بلوج

Texas is hot

2009-06-15T21:08:00.002+03:00

Hotter than Egypt (Alexandria at least), which is contrary to what most people assume. But we're slowly adjusting to the 100 degree heat.

Brandon is working full time now over at Neuric! They bumped him up last Friday. What a blessing from God.

Also, we've put a deposit on an apartment and are planning to move in on July 1st (or 3rd)! We're going to miss living with the Rynikers, but we're going to be living down the street from them, so we'll hopefully still see them almost as often as we see them now.

We want to get a puppy/dog sometime after we move in. We went to an animal shelter here in town on Saturday. All of the dogs there seem so sad. We want to rescue one! But we're going to wait until we get settled at the new place and feel like we can afford it (our complex has quite a hefty pet deposit, but it's fully refundable, which some other complexes don't offer).

I'm off to check out a Middle Eastern market that's nearby!

Until later.

We're back!

2009-06-08T00:44:00.002+03:00

We've actually been back, really, for a week. We've spent time visiting family in both the Fort Worth area and San Antonio, and we arrived to Austin a couple of days ago. We had the privilege of revisiting our church, Hope Chapel, today, and that was absolutely amazing. The worship, the people, the building, the message. It all feels like home. We also got to witness several baptisms, and there was a picnic after church, so the day at Hope was quite full.

Brandon is starting work tomorrow, at Neuric Technologies. It will be exciting to hear all about his first day. I'm going to work on getting my name changed tomorrow so that I can officially become Mrs. Wilson! We may start looking for a place to live this week, also.

And by the way, Brandon is well. I guess I never confirmed in blog world that he was restored to total health after his Egyptian hospital visit. God healed him up nice and good. Thank you for your prayers!

Fin.

Leaving today

2009-05-30T12:50:00.002+03:00

Yes, indeed. We'll be getting on a bus tonight at 10pm (about 8 hours from now) that will take us to the Cairo airport. Our flight out of Cairo is at 5am. I've just about finished packing, and Brandon is just starting. Earlier today, and yesterday, he was working on one final paper for his program. And he's almost all done. He just has one more phone interview/test that he'll complete once we're back.

We said most of our goodbyes these past two days, to classmates, teachers, and church friends. The people we've met here are probably what we're going to miss most about Egypt. We're also going to miss the food, the Arabic, the Mediterranean, the richness of the culture, the relative cheapness of everything, and the meshroua (incredibly efficient, cheap transportation system). I'm not going to miss the noise, and the crowds. I'm not sure if I'm cut out for big city life for the longterm. One of my favorite places to visit here was the desert. No people, no buildings, no cars, no smog for miles and miles in all directions. Awesome.

Being in Egypt this past year has been a wonderful experience and opportunity. Not all of it has been easy and pleasant, but we wouldn't trade the experience for anything, and we thank God for showing us another part of His beautiful world. Egypt is OLD! And the history (both biblical and otherwise) here is just amazing.

Pray for safe travels. See you in America!

One Year

2009-05-26T20:04:00.002+03:00

We have now seen the inside of an Egyptian hospital

2009-05-13T16:44:00.003+03:00

It's not exactly something we had set as a goal for ourselves. But it happened.

Having visitors went really well. Picking them up worked out pretty smoothly. The one little hitch was that the airline had lost their luggage. So, that took some time to get straightened out. But then they managed to get their bags back to them after about a day and a half. We took a trip into Cairo last weekend, which was going pretty well, but then on the last day, Brandon was sick. So, so sick. We decided to take the train back a little earlier than planned, but once we got home he wasn't getting any better. He had been having chills all day, sore legs, and bad stomach problems, and then he got a high fever and was finding it pretty difficult to walk.

We decided it was worth going to a doctor or hospital. Brandon's program director and classmate Adrienne took us to a private hospital here. I think it is the best one here. Another classmate, Jenn, and his language partner, Mohamed, met us there. Brandon definitely had a lot of good people there to support him! He went into the emergency room, where he got his head put under cold water and then got an IV in his arm to get some medications in his body. He stayed there for a little while, as his doctor kept checking up on him and changing out the IV medicines. Once he had regained his strength, we got our bill and medication prescriptions and the program director brought us home. I got his prescriptions at the pharmacy downstairs and Brandon went up to rest. I think his final diagnosis was an intestinal infection with also a little bit of heat exhaustion. All in all, the whole hospital trip was about $40. I don't have much experience with US hospitals, but I have a feeling that's not a bad deal for going to the emergency room. And we'll probably even be able to have it covered by our insurance.

Brandon's been gradually feeling better and better, but he still has some lingering stomach problems. We're praying for him to get to 100% soon.

We made a deal to sell all of our furniture to our landlady, so we're excited about that. It's probably less than we would have gotten had we sold everything separately, but it will be so easy to just pack up our bags and leave everything else here on our last day. Brandon will be doing school, and I will be tutoring, until pretty much our last days here, so this is just a good plan for us. I've had fun with my Chinese student and have so enjoyed seeing his progress as he begins to understand more and more in English. I will be a little sad to leave him. But hey, we're coming back to friends, and family, and Austin, and Hope Chapel, and Mexican food, and clean air, and more, so I can't be too sad, right? On the contrary. I am SO excited. I can't believe it's only two and a half weeks away.

It's so soon that we might only have one or two more blog posts before then. Until next time!

Brandon, me, Mohamed, Angie, and Kirk. Photo borrowed (or stolen) from Mohamed's facebook album.

A van ride to Cairo tonight

2009-05-03T12:16:00.003+03:00

That is what I'll be embarking on at around 9pm. My friend Gail and I found out that her daughter is arriving at the Cairo airport tonight around the same time that Kirk and Angie will be arriving. Gail and her husband were already going to rent a car (with driver) to go and pick her up, but now they've just upgraded to a van, and we're going to split the cost. We're going to fetch our loved ones together now. Six hours total in the van. I'll be bringing a book, a pillow, and an iPod. We'll be praying (and you can feel free to, as well) that everything goes smoothly and that planes and vans arrive at their destinations as scheduled. I won't be tutoring tomorrow, seeing as we might be getting back to Alex around 6am. Brandon has a FULL day of classes and other things tomorrow, so he won't be coming along for the ride tonight.

The weather has been a little funky lately. I think a sandstorm might be coming in. That could make things interesting for touring Alex and Cairo. And because I feel like leaving you with something interesting, here's this:

It's Brandon's throwing of the bow tie (in lieu of garter) at our wedding. I've JUST NOW been getting around to sorting through all of the wedding photos, and it is quite a task. Matt Fettig and Nathanael took so many good ones! I forever owe them gratitude. I love these two. Matt captured the first one of the guys competing for the grab. Nathanael took the second one of Aaron's subsequent celebration with Brandon. Talk about catching candid moments on film! Amazing.

It's May!!

2009-05-01T09:45:00.001+03:00

We're coming home THIS MONTH!

Happy Sham el Nessim!

2009-04-22T15:17:00.004+02:00

Sham el Nessim was actually two days ago, when I meant to write this post. It's a national holiday (celebrated by both Muslims and Christians) that actually dates back to ancient Egyptian times. It's probably one of the only traditions from that time that is still in practice today. One thing people do on Sham el Nessim is go picnic at parks, which we did. We were invited to go picnic with my Chinese student, his mom, and his stepdad. We had some great food (both bacon and salsa were involved) and we tossed around the frisbee. They even played some badminton (which yes, I had to look up how to spell), which we opted to just observe. I think it's been awhile since either of us picked up the ol' badminton racket. Two cute little Egyptian girls gave me some flowers! They stood around watching us and then kept approaching and shyly retreating. Finally, they walked up to me and asked me, in English, what my name was. I surprised them with my Arabic and we had a nice little conversation. They were so sweet!

