Potty truck!

Stephanie at Where in the World Am I is hosting the State Department Blog Round-up this week and her ‘theme’ is international toilets. I can’t wait to hear the stories!

I don’t have any strange photos of toilets. Usually it’s the situation surrounding the whole toilet experience that gets me more than the actual plumbing fixture.

One photo that I do wish I had, was one that I could never take because I was always driving when I saw it. A truck load of toilets. I saw several of these trucks while commuting to work in Cairo, which was often quite the experience in of itself, but I’d look over, and there’d be this big old pick-up-type truck, piled impossibly high with dozens of gleaming, brand new, polished and shiny, ceramic toilets… glimmering in the morning sun… pepto bismol pink and baby blue… not a one in a box, they were just lashed crazily to the truck, one layer randomly atop another, with piles of thick palm fronds between each toilet as padding. It was fantastic! Sparkling ceramic, flapping palm leaves, beat up truck, lumbering by in crazy traffic. It was like mechanical performance art! (or something...) Of course, I’d exclaim aloud to my husband and/or passengers, “Look at that truck!” … and a bus would drive by, obscuring the view, and we’d be at some break-away point in the road and the potty truck would go one way, we’d be heading the other, and nobody would see it but me. This actually happened two more times. I’d catch sight of a fully loaded toilet truck, heading south (usually) as we commuted north, and try as I might to point it out, as soon as I opened my mouth, opposing traffic would converge on the truck, like protective guardians of some mythological being… nobody but I was allowed a glimpse of the blue and pink cargo… yes, my husband teased me about the imaginary potty trucks, but I swear, they were real!

Really!

I am NOT kidding…!

I googled “Egypt toilet truck” and found this image of a truck in Egypt with toilet rolls:

It’s close… but no pink potties… o well…

Hydras and other pets

Finally! Ages later than the creation of Honor’s bear, I finally managed to get Brian’s hydra made!

Brian had a very specific hydra that he wanted. He’s been enjoying the Wizard101 online role playing game, and one of his favorite creatures in the game is a Hydra. Early in the game, it was available as a pet, now it’s only available with a card or as an equipment bonus. Here’s a little clip:

 

Brian drew this sketch for me, mostly to insure I got the order of the heads correct:

And here is his finished hydra. This one doesn’t breath fire, ice and lightning like the one in the game, but it turned out pretty cool any way!

As for other pets, the online game has recently brought out an expansion to game play. Previously, a pet for your character was usually just a creature that followed you around. A cute status symbol. Some pets gave you a small bonus in the game in the form of an additional spell card. Now, pets have been made more interactive. From an article on the new Advanced Pets:

“The pet system allows players to raise and combine their own pets, which can assist them in battle. Pets also can roam freely in Castles and Lands, enjoy snacks, compete in the multiplayer Pet Derby, and train in special mini-games (including Dance Game, Gobbler Drop, Cannon Game, and Maze Game).

In battle, pets will accompany their wizard companion, and be able to use new abilities such as traps, shields, and blades during duels.”

I’ve recommended Wizard101 as a family game before, and definitely continue to do so. It is still evolving, and is still very engaging for all members of the family. Here’s another article from an Austin, TX news station about it. 

Wandering downtown

Wow. I've been a bit lazy in blogdom lately. Sorry! What it means though is we've just been too busy for me to catch up, in a good way, but I'll try to be better and not disappear like this.

We've been occupied with school, field trips, illnesses, birthday preparations, and even prep and planning for our upcoming move in June. Yes, our tour is coming to an end. Although we've been able to extend it and have been here for quite some time, it still feels like we've been shorted. Honor tells us that we are "Leaving on vacation, but not coming home again." This is going to be a big change for all of us. btw, yes, we do have a clue where we will be going next, but please be patient... I am a bit superstitious and am not announcing anything until I feel super-confident. I don't want to jinx us! In the meantime, we are doing our best to enjoy the time that we have left here in Egypt.

Had to take the kids downtown last week and I snapped some photos on the way (sorry about the lower resolution - I only had my cellphone). Thought I should share some traffic photos as you have not experienced Cairo until you've experienced the roads.
Look fast.. the cars are organized into almost lane-like patterns!
um... pay no mind to the actual lane lines painted on the road.
whoops. Did you blink? Where'd the lanes go?
Horse cart delivery.
Looking up as you drive by, you see some very interesting old architecture in the downtown area. (Look up only if you are not driving please).
Mmm! Fresh bread. I'm always impressed with these bike delivery guys, especially when they are weaving through heavy traffic.. riding a bike with a plank on their heads, piled high with loaves of flat bread. I'm not sure if I could manage, while walking, on flat ground, using both hands to balance!
Beware the pedestrians.. although on this day, there weren't many out - must have known I had my camera (phone) ready.
We have many roundabouts - which I actually really like. Wish we had them in the US in more places.
My explorers.
Random art carved into a wall on a little sidestreet.
Close-up.
Another batch of yummy baladi bread being transported.
Did I mention the need to beware of pedestrians?

