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…

Crafting Deprived, No More! – Round-Up

Ok, I haven’t truly been craft deprived. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve still been playing around with crochet and dabbling in other things. I can’t help myself. It’s a need. Blogging is a form of crafting and I’ve been doing that. I also feel that gardening is crafting and I’ve been trying to do that whenever I can. It wasn’t very easy when we lived in Cairo and had no decent place for plants, but we did our best.

I also dug my sewing machine out in Cairo and attempted a few projects for the kid’s school. I’m sure the poor machine was confused. It had been put away when my first child was born, and it didn’t see the light of day again until he got to 2nd grade. We turned him into Benjamin Franklin fairly successfully. The coat was a bit big, but it turned out pretty good for me just winging it. That’s my point though, most of my crafts have been ‘winged’. More doodles than anything. Easy hats, simple scarves, toys that the kids have requested, ie. “Mom will you make a sleeping bag for my doll?” Things like that. I’ve had fun with this messing around, but I’ve been wanting to do more. I’ve wanted projects that I actually have to plan and focus on, that force me to pay attention to a pattern, etc. 

Here’s one project that I picked up recently from this pattern book: Leisure Arts, Leaflet 2801 Touch of Romance. Not too complicated, but I am making a full-size project from an actual pattern! I’m almost done with it too. Of course, I altered that pattern. Brian is the one who asked for it, and he chose the colors. I’ll probably add to the border and leave off the fringe. Fringe in a bit girly for a boy’s afghan.

I like Leisure Arts pattern books and am thinking I’ll help myself to a few more in the near future. There’s one I made, years and years ago, which is a sampler piece with 63 different squares, each a different stitch. I had fun making it, and it is a good learning piece. There is a crafting group here at the Embassy that I have recently joined and one of the ladies had the pattern book… I’m thinking it might be fun to make this afghan again.

I have another sampler leaflet, a project that I started … yikes!… about 15 years ago?!? I need to finish it! This one is associated with another craft I put aside long ago, spinning my own wool. When we lived in the UK in the early 90’s, I joined up with a Spinning, Weaving and Dying guild and learned to choose fleece, at actual sheep fairs, clean it, card it, and spin it into yarn, using both a spindle and a wheel. I had to put my gear in storage and I miss it. One day…

(My favorite sheep – Wensleydale. Aren’t they adorable?!)

Anyway, I was pleased to find that Leisure Arts has a website where they sell resources for many crafts. It means that I am not limited to skimming through what just happens to be available on the shelves at JoAnn Crafts during the short time I’m in the US on R&R.

For yarns, I was also pleased to find that Red Heart also has a good website. Crafters have different opinions about acrylic yarns. I prefer the softer blends myself, but acrylic can’t be beat for washable kid stuff. The Red Heart acrylic is much softer than others, imo, also, no dye lot is a selling point for me. I can’t just run around town, digging through yarn supplies at multiple craft stores if I unexpectedly need more skeins… it’s good to be able to go online and simply order more of exactly what I need. Red Heart carries a huge variety of yarns too, not just their famous acrylics – they have Alpaca/wool, Bamboo/wool,  100% wool and even ‘green’ products made from recycled materials or bamboo. I ordered some of the Eco Ways just to try it out (colors: bark and peacock), and I’m impressed. It is pretty and very soft.

I mentioned that our Embassy has a crafting group. They actually have a couple of groups getting together on a weekly basis. I am not sure who started it, or exactly how it began, but it’s a wonderful idea! One day during the week, crafters get together at one member’s home and share their crafting. This month has been focused on crochet and I was surprised (pleasantly) to be drawn in to help teach even though I am very new to the group. It’s also a lovely social event with much chatting and lunch.

Another night during the week is reserved for quilting. In the past, I played around a little with piecework… scrap quilting based on ideas I saw in books. I had no mentor or teacher. I made a couple of nice floor pillows with the piecework, but have never actually quilted. A good friend took me along with her one evening and I decided to give it a go. I haven’t progressed much. I chose some fabrics …um … actually I got out-voted and my family chose the fabrics. It was cat approved.

I’ve got some tools, and done some cutting. The pattern is the one on the cover of the book (above). I’ve also learned a new word – Thangles. They are paper pattern pieces to help you make precise triangles… pretty cool!

As I progress in this craft and my project, I’ll be sure to take photos and share more. I’m enjoying it!

If this isn’t enough to keep me busy, I have recently dug out my Wacom tablet and Corel Paint Shop Pro and have been messing around with that some more too.

