Daily Thoughts

So I decided the best way for you to experience a little of my life in Cairo these past 10 months, is to see a compilation of some of my facebook statuses. It is the best evidence I can display of the sincerity of my thoughts as I have transitioned into life in the Middle East. As you will see, this place is crazy, but amongst all the chaos, I do love it.

Enjoy :)

My ONLY chance for it to feel like fall in Cairo...if STARBUCKS down the street serves pumpkin spice lattes....for some reason, i am not counting on it, but they might surprise me.

You mean America doesn't have plastic manikin babies hanging by their heads in store windows? officially creeped out...i will get a picture on the way to work tomorrow to prove it.

The taxi driver told me it was not polite in Egyptian culture for a woman to ever tell a man he is crazy. I looked at him again and said..."but you are craaaaazy"...followed with, "and it's NEVER okay for taxi drivers to steal people's money." :) This shut him up.

These people need to eat...can't wait for ramadan to end so this city can get its sanity back...i am tired of the 1am mosque concerts, the men fighting with one another in the streets and the restaurant schedules all out of wack...

I fully understand that people are hungry during Ramadan, but I'd really prefer to keep my toes, mr. taxi drivers...knock it off!

You know the walls of your flat are too thin when you can hear the neighbors cell phone ring...

Arabic class' booty may have been kicked big time tonight! I'm just sayin... :)

loves skyping with my nieces....packages from the USA....and 5th grade. :)

received two very intense emails that I am being prayed for...thanking God for the prayers of his saints and wondering what is going on that I don't see...

was at the BIG game tonight and witnessed Egyptians throwing explosives on the Algerians after the tie...I was horrified.

My building's guard asked me to pay him to complete a task that is part of his job...to keep the peace i did, but now realized he's going to try to pull this everytime...oh dear

feels like she is in a movie...the mouse has not only crawled onto my bed with me on it, but now has jumped out of my garbage bag roll at eye level, flying across my kitchen, while I straddled the counters screaming... :/

Egyptian quirk: keeping the plastic on news cars inside and out for as long as possible! as well as on anything else new...to show that it is indeed that...NEW. hehe

I am from Vancouver, WA. Today I was introduced to Claire, one of my fifth graders...also from Vancouver, WA. Umm...Even in Cairo, Egypt, the world is shockingly small. Thankful for this blessing today. :)

Street cats...gross. They are everywhere.

Note to self: grocery stores are to be avoided in the afternoons during Ramadan...they have 3 checkers for every 200 customers.

This morning on the way to work I walked past a small child curled up asleep on the ground in front of Starbucks...there was nothing I could do, and that is simply unacceptable.

loves that she has a bread baker, butcher, ironing man, produce stand, and seamstress all within 50 feet of her door... :)

expecting the power to cut off in any minute...so dumb that I can time it now.

still loves the donkey carts carrying watermelons all over my neighborhood :)

finding she really doesn't need the following: a dryer (hang them outside), a toaster (do it on the stove), a coffee maker (umm FRENCH PRESS), microwave (also use the stove), a car (TAXIS: let them drive and I can relax), a dishwasher (thats what my hands are for), shower walls (the simpler the better)...gotta say it's not bad :)

apparently needs an Arabic sign posted above her doorbell explaining proper doorbell ringing etiquette...it worked at my last flat.

not loving this city today. But i am sure tomorrow we'll be on speaking terms again.

‎"But men are superior to women...we are not equals" says the man to my right on the train today, during a friendly but heated religious debate. and thus WAR began :)

got her class roster today. Task #1: Learn the proper pronunciation of my students names :) oh dear

It's hot and my grocery list is long...it may be the day to pay the extra dollar to have them delivered. :)

The scamming of foreigners in this city is worse than I thought...oh dear

There's just something about driving across the Sinai at sunset...

Work commute: 30 min walk each way...i guess you can say my cardio will be covered from here on out. :)

Pastor and his wife are coming to dinner! Chinese delivery it is :)

Be thankful in ALL things...even when dealing with pure incompetence. :)

was proud of herself that the ticket man at the museum heard her speak Arabic and still thought she was Egyptian...too bad I'm a good girl and told him I wasn't and need to pay the foreigners price ;)

was amused to see this sign outside her favorite park, "please do not bring alcoholics inside."

showers are pretty much pointless in this city...but deodorant is a necessity often overlooked...sheesh

i love this city.