Traffic in Cairo is unfortunate. It can sometimes take an hour or more to make a trip that should only take 10-15 minutes. The incidence of accidents and pedestrian fatalities are way too high. Saying that though, it isn't impossible to learn to drive here and it really isn't that scary. Take your time, don't take stupid chances (there are enough people doing that already) and it isn't that bad. You have to drive defensively aggressive. You have to push your way to the lane you want, to the turn you want to make, through the intersection you want... but in general, that's all that everyone else wants to do too, and most are not obnoxiously aggressive about it - they cut you off, no problem, next time you cut them off, no problem... everybody gets there. I think the level of hateful aggressiveness is less than in many other cities I've driven in - say, LA or DC. Yes, some people are real idiots, very selfish and inconsiderate, but I believe they are the minority. I also believe that there have been greater efforts to control traffic taken in the greater Cairo area - with speed bumps, strategically placed barriers, etc. to improve traffic safety, and there are new laws about wearing seat belts and not using a cell phone when driving. If you are coming to Cairo and you are going to drive... adopt a zen driving style. Let go of stress. Never make eye contact - that is a sign of weakness and you might as well stay home. Go with the flow. Expect the unexpected and illogical. Yes it is ok to make left turns from the right lane. Yes people will jump out of buses in the middle of a crowded intersection. You must learn to use your horn - it is not 'shouting', you are communicating and if you do not use it to signal, say, your intention to pass, you may get sideswiped by the other driver who never bothered to look behind/beside himself. Let go of your 'one car per one lane' mentality, and above all, repeat 'No problem' like a mantra.

... now, anyone have any advice about how I can get rid of this 'go with the flow' mentality so I can safely drive in the US again??

Some random observations

Kids do NOT like Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw. Neither do they like Green Peas and cheese salad. They will eat cauliflower cooked with potatoes in Aloo Gobi .

We had rain. A few drops came down so hard that builders out behind us ran out to rescue bags of cement. We ran downstairs. By the time we got down, the rain was gone. The splatters on the sidewalk did not even cover the whole pavement - spaces were left between the drop marks. No puddles to splash in, so we played hide and seek. It rained a small amount more later in the evening, but that's all we got. Maybe this weekend?

60F is cold. I am a wimp.

"Obama is very good. Bush was not very good. Jimmy Carter was the best. Washington was also very good." This is the first Egyptian opinion about our Presidency that I've heard in awhile. I have to laugh about all the 'advice' given before we came over here. We are told to avoid discussing sensitive matters, like immediate family, religion, politics, etc. but that is NOT going to happen! Our hosts are very inquisitive and opinionated (in a friendly manner) and you will asked about and/or told about all of this and more by everyone you meet. When you come to Egypt, you are not a tourist, you are a guest. Be prepared to show pics of yours kids, state your religion, and discuss politics and current events.

Speaking of current events, and being a guest of Egypt, we have lived here for over four years now and consider Egypt our home, even though we will soon be leaving. We are guests, but I am also 'local'. I am feeling a very personal anger about the evil criminals who attacked the Khan. Anyone who has been to the Khan, even once, but especially someone who knows it well enough to have perpetrated this crime, knows that not only is the square in which the bombing occurred always be filled with tourists - it is- it is also filled with locals who work and shop there - always, day and night. It is filled with people - FAMILIES - having meals and tea at the cafes. It is filled with people visiting the mosque. It is filled with people who work there, including the police. And of all places through the whole Khan, it is a place where you ALWAYS see children, EGYPTIAN children, running and playing, day and night. The crime that was committed was evil enough, especially as it was children who were the victims, but the fact that it was committed - on purpose - in an area known to be filled with families and children... it was beyond a crime. There is a special place in hell waiting for those who committed this cowardly attack - and the sooner they go there, the better for us all.

I see you...

Can't miss the noise, and there's no place to hide. You knocked down all the walls, brick by brick. Yep. I see you down there.
Hiding in the corner will do you no good.Not sure where you stashed the dump truck, but with that pile of rubble at the ready, I know it has to be around here somewhere. I keep telling everybody that you are working fast and hard, don't let me down.... dudes, I'm tired!I can still be sympathetic to the need to work at night - I do 'get it', I understand - but it is tough to get any sleep, and you woke up the little one last night. I have to admit that this empty lot sure was a pleasant sight from our balcony this morning.Now, will you please wait a while before you start RE-constructing anything?? Take a break. Go on vacation... say, until June? And then, can you work during the day?!!