So, we thought we had established the cheapest way to eat (buying fuul and falafel sandwiches for about $0.20 each), but things just got a little cheaper. Brandon's friend Mohamed came over a little while ago and we actually prepared the falafel ourselves. We bought a tub of falafel stuff, which cost about $0.50, and then we formed little balls and fried the falafel ourselves. This made ten patties, which we then broke up and put in our bread with fuul (which was a different tub, also $0.50). We got quite a few sandwiches out of all of this. Three people were completely filled for a little more than $1! Amazing.

Tonight, we're going to go to our friends' apartment to live there for a week. They're going out of town, but their teenage son has to stay home because he has school this week, and he also has to take the SAT. I think they just want us around so that he won't be lonely all week, and so that he eats something besides cereal for dinner. I am very happy to stay there for several reasons.

Their place is very centrally located.

They have a cat. (Brandon's not as excited about that one)

They have a Wii.

They have a big, comfy, "American"-style couch.

They live within walking distance from grocery stores.

They have a fully stocked kitchen with counters, which will be a joy to cook in.

All of these things will be new to us for the week. I'm excited. Then, less than a week after we come back to our place, Kirk and Angie will be here! We've been finalizing plans for everything, and everyone's looking forward to it.

Our time here is almost at an end. We can't believe it!

8 weeks left!

2009-04-04T13:16:00.003+02:00

Exactly 8 weeks from today, we'll probably be heading to Cairo to catch our plane ride home. Yay. Until then, we'll be carrying on with daily life here: classes, homework, internship, tutoring, Bible study, church, spending time with friends.

I'm really enjoying tutoring. Rulan, the mom, has been so generous. The first day, I got sent home with a bunch of Chinese treats to eat. The second day, I got a package of graham crackers and some ginger snaps. Then, she started feeding me lunch every day, usually a sandwich, sometimes a ham sandwich. She gets to shop at the commissary in Cairo every now and then because of her husband's job, so she has all kinds of name brand goodies. Earlier this week, I got chicken dumplings for lunch, with a homemade soy/vinegar/peanut sauce. It was awesome. I also got sent home with some gummy coke-flavored candies, and two watches. Yes, watches. She had some women's watches, but she doesn't have any girls in her family, so she asked if I wanted them. Sure! We just have to get a watch battery. So, if I were to generalize to the whole of the Chinese people, I would say that they are very generous and hospitable. What a blessing.

Yesterday, we went to church and then went to my friend Lacey's apartment, where we ate lunch with her and also 3 Swedish girls who are in Alexandria for a few months working at schools for disabled children. Lacey's recently adopted two kittens off of the street. She found them in a box and took them to the vet. She's been feeding them and medicating them and taking care of them for a few weeks now. I enjoyed playing with them yesterday.

This one is named Gamila (which means "beautiful" in Arabic). It's not the best picture, but I just snapped it in a rare moment of calm because they're usually running around the apartment attacking each other and climbing up people's pant legs.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for keeping up with us.

What's going on

2009-03-29T13:06:00.002+02:00

I finished up my first full week of tutoring Silun. So far, his mom has been sitting with us and translating things that he really doesn't understand, but every day he seems to understand more and more of what I'm saying, and his mom stays with us less and less. He needed some time to get used to my accent. It's been fun. And I've been FED. The first day Rulan (that's the mom) sent me home with a bunch of Chinese treats, and the second day she gave me ginger snaps and graham crackers. She's also been feeding me lunch. Sandwiches, juice, and the other day she had tuna salad. It seems as though the Chinese are just as hospitable as the Egyptians. I'm definitely not complaining.

Brandon enjoyed last week off (it was his Spring Break), but now he's back at classes today, and back to working on homework in the evenings. He and his classmates are going to take part in 3 video conferences this week with students in the States who are going to be coming to Egypt for this program in the summer. They're greatly expanding the program, with about 40 students planned to come for the summer (last summer there were about 20), and about 20 students planned to stay for the full year (this year was 4). It should change the dynamics of the program quite a bit. I've enjoyed having the small group! More and more, Brandon's been looking into jobs back in the States, focusing on Austin. We're approaching the 2 month mark.

Last Friday, at church, we had an Agape feast and fellowship afterward. Basically, everyone brought food to share with each other after the service, and people played sports and games. It was just time to spend together as a community outside the context of a church service. By the end, Brandon and I had ended up on the playground pushing Naomi and Sophie on the swings, two British girls who are each about 4 years old. Brandon has earned a reputation as a really good swing pusher, so almost every week after church Naomi finds him and recruits him to the playground. They are adorable little girls, with equally adorable little British accents.

Tonight, Brandon and I are going to see Slumdog Millionaire (it just came out here) with Brandon's language partner, Mohammed.

Until next time!

Quick update

2009-03-17T15:35:00.002+02:00

I hope you've enjoyed the temple videos that Brandon has posted from our trip to Luxor and Aswan. I think Brandon is the official video-posting person in our family, because, well, he's posted every video that's on this blog, and he's just so good at it. Patience with technology...it's a special virtue.

Since our last informative post, a lot has gone on.

We've had a loved one pass away.

Friends of ours had a baby.

Other friends of ours found out they're having a girl.

I've lost a job.

I've gained a job.

It's become official that my brother, Kirk, and cousin, Angie, are coming to visit at the beginning of May.

I made a successful chili without the use of a recipe.

A mixture of things. Some sad, some happy. Some serious, some not serious. We were without internet for a few days, during which I fell off the ChaCha bandwagon, but I'm back on it now. It seems that whenever I go on, there are nonstop questions. Maybe ChaCha is increasing in popularity. My meager earnings are actually adding up.

I'm no longer tutoring the Egyptian girls. It was a short-lived gig, but I got to earn about an extra 100 dollars. We'll take it! The commute to their place at 4:30 was terrible anyways. I spent almost the same amount of time commuting as I spent at their house tutoring each time I went.

Starting in less than a week, I'm going to tutor a Chinese boy in English. His mom lives here, with her husband, who's American. The boy has lived in China for most of his life, he's coming to stay in Egypt for a few months, and then he's going to go to school in the U.S. in the fall. His mom wants him to improve his English as much as he can before he goes, so I'll be helping. He won't be in school while he's here, so I'll be his main teacher. That also means that I'll have the best working hours I've ever had in Egypt, from 9-11:30 every weekday morning!

I am just NOT a late afternoon/evening work hours person, I've come to realize. Plus, later hours just make planning and cooking a meal difficult. And I'm becoming increasingly fond of cooking. I can't wait to get back to the States and re-discover all of the kitchen-related wedding gifts we received. Pots, pans, the Kitchen Aid stand mixer! Not to mention the kind of grocery store items that I'm used to.

Today, I need to try to find some resources and materials for working with my new tutee (it really is a word.) His mom is going to help and ask some of her friends who do homeschooling here, so hopefully between the two of us we can come up with some good stuff for him.

Thanks for listening, friends.

Luxor Video 3

2009-03-13T19:23:00.003+02:00

Karnak Temple

Edfu Temple, Nile Cruise Ship, Aswan Dam, Boat to Philae, Abu Simbel

Luxor Video 2

2009-03-04T19:42:00.003+02:00

Luxor Video 1

2009-03-03T19:53:00.005+02:00

Here's the first of our many video clips from our trip to Luxor and Aswan.

Be sure to also enjoy this Arabic classic celebrating the Hatshepsut temple.

ChaCha!

2009-03-03T13:42:00.004+02:00

I have received another way to earn some additional income! It's called ChaCha. According to wikipedia, ChaCha is "a mobile answering service which uses a technique known as social searching." What that basically means is that you can text message ChaCha (242242) and ask a question. Any question. And a real person looks it up on the internet for you and then sends you the answer. The convenience is that you can ask something that you would normally look up on the internet when you don't have access to the internet. So, if you're out and about and you want to know something, just text ChaCha. Oh, and it's FREE (depending on your mobile texting plan, of course), which is majorly convenient.