I especially enjoy what can be done with photo-art using paint shop. I am a very random (meaning not very accurate at times) photographer. I point and shoot even when everyone tells me ‘That will never come out’… well, sometimes it does. Often it does. So I won’t stop doing it my way. However, sometimes the photos are blurry (yay for digital and no crazy processing charges for crappy photos), but even the blurry ones have potential. I made this from a photo…

I was snapping photos from a moving bus in Cairo, through dirty windows and caught this flower shop. The photo by itself was trash, but I love how I was able to use Paint Shop to transform it.

Another computer toy that plays well with Paint Shop, is my Wacom tablet. Again, this is something I got years ago, but recently had to dig it out of its hiding place and dust off. I pulled it out to rework some illustrations I drew for a book that I wrote for my kids when they were little. I’m playing with getting it published.

    

I painted a flower garden around my couch as a joke entry for Zoe’s Best Disguised Foreign Service Couch Contest, and I also helped the kids with their recent science project. They designed this bit for their poster. It was 100% the kids’ idea, but I made it for them. One of these for each of the kids in the group.

I’m not progressing on any of these projects as fast as I feel like I should. Sometimes I feel guilty for taking the time away from family in order to go to meetings, or simply to sit around and crochet, and sew, or dig in the garden, rather than bake cookies or sort socks or whatever. That’s ridiculous. I’m entitled to play time, just as much as everyone else in our home is! I guess it’s a mom-thing though and I’ve spent the last few years so entrenched (happily so) in taking care of little ones who needed so much of my time, that I got used to not taking my share of the ‘me time’. The kids are bigger and more independent now. So, I’ll wrap up by saying that one of my favorite ‘new hobbies’ is crafting a workable schedule that includes a fair share of ‘me time’ , and trying not to feel so guilty about it! I’m getting there!

Sout Al Horeya صوت الحريه

Sout Al Horeya صوت الحريه

The Voice/Sound of Freedom

I can’t understand everything, but the images are so positive! I am praying for Egypt and hope things are settled and peaceful soon!

In every street our country, the voice of freedom is calling.

UPDATE: Link to copy with subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHgzJIkFP7s

Sout Alhoureya
Amir Eid Feat. Hany Adel, Hawary on guitars & Sherif Mostafa on keyboards video by Moustafa Fahmy, Mohamed Khalifa and Mohamed Shaker.

Hany Adel – an Egyptian popstar

Preoccupied With Cairo

I am very preoccupied with events in Cairo, my former home. I am worried about the people there, foreigners, yes, but they have somewhere else to go. Mostly I worry about the locals – I worry about the lack of food, cash, order and security. I am also very proud of them – every article I read, every photo I see. They are standing tall for the freedoms and reform that they want. They are protecting those who need protecting. I am proud of my former neighbors and hosts as if they were my own family. I am also very scared for the people, and for the near future. I shouldn’t be, because they are a strong people, but I am. I don’t want anyone hurt. Most of all though, I am filled with hope.  When I see the people angry, but smiling, caring for one another, safeguarding property, sweeping the mess, Christian and Muslim side by side, soldiers embraced, etc.… I see hope.

Politically, I don’t know what I should say or what I hope the outcome to be. I have discussed with friends, IRL and on facebook, but really, it’s none of my business. This is the Egyptians’ business, and while I have my opinions, I think I need to just keep out of the way and send prayers for peace and security. That’s of more real use than my 2 cents anyway. I am also praying that the whole situation is settled soon, for the good of the people.

I’ve had folks share photos with me in FB and email, you know how things get passed around. There are a lot of stunning photos coming out of Egypt, and elsewhere. Sad, touching, and inspiring. Here are a few of my most favorite. They may not be the ‘best’ ones out these, but they’re the ones that I like. (I don’t know who to credit these photos to, they are not mine. I have seen some floating around the different news agencies, some only on facebook, some only via forwarded emails. Who owns what? I don’t know. I’m sharing to share, not to profit.) A good friend also shared a poem with me via facebook, written in a memorial tribute to a lady I’d never heard of before, Ms. Virgina Jones, by the Mayor of Newark, NJ, Mr. Cory Booker, someone else I do not know. I think it fits here very well. From his FB page: (CAB 1/25/11 inspired by Ms. Virginia Jones, may she rest in peace.)  Very powerful words.

When the world comes crashing down

(bloggers in Egypt, silenced)

And the cold truth of now, trumps any future fear

(Cambridge, Mass)

Perhaps true courage is found

When you can still shout unto the world, “I am still here!”

Battered and bruised our spirits may be

(DC)

As savage circumstance brings the dark night

Perhaps true faith is found, when you realize and see

That within you is an in-exhaustible light

So you have fallen hard into fate’s grim grip

And it seems that you are at the end of your rope.

We'll tie a knot right there so you don’t slip

(Seattle, WA)

And let the world see that as long as you breathe, you remain a prisoner of hope.

