children, demanding husbands, dishes to wash, and clothes to launder.......my hat goes off to you. I know that God has special plans for working mothers. I really do not know how they do it. I don't feel this commitment level, honestly. God bless all the working moms of the world, east or west. My God bless and keep you safe for your families.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2007-07-27T18:22:00.000+02:00

Greetings From Budapest, Hungary. This picture is not authentic or an original one that I took. I used images from Yahoo, and looked up Budapest. Upon my arrival , I went to turn my phone back on after the flight and it seems that my european sim card needs a pin number to re-activate. I was so disappointed, as I have been using my phone camera to take pictures. I remember very clearly the guy giving me the pin number and telling me how important it was. I have it...in Prague. No pictures of Budapest or Vienna. What a shame really.
I can tell you that I like Budapest very much. It is quite different then Prague. It seems a bit older and heavier. I did learn that the Danube enters from the carpathians' western most tip and styrian alps and collects all the waters that rise into the carpathian basin. The geographical location of this place seems to have added to its history. The Danube river left the basin wide open for all types of activities, while the carpathian mountains gave some protection. The whole of Hungary it seems was settled by seven different tribes of people. The Fishermens Bastion is said to have seven turrets to pay hommage to the seven different tribes. I took a neat little cable car ride up to see the Royal Palace and the view is really spectacular. Most of my day was spent walking from my hotel The Zara Hotel off the street of Vaci across the Elizabeth Bridge to the Buda side of Budapest and then returning across the Chain Bridge to see the Parliament Building. It was hot (although not as hot as the heat waves last week) and I am glad I wore sun screen. I told my sister Jackie that I could work and live in Prague. I am not sure if I would feel so inclined in Budapest. I like the city, and I am glad I came, but I do not think I would wish to live here. Watch out Cairo, I am almost ready to come home.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2007-07-23T10:49:00.000+02:00

One of the fantastic things about traveling with friends and family is that we get to learn so much about the others strengths and weaknesses, and how a change in climate, latitude and culture can affect our thinking and processing skills. Here I am (hand on my hip) with Brenda Brown (holding camera) trying to figure out how to use zoom... whilst Aunt Sandra is making video feeds, taking pictures, uploading and dowloading photos and video onto the laptop and sending them around the world via e-mail. I had no idea my aunt was so technically inclined. I also feel that she has found her new hobby in world travel!! We have already planned our next trip to Harrare, Zimbabwe for summer 2008. Brenda Brown has decided to go and check on her monetary investment in the "fresh water wells" in Zimbabwe (seems she made this donation through one of those tv evangelical programs) and provide some missionary outreach work while she is there. Aunt Sandra told her she may get to Zimbabwe and find out her "monetary donation" never went into a water well; however, she told Brenda not to worry that since Brenda is newly retired she now has the time now to invest in her own missionary work and she doesn't need to send money to those tv evangelical programs any longer. Aunt Sandra has decided that she will coordiante and provide technical assistance to Brenda in Zimbabwe on her missionary duties. Her first priority as liason for this trip is to export a portable electric ice-maker for our personal use. She will also look into an industrial size ice-maker for the "Tent Revival" so that all the attendees can enjoy ice in their drinks. Ice is not used as widely in Europe as we use it in America. Aunt Sandra feels that the world might "benefit" from this small pleasure.
My cousin Jennifer, Aunt Sandra's youngest daughter expressed an interest to join me in working on a wildlife reserve in Zimbabwe. She noted a particular interest to help save some wildebeest and rhinoceros, while working with the local women on basket weaving and rug-making using bones as tools and accessories. I am hoping she will complete her PHD by next summer so that she will be able to join us.
My sister Jackie will be happy to accompany us on our endeavors, and perhaps once Aunt Sandra introduces her industrial sized ice-maker to the masses there, we can join some of the park rangers on patrol to assist with the poaching problem. Aunt Sandra and Brenda can do this at night, as they neither one require much sleep.
I am so happy I had this opportunity to enjoy some of my family members outside of their normal environment. I have new insight into these wonderful individuals and I am so proud know them. I cannot wait to find out what new ideas my Aunt Sandra will come up with for our Harrare trip, she may even export air conditioning if none is available. I will note that my family and friends are always happy to welcome new ideas and faces on our excursions...so if anyone would like to join us in Harrare for summer 2008...just drop us an e-mail and we would love for you to join us.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2007-07-20T11:38:00.000+02:00

We are into day 20 of my July holiday and these two women came to join me for a few days! Brenda Brown (left) has recently retired as a school principal from the North Carolina school system and Sandra Rhodes (right) my paternal aunt is is still working as a Title I officer for the North Carolina education system. These woman are taking a break from thier duties and taking in the sights of Prague. They spent their first day on a bus tour of the city, shopping and enjoyed a Mozart Opera of Don Giovanni at The Estates Theatre of Prague. Mozart conducted the premier opera himself in this very same theatre 220 years ago. Sandra particularly enjoyed the opera and never missed a part of the 2.5 hour performance. She found the whole experience enthralling and inspirational.
Today these woman want to check out a train trip to Vienna. We will keep you posted on their adventures and experiences.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2007-07-16T12:56:00.000+02:00

One of our tours while visiting Prague was Terezin Ghetto. The fortress of Terezin was built by Joseph II in the years 1780-1790. It was initially designed to protect the access routes used by enemy troops to penetrate Bohemia during the 18th century. In the 19th century, the Hadsburgs used it to house prisoners who were opponets of the Hadsburg monarchy. During Nazi occupation it was used as a concentration camp for Jews. Terezin served 3 main purposes: a transit camp, a place of decimation, and Nazi propoganda. It seems that when the world started looking the Gestapo put on many international campaigns here in Terezin to cover up what was happening in reality.

During our tour of the grounds we crossed a small stream....look what popped his head out and decided to take a stroll. I am not sure what this animal is called in Czech, but everyone agreed it was either, Muskrat, Nutria, or a member of the badger family. I wanted to get him while he was staring up at us from the stream...alas...I am using my mobile phone camera and that takes a few screens to open. I liked him, as I do all animals, yet some of the other tourists seemed a bit grossed out!! :)

What amazes me when I listen to stories of persecution, or stereotyping individuals or groups, and inflicting violence or torture upon people for political or religious reasons... is that the compass of human nature can point in a certain way. I cannot imagine that any one person can live with his/herself when they know that people, the elderly and children are dieing daily from disease, typhoid, malnutrition, weather, etc. I listened to her while she was speaking, our tour guide, and I thought, we never learn...we continually repeat history over and over, but with different ethnic groups....thinking of the poor Sudanese refugees that were in the Moustafa Mahmoud Mosque area of Cairo, and those in Darfur, and all the in-fighting that is going on in Iraq and Palestine, or how many people in this world are hungry, when we throw food away daily, or people who need medicine in developing countries to treat polio or malaria, and Americans spend more money per capita on psychological therapy and anti-depressants. It is disgusting and shameful, I am embarased to say that I am apart of the problem....and no wonder the world is so messed up....what kind of future are we leaving to our kids??? I don't even want to get started on my soap box for global warming....

Here is Jackie and Gloria standing for a picture in front of the National Cemetary of Terezin. I have to say that Prague has VERY interesting cemetaries if you are interested in headstones and that type of thing.

Now, I just want to know one thing. This is a Jewish cemetary, so why would they erect a cross in a Jewish cemetary? I have no problem with the cross, it is lovely really, but the Jewish do not beleive that Christ has come yet, so they do not beleive that he was crucified. The cross is a Christian symbol, so..........I just found it strange to find this one erected in the middle of a Jewish cemetary.

2007-07-13T09:22:00.001+02:00

When I travel to different places, I love to hear the legends and stories that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Perhaps they are not true, but the mystery behind them is just as interesting to me as the history of the country. Prague is full of legends and perhaps it is due in fact that the country was first settled by Celts. Celtic history is interesting in and of itself, as they were really nomadic. After the Celts were either chased out, or absorbed into the next movement of people in the area, Czech, Lech and Rus came into the picture. These 3 brothers set out on a journey, and Czech settled in this area. The generations reproduced and through time 3 dynamic women came into the picture. Kazi, Teta and Libuse were beautiful (of course) and had very special powers. Kazi was a healer using plants and herbs, Teta was a high priestess, and Libuse had the power to see into the future.