I discovered ChaCha in a forum for making money on the internet. It seems like one of the few legitimate options out there. I had been checking the website periodically, but it seemed they were never looking for new guides (the people who do the searching.) Then, earlier this week, there were some openings! So I signed up to be a guide. I actually had to go through some "training" that included quite a bit of reading and video-watching, and a test search session to qualify. I just received my official acceptance this morning, and I'm logged in right now. I just answered a couple of questions about school closures and delays. Being from Texas, I wasn't all that familiar with how to search for such a thing on the internet, because school in Texas is usually canceled one day a year, if that. But there are a lot of listings on news websites stationed in the Northeast, which is the area my queries came from. Interesting stuff. Oh, and I get paid per question answered, if you're wondering. The amount I get varies depending on the category of the question. Some questions are more difficult than others. Some people ask silly questions. There is always a list of "live questions" on ChaCha's homepage. Here are some questions that have been asked within the past hour:

"What is the world's fastest gun?"

"What is the address and phone number to the Sage Diner in Mount Laurel New Jersey?"

"What does the expression Oy Vey mean in Yiddish?"

"What is the female character's name with the dark hair on That 70s Show?"

"Does Middle Country School district in Suffolk County have a delay?"

"What cures nausea?"

"What does 'other carbohydrates' mean on a nutrition facts label?"

"What song has the words 'I've got the news bound up in a paper bag' in it?"

And the list goes on. As you can see, people ask quite the variety of questions, some practical, some just random. I can envision many uses for ChaCha. Say you're out with friends and you're arguing about how old Harrison Ford is (this has actually happened to me before.) "He's definitely made it to 60." "No way! He's in his 50s." Text ChaCha and settle it right away. Also, some people, just for fun, text a search for themselves ("Who is Christine Wilson?"), just to see what they'll get. Some guides (that's what us searchers are called) actually find the people on facebook or another social networking site and send them accurate info about who they are. A little creepy, but accurate. ChaCha strives for accuracy and the "human element" in their responses. Alright, enough free advertising for ChaCha. But you should try it. I actually can't use it because it costs a fortune to text to the U.S. from Egypt.

As I was writing this post, I was asked three different questions: Why does a running track change directions every day, does play-doh light on fire, and what color is the house of representatives. I'm already learning so much through this experience...

Locked in a bathroom; new job; bacon

2009-02-20T17:36:00.005+02:00

I think that Brandon jumping in and writing that last post on Upper Egypt tricked me into thinking I didn't have blog responsibilities anymore. But then I remembered that I did. School started back up for him, and he's back to being the devoted student that he is, so I'm back to being the blogmaster. Sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoyed the last post. It was a good one. Thanks, husband!

The three subjects in the title of this post all having nothing to do with one another.

First, locked in a bathroom. That would be me, last Wednesday afternoon. I went to Brandon's school to see the head of the TAFL (Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language) Center who works there, because she had the contact information for someone who wanted an English tutor. After seeing her in her office, I went to use the bathroom in the TAFL Center. I closed the door and locked it, then checked to make sure it was locked. Oh, it was certainly locked. So much so, that I couldn't open it after I had finished in the bathroom. Not wanting to be the crazy lady banging on the bathroom door and yelling, I called Brandon, who was in the building next door, and he and his classmate Jenn came over (they were on a break from class). I figured Jenn would just open the door from the outside and everything would be resolved. Nope. It was stuck. Very, very stuck. The reinforcements were sent in. Ahmed, who works with Brandon's program, came over and did all kinds of things to the outside of the door, and had me do all kinds to the inside of the door with the handle and the lock. No luck. Then, something or someone started banging on the other side of the door (like, the kind of noise that you probably shouldn't expose your ears to because it could cause permanent hearing loss). I'm sure it disturbed every class that was going on in that building. By this point, in between banging, I can hear more and more voices gathering on the other side of the door. Then Ahmed told me to stand back from the door. A few minutes after that, pieces of wood began flying towards me and I realized that they were essentially breaking down the door. I thought they were just going to take the hinges off or something, but okay. Whatever works. Standing back from the door was good advice. I then emerged from the bathroom, not knowing whether to say "thank you" or "sorry" or "who are you people?" to the ten or fifteen people waiting for me on the other side. I think it was my first time to get stuck in a bathroom, although it wasn't my first experience with doors getting stuck closed in Egypt. Mandy and I got locked in the bedroom in our apartment while everyone was visiting. Luckily, the boys could get in using the balcony and fix the problem. For the next three months, I'm always going to be checking to make sure door handles are fully functional so that I don't have any more bathroom misadventures.

Second piece of news. I have income! I am tutoring two Egyptian girls, in 5th and 7th grades, in English. It's only six hours each week, but I'm really enjoying it, and money is money. I also might be getting connected with a Chinese woman who wants an English tutor for her son, also. I'm hoping it works out, as well. So, I lied because the first two subjects in the post title do have to do with each other a little bit. If I hadn't been in the TAFL Center to see the director about this tutoring connection, I probably wouldn't have gotten locked in the bathroom. Just a guess. But the last item, bacon, really doesn't have anything to do with the first two. I promise.

This morning, the director of the American Center (she's kind of the only American government official here in Alex) held a brunch at her house for some American students who are studying Arabic here, and all of the students from Brandon's program were invited, as well as some Middlebury students who are studying abroad here. The director's name is Gwen, and I like her a lot. I had met her last year (Amideast is actually located at the American Center, where she works), and it was good to see her again. She had gotten a lot of wonderful American foods from the commissary in Cairo, including Oscar Meyer bacon. You could say the bacon was the life of the party. It was just amazing. Don't ever take your bacon for granted. If you're confused as to why we Americans would go so ga-ga over bacon, it's because there's usually no pork here because Muslims can't eat it. There was also fresh Cinnabon, which you can get in Alexandria, if you want to pay for it (but we don't usually want to pay for it). It was a great event, and I think it's great that Gwen made an effort to reach out to the American students here. Go her.

We are getting increasingly excited about our return to the States. We can almost start the three month countdown! Three months!

Luxor and Aswan Trip

2009-02-08T21:59:00.003+02:00

Brandon here with an account of our week long trip to upper (southern) Egypt. Last Sunday afternoon we bused from Alexandria to Cairo. That evening we boarded the nifty sleeping train, enjoyed dinner, and went to sleep thinking we'd be arriving to Luxor at around 8 the next morning. Unfortunately, we were abruptly awoken at 5:30am with breakfast before our arrival half an hour later. The early start was necessary for the long day of sightseeing. We bused around to the Colossi of Memnon, the valley of the kings, and Deir al-Bahri (the first of numerous temples we visited). We then checked into our Nile cruise ship the M/S Nile Dolphin and had our first of many buffet meals for lunch. Afterwards, we went to the Luxor temple, which was huge and had two rows of about 30 sphinxes outside.

The next day, after visiting the Karnak temple, the largest temple in the world, we set sail from Luxor. After dinner, while Christine and I were in our room, we heard voices outside. We looked out our window and saw that a group of small row boats had attached themselves to our cruise ship in order to sell clothing and scarves to the passengers onboard our ship. They would yell up to people on the top deck of our four level ship and then throw various items up to them in plastic bags. They had remarkably good aim. If the passengers didn't like what they saw, they simply tossed the item back down to the sellers below. This carried on for several hours as our ship waited to pass through a lock in the Nile. It was an experience.

On Wednesday, we visited temples Edfu and Kom Ombo. At this point temples were beginning to all look the same.

Thursday, we arrived to Aswan and bused to the Aswan Dam and the High Dam, as well as Lake Nasser which the latter dam helped create. Then we took a small motor boat to visit yet another temple on an island in the Nile, and later we enjoyed a nice felucca ride to a botanical island.

Friday, we had the privilege of checking out of our cruise rooms at 4am and taking a three hour van ride to Abu Simbel, a town located about 30 miles north of Sudan. There we saw two really cool temples just on the shores of Lake Nasser. What made them unique was that they were relocated in a huge project during the construction of the high dam to save them from ending up at the bottom of the man made lake. After busing back to Aswan, we boarded another overnight train to Cairo, before riding back to Alexandria on Saturday.