I can watch all the people in the building across the alley...maybe they should close their shutters ;)

My camel guide today around the pyramids was a little kid...i hate that this country doesn't enforce child labor laws.

Has clean clothes on the line (washer now working)...updated on emails (internet now working) and an apartment filled with cool AC to sleep with tonight FINALLY...feeling beyond blessed

Why did I hear small kids playing outside at 3am this morning?!

running errands all day-I had forgotten how much "fun" this is to do in taxis. HA. Welcome home :)

I was just about run over tonight by a donkey cart being driven by child. No worries, I am sure if he had hit me, his insurance would have covered it. :)

needs to learn the Arabic word for "CHILL"

kept waiting for old chariot parts to float up during our swim in the Red Sea yesterday...i mean, it could happen. :)

You know you live in Egypt when you go bowling and there are 11 men "working" the counter yet no one is answering the ringing phone.

Didn't truly understand "intense" until she moved to a city with 26 million people.

LOVES how younger Egyptians are always helping the elderly in this city...America needs to take note

It's echoing through the streets...5 times a day...

Note to self...when sneaking pictures of people...make sure your flash is NOT turned on :/

feels bad she was cranky with the taxi driver...but he made me wait while he stopped to get his dinner!

One of my kiddos was talking about the "pyramid" at the end of a sentence. :) period/pyramid... we live in Egypt

The States has TACO BELL...but Egypt has fast food delivery....hmmm....so hard to know which is better.

has NO WORDS to explain the events I witnessed/experienced today...this place is out of control.

It's going to be cooler today...only 105 this time.

trying to figure out a way to slyly mark taxis so she can see which ones she's ridden in before.

YOU try saying the word CHICKEN in Arabic...i dare you...you too will choke

is learning to write her name this week for Arabic class...this is the hardest I have had to concentrate in years! When completed its a cool looking picture, i mean word

Heading to the orphanage today....it makes me especially grateful for my mom.

It's 5:30pm, and I just realized my shirt is on backwards...awesome.

loves that donkey carts play a daily and vital role in this culture...the simplicity of life here is one of its finest jewels.

Skippy's NATURAL Chunky peanut butter has made it to Egypt! It's going to be an amazing day

Spontaneous adventure of the day: wandered an old grave yard tonight, got lost as it was getting darker and darker... stumbled upon a funeral by accident and mourners dressed in all black carrying a coffin, ran away in humiliation ...climbed on top of a grave to scale down a wall to get out of the graveyard cause the funeral was blocking the exit...good times!

Male company in Cairo cuts out like 75% of the harassment issues I deal with daily...thinking about getting myself a cardboard cutout one after the real one leaves. :)

Did you know that Oswald Chambers was buried here in Cairo, Egypt?! neither did I.

bought 2 kilos of strawberries for less than a dollar in Alexandria...ummm, Cairo needs to get with the times!

always enjoys her metro outings that require her to ride on the "women only" car...all those head scarves are like one giant rainbow.

If you are what you eat then I am one big produce stand with peanut butter!

falling asleep to the clickety-clack of donkey hooves, barking dogs and car horns...

There's GOTTA be a happy medium between Obsessive Compulsive UPTIGHT COCKEY America who is overly concerned with policies and safety...and Egypt who has NO concept of order, rights, privacy, systems, common sense or personal space...i am so serious

found myself laughing at the standoff on the road between the line of cars and the donkey cart...they just honked and honked...and the donkey wouldn't budge. He starred them down until all the cars had to back up and u-turn. I was so proud of Mr. Donkey.

church, lunch with friends, travel by bus 5 hours from Africa to Asia, climb Mt. Sinai, turn 28!, watch the sunrise from the top, climb down, travel back to Africa, sleep. Then back to work Sunday. :)

Taco Bell, Walmart, the gym, Spanish, DRIVING...are all in the recent past. Donkey carts, fruit stands, DELIVERY, taxis, Arabic are the present...a drastic change...lots I miss, but also lots to be thankful for.

:) So blessed