What goes thump, Rrrrrr, BLAM, beep beep beep all night long?

A giant front-end loader scraping up huge hunks of concrete and other debris and dumping them into a dump truck... right outside our window... all night long, that's what.

The building behind us has been leveled to a shell of what used to be the ground floor. The other floors were pulverized and dropped into that shell. The deconstruction has reached a stage where they have to haul off the broken bits - and that requires heavy equipment. Trouble is, the roads here are tiny, traffic is heavy, and trucks are NOT allowed into the town during the day.

So they come at night - about 10-11pm. So, with thumps that rattled the windows, and growling engines that rumbled and vibrated the couch I was sitting on... not to mention the incredibly piercing back-up beepers... they workers loaded rubble. All flippin' night. They must have loaded truck after truck. They were gone by the time my 6am alarm went off. I suppose they had to be out of town by sun-up.

Fortunately, my knowledge of the truck bans, understanding of traffic, and previous experience watching the people working on this building (they are truly industrious), grants me enough patience to not be annoyed at the uproar back there. There are some thumps and bangs that come in hard enough that I can feel them - like they bumped into our building or something (can't actually happen, there's a wall - but it feels like it). It's an incredible amount of noise. But at least it is very busy noise. They seem to be really moving and so I can hope that they are hurrying - maybe only to save money on equipment rental, or whatever, but the details do not matter to me. They're moving right along.

It also helps that, somehow, the kids sleep right through it all. This is not the first night that they've been out there and the kids never hear a thing. Absolutely amazing. And good they slept last night - today was the first day back to school. It was good to have them wake up feeling happy, bouncy, and ready to go.

An odd day.

My day started off early in the morning, with lions. We made it past that, and got on with - first more sleep until the alarm rang - then, our normal get up and get ready for school routine.

Brian wasn't feeling 100%, but he seemed healthy enough, no fever, etc., and he wanted to go to school, so we let him go. It was only a half day today. I couldn't stay with Honor at school in the playground after drop-off like I usually do. Brian's class starts immediately, but the kindergartners play outside for about 10 minutes after the bell. Our car needs some work on the AC, so I had to get back home so the mechanic could pick it up.

I had a couple hours this morning of normal housework and stuff, but soon enough, it was time to go get the kids. I found Honor at her class, but Brian had said he would probably ride the bus. We stuck around to see if we could see him and ask if he had changed his mind but didn't find him. As we were leaving school grounds. We heard a strange noise from the construction site on campus. Looked up at the tall crane there and... oh my!
That rather sudden down turn on the right - that is not supposed to be there! The school sent out a rumor control email once things were investigated. No details of what caused this, but the crane had been moving a load, and folded. Very happy to hear that, fortunately, no-one was injured in the accident! The worksite is walled off from the school quite well, but there were kids out in the playing field nearby, and apparently rumor had them worried about injuries to the construction workers.

Anyway, before we left, I got a call from the mechanic saying that he couldn't get to our car today because of emergencies and lack of time. We may not have AC, but at least the car runs. Sounds like other customers were having a less than ideal commute today. We got home, and Brian soon joined us by way of the bus. He looked tired. Went upstairs and the poor kid told me that he had a stomach ache again (still?) and when I checked, found he had a fever of 102F. I fed them both some lunch, then had Brian nap. Poor kiddo slept for nearly 4 hours. Still not feeling so good at bed time, but at least he had dinner and was up reading for awhile.

While Brian napped, Honor played in her room. Her baby doll stroller broke... actually the fix I'd made to attempt an impossible (broken plastic piece) repair broke. I suggested that she put it in the charity box. She immediately got upset - "But if we give the stroller away, we have to give the whole set away! It's a set! They match!" (Similar to this set.) But, I said, you have so many toys, perhaps if you gave the old, broken set away, Santa might bring you a new one? She immediately switched gears, "Then I can have two! But give away the broken stroller." I pointed out that a new set won't match the old set, and we had no room for all that stuff. She got mad, then heartbroken, then started fussing, and then crying. Definitely a no win situation. I could tell she was tired, darn lions, and overly emotional because of it, so I gave her a chocolate. Crisis over, she could go back to her game. Not sure how Santa plans on handling this though. Honor really plays with her dolls a lot, and a stroller is important. We'll see.

At least dinner turned out well. And the kids were in sweet moods when their dad got home. Both are asleep now and I plan to follow soon. All things considered, it was actually a nice day. Extra time with the kids is always sweet. But it was a strange day. Hope there are no lions tonight. I also hope tomorrow plans on being a little more normal and routine!