The legend goes on to say that Libuse, who inherited rule over the Czech tribes from her father Krok, needed to get married. Due to her status, she was the highest court of appeals when there were problems amongst tribe members. It seems that some of the fellows of the tribe were not happy with her "judgements" and started some of their own legends, which were really negative and disgusting. Libuse decided to fix this problem and with her powers, she sent out some of her subjects to find a man working or ploughing in a field. Her subjects did just this, found the man, and brought him back to Vysehrad Castle and Libuse married him. That ended the nagging within the tribes that they were ruled over by a woman.

One day, not long after she got married, Libuse had another vision and she foretold that on all of the seven hills of Prague a wonderful city would grow and become very famous and known. My tour guide said she sent out another group of subjects and they found some people building the frame of a door. The frame of the door was where the name of Praha (Prague) came from. The city flourished from henceforth. Who really knows what is based upon truth or fiction. The fact remains that in all of the history of this wonderful country, there were strong, interesting and dynamic women at the core of every story.

There are other legends about women who were in power (or running things behind the scenes) in this area. Even stories of men who sent their siblings out to battle, and took power when they were killed. That seems a bit devious and suspicious if you ask me! Crazy sons who beleived in having fun and learning alchemy. Forged alliances and marriages to gain property and lands. All kinds of interesting things to learn and read about. Prague has lots of ghostly and supernatural legends and stories as well. I will leave that to another posting.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-07-12T12:31:00.000+02:00

What a busy week! M sister Jackie (left) and our tour guide Martina (right) spent 2 very busy days together visiting the sights of Prague. This picture was taken at a cafe on the grounds of the St. Vitus Cathedral.

Here is Gloria (Jackie's maternal grandmother) enjoying a lemonade and a break. Gloria is 73 years old and she was able to keep up with all of us for these long walking tours. I do beleive she is in better shape than Jackie!

Martina, Gloria and Jackie pose for pictures in a beautiful square, which allows for a fantastic view of the city of Prague.

Gloria, Martina, and Jackie in front of the famous 15th century Astronomical Clock. As you can see, we are not dressed for summer. It was really cold and wet on this day.

I do beleive these ladies like to get their photos taken! I wonder if people thought we were famous celebrities enjoying the city? What do you think?

The 15th century Orloj, or Astronomical Clock of Prague is amazing. It is located on the Southern Facade of the Old Town hall. On the hour, twelve apostoles emerge and the skeleton of death rings the bell in one hand while holding an hourglass in the other. It has several different figures, and they are all mechanial and moving. The clock shows hours, days and equinoxes. The most interesting thing about this clock is the story surrounding its history. It seems that in 1410 a clockmaker, Master Hanus, designed and constructed this clock. The city council (including other clockmakers) were so worried that Master Hanus would go to Vienna or another major city, and construct an even BETTER clock, they vised a plan to have his eyes poked out. Master Hanus avoided this plan, but legend has it that he later threw himself into the clockworks. This made a mess of the clock for one half century. I love to hear these stories about historical events and monuments.

I decided to purchase one of these hats in the shop for my winter evenings in Cairo. Jackie enjoyed trying them on, but felt it was really not needed for Louisianna. I guess she was wondering if I really needed it for Cairo!

Prague is a fantastic city. It is a walking city, and you can enjoy strolling. No matter where you go, or any street you turn down, it is interesting and wonderful.

2007-07-05T18:49:00.000+02:00

This is my street in Prague. You need to pronounce it with a Ch.

This is my corner grocery. You can find all the small little things one needs when in a bind. Tesco is on another street, so I try to use that.

Trams are widely used in Prague for transport. This is one of the trams that pass by my street. I find that this city is easy for walking. My flat is centrally located to everything.

Church bells ring regularly in Prague. This church is near my flat.

Yesterday, while I was purchasing tickets to attend a concert in a church, I heard someone making a real serious attempt to play a musical instrument. I looked and found this couple sitting on the bench with a bottle of wine and a real desire to make some music. The woman seemed oblivious, while the man was really honking and tooting along. There is a Yamaha music store nearby and I am sure he made his purchase from there. Good luck, buddy!!! I have to give it to you for trying!

This was a lovely restaurant that our tour group ate at while waiting for the concert to start. It has a lovely statue with a young man holding a feather, and a bird hoovering over his head. It was a beautiful place and away from the crowds.

This is Church of the Lady of Snows. I attended a concert here of Ave Maria which was lovely. This is considered one of the most important churches in Prague founded by Charles IV.

2007-07-03T17:55:00.000+02:00

Summer 2007 is going to be spent in eastern Europe. This photo is the living room/bedroom of my studio/executive suite in Prague, CZ. Three words for you people, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! It is the same style as Malia Residence in Roma, Italy. Quiet cobblestone street, birds chirping, and the air is fresh and cool. Sorry Egypt, but it is a refreshing break from my most beloved country.

The kitchen is very efficient. All the comforts of home. There is a small little window that one can open beside the stove. It is a small, neat kitchen and the great thing is....everything works. I am also happy to report that there was no need to clean before I cooked lunch today. No dust, or black particulate matter all around. It is the small things in life that makes one happy.

I have a fantastic bathroom. I can't really think of a better way to spend my month. It is so much better than a hotel. If any of you are interested in visiting Europe, I would suggest spending your time in a Residence. A Residence is like an apartment and your stay will be much more relaxed. This is my second stay in a Residence and I love it. I had airport transfer included. I only have myself, but you can get really large and fantastically decorated units. The internet is your best bet to research these places in your host country.

I arrived on July 1 (late due to weather) and this is my second full day here in Prague. I spent all of yesterday paying for flat rental, arranging airport transfers for family, and organizing some tours. It took me a solid hour to orient myself with a map and street names. I found a Tesco, a British style Walmart chain, or for my Egyptians, Carrefour. Nothing is written in English, so I am learning as I go. I spent today out on the Vlatva River meandering around. I had an experience today that was... unnerving. I think I have read to much into The Secret (very tres chic self help book in Egypt at this time). I was walking along the river sidewalk towards Charles Bridge and this woman (obviously a local) was riding her bicycle towards me on the street. I don't know what happened, but she fell off her bike right in front of me. I went over to ask her is she was ok, and she had a very deep laceration over her right temple. I was so relieved when some Czech's came over as the woman spoke no English, and she really needed a hospital. We could not staunch the bleeding. She looked so scared and so did we, honestly. One young lady called an ambulance and I left them there waiting. It was really horrible, and I do hope the woman is ok.

I went on along the Vlatva river towards the Charles Bridge. I decided to sit and relax and enjoy the view and do some people watching. I like to watch and observe people. I am very fascinated by the activities of those around me. I wonder if others find me that interesting when they observe me whilst I am unaware. While sitting here by this well cared for statue (Prague takes wonderful care of thier monuments) there was a family of 4 standing in front of me taking a picture. Their 12 to 14 year old daughter just passed out and dropped like a rock, right in front of me. I couldn't believe it. The father physically picked her up, she came around and managed to stand on her own. She looked completely disoriented, and at that time, so did I. I thought, for the love of God, what happened?? I started looking around me like a guilty person...as though I caused it. Needeless to say, I got up and moved on towards my apartment. I think that was enough for one day. I hope tomorrow is better for the poor people around me.

Tommorow I will meet my travel agency at Wincelas Square. By the way, there really was a King Wincelas. She is trying to talk me out of going to Vienna, Austria. I am still planning to go. I hope she stays in good health within my presence tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

A Woman of Egypt

2007-06-29T19:35:00.000+02:00

Wow!! We have entered the modern world!! We got MAILBOXES!!! It is really, ahhhhh...I simply can't find the words to describe the feeling of having a mailbox. It has our name, a lock, and we even got keys!!!!! When my husband called me to tell me that we have a mailbox, I was so fulfilled. When you live in a country like Egypt, one of the developing countries in the world, you find pleasure in the smallest things. I am sure that even with the mailboxes, we will all be picking our mail off the table located at the front entrance, or even off the floor, or perhaps on any given day, it may be stuck in the window of the well of our building. To have the mailman or bowab actually PUT our mail inside, is really asking to much. It is enough that we have the opportunity to SAY that we have a mailbox. To actually be able to use it would be simply, asking to much!