When we arrived at post, I wish we’d toured the hospital

***NOTE*** before anyone panics… this is not a new incident. No-one is in the hospital or even considering it (knock on wood). I had to say this, I’m sure, because I’m assuming that a title like this one could be equated to a phone call that starts off “Everyone is ok, buuuut… “  No. That’s not the case here.

Instead, this is a post for A Daring Adventure. She is hosting the State Department Blog Round-up this week and in a bid to make hosting the round-up easier, has introduced the concept of using a theme. All posts for her round-up will be those submitted by the writers, or readers, so get out there folks… read, write, submit, and host! I’m on the list to host, and, come on folks, if I think I can do it, those of you with a better mastery of the English language (you know, all that grammar and punctuation and whatnot?) you can do it too! I dare you… follow my act (Oct. 8th) and show me up! (oh wait… first, participate with me during my week to host, and this week with A Daring Adventure, THEN get all competitive, ok??)

The theme this week is "When I/we _________, I Wish I'd/We'd Known..." 

I didn’t think I had much to say about this topic, but after I thought about it more, an idea came to me. It seems that I must think that it is a very good idea because I have not been able to blog about anything else with this thought bumping around in my brain. That’s ok… a minor sacrifice for a good cause. My idea?

When we moved to post (Cairo specifically, but Amman too), I wish we’d toured the hospital.

I KNEW where the hospital nearest our home in Cairo was. I knew how to drive there. I knew the name of it and how to direct a taxi there. I knew where the entrance from the main road was. But I didn’t tour it. I wish I had… BEFORE going in to kiss my 3 year old daughter goodnight one night, late, as I was heading to bed, and found her seizing weakly, covered in vomit, and turning very, very blue.

I knew how to clear her airway and get her breathing better. I knew to call the embassy doctor asap. My husband and I woke our son and grabbed shoes because we knew we were the ones who were transporting our daughter to the hospital after midnight. We even knew the roads were ideal at this hour… not easy to say about Cairo traffic!

But I couldn’t picture where to go after I pulled off the main road. I had a friend to call, and I did, and he was very good about telling me to trust myself, I knew what to do… and I did, but I couldn’t picture where the ER door was. I didn’t know what was behind the ER (or any) door. Instead of an image of a known place to focus on, I had nothing but blankness and fear. We got there. I pulled around to the right place, my husband leapt out of the car, with Honor limp in his arms, and ran right to the ER, I parked the truck and Brian and I followed them in and found where we needed to be. Most importantly, we got our daughter treated and all is well now. BUT a tour of the hospital would have saved us from some unnecessary terror.

(Honor, just home from the hospital, admiring flowers sent to her by friends)

Honor did this to us twice. Seizing in the late of night, turning blue, ER trip, not regaining consciousness until the next day when she’d be PERFECTLY FINE thank you. Eventually we had a medevac, and long story short, after a few years on meds, she’s now off meds, and 100% perfectly healthy. But yea… you can imagine that it took me a long time to be able to sleep through the night again.

Brian (7yo at the time) also had us running to the hospital. He had a stomach ache that started out like a regular bug or something, but when the pain moved from his belly button area, to the lower right, I knew what was happening and got him to the clinic, then the hospital, right away. Apparently, kids getting appendicitis is not all that uncommon! My dad had his appendix out in China, Brian chose to have his removed next to the Nile. I was relieved that I knew what to do this time… I knew the hospital, knew the routine with the Embassy. By the time Brad go to us from work, Brian was already admitted and being cared for. We didn’t want this to happen, obviously, but it was much easier to deal with because we knew what was what.

Brad had his turn here in Amman. He was hospitalized for 10 days or so here, due to DVT. Amman health care took very good care of him. We had joked, on the way to this hospital, that at least this time it wasn’t one of the kids. We also joked (sort of) that the next time we PCS, as soon as our plane lands, we’ll hop into whatever transport is there to take us to our new home… and have the driver stop by the hospital on the way so we can give it a good look-see first thing, so no-one will be tempted to get sick and make us learn about it the hard way!

You never know when the unexpected is going to happen… that’s why it’s called unexpected. Same with emergencies. If we could know that an emergency was going to happen, we could plan in advance and be at the hospital when it did. But real life is not so nice. Touring your local hospital, especially if you live in a place where 911 does not work and the best ambulance is your own vehicle, is a must do.