The show must go on.

We have, for years now, been enjoying the construction show out our back windows. There is a new building behind us now that we've watched go up from a bare shell. It seems they're now in the interior and while we can tell that there is still work going on, it is no longer as interesting to watch as it used to be.

However, looks like there's a new show in town. Just recently, the old decrepit abandoned building directly behind us was dressed up in fancy tarps.

Then the banging started. Yes, this guy in flip flops did walk out on this 3rd floor ledge and wrestle this pipe off the wall with what looked like a hammer and his bare hands.
Then the big hammers started in. The guys were out there all day. Mostly being safe...
but sometimes, I'd catch one of them doing something scary. Like this guy on the edge of the roof, smacking the wall beneath his feet... I can't stop watching though. I have to see what's going to happen next.
I wonder how long it will take to remove a 3-story building? Wonder what they will place there next?

It's the date for harvest, and the harvest is dates

We live in a city, in a hot climate, in a desert. We do not see much change in temperature - it is 88F at 9:30 am right now - and we do not see the leaves change color, or birds fly south. Oh, there is a bird migration, but we don't really notice it here. And there might be some trees that go dormant - there are TONS of trees! But Spring turns to Summer turns to Autumn, and it's hard to tell. A friend mentioned the coming of Mabon and I was surprised to have the season sneak up like that. I guess I have noticed that the availability of certain fresh fruits and vegetables has been changing, but wow.. here we are nearly at the end of September already!

Last week, in the spirit of the season of harvest... although the spirit was celebrated 'coincidentally'... I was able to go on an Egyptian culture field trip with my daughter's class to visit local farm land. The teacher had been telling them of planting, irrigation, harvesting, etc. This field trip was to allow to experience these ideas in real life. The children were also encouraged to watch from the bus as we drove out of the city and through the villages in order to catch a glimpse of the rural Egyptian life they've also been learning about. I believe the bus ride was more interesting than the farm visit - although that was very nice too.

Here is a (rather long) collection of photos from our outing. Amazingly, many of these were taken through the window from the back of a BOUNCING bus, on a humid hazy day, and they turned out pretty darn good considering(!). Hope you enjoy:

3 ovens, all in a row

Wish I'd had my camera with me this afternoon. I went downstairs to catch my ride to the school to pick up Honor, and there in the courtyard, was a bunch of ovens, all lined up like some sort of unexplainable work of modern art. Dead art. And I knew the explanation.

Flashback to last Friday. We'd spent the day lazing about the house. I wasn't feeling all that wonderful because of clogged sinuses and eye-popping headaches. The lights started doing this dim, BRIGHT, flicker, dim dim dim, normal BRIGHT flicker (etc.) action. Well, we are actually used to seeing some of this type of lightshow, but it wasn't stopping. When electronics went off, we were leaving them turned off. No, we did not immediately jump up, run wildly about the house, and unplug things - the surging usually stops.... usually...

Eventually we went to bed. The power went out. The generator went off. And stayed off. What?!?! I have to say, that's a first for us here! Pretty darn good really, for as long as we've been here. We've been spoiled.

On with the story - We share our home with one of these guys:
Robosapien V2
He can be quite an independent guy, if freed from the top of the dresser and powered on, and is a chatterbox as well. One of the things he will comment about is, sometimes, when he loses track of whatever had his attention, he'll stop and say "It's quiet, too quiet." (Other times he'll just wander off and spout something silly like "I am not the bot you are looking for." or "Here kitty, kitty...") (Anyway...) I have to say that when the power goes out, and stays out, it's quiet. Too quiet. Cairo is supposed to be noisy ALL the time. Even Maadi. Having it so quiet... not even completely silent, but ... unnaturally ...too.. quiet... It was eerie! We had a hard time trying to sleep. We gave it a shot though.

Until the banging on the door at 3am. A neighbor had come home to smoking and sparking, toxic-fuming, electrical shorts. Several neighbors apparently. They were waking everyone to check electronics. We unplugged what we hadn't already. Most of our stuff is on transformers or has other surge protection. A bit later, some other neighbors came by and suggested we open the windows, wake the whole family, and evac to the courtyard. We asked if there was a real fire or just circuits blowing. No fire. We let the kids sleep, but kept an eye on the situation... we figured that by this time (generator off and apartments searched) any risk was past. Eventually we were told to make sure the main circuit breaker to our apartment was off, and we could go back to bed - they'd be working until they got it fixed and come by apartment by apartment to check later. It was nearly 5am before I could finally sleep. It wasn't the heat. It was actually cool enough to sleep. But the silence kept me distracted.. that and the robotic voice repeating in my head, "It's quiet. Too quiet."