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-06-22T11:12:00.000+02:00

This is one of my favorite street snacks of all time. We call this Dora mashwi, which is basically grilled corn. It is grilled on top of very hot coals which is kept going by a fan made out of turkey or chicken feathers. You can just make out the fan in Sherif's hand.

This is Nourhan and Ahmed. They are hanging out with Dad while he cooks the grilled corn. I thought they were really quite behaved for little ones with nothing to keep them occupied.

This family is grilling the corn on the back of a cart which as you can see has pretty normal rubber tires. This is a pretty high end family business you get to see here. Many times you will find folks grilling corn out of a pot sitting on the street. If they are lucky enough to have a cart, they have wooden tires. This cart was hooked up to an old pickup truck, but most of the carts for selling vegetables, baskets, or baked sweet potatoes normally have wooden tires and a worn out donkey waiting patiently.

Sherif puts the finishing touches on our grilled corn snack while his father and Nourhan keep watch. Once Sherif finishes grilling, he will wrap the corn back inside the husk to keep it warm. The corn husks are nice to keep your hands clean, too. Mmmmm.....delicious!!

2007-06-19T10:47:00.000+02:00

I was recently invited to attend a wedding for a fellow teacher at my school. I received a beautiful formal invitation along with a warm verbal request. Not withstanding the pressure, I agreed to attend. I dread our weddings here, the thought of having to go to one fills me with apprehension. They are always very late in the evening, around 10:30 p.m in hotels in the city....if you are lucky for it to start this early. They are noisy events with a DJ, a famous singer, or a belly dancer. The music is so loud it is impossible to have a conversation with anyone. You sit at a round table with several guests, smile and look resplendent while a video camera with a colossal, glaring white spot light goes from table to table filming the happy event. I do go as it is my duty in some cases like family weddings, but I always spend half of my time out in the lobby or the reception area of the hotel. Aside from the belated hour and the noise, I have a real problem in trying to dress for these events. Weddings here are like Grammy award, red carpet, black tie events. Every wedding is a major competition, each one bigger and more extravagant than the last one attended. Major money goes into these events here in Egyt, especially among the urban elite. Upon agreeing to attend this wedding I consulted with another colleague, Margaret. We needed a plan, we needed a new hairstyle...we needed a major makeover. I decided to wear my old standby black dress. Who has the time to go shopping for a new cocktail dress? I was seriously contemplating a trip to the hairstylist, but decided to forgo the idea as the wedding was on a Saturday, which happens to be my major cleaning day. Who has the time? Instead, I decided to drag out some of my shoes that are all the way in the back of the closet...the ones that I never wear because they are not practical. I found these, covered in dust, but nevertheless...definitely usable. I put on some extra makeup, wore my hair in my usual ponytail, put on my faux sterling silver and crystal necklace...and then I was ready for the final touch...the high heel shoes....the one accessory that was going to give my style panache. I slid my foot in...first thought was wow, they are really high. I teetered over to my full length mirror to get a look at my all chic evening look, and realized that there was absolutely no way in HELL I would be able to walk in the streets of Cairo with those shoes on. Actually, I couldn't walk in my own home with those heels, no way to manage broken sidewalks, uneven asphalt, and sinkholes. I was about to panic, now what to do? I was seriously relying on these shoes to make my look for the wedding. I went back to the closet, I dug around to see what else I could find. After a few more dust balls, I found another pair of black sandals that were really not appropriate, but what could I do...time was running out. I went with Margaret to the wedding and we sat in the very back of the church. We were surely under dressed. The gowns, diamonds, hairstyles and accessories were incredible. I thought I was at a movie premiere in Cannes. Luckily, we slipped in before everything started, and slipped out before it all ended. We decided to forgo the hotel reception.

I have no idea what I am going to do for the next wedding invitation. I have been living here to long now to keep using the excuse of foreigner, she doesn't understand what is expected. As I discussed this with Margaret after the wedding, the only reasonable solution we came up with was to have a ballgown made, get the jewelry to compliment the dress, and make VERY sure that the dress is long enough that one cannot notice our sneakers underneath.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-06-17T06:53:00.000+02:00

Summer! It signals the end of an academic year for teachers. I had a great academic year 2006-2007. For the first time since 2002, I had the pleasure of just fulfilling my role as a class teacher. No administrative work, no evenings spent typing up work to prepare for a meeting....alas, just myself and the kids. Teaching has been a great surprise to me. I honestly never thought I would enjoy it. It was certainly not one of my top career choices. I just completed my fifth year of teaching in April 2007. I have to say, in retrospect I believe it is a holy, sacrosanct profession. I tell my husband that it is even more paramount than his position as a surgeon. Patients go to him, they get medicine or have on operation. Eventually they find a solution, feel better and then they go on with their lives. Teachers on the other hand leave an imprint upon kids that they carry with them through the rest of their academic life and into their professional lives, post education. At first I found this a bit daunting, as I am very careful about what I chose to commit to. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of my task and I was almost paralyzed by thoughts of anxiety, fear, and insecurity. Was I setting them up for future academic success, was I meeting all of their needs, what is the protocol for answering this question, did I choose the proper method for this situation, was my involvement in their lives for eight hours a day having a negative or positive effect? It took a couple of years, but I finally found my footing and I have since realized that this is exactly where I am supposed to be, doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing at this exact moment in time. Maybe my planets are in proper alignment, or I have found my authentic self in some way, perhaps I am finally on my purpose driven path. I am not sure...what I do know is that I love going to work everyday. I feel good when struggling students meet milestones, and I am encouraged when I have helped a parent understand that children are not "cookie cutter kids" and that his/her son is just as special and gifted even if they are unable to perform commutative and associative properties of math in grade 1. I was sad to see the school year come to an end. My kids will move on to the next grade, a new teacher, and new learning experiences. They will eventually forget about Mrs. Stephanie as they journey through their academic lives. I do hope that once in a while, they will pass by a bookstore and venture a look inside...perhaps they will take part in a conservation and preservation effort in their neighborhood or city. Who knows...perhaps they may even grow up and lead their country or nation with respect for individualism, tolerance for opinions, race, creed and religiosity, and a pluralistic understanding of values and customs. Each time I see a young person read a book, learn about the beauty and awe of nature, or display basic human kindness to another individual....I am satisfied and assured that all is right in the world.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-05-14T18:08:00.000+02:00

Meet Sim Sim! Sim Sim is my street cat. Well, mine and Ahmed's. This cat was an ity, bity kitten on the street when Ahmed and I started feeding her. She is supposed to be white, but she is VERY dirty, and looks like a mess, but we love her. I am sure my neighbors are not happy with me. Egyptians are not interested in animals, and they are known to treat them badly. The only reason my neighbors haven't said anything is they know I have been feeding her. She had kittens and they are on the third floor of the building next door to the travel agency. The office manager is not to happy as she is frightened of cats. I am hoping that Sim Sim will move her brood out soon. We have lots of cats and stray dogs in Cairo and they either get shot, poisoned or beaten. It is a shame and very sad, but if one sees the way the human population is treated, you can fully understand the way animals are treated. A few years back, I found a stray dog in the neighborhood that was very friendly. He was well-liked by some of the other neighbors, and even one lady named him Bebo! Bebo would walk with me to school and then go and meet and greet someone else. I thought Bebo stood a chance since there was a large interest in him, but one day, after missing Bebo for a school walk, I inquired with another neighbor on an adjacent street. She said that some of the neighborhood street kids were irritating and aggravating him and he started growling at them, so he was shot on the street. I was heartbroken, and my husband told me something I never forgot. "You see the way we treat our people, do you think an animal is going to fare better?" and he was right. I never forgot that. I will continue to try to care for Sim Sim until she meets here fate. Her kittens will probably move on to another neighborhood. I hope they find a nice person to care for them as I have their mom!!
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2007-05-05T19:33:00.000+02:00