Overall, it was a nice, relaxing trip. We were traveling with a group of Egyptian engineers and their families. Unfortunately, the travel agency decided that that meant it could purchase Egyptian entrance tickets to all of the sites. Egypt is somehow able to get away with blatant discrimination by having different Egyptian and foreigner ticket prices. In the case of most of the temples, it was a difference of 2 or 4 pounds for Egyptians and 25, 50, or 100 pounds for the rest of the world (aka less than a dollar vs up to 20 dollars). Half of the time there was not an issue, but a few times the ticket man would single me and my blond hair out of the group and refuse to let me in. The travel agency representative would then attempt to explain that I was residing in Egypt (I don't know if it was a legitimate argument) but would usually end up having to purchase the more expensive ticket for me. Needless to say, it kept things interesting.

It was most likely our final Egypt excursion. I have this week off from classes as well, and then it'll be nothing but studies from here on out. Christine is still trying to find a new job for the remainder of our time here. She and I as well as our blog are counting down the days to our triumphant return at the end of May. Hope you all enjoyed the Super Bowl. We didn't :(

What's up next

2009-01-28T23:04:00.004+02:00

We're heading off to Upper Egypt on Sunday. I thought I'd post a little summary of our itinerary so anyone can keep up with us and know what we're up to on any given day:

Sunday: 1) travel from Alex to Cairo by bus; 2) take sleeping train to Luxor

Monday: 1) visit Valley of the Queens and the El-Deir, El-Bahary and Memnon statues in Luxor; 2) visit the East Bank (including Karnak and Luxor Temple)

Tuesday: 1) sail to Edfu; 2) visit the Temple of Edfu

Wednesday: 1) sail to Komombo; 2) visit the temple; 3) sail to Aswan

Thursday: 1) visit the temple of Philae; 2) visit the high dam; 3) trip to the botanical garden

Friday: 1) visit Abou Symbol; 2) depart for Cairo on train

Saturday: 1) arrival to Cairo; 2) travel from Cairo to Alex by bus

So, at this point, I have no idea what most of these places are, but we're going to hopefully do a little pre-reading about the sites before we leave. Also, once we're there, we'll be staying on a really nice cruise boat that is going to cruise around on the Nile. Most of our meals will be on the boat. The scenery down there should be wonderful. We'll take lots of pictures and put up a slideshow once we get back! It sounds like it will be a relaxing trip, and this time of the year is supposed to be the best time to go, weather-wise. Here's what the Nile typically looks like down there:

In other news, I'm looking for some kind of a job for the rest of our time here. I was teaching English, which was a really good job, but the hours were always late, since the classes were for adults (most of whom have work during the day, or college classes). I am just not a fan of starting work at 5 and getting off work at 9:30 at night. Also, the whole reason I started with that company was because of the kids' program last summer, and that's been over for awhile. I want to try to get something with kids again, so I've sent my résumé* to an American school here to see if they want a substitute teacher.

*(Side note: Why does this word have to have two accent marks? I know, it's French or something. Well, I'm a perfectionist when it comes to grammar, and blogging, and grammar while blogging, and I had to go look it up in an online dictionary and copy and paste it to here because I don't know how to just conjure up accent marks out of nowhere. And, you almost have to have the accent marks, because if you don't, it's "resume", which means something completely different. Oh, the inconvenience of that little word!)

I also sent out an email to a group that I'm a part of, asking if anyone needed, or knew of anyone who needed, a part-time babysitter or nanny, which I would love to do. The group I sent it to is the AWA (American Women of Alexandria, I believe). I've been to a couple of their meetings. They hold a coffee morning once a month at someone's home. It's a large group, so hopefully I'll find someone who needs me!

We're also starting to look into jobs for Brandon for once we come home. Prayers for both of those things would be appreciated!

Also, something may be in the works for even MORE visitors to come in a couple of months. Exciting. We won't reveal their identities just yet (just for the sake of some fun mystery and suspense), although most of you reading this probably already know who).

The visitors have come and gone

2009-01-19T14:32:00.005+02:00

Wow. What fun having visitors was! The Wilson family left about four days ago, and Brandon and I have been getting back to life as usual.

First, a couple of pictures (which, by the way, I totally stole from Mandy's facebook album) from the friends week:

The girls in the back of a long taxi in Cairo that could actually fit all 6 of us!

The boys at the Sphinx.

Having friends in town was so amazing. We LOVE them for spending time and money to come visit us. We had lots of wonderful nights of ordering in food and playing games together. Our vacation style was extremely laid back. In Alexandria, we usually accomplished one tourist attraction a day (if that). In Cairo, we stepped it up a little bit because of how much there is to see there. And because we were only there for two days.

One highlight (/mishap) in Cairo was when we tried to get to the pyramids (which is never a simple, straightforward task if you don't have your own car and you're not part of a tour group). We got in two separate taxis and told them to take us to a certain entrance to the pyramids (there are two entrances). The entrance we wanted opens earlier and has additional tickets to go inside the pyramids. I was in a taxi with Mandy and Matt. About one minute into the ride, our driver asks us if we would like to ride camels at the pyramids. We politely decline (la, shukran!). The driver calls his camel shop friend at the pyramids. I can tell what he's doing, so I reemphasize that really, really, we don't want camel rides. We just want to go to the upper entrance on the main road. Before I know it, we're at the wrong entrance, we're in front of a camel shop, and a guy is leaning in our taxi asking us if we want camel rides. Sigh. So, again, I am very persistant that we just want to go to the entrance. We get dropped at the entrance, which isn't open yet, because it's the lower entrance. Then we see that the other group is getting dropped off at the same wrong entrance.

We get together and talk strategy. We could wait for the lower entrance to open (but decrease our chances of getting tickets to go inside pyramids), we could take taxis to the other entrance, or we could attempt to walk to the other entance. We opt for walking, because we're kind of wary of taxis at this point. So, we naturally decide to just go along the wall of the pyramid complex until we hit the other entrance. Well, there was a path. A little ways into our trek we realize that the path is becoming increasingly cluttered with all kinds of trash. And camel poop. We can't really leave the path because on the other side of it is a sort of run-down neighborhood. So we forge on. Then there's a point where there is not just trash, but lots of trash. Brandon and Jonathan decide to run ahead to see if there is light at the end of this tunnel. They find that there is a wall that we could climb over, on the other side of which is that main road that we wanted to get dropped off on. Yay! So we get to the wall and climb over (the ease of which depends on whether or not you're pregnant). We make it to the desired entrance and have a pretty flawless pyramid adventure from that point on. Getting there is always the hardest part.

I was so sad to see our friends go, but it made it better that family was arriving the very next evening! Brandon and I headed back to Alexandria, got some sleep, washed some sheets and towels, and welcomed Bob, Beth, and Becca in at 3 in the morning.

We all, needless to say, slept in the next morning. Sometime during their first full day here, everyone else managed to get kidnapped by our neighbor across the hall. He invited them inside and admired Mom (Beth) for not talking much. We also all got invited to lunch the next day. The lunch was huge, to say the least. There was salad, soup, chips, 3 or 4 different kinds of meat, stuffed things, rice, different kinds of bread, fruit...and I'm probably leaving out some things. It was all delicious, too. We learned an important cultural sidenote that day: if your plate is empty, it means you're still hungry and you want more and you will definitely get served more food.

Family visit pictures at the pyramids (which were easier to get to this time around):

Dad and Mom enjoying the view from atop their camel.

Brandon got to ride a donkey because he said he didn't want to ride a camel.

Becca and I were riding a second camel together. It was my first time on a camel. It was alot more uncomfortable than I expected. I'm not sure I could ride one for more than 20 minutes. How do people do it across the whole desert? But, I think camels are adorable and personable, so I enjoyed the ride quite a bit.

I really enjoyed having the family around. I loved getting to spend time with my newly acquired sister. We have yet to live in the same area at the same time, so we've never had the chance to hang out on a regular basis. I was also grateful that the family gave me the freedom to hang out at home occasionally while they all went out. There are just some things in Egypt that I'm not a fan of (the carnival in Alexandria, for example; the last time I went, the rides made me sick and I was not a happy camper). And sometimes the socks just have to get washed.