About ?9am? on Saturday - I never looked at the clock - someone stopped by, turned our main back on. We spent the rest of the day with more funky light shows and other electronics-related trouble and mayhem - like the water going off and on (water systems need power), and no elevators, which made hauling groceries a chore. Good thing we have strong kids! The ACs kept going in and out as well - guess they are on a separate system which was also acting flaky, but different than the lights(?), and the power supply to the major appliances was acting up too, enough so we just turned those breakers off. We lost a couple small transformers - one to our router, leaving us webless for a bit (it gave Brad a good excuse to go to the computer store). We also had bulbs weakened and blowing out - but, we buy bulbs in bulk anyway and were (are still!) able to replace them.

Facilities personnel checked our oven when they reset our main. Guess the ovens were the major culprit/victims in the weekend's chaos. Ours was fine - probably because we'd requested a tougher circuit breaker long ago. We'd gotten tired of how easily the old one flipped because it wasn't set up with a breaker of the right capacity. It had been a huge pain - we couldn't use the AC, the oven, and more than 2 burners without the breaker flipping. Less if the oven was set over 350F! How can you entertain with that? The new breaker might have saved us more than the headaches we were having back then... OUR stove wasn't in the appliance funeral procession downstairs today! (whew!)

Cairo kisses

Brad was in a car accident the other day. I thought about blogging something about it, but I forgot. Yea, I forgot. Cairo kisses, as in cars 'kissing' other cars on the road, happens so often that it gets to be part of the routine. You know, "Coffee was good this morning, we got the National Geographic magazine and a bill in the mail, I got rear-ended by a hit and run driver, your friend said to tell you hi, blah blah blah..." Routine. How strange is that? Guess we've been here too long! Or, just long enough to get a laugh out of something completely unacceptable anywhere else.

Brad said that he had stopped in traffic, but then heard desperate braking behind him, followed by a loud crash, glass breaking, and he was jolted rather strongly. It was so loud that the driver of the car in front of him was concerned that she may have been hit too and also got out of her car to check for damage! She looked at Brad in confusion because their cars were not even close, and he had to tell her that he didn't hit her! About this time, the driver of the car that hit Brad saw a cop approaching and he vamoosed. Must have had no money/insurance/etc. Brad said there was glass and grill bits everywhere - none of it belonging to our truck. Nobody was hurt (well, that we know of - the guy drove off!). The woman of the front car and Brad checked for damage on their vehicles - none on the 1st because she wasn't hit at all (she must have heard the loud crash just as she was stopping - it was a sudden stop and that can cause a jerk), and there was only a slight scratch on the rear bumper our truck.

I should feel silly for forgetting this, but Brad started it. He didn't think to tell me about the accident until later that evening after he'd been in for awhile. And the only thing we are annoyed about is that the driver didn't have the guts to just stop and apologize. We were rear-ended by a minibus previously. Actually did a little damage, about $100 worth - it would have been much more in the US. Technically, we could have probably demanded some form of payment from the bus driver - the large group of police who witnessed the accident would have backed us up, but it was obvious that this was an accident. We had to stop fast or hit someone who jumped out in front of us, the bus driver couldn't stop, so he hit us. It was also obvious that the driver was very scared and it was likely that he had no ability to pay for our damages. The difference? He offered. We said no thanks, it was ok. Too bad that this other driver ran off. Brad would have given him a 'no problem' had he stopped. It wasn't our car that was damaged, and traffic was bad - it happens! - he would have been understanding. O well...

It's back.

"Our building", the one we've enjoyed watching go up behind our apartment, has been repaired. At least back to what it was before.

In March, we were saddened to see men, armed with sledgehammers, knock big, gaping holes in the upper floors. There were two prevailing rumors about this. One was the builders had not applied for the proper permits or paid the proper building fees and the govt was laying down the law by force, or, that something had 'collapsed' and repairs were needed. I do not know what the truth is. I suspect the former might be true. Physical destruction seems pretty highhanded, but from the stories I've heard about people violating building codes and ignoring the law... well, what else are they supposed to do?? Building codes are about safety, among other things, and are actually rather important. 'Getting them in the wallet' is, undeniably, an effective tool no matter where you are in the world. Anyway, the 'why' is really none of our business. I only know that we were very disappointed. We've enjoyed watching the construction and have been hoping to see the finished product.

It looks like we may be back on track - ansha'allah! First they rebuilt the walls - bricking them up from the inside.