This, my dear friends, is a dust storm. We have been suffering from these for the past month on a weekly basis. If you will look back in my blog you will see the same square in which I live, minus the dust. On a clear day, without smog and/or a dust/sand storm I can see the Citadel. We have been plagued with this type of weather for a while and I keep telling my husband this summer in Cairo will be terrible. I am sure we will have deadly heat waves with the temperature soaring around 50C. When a dust storm rolls into the city you can usually see it and smell it coming. It gets stifling hot, with hot, blowing winds which bring the dust in like a rolling tumbleweed. A sandstorm is the same...you can see nothing but yellow in the air, and the smell of sand and dust is extreme. It is not pleasant to be out in and the problem remains that they can come in so quickly. One sunny, pleasant afternoon, I was walking in the track at the club and all of a sudden a hot blast of wind bore down upon me and I looked around, and sure enough the sand and dust was rolling in from 6Th of October. In a matter of seconds, large umbrellas had blown away from tables and into the track, chairs were blown over, and people were scrambling for cover. I was a bit miffed with myself, as I had left the kitchen windows slightly open that morning, and I had a mess to clean up when I got home. I had a dustbin full of sand to clean up on my balcony that day as well. In my 39 years, I have experienced many of Allah's natural disasters ...hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, fish kills, and sand/dust storms. Insha Allah, I am finished with the later for this year's Khamaseen. Twice a week for the past month is more than enough for my respiratory system and housecleaning needs.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-04-14T14:51:00.000+02:00

Last week we celebrated Sham El Nessime. Basically, Sham El Nessime welcomes spring. Translated, it means "smelling the breeze." Egyptians spend the day out with family and friends, enjoying a salted fish, Ringa (seen on the right) and another type of fish called Faseekh, which has a heavy smell, like rotten fish. I myself, eat Ringa, which is what we in America call sardines or kippers. I pass on the faseekh. The day can be spent with family at our clubs here in Cairo, on a felluca cruising the nile, or at a cafe. It really doesn't matter as long as your enjoying the day outside. Emad and I went to Hurghada during this Eid, and I enjoyed my time there very much. I love upper Egypt more than the north coast. I wouldn't mind retiring in this area. Hurghada is a small city located on the Red Sea. One can live, work and enjoy the sea at the same time. I still have Ringa in my fridge, which I am sure we will be snacking on for the next 3 weeks.The thing about Sham El Nessime is that we never really have a spring here. We go from winter to summer here in Egypt, with some sand and dust storms thrown in the middle. One can always be assured to enjoy all the tastes and textures of Sham El Nessime in Egypt, rotten fish and all.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-04-08T08:10:00.000+02:00

These ladies are part of the nursing staff at one of Cairo's hospitals. Medical staff here in Egypt do not make that much money. It is not unusual for them to ask you to buy foul, tamea and some salad for breakfast. The problem is not buying this group breakfast, as the cost was probably no more than $1.50. The problem is that as soon as you leave your home, you have someone on the street asking you to give them money, the garage attendant has a sad story, you sit in traffic and people come to your window to ask for money, you drive up to your destination and the person at the gate, door, parking attendant..needs some money. You go inside the building and it is the same thing. I read a newspaper article last week on inflation in Egypt. In 2006, the average cost of goods increased 160%. That includes, bread, milk, fruits, vegetables, etc. The article also mentioned that in the past 14 years, cost had only risen 50%. I knew my household expenses had increased, and that my one frivolous expense of getting a manicure and pedicure twice a month had increased 25 LE per visit. I have since decided to whittle that down to once per month. I cannot pay 160 LE a month for a manicure and pedicure, when most Egyptians make this as a salary for the month. I am not one that spends a lot of time pampering herself, or spending money in a foolish, silly manner, but if I can feel the impact on my personal expenses, I can only imagine how the average Egyptian must suffer. The same newspaper article had statistics for malnutrition, children suffering from anemia, and the stats on those living in squalor. The numbers are overwhelming and sad. I love Egypt, but I do feel sad when I think about her future. I sat down with my husband the other day and we averaged out how much we "could" spend on daily handouts for all the poor on the street, at work, in transit, etc that approached us on the street. Together we could spend 1, 500 LE a month on daily handouts. That is more than my husbands salary at the hospital, and more than I allocate for my personal and household expenses for a month. I don't know what the answer is for the vast socioeconomic problems that we have here in Egypt. My solution is to take care of those in my neighborhood, my workplace, my building, and my home. I never throw food away, I pass out clothing when possible, and I try to do what I can for those around me. I think if every home in Egypt did the same thing, it may make our lives a bit better. I keep reminding myself that things could be worse, that some people live in more difficult circumstances. Many times I get tired of the begging, and I give them some tough, harsh words. I then feel guilty..it is a vicious cycle. I think this is one of the reasons why I love living here so much, everything in this country is tangible. You "feel" your life everyday here in Egypt. Maybe not always in beauty and harmony, excitement and adventure, but in the end it is all tangible.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2007-04-06T15:47:00.000+02:00

Everyone, meet Ahmed. Ahmed is the most important man in our building. He is our bowab. Ahmed is married and has 5 kids. He lives in the basement of our building. I can't imagine my life without Ahmed. He runs all the errands that you do not want to. He goes to the vegetable market, the grocery store, the meat market, he pays our phone bills, he gets our newspapers, he takes care of my street cat, he deals with the trash people. Basically....Ahmed keeps my life running smoothly. Not every building has a bowab like Ahmed. Ahmed has been with my husbands family for the past 21 years. You can trust Ahmed with your house keys, money (large amounts), family members and pets. He always takes care of my birds, guinea pig and fish when we go on holiday. When my mother-in-law had heart surgery 3 years ago, she introduced Ahmed as the owner of our building. We are lucky to have him. Most bowabs don't stay that long at buildings, and they do nothing but sit at the door all day. I think one of the major reasons why Ahmed is so awesome is that he is from Upper Egypt. He is decent and loyal compared to some educated Caireenes. Ahmed doesn't read very well, he is like the majority of the poor here, illiterate. Once my sister-in-law caught him outside of the door of our building with my English newspaper in hand. She said he had it open right down the middle and was acting as though he could read it. She said "Mmmmm, next time check the pictures to make sure it is right side up, ya Ahmed." We all got a laugh from that, but illiterate or not, we love Ahmed very much and are happy to consider him a part of our family. Ahmed is also well known in our neighborhood. He knows all the information, tid bits of gossip, breaking news, comings and goings, businesses opening and closing and everything in between. He is primary source of information, the news has nothing on our Ahmed. We always laugh when we talk about moving back to the US.."Ok, but there is no Ahmed in the states!!!" So true.

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2006-10-25T09:25:00.000+02:00

Eid Mubarak! We made it through another year of Ramadan. Insha allah, God will accept all the good deeds, fasting and prayers of the Muslims during this period of time. I was relieved to come to the end. I was growing tired and weary of the slow pace and being stuck to the house. The traffic was a nightmare, if you can only imagine it worse than a regular day. Everyone's moving like a mummy, and I start getting irritable prior to Iftar. By the time you break fast, one just wants to sleep. Thirty days is surely long enough for me, I don't know how Jesus and many others did it for longer periods. I finally got a chance to go out and search for my new laptop. I have decided to purchase a new laptop since mine is unable to support new software and other technological gadgets. I hate to spend the money, but sometimes we have to do so. Yesterday was the first day of our feast. We went to Carrfoure out on the desert road (Carrefoure is a French version of Walmart) and it was completely packed. I hate to shop in a crowd, and Egyptian families move in herds. If you wish to get a can of Tuna, you have to push into a family of at least 8 to get to what you need. They are not buying, just spending time and enjoying. We went to check out the computers and printers...and ended up buying everything else but that. I even came home with new pillows for our bed.....this was not in my plan. We got home around 2:00 am and I still do not have my new PC or printer. The frustrating part is that when I buy this PC with all the whizbang features, in a couple of months it will be outdated! This will be my third laptop since 1999. The first was a Toshiba, the current one is a Sony, and I guess after my survey last night, the next will be a Hewlett Packard. I will keep you posted to my shopping adventures for regarding electronics. Should be interesting!
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2006-10-01T16:14:00.000+02:00