So, having visitors was awesome. We realized how completely blessed we are by the presence of all of these people in our life. Not only are they just amazing at loving us, they're also such servants. I hardly washed any dishes while they were here. You would think that having visitors means more dishes to do, but not with our visitors. They are just that amazing! We love you guys all so much!

Now there is a friends and family shaped depression in my heart. We're totally on the home stretch, though. We'll be coming home in less than 4 1/2 months. Wow. I can't believe that. Brandon started school again. He's actually finishing up fall semester for a week (it ends this Thursday). Then he'll have a break. We're going on a trip with the program to Luxor and Aswan from February 1st to February 7th. A whole week long! The previous trips have only been over weekends. I'm really excited. Part of the trip will be cruising on the Nile. So awesome!

Alright, what a post! Hopefully returning to normal life will include a retreat to more frequent, less bulky posts. Thanks for sticking with me :).

Friends in town

2008-12-29T20:21:00.002+02:00

This is what we've been doing with our friends: sightseeing, staying up late, sleeping in late, eating food, eating snacks, eating chocolate, playing nintendo, playing nerts, playing cranium, playing 10000, riding in taxis, and just having an awesome time. We're heading to Cairo to see the sights there in three days. Pictures to come!

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-25T12:33:00.002+02:00

عيد الميلاد سعيد

Fresh

2008-12-18T14:53:00.003+02:00

I just bought all of these bright red, locally grown strawberries at a cart outside of our apartment building for $0.30! I just thought I should share.

Also, today is Brandon's last day of classes for the fall semester. Congratulations to him for his semester of accomplishments! His Arabic is so good now! I'm so amazed and proud.

We're back

2008-12-13T14:33:00.002+02:00

We've been back. I just failed to inform the blogging world. Many fun things have happened around the Wilson household of late, such as apple-cranberry cider-making, Christmas tree-decorating, homemade chocolate chip cookie-baking, video chatting with dear friends from home :), among other things. We are anticipating the Christmas season, although we know it will be different far away from all of our beloved family at home. But we are more excited than EVER about our post-Christmas visitors, and we are so, so thankful and humbled that they are giving up some of their CHRISTMAS DAY to travel to us. Thanks friends! We love you!

Out of town

2008-12-06T12:34:00.002+02:00

For three nights. We are going on a retreat for some Christian groups around Egypt. A family at our church recruited us to provide childcare for the families who will be at the retreat. We will only have to watch the kids (about eight of them, I think) while the adults are in meetings/talks, which will be twice a day for a couple of hours. Other than that, I think there's alot of free time, and we will get fed, of course. Yay. I'm looking forward to hanging out with the kiddos. I'm not sure whether or not there will be internet there, but we'll return on Tuesday afternoon. Until then!

A monastic experience

2008-12-04T12:51:00.008+02:00

Last weekend, Brandon's classmates and Brandon and I went to a monastery near Alexandria with their program director and his family (they are Coptic Christians). It was a good time. There are about a hundred Coptic monks at this place, and several chapels and a large church. The church was elaborately decorated with different kinds of granite, beautiful mosaics, and paintings. We also got to sit down with a monk and he explained the history of the monastery and Saint Mina, who the large church is named after. Brandon half-jokingly asked him if there were any monks at the monastery who had taken a vow of silence. There are two. One of them has been going for seven years! They also served us free lunch, which was awesome. It was the best lentil soup I've ever had!

The church.

Noah's ark mosaic.

Jesus and the twelve disciples on the ceiling.

Finally, as we were driving back to Alexandria, we happened upon a herd of camels! I had to document it. I'm not sure when the next time I'll see a herd of camels will be. The little goats and sheep will probably all be slaughtered by next week. The Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha is next week. The holiday is in remembrance of Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice Ishmael (the Muslim belief) for God. So, every Muslim family will have an animal sacrificed and will eat and share the meat with others. I hear the streets run with blood (eek!). Sometimes they make the sacrifices early. I was going someplace by taxi this morning, and I saw two cows on their sides writhing around on the sidewalk on the Corniche Road, the main road that goes along the Mediterranean. I didn't see much else besides that. I didn't mind not seeing much else besides that. One of my Muslim co-workers is actually going to give me some of the meat from his family's lamb after the holiday. I'll have to figure out a dish to cook with lamb. Any ideas?

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T00:29:00.006+02:00

We shared Thanksgiving with the other students at Dina's house (Brandon's teacher), and it was great! We had all of the traditional foods, and us students prepared all of it except for the turkey, which Adrienne purchased and had cooked at a shop near where she lives. My favorite things were the mashed potatoes, the green beans, and the turkey...all Thanksgiving essentials. We were very full by the end of the meal.

Turkey, Egyptian style. It was really good. It didn't taste as colorful as it looked.

The whole group, getting ready to eat. Not all of us were paying attention for this one.

Us, and the green beans.

Brandon in the post-meal, stuffed-stomach, I-could-use-a-bed position.

All in all, a wonderful first Thanksgiving abroad. We sure do have alot to be thankful for!

For the sake of updating...

2008-11-22T23:44:00.001+02:00

...because it's been a week. Not too much has been going on around the Wilson household.

Brandon's been to school.

I've been to work.

We cleaned up around the apartment today (bathroom, kitchen, entryway). This included mopping!

I cut my own hair. It's a bad idea in the 7th grade, but I think it's allowed once you're in college or beyond. I looked up "how to cut your hair in layers" on the internet and got detailed instructions. And it actually worked. The internet is amazing. ALSO, someone at church COMPLIMENTED me on my new haircut and I was ecstatic. I might have frightened him by how excited I was. Now I've definitely decided that cutting my own hair is the way to go. And maybe my kids' hair someday.

And Brandon got a legitimate haircut. It was $2. Ok, so I guess we're not saving that much money by me cutting my own hair. But it was fun.

We went to church on Friday with what seemed like the largest attendance since we've been here. That was exciting! The room was pretty full. And we had the chance to help out by reading scripture and leading prayer. There is a new family here from South Africa, a family from England had a healthy baby girl, our worship leader's son and daughter-in-law had a healthy baby back in the states, and the population of younger people who are our age seems to be growing at our church. God is great! AND we're about to enter the season of Christmas.

But before Christmas, there's Thanksgiving. We actually will be celebrating Thanksgiving with Adrienne, Jenn, and Tatiana, Brandon's classmates. There will be turkey and everything. I am going to be contributing an apple pie and two pumpkin pies. I have all of the supplies (Adrienne's mom even sent a package that included Libby's pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice!). We are ready to get together with friends and be thankful!

I just asked Brandon if there was anything he wanted to say to "blog world," and he said, "blog worrrrld!" My husband...so special. I love him.

Random picture because there aren't any pictures in this post:

This is the fountain in the middle of the roundabout near our apartment building.

Carnival!

2008-11-15T19:37:00.000+02:00

This past Thursday night we went to a carnival with one of Brandon's classmates, their teacher, some of the teacher's friends and family members, and Brandon's language partner. It was quite the experience! It's like a typical traveling carnival in the U.S., I'd say, but with maybe less strict safety regulations (or none...who knows). Yeah, and I'm already a bit wary about these types of things in the U.S. But it's ok, Brandon's classmate, Jenn, had the same concerns as I did. She told their teacher that she wasn't as much afraid of the ride but of the machine, and he said not to worry, it's just like Disneyland. Oh, good!

Well, after two rides, I had had about enough, but Brandon and some of the others decided to go on a ride called the "mankhuul," which means "sifter." I think the idea is that the machine is the flour sifter, and the people riding are the flour. It was pretty ridiculous-looking. It looks like something that people should have been strapped down for, but instead they weren't and they had to attempt to stay in their seats while the machine did what it wanted with them. Here are a couple of videos that I recorded with our friend's camera. There isn't any sound. Brandon is the one wearing a light blue long sleeve shirt.