Next, scaffolding was set up. And yes, that is just boards and rope. 6-8 floors up, not supported from the roof or ground.
Plaster was applied over the bricks and allowed to dry. How you may ask?
By guys who have no fear, safety equipment, safety lines, etc. I don't actually like watching this part.
They don't hold on.
There are no railings.
The planks are thin and well used. Dudes! Don't look down!
Finally though, it's looking nice again. Scaffolding sticks have been taken away and everyone is now working safely inside again... whew!
Since these photos were taken, windows have been installed in some spaces, and there are even lights sometimes at night. I'm hoping to eventually have a 'Finished!' photo to post. We'll see...

Cool quiz - great result!

I love to play on-line quizzes and this was passed on by a friend in a group I'm in:

Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid



You're Egypt!

Curator of ancient mystical secrets, your life on the surface is fairly typical these days. Though you are in denial about more things than most people. Nevertheless, you're trying to convince people that you're safe despite your more volatile and unstable times that seem to be behind you. You like cats a whole lot. You'd probably really appreciate The Blue Pyramid.

I took the "Country Quiz II" and this was my other country personality:

You're Finland!

Refined, sophisticated, and yet sometimes suicidal, you are widely admired. You've spent a lot of time playing second-fiddle, but it turns out you can carry quite a tune on your own. While you were once quite brutish, you are now highly enlightened and an advocate for tranquility. Your favorite city reminds most people of a morality play. You have excellent taste in websites.

I wasn't kidding...

You know, all the times that I complain about the noise here in Cairo? I'm really not making it up: News Article. Next time you find yourself, say, standing out in your front lawn as the sun sets, and all you can hear are crickets, a single car off in the distance, kids playing a block or two away... think of this article and enjoy the quiet!

W(did)JD?

There is a BIG beautiful church next to our apartment building. Huge. Unfortunately, the congregation seems to have crossed over into the realm of "bigger than you bully"-ness, that well, you know, it happens... Instead of nice neighbors, they are selfish to the extreme. Wish it were more of the typical pretty bells, hymns, nice people milling about, etc. I don't have to be a part of it to appreciate the beauty of someone else's house of prayer. Most churches, and mosques, are nice neighbors. Yes, that means I also enjoy the omnipresent call to prayers here. Spirituality, Religion - it adds good atmosphere to a community :-)

Now, we know it is very crowded here. We also know that parking can be very difficult. We know that acceptable noise levels late at night are set at an extremely different level here than in the US. But this church goes beyond the norm. I think the Sports Club, that is actually closer to us in the back - that hosts sporting events and concerts(!), is actually a more polite neighbor than this church.

I also realize that this is Coptic Easter. A time for celebration. Understood. But that only excuses so much. Driving the kids to school yesterday, I had to thread through cars parked on both sides of the road that we barely fit through. Got to an intersection, and some woman was stopped with her flashers on. Parked. In the middle of the road. I honked. Mind you, this is early in the morning in a residential community, but what could I do? One (tight) lane, no place else to go. She shrugs. I honked again. She inches forward, but you can tell, she doesn't want to actually go anywhere. Two other cars approach the intersection from 2 other directions. THEY are also blocked. We all BLAST our horns - eventually, dimwit turns down the empty quarter, drives - ohmigoodness! - all of 30-40 feet, and finds an easy, empty spot to park. How inconvenient?! The rest of us made our ways through. I continued threading the guantlet, although we did have to bump mirrors with another SUV in order to get through (happens often enough).

All day, parking on all the surrounding roads was much more stupid than usual - people are too lazy to drive a little further, but that is typical, at least most got their cars, mostly, out of the road. And it is a special day. Ok. Extra grace extended. But in addition to cars sticking out in the road all over the place, these people think it is ok to stand around IN the blocked roads and talk with their friends. So, as driving over people is generally frowned upon, and there is NO other way around, LOTS more honking. Not us this time.. we walked on our outing this evening. What makes it particularly selfish is, that unlike most other places in town, there are actually plenty of very good OFF-the-road places to stand and talk near this church! But they are always in the road instead. Because that's what they want to do, and nobody else matters.

Then there's the noise. On a regular basis, they are noisy neighbors. Celebrations, parties, whatever - I don't go, I don't know what they're doing... Add in frequent weddings with LOUD music and dozens of cars honking repeatedly in celebration (for 30 minutes or so after the wedding). They are noisy. Thank goodness our apartment is as far away, on our block, as possible from this church.. but they are still loud. Late into the night.

Last night there was a LOUD concert. We didn't go out and check exactly where it was coming from, but there were no extra lights at the sports club, the noise was coming from the direction of the church, and when we passed by earlier, they were definitely in-progress of setting something up. Everything else is housing. Even if it wasn't them, they are rude enough so often that I feel no guilt for pointing at them with only an assumption to back me up. Even being completely around the block from them, our windows rattled. We could feel the music through the floor. And we don't get much noise through the apartments - this building is solid concrete and brick. We barely hear our closest neighbors. This noise went on to 10-11pm at night in a residential area.