This is the entrance to my building. Everyday when I walk out this door I take a taxi. I am sure I have a photo of a taxi somewhere in my photo collection, I just need to locate it. You can flag a taxi even before you step out of the entrance. As I am a Kwagga (foreigner) they are always ready to stop as they think they will get an increased fare. As soon as I speak to them in Arabic, they are all quite disappointed. They see their increased fare going out the window. I keep telling everyone my days will end in a taxi here in Cairo. No need for a terrorist attack. General transport is all that is necessary. Most of our taxis are over 20 years old and still have the manual steering. Along with the manual steering, most of the gears are located on the steering column. They are held together by some string, glue and lots of welding. The springs stick through the seats and they pick and tear your clothes. The vehicle is cooled by open windows, which during the summer allows nothing but hot, dusty, polluted air into your already congested lungs. During the trip, one can enjoy the smell of exhaust and gas fumes which are circulated through the return fan on the engine, not to mention sweat dripping down the back of your legs. My husband uses a taxi perhaps twice a year. He spends the rest of the year complaining about them and wonders how I can stand using them two or three times a day. It is strange what one person can adjust himself too, honestly. I find them to be quite handy. You walk out the door, tada..a taxi...you get picked up and dropped right in front of the building you wish to visit. No circling the block for a parking space for 40 minutes, no arguing when someone hits, scratches, dents, wrecks your car. I have been in several taxi accidents and I have witnessed some terrible things on these streets. I am sure to see my end in one of these vehicles, but until then....I will keep sweating it out, cursing under my breath, and arguing with them about fare. I will just keep praying that nothing will happen as we careen around the city, with loose bearings, no breaks, over heated engines, and a jerry rigged transmission.
until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2006-09-17T18:50:00.000+02:00

My husband had a very enlightening conversation with my mother-in-law the other day. It seems she was complaining about the fact that I am not very "entertaining" in the evenings when she comes over. My husbands explanation was so clear and concise, I feel I need to share it with you all. Emad told my MIL exactly this..."Stephanie is a foreigner, she does not bother herself with people. She takes care of her responsibilities and that is it. If she wants to sleep, she will sleep, if she wants to eat, she will eat, if she wants to taker her shower she will take her shower. She will not drop what she has to do, just to sit and entertain you, or me, or anyone else for that matter."
I wasn't surprised she had complained. I do go to bed very early as I love to read for about one hour prior to sleeping. I am normally asleep during school nights by 10:00. Most of the time, I fall asleep with the light on and Emad has to come in and shut it off. I was aware my husband knew me quite well, but I thought about what he said. Egyptians by nature, love people. They will make large efforts to entertain their guests in a grand fashion. If you go to their home, they will serve you to their maximum ability. I used to be somehow like this when I lived in South Carolina. I was a Martha Steward wannabe. Since living in Cairo, I have changed this position. I find that I am busy from 6:00 am until 9:00 pm and I am not sure exactly how I spent my time. I don't have the time for the small details and I just focus on what I deem to be most important. My MIL just shrugged her shoulders, and I am sure she cannot recall the conversation. I have tried to be a bit more attentive regarding her visits. I try not to jump up and start putting clothes away, or unloading the dishwasher, etc. I try to remind myself that the most important things in our life are the relationships we have with the people around us. Leaving a load of clothes, or the dishwasher loaded for an extra 30 minutes will not make any difference if the world stopped rotating. The "could have" and "should have " though, is more than I want to consider. I have to remind myself, I am living in a community that is very communal and led by emotional charges and they do take it personally. I need to respect their societal norms on all occasions and not just a few.
A Woman of Egypt

2006-09-10T19:10:00.000+02:00

I found a wonderful Chinese proverb that I just love. It goes...."If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."

A Woman of Egypt

2006-09-06T07:12:00.000+02:00

I finally had a chance to read my September 2006 Oprah Magazine I bought at the JFK airport. Very nice magazine and quite inexpensive. I found a wonderful poem inside and I feel the need to share it with someone. It is found on the cover of the September calendar located on the inside of the magazine.

Live Your Best Life

I will not die an unlived life.

I will not live in fear

of falling or catching fire.

I chose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open me,

to make me less afraid,

more accessible,

to loosen my heart

until it becomes a wing,

a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance,

to live so that which came to me as seed

goes to the next as blossom,

and that which came to me as blossom,

goes on as fruit.

Dawna Markova

Until next time,

A Woman of Egypt

2006-09-03T06:14:00.000+02:00

I heard a very good suggestion on how to end the problems between Palestine and Israel. The United States should buy Palestine. It probably wouldn't take much money to buy the country. America would then fly the American flag alongside the Palestinian flag. We would provide the same services to Palestinians as are provided to Americans. The education system would improve, we could install American teachers. The problems with Israel will stop immediately as their closest ally has just bought the house next door. I am sure they would never argue with us about border problems. This in turn would eliminate Hezbollah's and Hamas influence in Palestine, since their would be no need for them any longer as Palestinians would receive the same services provided to Americans. No need for suicide bombers, as the quality of Palestinian life would improve. No need for Israel to meddle around the borders, as we are his best friend and ally that bought the house next door. No need for Americans to worry, as we can implement freedom and democracy as we deem to be proper and true. No middle man, no UN, no hidden agendas. We just buy the country, and start running it like a business. I say why not? I have to admit when I first heard the idea I thought...You have to be kidding, buy Palestine, that cesspool, that lost place with with its lost people. BUT, then I saw a picture of some campers lined up in rows in New Orleans where people have been living in them for a year now. I thought...really, what is the difference between those poor lost people in New Orleans compared to the ones living in Palestine. The ones in New Orleans are living better with better services and have access to an education and are never far from a free meal. I say why not buy Palestine?? I think it would be a better investment of money than Iraq. That is a no brainer...just look at the benefits if we bought the country. If Hamas or Hezbollah's social services network could reach it's long, loaded tentacles down to New Orleans and provide what it does to the ones living in campers in New Orleans...who do you think all those campers, squatters, and homeless individuals would be crying for??? I don't think they would be crying out for the US government. Would you??

A Woman of Egypt

2006-09-01T10:59:00.000+02:00

I noticed that the new fall TV programs are being advertised on television. It seems in a couple of weeks we will have lots of new "reality" TV shows. It seems that we will have a survival show with people divided into ethnic groups, some families will be allowing the world to see their lack of parenting skills, and a nice show called "Bridzillas" has joined our new fall lineup. I can only imagine what this one is about. Sarcasm aside, I am glad that Dubai is airing these programs as it is much better than watching local television stations and 10 year old movies. It also helps me to retain my humor, as in all honesty I see reality on a daily basis here. One of the things that I noticed while in the states was the fact that I felt completely cut of from the rest of the world. It wasn't merely the fact that the news is lacking in some areas, but primarily I feel it is because Americans are so insulated from the rest of the world. I really have no idea how we created this cocoon around ourselves there, but we managed to do so. I wish we could create that atmosphere here, honestly. Most assuredly it has a lot to do with the fact that the US is a huge continent bordered mainly by water. You do not leave one state and enter into another culture or language. Consider that Italy is about the size of North Carolina. To go from North Carolina to South Carolina, is not a big deal. To leave Italy and go to France is a major change. In the states, you are never far from a free meal. There is a church, or a soup kitchen, or mission open to make sure people eat. We even have Meals on Wheels to feed and serve the elderly. In Egypt, you can step outside of your door and find at least 6 people around you that haven't the money to eat. This is my reality TV show and I see it consistently every day. I NEVER throw food away. If I have a spoon of food left, I put it in a styrofoam container and give it to my bowab to give to someone on the street. Egyptians are not known to doggie bag, but I do. I have asked for doggie bags in restaurants, which is HIGHLY unusual here, and as soon as I exit the restaurant I always find someone to give it to and they are eating it before I can go three steps down the street. I think reality TV should come and do "A day on the life of..." here in Egypt. That would be an eye opener. They do not have to search for a contestant. The first person they meet would be a good contender. Alas, I will soon see what the new fall programs have to offer for entertainment. Checking into someone else's reality for an hour will be a nice change.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2006-08-25T18:18:00.000+02:00