Oh yeah, and there's a kid in the middle. I think it's the cool thing to do to try to stand in the middle of the thing the whole time it's going. Sometimes groups of four or five kids would try it (like I said, loose safety regulations...). Note in the second video when the guys near Brandon lose their grip and slide across the platform. This was not a rare occurrence.

Pray for Obama

2008-11-10T16:51:00.000+02:00

Whether you voted for him or not (or didn't vote at all), he will be the president. Let us prepare for his presidency:

"First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." 1 Timothy 2:1-2

This man needs our prayers. President of the United States. What an incredibly difficult job. I can't even imagine.

Siwa in pictures

2008-11-06T11:30:00.000+02:00

Here are pictures from our Siwa trip last weekend. If you click on the slideshow, it will take you to our web album where you can click 'View Album' to see all of the photos at once.

Mutant banana, sporting club

2008-10-27T09:12:00.001+02:00

Firstly, and most importantly, we found a mutant banana! I wish I could tell you that this is how all bananas in Egypt are, but that is just unfortunately not true. We saw this little guy in the store, and of course we just had to take him home. He had a short life, but he made for a good smoothie.

Secondly, last Saturday, we had the chance to go to a "naadi", which is like a country club, with Brandon's program director. It was us, the program director's wife and two kids, and Brandon's classmates. It was alot of fun. The club has a kid pool, an adult Olympic-size pool, tennis courts, a golf course, squash courts, fields for soccer and handball, a clubhouse for adults only (for reading and visiting in quiet), basketball courts, exercise rooms, a gymnastics area, and a track-like area for running and horseback riding. Oh, and about five places to eat. Yeah, so it's pretty extensive. Most people in Egypt's higher classes are members of a naadi, which are fairly abundant. The one we went to is the biggest one in Alexandria. We got a little tour, and then we ate lunch. I had Egyptian fattah, which is rice, fried bread pieces, and meat. It came with two different sauces (a spicy tomato sauce and an oily not-quite-sure-exactly-what-it-was sauce). It was delicious. Brandon had lasagna, which was also delightful. After eating lunch together, the whole group actually threw a frisbee around, because Brandon and I had brought one! After throwing for a little while, we taught everyone else how to play, and we played a little game of ultimate!! It was so much fun. One of their kids, Michael, is pretty much a natural. He's only in elementary school and he scored half of our goals. It was the most athletic thing I've done since being here. No lie. People here don't really run or do anything athletic in public, unless it's in training for football (aka soccer).

The Egyptian fattah.

Lastly, tomorrow morning at five in the morning, Brandon and I will be getting on a bus with his classmates and some of his teachers and we will go to Siwa, an oasis in the west of Egypt, really close to Libya. For a little information on Siwa, click here. It's supposedly really relaxing and really beautiful. The drive is about seven hours or so, I believe. We'll be coming back on Sunday evening, and I'll post an update of how the trip was on Monday, inshallah.

By the way, I'm really enjoying my lower level English classes at Amideast. It is very different from teaching the higher levels, but it's fun! It's slow-paced, and it makes me remember what it was like to be a newbie learning Arabic. All of my students are so eager to learn. English is so new to them that they're very interested in everything I have to say.

Birthday happenings etc.

2008-10-23T10:40:00.000+02:00

*Just a note: I actually have had this post written for almost a week, but the internet in our apartment hasn't been functioning for the past few days, so I am just now posting it*

Well, the birthday has come and gone, and I thought I would share a few pictures from it. It was a fun time! I unfortunately had to work on Brandon's birthday, but when I got home in the evening we ordered Chili's and had it delivered (it's the best source of American food here; it really tastes just like Chili's back home). Then I baked the boy an apple pie! It was a nice birthday evening at home.

Pie, with intense flames.

They were trick candles...Brandon had to work for his pie.

I finished a term at Amideast, and I'll be starting the next one on Sunday. This time one of my classes is going to be level 1, which means they hardly speak any English at all. It should be interesting and will probably hold new challenges. At least the grammar concepts should be really easy (I sometimes had to study up on higher level grammar concepts before teaching them to my higher level classes!).

I play Mahjong! If you're not sure what that is, it is a game you play in a group with different kinds of tiles. Each person draws 13 tiles to begin with and you take turns drawing and discarding to try to make a complete hand. There are a ridiculous number of possible hands, and the point of the game is to be flexible and clever. "Organization of a good Mahjong hand requires judgment in selecting a game plan which will afford the best chance of success - and also requires sufficient versatility to be able to change horses midstream." This is a quote from the Mahjong Player's Companion, which I borrowed from one of the ladies there, which yes, a beginner needs at all times because of the complexity of the hands. I have no idea why anyone is riding a horse in a stream, but regardless of the swimming horses, it is an awesome game. I will probably continue to play every Wednesday afternoon until we leave, if I'm able. It's alot of fun.

You might be wondering how I found a weekly Mahjong group. Well, I've been going to a women's Bible study with a few women from our church and a few from other churches. We're doing a Kay Arthur study on the book of John. It's great. It's at the house of an 83-year-old woman. Yes, I am in a Bible study with an 83-year-old woman! Brandon thought that was really funny. So, after Bible study every week, they go to play Mahjong with a bigger group of women. They invited me. And I said yes. I was the youngest person there by about 25 years. I was shocked to realize that we were there for about 4 hours. I guess time flies when you're playing Mahjong with elder women!

Why I love the BIRTHDAY BOY!

2008-10-20T11:01:00.000+02:00

He's amazing! He just is. And today he's 23 years old. I love Brandon for his courage, his steadfastness, and his leadership, among other things. I feel so completely secure in my role as wife to Brandon that will carry on for years and years and years. I trust him. I trust him with our finances, with our future, and with our marriage. He has blessed my life tremendously in the few short years that I have known him. I know God will continue to bless us both abundantly in many ways! Happy Birthday Brandon! You are so greatly loved by so many!

Let it rain!

2008-10-14T14:33:00.000+02:00

It rained for the first time since we've been here on Sunday. It was fantastic! It rained at night and a little in the morning. I was glad to not have work that day. I just got to sit inside and listen to the wonderful sound of rain falling outside. It has also been much cooler lately. The weather has definitely shifted for the better. In the afternoon, the temperature has been in the high 70s, and at night the low 70s or 60s. And of course, there's always the Mediterranean Sea breeze, making everything slightly cooler. According to weather.com, there is a 30% chance of rain this evening. We can only hope...I like rain, in case you couldn't tell.

I had the chance to go to a pre-school this morning and play with kids! A woman named Sheree who goes to our church started up this school at a different church in a lower income neighborhood. The kids go every weekday morning from about 9am to 1pm. Sheree goes by once a week to teach a lesson and to deliver the week's curriculum to the other teachers. So I went today and helped Sheree out with a Noah's Ark lesson. We brought paint and animal-shaped sponges for each student to make a Noah's Ark scene. The kids also had a snack, exercised, colored, sang songs, and prayed. There were only about 12 there today, but the school's full enrollment is about 20. The kids are all so precious!! It's fun to try to communicate with them in Arabic. They even taught me some animal vocabulary today. I hope to go back with Sheree on a regular basis to help out.

One of Brandon's classmates, Adrienne, was thinking ahead to November and thought of the great idea to have a Thanksgiving dinner together. So the five of us will be making a small feast on Thanksgiving at our apartment. So far, my only duty is the pumpkin pie(s). I'm probably going to have to make a homemade crust, because Egyptians don't really do pie. Finding a frozen crust will be difficult. Thankfully, Adrienne's parents have offered to send a package over with any of the ingredients that we can't find (and that won't perish in a cross-Atlantic voyage)! We're already looking forward to the big event.

Note the random picture below of the garden that is near to where we live. It's called Shallalat. One of these days we'll do a picnic there or throw some frisbee.