Then... following a day of dropping temps, high winds, and high humidty... there was this incredibly BRILLIANT flash of pure white light. A couple seconds later... rumble GROWL rolllll GRUMBLE boooom THUNDER. Just once. And then, no more music. Blessed quiet. Hmm? I have no idea what happened. As I said, maybe it wasn't even that obnoxious church where, apparently, they think they are big enough to have earned a waiver from the Golden Rule. (Hopefully no one got struck!) Maybe it was just time to end the show anyway. I would not be too terribly surprised to hear that they'd set off some incredibly inappropriate explosive device. (Pretty sure it was thunder though.) No matter - I really appreciated the 'semblance' of divine intervention. Thank you!

I guess it isn't almost finished.

We've been watching this building go up behind our apartment since we've been here - yes, since 2004 - it's still not done. But, we thought they were getting close and we were looking forward to it being completed. It looks to be a 5 or 6 story apartment building. They had added the trim, painted, put in windows. We have enjoyed the whole construction process, and were looking forward to FINALLY seeing the finished product. Then they got out the sledge hammers... what the...???
They bashed all these holes in one day's destruction. Maybe somebody lost an heirloom watch while the upper floors were going up? Maybe they hadn't bothered getting the proper permits and have to remove a couple of floors? Maybe somebody got the address wrong and the building the sledgehammer guys were to go to was a different road and house number?? (Look closely at the 2nd picture and you can see one of them swinging a hammer.)


Looks like the show will continue a while longer. Good thing we've enjoyed watching - even if we do not understand!

Yay! We won!!

Beep! Beep! Bee-bee-Beep!!! Beep! Beep! Bee-bee-Beep!!! Beep! Beep! Bee-bee-Beep!!! Beep! Beep! Bee-bee-Beep!!!

Wait a minute? Do I even like soccer.. I mean.. football...? C'mon, get in your car and beep your horn! Everyone else in Egypt is! We do not watch sports, but we are caught up celebrating Egypt's win of the Africa Cup of Nations, whether we meant to or not. I think all several million people in Cairo are driving around blasting their horns and cheering.. I am only barely exaggerating. It is LOUD out there!! But a very happy and excited loud - Yay! Go Team! (??)

Beep! Beep! Bee-bee-Beep!!!

Aboutraika lifts champions Egypt to record sixth African crown
First Published: Feb 10, 2008
Egypt's Mohamed Aboutraika celebrates their victory against Cameroon in Accra stadium during their 2008 African Cup of Nations final match. Egypt won 1-0.

Egypt's Mohamed Aboutraika celebrates their victory against Cameroon in Accra stadium during their 2008 African Cup of Nations final match. Egypt won 1-0.

Egypt retained their African Nations Cup crown here Sunday when Mohamed Aboutraika lifted the champions to a 1-0 win over Cameroon and a record sixth title.

The defending champions ensured they held on to the trophy when, after a slick passing movement, Aboutraika struck in the 77th minute.

The result was the Pharoahs final act in what has been a hugely impressive campaign in Ghana which saw them build on defeat of the Cameroonians in their opening group game to record victories over Sudan, Tunisia and Ivory Coast in the semi-finals.

The only minor blemish on an otherwise perfect passage to the continental trophy was the 1-1 draw with Zambia.

Egypt were adding the 2008 trophy to their wins in 1957, 1959, 1986 (on penalties against Cameroon), 1998 and 2006 with coach Hassan Shehata joining an exclusive club numbering just two of coaches who have won back-to-back titles.

The beans may be doomed...

Our bean planting experiment had moved outside because the plants were growing tall and stretching out to the sun. They've been happy out on the balcony for the last few days, but today, winter has arrived. The wind is gusting hard, the temp is currently 48F (which is darn cold for this time of night - 10PM - it will only get colder before the dawn), and it is supposed to continue with the wind, rain and cold all night. Tomorrow the wind gusts are forecast up around 50mph! I can't really move the pot back inside either - I'd worry about the pot leaking on the wood floors, or there being some critters in the pot now that it has been outside for a bit. I did set them, and the other taller plants, off the edge of the wall so they do not get blown down. We'll see how it does come morning!

Looks like we're heading into the coldest night we've has this winter... I bet even the Sphinx is wishing he had a scarf ;-) ! What's with this weather? Did someone lose a bit of their winter?? This doesn't belong here! We've had tons of rain this year. Today had rain and wind. At one point, my two internet weather news sources were both saying 'wind' but one insisted it was raining, the other said 'sand' - it was, what? Mudding?