I am spending time with my MIL (mother-in-law) this evening. We are having popcorn and watching an old Egyptian film. My MIL is suffering from Cardiovascular disease, which is unfortunately exacerbated by Alzheimers. Egyptians do not put their elderly into nursing homes. They feel that to not take care of their elderly would be dishonorable. I do understand this concept, but I am not sure it is practical. For instance, many times my MIL leaves the gas on her stove and has burned many pots and pans. We have been fortunate, as we can always smell the gas or the acrid smell of a pot or the rubber handle of a pan. Sometimes my MIL sleeps until noon, which means her morning medicines are given to her late. Just two days ago, my bowab (porter of the building) came to me and said that the "Hajja" had called him and that she had fallen in her home. I was the only one in the building at the time, and I had no key to get in. I called my husband who came as quickly as he could. El homdulela, she was ok and hadn't broken anything. If she was in a nursing home, or a long term care facility the same incident could have happened, but the reaction time would have been better. I do understand that to not care for your elderly relatives is a shame, as well it should be. I am just not sure if families during this time period are able to do so to the advantage of the elderly. As I sit and enjoy my popcorn and film with my MIL, I can't help but wonder what will happen to my husband and my in-law's when they get older. Will their children dedicate their days to accommodate their aging and needy parents? Somehow, I do doubt that seriously. As for myself, if I live to be that old, which I seriously doubt, I am going to go back to the US and join one of those old age homes in Washington, N.C., so that I can play Canasta all day and gossip about the other oldie goldies in the place. If they don't let me in, I will just hang out in the reception until they get frustrated and give me a bed! I mean, what else will they do with an old, aggravating lady??
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2006-08-24T15:46:00.000+02:00

Asalemuaillekum! It has been a long time for me to post. I have decided this is truly the best way for me to stay in touch with everyone. It took me about 5 days to remember my sign in name and password. El Homdulela, I did manage. We are back into the swing of things in Cairo since returning from the states. We had a great time although due to time restrictions, we could not see everyone. I am sad for this, and insha allah, I will be able to contact those we were unable to see during our time in North Carolina. Emad's children really loved North Carolina, and wished we had spent the whole time there. I honestly did not think they would be cool and relaxed the whole time and thus the trip to Florida. Next time, we will stay in North Carolina the whole holiday. As for myself, I was happy to be back home in a normal and clean environment for a couple of weeks. I loaded up on clothes and other items so I am now set for another few years here. We came back home to our grey cloud of pollution with hot and humid days. I missed my central air conditioning in the resorts, but after a few days was back into my regular 3 showers a day and drinking plenty of water. It is amazing, but I am actually glad to be back home in Egypt. Many of my friends and colleagues come back from the UK or the States and remain depressed for a couple of weeks. El Homdulela, I have not suffered from this situation. I was glad to be there and I am am happy to be back here, as well.
I am starting at a new elementary school in Egypt this academic year. The high school is already established, but the elementary and middle school will begin this academic year. I am looking forward to the move, but am sad as I am leaving the school I have been with since I moved here in 2002. Change is always good and so I will see what the academic year holds.
I will close this post for now, and insha allah, I will be more regular with my entry's in the future.
Until the next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-10-15T14:35:00.000+02:00

As the history goes, Ramadan is the month that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was first contacted by the Angel Gabrielle to receive the verses of the Qu'ran. Through the passing of time fasting became a part of the lifestyle of the Muslim especially during the month of Ramadan. The breaking of the fast occurs at Magrib (sunset) with the Adan (call to prayer). Iftar (breakfast) often begins with dates and fruit juices, such as Manga, Omar El Din (apricot) or Kharoub. Kharoub is my favorite, but I do not know what the equivalent of it is in English. It is a rich meal to give an energy boost to those that are fasting. After eating the dates and drinking the juice, Muslims like to pray the Magribprayer and then return to a meal. Many Muslims like to pray most of the prayers in the mosque during Ramadan, but some do remain to pray at home. The meal can be any type of food nd most of those that are fasting find that they lack a large appetite for consumption. It could be just soup and some meat with rice, or just soup and some foul (fava) beans. It depends on the family and their personal palate. One thing is for sure during Ramadan, you will definitely find sweets in any household in the Muslim world. Basboussa, which is made from semolina mixed with eshta (cream) and a syrup, Konaffa is made from wheat, sugar, honey, raisins and nuts, Atief, made from the same ingredients but rolled to encase the nuts and raisins. Omm Ali is my favorite, it is made from phyllo dough, eshta, milk, sugar, nuts and raisins. Many Muslims like to watch shows that are specifically made for Ramadan and visit with family and friends in the evenings after Iftar. A lot of sweets are consumed between the Iftar and Sohour. Sohour is a meal taken before the Fajr (dawn). Again, this depends on the palate of the person who is eating. It could be dates, milk, water, foul, meat and rice. Most of us in the Muslim world loose a lot of sleep during Ramadan, but that is another post.
Until then,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-10-14T14:18:00.000+02:00

Muslims are celebrating the Holy Month Of Ramadan.Siyam or Fasting during this month is the third Pillar of Islam. Islam has five Pillars and Fasting is one of them. From dawn until sunset, one must abstain from eating, drinking, telling lies, complaining, arguing, rudeness, and exhibiting bad behavior. Basically, it is an annual training program to remind us to behave like decent, kind hearted, disciplined and civilized people. It is to help us learn self control, help overcome greediness, lack of patience and intolerance, laziness, and other character faults. This is my first year to participate in the Siyam (fasting) and I can tell you it is not a simple thing to do. OK, I have no problem going without the food all day. Sometimes we get busy and cannot eat, so the rumbling inside of my tummy does pass. I miss my caffeine in the mornings, I am now sure I am addicted to caffeine. That is no longer a question for me. Folks, I am here to tell you that within the first 30 minutes of my fast I was already swearing. I woke up and stumped my toe on the edge of my sofa and out came an expletive. Expletives, during Siyam, are also considered a no-no. That should have been enough to disqualify my fast for the day, but since I am a trooper, I pressed on. Within 25 mininutes of arriving in my school, I was already complaining about a co-worker, the copy machine, and the janitorial staff. This is the 11th day of Ramadan, and I am sure that every single day of my fast thus far, has not been acceptable by God. I have always know my character defects and have never tried to hide them. I am selfish, self absorbed, and arrogant. I am now even more aware of how judgmental, stubborn, and egoistic I am. I am sure that God, all knowing, wants me to become more accepting, more tolerant, and to awaken my senses about what is right and wrong in my own behavior. The moral and spiritual climate of Ramadan has certainly been ripe for personal reflection. Now, I just hope, insha allah, I can move forward and improve all of the problem areas with a positive changes. I will keep you posted on my progress and the rest of my journey through Ramadan.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-09-10T10:55:00.000+02:00

When I first moved to Egypt I was amazed at how the past and the present seem to meet in the city of Cairo. Caireennes consume the west. They like the clothes, the food, the music. The city is loaded with Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Chili's, and these eateries. You can find stores that carry all the name brand western clothing and shoes. The problem lies not in the consumption, but for the ones that cannot afford to make the purchase. Egypt has more than its fair share of impoverished. I always say the poor in America are rich compared to the poor in a developing country. My husband told me the other day he was in the hospital cafeteria with other doctors having a coffee and reading the newspaper. There was a flier inside the newspaper which fell out and it was an advertisement for McDonald's, or Hardees...one of the janitorial staff inside the cafeteria picked up the flier and my husband could tell her mouth was just watering over the picture. He told her never mind, these types of food give you a very bad upset stomach. Unfortunately, probably 60% of the population here could not afford to buy a value meal from McDonalds. To afford buying one of those meals probably would cost him/her a healthy part of their monthly salary. The gulf between the ones that have and the ones that do not is very present here in Cairo. I am sad to say, I have become desensitized to it partially. I can remember when I would walk to school and see the way people lived right next to me and how shocked and sad I would feel. Now, after walking past these folks for over 3 years and others like them, I have grown accustomed to it. That realization about myself bothers me the most. I felt this way when we traveled in Malaysia and Indonesia. The poverty was all too familiar and my reaction was indifferent. It is amazing what one can become accustomed to in this world. Thankfully, I have not become completely apathetic towards the needs around me. What I choose to do is help those that I can. I do things for the ones that are close to me, such as my maid, the ones in my neighborhood, and my school. I hope in time that poverty of this scale will be eradicated.
Until then,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-09-07T07:19:00.000+02:00