Life as usual

2008-10-09T10:36:00.000+02:00

We're back in Alexandria now, resuming the life of school for Brandon and work for me (not that I work all that much). Jason came back to Alexandria with us, so we've been showing him around. There were a few sites that we went to the other day that I had actually never been to before. The day that Brandon and the rest of the flagship program went, I had to work. So, we have some nice pictures from that. We visited Pompey's pillar, part of a Roman temple complex and library that dates back to the 3rd century. We also went to the nearby Roman catacombs, which were extensive and eerie. We finished off our mini-tour with the Roman amphitheater. It was a very Roman day. Cameras weren't allowed inside the catacombs. Other than that, we've just been relaxing at our apartment and taking Jason out to eat some good food (although tonight I'm cooking friend chicken and mashed potatoes, a nice Southern meal). Oh, and in BIG news, we got our hot water heater installed! I am so excited to shower for the first time in a few days. Yay!

at Pompey's Pillar

at the Roman amphitheater; when you speak while standing right there in the middle, your voice is impressively amplified

In Cairo

2008-10-04T15:53:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone! Well, we're in Cairo, enjoying the company of our friend Jason. He's been touring the world for a few weeks and Egypt is his final destination. We're hanging around with him in Cairo for a few days and then we're going to take him back to Alexandria to spend a few days there. Fun stuff! We're enjoying the comfort of the McIntoshs' home yet again.

So how about all those iftars last week? Well, we had the privilege of eating some very tasty Egyptian delicacies. If I had to pick my favorite, it would be the iftar we went to at Brandon's teacher's house. Dina cooked a ton of fabulous dishes and we were not short on choices of what to eat! There was molokhaya (a kind of spinach-like soup that can be eaten over rice), fattah (pita bread chips with a spicy tomato sauce and yogurt on top), kofta (good meat seasoned with cinnamon and other unique spices), among other things. We also got to linger a bit and enjoy dessert and coffee and tea and visit with her family and Brandon's other classmates. I do have a few pictures from the past week, but I'll have to post them later because they're on my computer in Alexandria.

Brandon and I have both had a small break from school and work because of the three-day holiday at the end of Ramadan, called the eid sughayir. I have to start work again on Monday, and Brandon will resume school on Tuesday. Then it will be back to life as usual!

SAND STORM

2008-09-29T21:15:00.000+02:00

A few days ago, it was really, really hazy outside. We thought it was pollution or something, but we were informed that it was sand! We were getting a little surprise from the desert. It was very windy outside also, so walking out and about in it was a somewhat unpleasant experience, as it tended to get in our eyes, mouths, and hair. But apparently this signals the beginning of cooler temperatures and maybe even some rain. It does seem a little cooler. Thankfully, while we were out that day, we had all of our balcony doors closed. One of my co-workers left all of her doors and windows open while she was out, and when she came back she said it looked like a tornado had blown through. She and her roommate had to take almost everything in their apartment outside and get the sand out. Here's an example of a view of the new library on the sand storm day. Below that is a picture of what it looks like on a typical, clear day. Quite the difference!

Pyramid video!

2008-09-24T17:10:00.000+02:00

Here's a video of when we visited the Pyramids on the 4th of July. The picture is a little squished. The pyramids are not actually that tall and narrow. Just imagine them slightly shorter and squatter. Squatter is a funny word.

A new phase in blogging

2008-09-23T23:58:00.000+02:00

Ok. So, I've been inspired. I've been reading some other blogs, and their owners successfully post to the blogs several times a week. And it's not like they're just sitting around with nothing to do all day. One is a mom with four children, three of whom she home schools. Not to mention that those children's grandmother has a blog. A blogging grandma! I have no excuses now. This makes me believe that the goal of multiple posts per week is possible to achieve. So, we're going for short, and frequent posts, as opposed to the old style of infrequent, large posts. Wish us luck!

We got a couch! Our living room just jumped ten notches on the comfortable scale (no, I don't know how many notches the comfortable scale has in the first place; just know, it was a big jump). It also converts into a semi-comfortable bed. Visitors won't have to sleep on the floor. We also rearranged the living room once we got it (which includes moving a TV, a rug, and now, a couch). We also got a drip coffee maker (much more for me than for Brandon), and our next big purchase will be a hot water heater (we've been living with only cold water since June). Brandon's program just paid him all of his Fall money, so that's why we've felt we could go live it up in terms of domestic purchases.

We have quite a few social engagements to attend in the next few days, happily. Ramadan is ending soon, and we've been invited to a few iftars (meal at the end of the day during Ramadan, the fast-breaking meal). This evening, we'll be going to an iftar hosted by the TAFL center (teaching Arabic as a foreign language, I believe), where Brandon is studying. Tomorrow evening, we're going to one of Brandon's teacher's houses to have iftar. It might be the same house that we've been to, in Agame. Then, on Sunday, we're going to a place called the Syrian Club for a teacher's iftar hosted by Amideast. In addition to all of the iftars, we'll be going to a couple's house tonight after the TAFL center. The couple are German, and they go to our church here. They have two kids. We found out last time at church that they live in our neighborhood, maybe only a block or two from us. Finding that out prompted them to invite us over! I love being hosted by hospitable Jesus-loving people. There's nothing better. Really. Especially in Egypt. We'll hopefully get to update alot of interesting info in the next few posts about all of our social outings. I expect there to be much excellent food in the week ahead.

About a week ago, we visited the church that Brandon is planning on interning with and talked to a guy named Shadi, who is in charge of the kids' sports ministry program. That might be what Brandon ends up helping out with. Shadi showed us all around the church, including the new 7-story building that they just built. It's quite impressive! The top two floors are rented out by Campus Crusades for the next 10 years. It's exciting to know that they're starting something up here.

In other, less important news, we've come across a funny Mario truck that is often parked near our church. We were lucky enough to snap a picture of it. Although Disney is popular in Egypt and we've seen plenty of Mickeys, Plutos, and Disney princesses, we haven't seen many Nintendo characters. So Mario was a pleasant and unexpected surprise!

In other, even less important news, I spent about 10 minutes of a class the other day trying to explain to my students what an avocado was. It started because we did a listening exercise that included an advertisement for a Mexican-food restaurant. There aren't too many Mexican-food restaurants around Egypt, seeing as though Mexico is, oh I don't know, several thousand miles away from here. I was trying to explain guacamole to them, as mashed up avocados, of course, but they didn't even seem to know what an avocado was. I drew pictures. They thought it was a kiwi. I told them I'd bring them pictures next time. They thought it was really funny. But I'm going to be seriously disappointed if there aren't ever any avocados around in Egypt.

p.s. The Lord is gracious and merciful. Did you know? I read one of my favorite psalms today, which is probably one of my favorites because of Shane and Shane's singing of it. It's Psalm 145.

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call oh him in truth.
Psalm 145: 17-18

Don't worry (be happy)

2008-09-15T01:17:00.000+02:00

Do not attempt to adjust your computer. You are at the right blog. We just changed the look a little, to make for better readability. We're having some picture formatting technical difficulties. I'll spare you the boring logistics, but just know that our blog could spontaneously transform at any moment. Ha. This entry defied the very trend that is mentioned at the beginning of the previous entry. The rule has been broken!

If the current trend continues...

2008-09-14T22:15:00.000+02:00

...we could have zero blog posts in November. That's right. Tragedy. You see, Brandon and I noticed that each month, our frequency of posts has been decreasing. In May, there were 5, in June, 4, in July, 3, in August, 2, and now, this is September's most likely 1. We kid you not. Scroll down a little bit and look on the left side. Don't worry though! We totally plan on breaking the rules of logic and not following the pattern, in sha' allah. So I was just telling Mandy that this could be the mother of all blog posts. I might have to write it in installments. We have lots of pictures this time around. Firstly, check out me and my kids. This was taken on the last day of my last childrens' class, which was about a month ago. This was my smallest class. Some of them are holding up their diplomas.

They love the diplomas. So, after the kids' classes ended, I was left with one adult class. I had a pretty easy three weeks finishing that up (adults' sessions are five weeks long, and I was two weeks in at that point). In between sessions, we get a week off, today of which is my last day. I'm starting two adult classes tomorrow, at Amideast's other location, which is within talking distance from our apartment (for the other location, I was taking the tram, which made the whole communte about an hour long; now my walking commute will be 20 minutes).