Nuclear Easter Egg Salad

  

Today was grocery day, and I headed off early in the morning to visit my favorite local grocery store – Cosmo, it is such a friendly place! I went early because it can get crowded, and it was, as always, such a pleasant shopping experience. From the garage guy who cheerfully waved me through, to the lady at the bakery who served my bread and pastries, to the helpful staff of the deli – the man who got my order, and the lady who double-checked that I was being waited on – to the polite woman at the spice stall who answered all my questions, then told me that she was happy to meet me and to have a nice day. (btw.. What is vanilla powder? I do not know, but could not resist getting a couple of scoops so I can experiment! I also found baking soda and powder in bulk… how cool is that?) The frozen foods area by the butchery was being remodeled... they were walling things off as I got there… and I needed the milk behind the barrier! Unlike another store I won’t mention today, was I out of luck? Ignored and disrespected? No way! There was a staff member stocking a nearby aisle and he went right over and cheerfully brought me all the milk I needed. Then, I finished it all up with an efficient cashier, and a bagger who did not squish the bread or break the breakables… what’s not to love?

So what does this have to do with Easter eggs?? When I was at the deli, where I had to get a new stash of ‘squeaky’ cheese (Halloumi - which does not melt when grilled, so makes a tasty side dish. Served in small quantities – it is salty!), I also picked out a chunk of feta cheese and a small dish of labneh (yogurt cheese balls) with herbs and spice. While I was waiting for my order, I wandered over to look at the selection of olives (so hard to resist those!) and ready made salads… and there it was… the hot sauce I adore! A whole bowl of it. It was labeled “Hot Pepper” in the display, and on my take-away container, but that doesn’t really help me. What is it? How do I get the recipe? It looks like a thick, deeper red, Thai chili sauce, but it is not sweet like the Thai stuff. To me Thai chili sauce is like sweet&sour with just a hint of chili… it’s very good, but it’s NOT the sauce I love. The “Hot Pepper” seems to be made of ground red chili peppers – skins, seeds, and all – perhaps a bit of oil, salt, and perhaps a hint of sugar. It’s HOT, but it is sooooo yummy! I’ve had similar sauces in Chinese restaurants (in the US and Egypt), and I’ve eaten it with local foods in Egypt as well. We were invited to Iftar dinner, which is the breaking of the fast at Ramadhan, with the guards in our garage one night, and they had this sauce to go along with rice and chicken. They warned me away from it, saying it was “too hot”. I explained that I was raised on my dad’s homemade chilis and I would probably love it… I was right. The next few times that we dined with these guards, there was a huge bowl of the sauce… the man who’d brought it to the meal had told his wife, and she made extra, just because I’d liked it so much!

You know I didn’t resist buying some this morning – I was sane and kept the amount small, knowing that it will only be me to eat it. I brought my lovely fire sauce home, and for lack of anything to serve it with for lunch, I put it in the fridge. I started making up an simple egg salad for my meal – I used the last two Easter eggs, one colored orange, yellow and red with a dragon drawn with crayon, how appropriate?? When I reached for the salt and pepper, I automatically grabbed the chili powder and parsley as well… and then inspiration struck. Heh heh! Chili sauce! To heck with the powder! Let’s just say, my eggs were so good the dish was sparking!

I am lucky to have found a supplier for my lovely condiment of choice, but I would really love to know how to make it! I don’t think I can Google “Hot Pepper” or “Hot Pepper Chili” and have much luck… or rather, I wouldn’t have much ‘specific’ help, there’d be too much! Does anyone have any ideas? Again, it is a thick, almost paste-like sauce (a bit runnier, with oil). It looks like whole, unseeded red chilis were run through a food processor. I can’t place the oil as it takes on the flavor of the spice… it’s a very light oil. It is slightly salty, and slightly sweet.

Secret of the Ancient Egyptians

Someone call Dr. Zahi Hawass. We think we’ve discovered how the treasures of Ancient Egypt were preserved so well!

It wasn’t wisdom that we found in ancient scrolls.

It wasn’t magic!

No powerful artifacts,

or cats with glowing heads,

or King Tut, the boy king wonder,

genies,

      

or even aliens!

No. None of that.

                    

No, no, no!

So, what was it already?!

Get ready to take notes….

and promise not to tell, shhh!

It’s all in the packing!!

Egyptians don’t mess around when it comes to wrapping stuff up for safe journeys, whether it is to the afterlife, or abroad, and apparently, these centuries of practice have paid off. 

Thanks Sea Bird, your packers did a great job!

Now… our things have finally arrived. My hands are stiff and sore from struggling to unwrap everything – yes, I am fully convinced that if our shipment had been lost for a thousand years, future archeologists would have had a field day with unearthing and discovering all of our perfectly preserved household junk! The methods employed were darned effective and hard to undo. (Few minor dings and things, but very impressive nonetheless!)

So, now it is our turn to run around in circles and restock our new home.  Which might take awhile…

Hooray for stuff!

website for gifs here and here