As a southerner myself, I am saddened by the devastation and suffering of my neighbors in Louisiana and Alabama. What a shame that the United States was so ill prepared for the aftermath. Growing up on the east coast, one develops an innate awareness that we are always one summer away from a major hurricane. We become desensitized to the dangers and are prepared to ride most of the storms out. Hugo's and Andrew's have taught us valuable lessons, and we pick our fights now, evaluating the danger and decide whether to go or to stay. The ones that can afford it do leave and the ones that cannot stay behind. What a shame that the world's leading power, the inventor of the space shuttle has failed its own citizens during this natural disaster. I can only imagine what would happen if it was man made. I read an article a couple of weeks ago that really disturbed me. It seems that Americans are spending more than they make. Not just on a federal and state level, but on a personal financial level. For every 100 USD that is earned by an American, he/she is only saving 1 dollar out of that 100 dollars earned. I found this information incredible. If anyone else knows different, or if I am mislead, please e-mail me and let me know. If this is true, than it seems that we as Americans are just one paycheck away from financial disaster. Personally, I find this frightening. The United States, even though it is considered one of the richest most powerful nation of the world, has a very large under class of poor folks. The lines between the "haves and the have nots" seems to be a bit blurred after this article, and the systems in place to help these folks in times of need such as now, seem a bit suspect. I hope that we as Americans, at an appropriate time, start to self-evaluate from the top down to find out what went wrong during our nations time of need, and if we have our values and priorities in the right place. Perhaps we need to start cleaning up our own back yard before directing others to make changes.
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-09-06T16:57:00.000+02:00

I returned to work last week. I always enjoy my summer holiday, but I find that by the end of July, I am ready to get back to school. It seems that by the end of the academic school year, I just want to sit quietly on a beach with a book. Once I have completed that book, I am ready to get back to business. I guess I would never be very good at living idly. Perhaps I have a problem in relaxing. My husband says that I am always hoping and jumping around doing something, I never sit quietly. I might have ADD and have never realized it! hehehe The students have yet to return to school as we are having our first major multi-candidate election in Egypt on September 7, 2005.School has been postponed for one week as they feel that it will be dangerous to be on the streets during the day of the election. I am not sure what all one expects, but it seems that emotions are running high here in Egypt regarding this election. There are all sorts of rumors about corruption and rigged polling stations. I have no first hand knowledge of this and cannot say if it is true or not. I do know that I have never seen any campaign commercials, nor speeches, nor live debates. I know that each candidate was eligible for 500 thousand Egyptian pounds from the government to use towards their campaign, and that they could raise up to 10 million Egyptian pounds independently. I just found out today (the election is tomorrow) that there are 10 candidates. I am looking forward to finding out what the outcome is regarding the election results. It seems that many Egyptians are ot registered to vote and/or have no intentions of voting. It should be interesting to see how the whole event transpires.
Until then,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-08-28T15:46:00.000+02:00

Summer time yields delicious fruit in Egypt. Mango, grapes, figs, watermelon and pears are in abundance. Mango by far is one of my favorite. I have two kinds that I really adore, Oas and Zebda (butter). Mango, even though grown here in Egypt, is not cheap. It seems that we had too much rain this past winter. Being from the southern part of the US, I don't consider sprinkles to much rain, but then again this is the desert. Mango are sweet, messy and addictive. I have learned from my husband how to cut them open, make cross-crosses over the pulp of the fruit to the skin, and then fold the skin back so that you can eat them easier. It probably would have been in my best interest not to show me how to do this. Mango are loaded with calories and I had three of them today. I also had the same amount in pears. I am sure my stomach will pay for all of this later. I have to say that when I traveled in Asia I was a bit disappointed with the fruit that I tried there. I thought with the rainforest they would be succulent, but in fact, it had very little taste to me. For me, Egypt wins out by far with Italy coming in second as they have the best figs I have ever tried.
I hope that one day you will be able to come to Egypt and try our summer time fruit. If you don't want to visit during the heat of the summer, do not worry as we have dates coming into season soon and for sure they deserve their own post.
Until then,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-08-26T07:17:00.000+02:00

I spent the past two days finalizing the papers for my Egyptian citizenship. This meant I had to spend time going to several different governmental offices here in Cairo. My husband attended the process with with me, albeit unwillingly. Dealing with governmental offices here in Egypt takes a mental psyching up period prior to going. We had to take a taxi to the Mugamma as there is no where to park in this area of downtown. The Mugamma is our City Hall. Taxi's here in Cairo are my primary mode of transportation. They are black, with white painting over the wheel well. They are abundant, old, and in very poor shape. I personally enjoy taking them as every day is a new adventure in a taxi for me. I have been in several taxi wrecks. I like the fact that you walk out of your building, hail a taxi immediately, they are cheap, and they drop you off right at your destination. Now, when you exit the taxi, you will smell like gasoline, your clothing may be picked from the broken springs, and you will have dirt marks on your skin, but nevertheless, you have made it no more worse for the wear to where you wish to go. My husband says I know more about moving around in this city than he does. The Visa section of the Mugamma is crowded and you can see and smell everything under the sun. There are all nationalities there dealing with this office. I do believe when one visits the Mugamma in Cairo they need not be in a hurry, nor plan anything else for the day. You have to go here to get a stamp, go there to get a signature, go over there to pick up a paper, go back to that window to get a receipt, I am sure you get the idea. The main problem is that here in Egypt, we do not know what is it to make a line or a queue. I learned very early that when you stand in line, or what you think is the line, you will still be standing there in the same place until closing time. People push past you, shove past you, break in line, and when you object, get mad with YOU. Southern hospitality has no place in Cairo. The law of the jungle applies, only the strong survive. I had a difficult time learning that one, but now I would probably have a hard time acclimating if I moved back to the US. Once we completed everything in the Mugamma, we had to walk to our health department and the police station to register all the papers to obtain my Egyptian identification card. I love very much walking the streets of Cairo. They are dirty, crowded and full of interesting sights. I walk a lot in this city. I can remember when I was young, I would walk to John Small school from my home on Bonner Street. I can remember thinking that it was a travesty that I had to walk to school and how scared I was to walk past the vicinity of Butterball Brook's home. Later, I became very good friends with one of his daughters and realized that I had nothing to fear. When looking back, walking the couple of blocks to school in small town Washington past the notorious Butterball Brook's home with all of his kids is like a Norman Rockwell post card image in comparison to the streets of Cairo. Who would have thought I would go from Bonner Street to Tahrir Street? We managed to complete this little adventure in two days. That is not small accomplishment for a citizen of Cairo.
My husband was tired and fed up from our two day adventure. For me, I found some new short cuts to the souk (market) behind my house, and some new shops to check out. From his perspective, dealing with people in the streets, the broken doors of the taxi's, the non air conditioned offices, the general apathy and total disorganized of our city in the heat of an August day was to much. He is more of the air conditioned, drive your own car with parking type of guy. For me, I like to be out in the street with the rest of the city, looking in the shops, bargaining and sweating. I feel alive and a part of my surroundings. I can look past the dirt, and the apathy, and I see the people and life around me. This is what ties my heart to the country, I think. My ability to pull back the layers of living in a city so full of insanity and complexities and find the heart and soul of it resting quietly within. Just thinking of it takes my breath from me.
I will close this post for it was a long one. I hope you will visit my blog again and until then,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-08-23T10:28:00.000+02:00