What was that?

Last night, about 1030-1100pm, we were sitting in the living room watching a DVD and heard this loud 'BOOM' - it was in the distance, but loud, and still near enough to rattle our windows. This isn't too uncommon. There are military around here and they occassionally blast things. But of course, we will likely never know what shook the house. Unlike in the US, where you can expect such a loud noise to make it into the news - either immediately, or at least by the next morning - it is rare to get an explanation about anything here.

Brad and Brian heard a series loud blasts while Honor and I were in DC last year, and it wasn't until several days later that they found out that a propane tank truck in Giza (about 4-5 miles away) had blown up. We'll see if we hear anything!

At least it didn't wake the kids - today is their first day back at school.

Cairo Traffic

Ok, we have obviously been here too long. Traffic here is weird. There are no rules.. .even simple things like go one way and only one way, on a one way street... especially if that street is filled with cars speeding at you.. in the dark... with no lights on.... no rules.. we've gotten used to it! And that is also weird.
It is affecting the kids too. When Honor and I went back to DC, we had to travel everywhere by taxi. On one of our first rides, the driver stops at a red light and Honor asks, "Why are we just sitting here?". I tried to explain that he stopped because the traffic light was red. She wasn't buying it though, "But there is nobody in the way. Why can't we go?" Yea... I could see the driver eyeballing me strangely in the rearview mirror! I had to explain that we were from out of town... way out of town! There are traffic lights here, and they even light up and go through cycles, but, like the lines on the roads, street signs, etc. they are for decorative purposes only. You stop at a red light and you will get rear-ended.
I caught Brad talking like a native a while back as we were looking for a parking spot near the club... he points over to the side and said, "We could have gone up that curb and parked on that sidewalk if someone hadn't put all that trash there!" I cracked up, and actually had to remind him of what he said... where in the US do you find it acceptable to climb up curbs and park on sidewalks?? But, if you go around and check out the sidewalls of most SUV tires here, you will find that they are scraped up from people doing just that! (Yes, ours fit that description! Better scraped up tires, than someone driving by and scraping your mirror/paint off!) .
Random adherence to where one should park, and where to drive, is (sort of) officially endorsed too. We were driving down a major road one day, and came across a huge construction crane parked across the roadway... we just sort of stopped, and checked it out... There was a bit of room to the side, but it was very tight. The local guard came up, shrugged, apologized, pointed at the gap, and suggested, "Maximum left?". We got through... maximum left.
Of course, I have had the guards on my side as well. While driving down another very tight (ie. one narrow lane only, fold in the mirrors so they don't scrape) road, I had a guy walk out in front of my car - I had to stop or hit him! - and kneel down in the road, remove a manhole cover and start messing with things below... I was not happy with this, nor were any of the drivers in the growing line of cars behind me! This was actually a downtown road in the middle of the day. Fortunately, a cop looked up, saw that I was a foreigner - you could see the anger build! - and he ran up immediately and started giving the guy an incredible bawling out.. good thing I couldn't understand a word of the dialect or I am sure my eardrums would have been scarred. Some of the things drivers behind me were yelling out the window were quite spicy too. He pushed and shoved the guy as well... I was actually thinking there'd be a fight! But the guy was scared, and he cleared out of the way. I'm not 'for' police 'highhandedness' in general, but there are times when it really fits the situation!!
I've also learned that it is possible to parallel-park donkey and horse carts - who'd'a thunk it?. I have also learned that neutral is the 'parking' gear here so other drivers are able to push your car out of the way in order to get their car in or out if a spot... I have seen people parallel-park in a space that starts off no wider than 4 feet, but by bashing back and forth, moving the cars in front and to the rear, they make a spot!
I've learned other driving techniques... like how to face down a bus going the wrong way and make him back up by just turning off my truck and acting like I was going to sit there and read a book until he moved. That was another incident on a one-lane, one-way road - with a line of cars behind me. We 'pushed' that obnoxious bus driver all the way back to the main road - he had to have some of his passengers get out and guide him, but he was wrong, and everyone made sure he knew it!
What made me think of all this, was the drive to the commissary the other day. I found myself annoyed that they had paved part of the roads between our home and the store. When we first got here, I used to be thrilled with new pavement! But now I know better. New pavement is a problem because you have to re-learn where all the holes, bumps, ridges, or even open manholes are! (Actually putting manhole covers on the manholes is one of those 'rules optional' things I was telling you about above.) Old roads are good because you can memorize where most of the hazards are! New roads still have holes and bumps - but you no longer know where they are, nor are they very visible because all the new pavement blends together!
At least I am getting better at remembering 'US rules' when I go back home!