Welcome to my kitchen! Ok, part of my kitchen. This photo was taken when I moved here and it looks about the same with some additions and a bird cage. This is the area of my home that is my personal jihad (struggle). I hate cooking! I really lack all the domestic characteristics of a female. Sad, but true. The kitchen for Egyptian women is not a big deal, and many of them...My mother-in-laws (MIL) age spend the bulk of their day there. Our homes here in Egypt are not centrally cooled or heated. Most affluent Egyptians have air conditioners located in each room, BUT the kitchen and the bathrooms traditionally are not cooled or heated. My kitchen is on the south side of the building and it is in the sun all day. Folks, it can get pretty darn hot in there in the summer.
A normal schedule for me puts me cooking here...mmm...every other day. Most affluent Egyptian women do not have to do such menial labor. My sister's-in-law-(SIL) have full time maids and normally these maids do all the cooking and cleaning while my (SIL's) supervise their activities. I am sure I would be classed in the same standard as a more affluent Egyptian household, but I CANNOT stand someone in my house 24 hours a day, nor do I want to eat their cooking as these maids are not really clean themselves. I prefer to eat my own dirtiness!! hehehe In the summer I start cooking as soon as I wake up. Cooking in Egypt is a project. First of all, you have to clean the kitchen before you can begin cooking. Cairo is very dirty so you must clean daily. This is one of the reasons why so many households have full time maids. Once I clean the kitchen, then I spray an aerosol spray on the floor to combat the flies that are attracted to the food and body sweat. Once all of this is done, then I have to clean the food I wish to prepare for the day. Fruits and vegetables here have to be cleaned CAREFULLY to avoid getting sick. I scrub all my fruits and vegetables several times. Meat needs to be cleaned and washed as well. I usually wash all my chicken in a sea salt and flour mixture, making sure to scrub well to remove leftover feathers and other yucky things before freezing or cooking it. Meat is cleaned and rinsed well, too. Rice has to be washed and cleaned prior to cooking to remove rocks and other unmentionable debris. As you can see, just the preparation for cooking is a job. It is very humid in the mornings in Cairo, and so cooking is an undesirable burden. One sweats continually while working and I usually go around with a paper towel stuck to my forehead! :) I have a maid that comes twice a week to clean my home from top to bottom and everyone is telling me get a full-time maid to do all of this. The man power here in Egypt is very cheap. You can have a full time maid for $60 to $80 US dollars per month. She will cook, clean, wait on you, whatever you like, for this amount of money. Again, you have to supervise every thing she does and they are not clean. It is easier for me to do this myself, as I have become accustomed to the life here.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about my personal Jihad in the kitchen! :) Perhaps next time I will share some of our Egyptian recipes with you and you can try them at home!
Until then,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-08-22T07:31:00.000+02:00

My youngest sister is obviously back in university. I know this not because she told me, but due to the fact that I have received e-mails from her for the first time this whole summer. Of course, she needs something. It seems she has to write a paper for a professor about what is going on inside the Middle East. I feel she finds me her "One Stop Source for Information" instead of exerting herself to stay enlightened of the world's affairs. Alas, she is a a busy fourth year student and I am sure she does not have time to read the newspapers and/or watch the news. As for myself, I cannot give her an unbiased opinion about that war in Iraq. Honestly, at this point, I am wondering what war are you talking about? First of all, I would like to see the draft and finalized plan of this war in Iraq from the US. What was the plan? I keep hearing the same rhetoric "stay the course" but what is the course? Forget the reasons for entering the war, we know those are suspect, and forget the past three years of lives and money lost on both the "Coalition" side and the Iraqi side... completely flushed down the toilet. What are the "plans" from this point to fix this misery we are in? If we get out of this quandary and save face as Americans I will be grateful and relieved. I once knew a man that worked for my father and he told me, "Before you go over to your neighbor and start trouble, you better check out his back yard to see who and what is in it". I have never forgotten what he said, and I think about that now when I think of American troops inside of a religious, Arabic speaking country that has cultural and societal values that are foreign from what they know and comprehend.
I hope that my sister can find her information and complete her paper, as I seem to be of no use to her in this area. In my opinion, this "war" is over and it has been over for a long time. The US military doesn't even believe it can defeat the resistance. One cannot defeat what he does not understand. The likelihood that Iraqi politicians can agree on anything and create a stable central government is unlikely. They have never had the chance to express an opinion, much less hold a position of power. Americans are fed up from footing the bills and being treated like the villain.
Let me know when someone knows the plan.
until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-08-21T08:42:00.000+02:00

The weather today is beautiful. Amazingly, we have had fantastic weather for the past four days. What a lovely way to end the month of August. I spent the early part of this morning composing an e-mail to my youngest sister about information she requested regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. That took up some time so from now on out I will answer such e-mails on my blog. I am not an expert by any means on the situation in the Middle East, but I am sure I have been exposed to more information than most Americans. In my humble opinion, I do feel that most of us as Americans do not really completely understand all the things going on outside of the US. For some of us, we do not know what is going on outside of the county lines! I say that with all respect, as I am one of those county lines citizens. I guess that the internet has made us more mindful that we are now a pluralistic and global society. It would be beneficial for us to learn more about other cultures and their languages, and the same for those societies regarding the US.
I have only a few more days left before I start back to school officially, and I have to complete many small errands before I do so. I am a "to do list" fanatic. I have no idea where I obtained this little affectation, but for sure I live by it. I had my summer to do list made up in March! :) I am at the end of it now, and I am very satisfied!! haha What is so amusing is that I have managed to maintain this little oganizational obsession living here in Egypt. Egypt as a whole, is not organized. It is also indifferent to time. Time, organization, and planning are relatively foreign words for this society. I have found that it is pulsating to its own beat, but if you try to determine the rhythm you find yourself standing exhausted somewhere in the middle of blurred lines and noise. After a lot of frustration and aggravation, I finally realized my limits and boundaries and I have grown to respect them. Perhaps the society as a whole has grown to regard time, organization and planning as trivial. Conceivably, their history has lead this to this conclusion.
As for today, I will go out and join the rest of my fellow citizens in the frenetic chaos of the streets and try to chisel away the last fragments of my "to do list".
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-08-19T11:33:00.000+02:00

I wake this morning to quiet and peace. It is Friday. The normal work week for Egyptians runs from Sunday through Thursday. It is the weekend for most of us, although some Egyptians work on Saturday's. I make myself a cup of coffee and look out of the kitchen window onto the street. Aside from a few taxi's, a couple of women on donkeys, and the bread vendor -the street is empty. I love Friday mornings in Egypt. I normally run all my errands on this day. I like to go to the markets and get all of my personal shopping out of the way. If one goes out before the noon prayer the shops are not crowded and you can enjoy spending time looking around. Friday prayer for Muslims is like going to church on Sunday in the States. Egyptians spend the rest of the afternoon with family and friends so the activity outside picks up. We have been blessed with beautiful weather today. Egypt is hot in the summer. The problem for me lies not in the heat, but with the pollution and humidity. Cairo is very polluted. That pollution lies over the city like a dark, heavy blanket in the summer time. That blanket acts as an insulation for the heat and humidity that we are privy to at times..and when it is humid, it is absolutely miserable. For today, I think the weather will be very enjoyable and I will not have to run my air conditioner all day. I am always ready to save a few piasters (pennies) on my electricity bill.
I will close my entry for today as it is time for the noon prayer and I have to wake all the sleepy heads here to have breakfast and get ready to go and pray in the mosque. It has been a busy week and I think for sure it is only fair that Allah (God) deserves his time and consideration as well. I know that we have many things to be thankful for in my household, although my cooking (breakfast) may not be one of them! hehehe
Until next time,
A Woman of Egypt

2005-08-17T13:29:00.000+02:00

Welcome to my blog! My family and friends always ask me what it is about Egypt that I love so much. I have decided to create this blog in hopes that they may be able to answer this question for themselves. I have been immensely happy and content in Egypt since I arrived here in 2002. My new home welcomed me with open arms and and with the first embrace, made me a part of her. I have my life and my love here, and I do not feel that I would be able to part from her for long. I hope that you enjoy my blog as much as I will in sharing it with you! Cairo is never boring, with 20 million people moving in and out of her everyday. It can get a bit crowded!
Visit often, as I share my beloved country with you!
For I am,
A Woman Of Egypt