Ramadan began at the very beginning of September. For Muslims, that means fasting from food, water, and cigarettes during the daylight every day for about a month. The fasting made for an interesting first couple of days of Ramadan. I was on an extremely crowded tram car on the first or second day of Ramadan, and we had been stopped at a stop for longer than was tolerable. The only way to get any smidgen of comfort in an overcrowded tram car is if it is moving and the air is blowing in the open windows. This tram was not moving, and wind was definitely not blowing in the open windows. But the sound of mens' voices yelling and fighting was coming through the windows, loud and clear (well, in clear Arabic, which, for me, is not exactly clear). Now, men yelling is not an unusual occurence here in Egypt. In fact, yelling and arguing is kind of a cultural normalcy. People seem to enjoy getting heated. Words are important here. Winning arguments is important. But the arguing that day seemed a little different. Tensions were running a little higher. Most of the people around me had not eaten all day and really just wanted the sun to go down so that they could enjoy their iftaar (fast-breaking meal in the evening). I was sitting in the corner of the tram, not in an actual seat bu t in more of a cubby with stairs for an unused door, and there was a woman sitting, almost literally, on top of me (another cultural normalcy: personal space is almost a nonexistent concept). Ok, so as the men got more and more heated, our tram remained in its spot. Most of the women in the tram were patiently sweating out the ordeal. Finally, one woman leaned out of the window and yelled something out of the tram. This got more women going, and before I knew it, the yelling was spreading like an awful trend (think uggs with skirts). Everyone was yelling, making it difficult to decipher anything that was being said. I heard a woman close to me say "Ramadan" a few times. I had the feeling she was telling everyone to calm down and cut the men some slack because it was the beginning of Ramadan, and who isn't a little cranky in the beginning? Anyhow, the arguing dissipated, we all said maalesh (an essential Arabic word that basically means "oh well"), and life went on. I never even knew what happened.

Once people get used to fasting after a week or two of Ramadan, the tension lessens and life goes on somewhat normally (except that the work day is shortened, shops and other establishments are unpredictable in terms of what hours they will be open, and around 6 o'clock the streets are eerily deserted because everyone is inside getting ready to eat iftaar). There are also some pretty nifty decorations up. They do lights a la Christmas style, and streamer s, and they have special lanterns. Brandon's language partner said we would have to come eat iftaar with him and his family sometime, so that should be fun. I'm betting it involves lots of great food.

Speaking of the language partner, whose name is Mohammed Abdul Wahab, he took Brandon and I to a nice, private beach to relax and spend some time together. The beach was at a place called Montaza, which is one of Alexandria's more famous areas. Montaza consists of a huge expanse of gardens with a palace that was built in 1982 by the then-ruler of Egypt. One picture is Brandon and Abdul Wahab just after we left the beach. The other is Brandon and I in front of the palace. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon, and I submerged myself into the Mediterranean for the first time (I know, we've been here three months and I'm JUST NOW g etting into the Mediterranean...but I've been hearing and witnessing jelly fish horror stories all summer, so it's really not that shameful that I'm just getting around to it).

This past weekend, Brandon and I discovered just how easy it is to travel to Cairo on a whim. But I will have to go into further detail later, as it's past my bedtime. You can check out the pictures below as a teaser for what I might be talking about once I continue this post, which will be in the next couple of days, in sha' allah (another expression, meaning "if God wills it"; it's basically Egyptians' way of really throwing off the foreigner, as the speaker can use it and mean "maybe", "probably", "probably not", "hopefully", "surely", or a number of other degrees of ambiguous certainty or uncertainty).

Alright. So, as promised, I have returned to continue with the next installment of this post. Cairo. My good friend from high school, Amy Medley, has recently moved to Cairo to teach English. She's been here in Egypt for a few weeks, and Brandon and I decided to pop into Cairo last weekend to visit her. Friday, after church, we threw some things in some bags and went to the train station. We bought two 2nd-class tickets (choices are 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class) for the 3 o'clock train to Cairo for $6 each. The ride was very smooth, and we were in Cairo two hours later. We then took the Metro (subway/train system within Cairo) to Amy's neighborhood, Maadi. She met us near the Metro stop and we went to get something to eat. It was quite the reunion! If you had asked me back in June where I thought I would see Amy next, my answer would not have been Egypt! She was originally planning on going to Argentina to teach English, but the turn of events brought who to Egypt. She feels like she's in the right place and knows it's part of God's plan for her to be here. That's exciting! And of course we don't mind a familiar friend being around to spend time with. After eating dinner, we walked to Amy's apartment. The school where she got a teaching job has supplied her with a decent apartment to share with a roommate (her roommate's from Australia). After we saw Amy's apartment, we went to the McIntosh's apartment. The McIntosh's are family friends of Amy's who have been living in Cairo for two years, on assignment with the airforce. They had a very lovely apartment about a 5 minute's walk from Amy's. We were very graciously welcomed inside to the air conditioning and fully-stocked kitchen. Amy, Brandon, and I even got to enjoy some cool white wine (alchohol is somewhat difficult to come by, especially during Ramadan) out on their beautiful veranda. Their apartment is situated on the top two floors of their building, and they have an amazing, open patio on the second floor. After enjoying the relaxing evening and chatting for awhile, we decided to turn in. Amy insisted that the guest room at the McIntosh's was more comfortable than the guest room at her apartment, so with the invitation from Paul and Sheryl and the encouragement from Amy, we decided to stay there. Their daughter, Rachel, was spending the night at a friend's house, so Amy stayed in her bed. It worked out well. The next morning we awoke to the kitchen with all kinds of American products we had been missing. The McIntosh's shop at the commissary, so they have access to some American things you can't find elsewhere in Egypt. My favorites were the good coffee, the milk, and the real bacon (pork is outlawed in Islam, so bacon is difficult to come by). Yum! It was a great way to start the day. The rest of the day consisted of more relaxing and just spending time togehter. We watched the news, did a little shopping, walked around Maadi, and even played the Wii (it was my first time!). Maadi seems to be one of the nicer areas of Cairo. There isn't as much crowdedness, pollution, or noise as most other places in Cairo and Alexandria. We felt like we were in the suburbs! There are also more foreigners there than any other place we've been recently. Even the stray dogs have it good, relaxing in the shade on the green lawns that can be found throughout the streets in Maadi. Brandon and I used the Metro (20 cents per ride, by the way) to get back to the train station to get our 6 o'clock train back to Alexandria. Once we got back, we could proudly say that our first attempt at traveling in Egypt by ourselves (without the help of Brandon's program) was a success! We look forward to more of it in the future.

Brandon eats brain

2008-08-26T13:19:00.000+03:00

Hello everyone. Christine and I are well. I have one more week before classes start up again. I will take Arabic classes like during the summer as well as begin my internship at a local evangelical church. I will also be taking an actually content course in Arabic at the university but it does not start until the end of September after Ramadan, which begins next week. This is Christine's last week teaching children. From here on out she will have five week adult classes with a week break between each session.

I spent most of the last two weeks watching the Olympics on campus. The one day I decided to stay at our apartment while Christine was at work, I was kidnapped by our neighbor for the second time since we've been here. Their apartment is directly across the hall from ours. The father knocked on our door and beckoned me over to his apartment for no apparent reason other than company. He then invited me to eat lunch with him, which I attempted to politely turn down but to no avail. He sat me down at their dinner table and began bringing out various dishes of food. There was a plate of 'suguq' which is a tasty sausage-like meat, a plate 0f what looked like good white meat chicken, and some bread. Usually when dining in an Egyptian home, the hosts do not actually eat with you, but this time was an exception. Our neighbor, Mohammad, urged me to eat and talked about how good everything was, since it was apparently leftovers from their dinner the night before. He pointed out the 'soguq' and then referred to the second dish as 'mokh' which I fortunately/unfortunately understood meant 'brain'. Upon closer inspection, the dish clearly did resemble a two fist sized sheep brain. Suddenly what I counted as merely another culture experience in an Egyptian home became a real life episode of 'Fear Factor'. Fortunately/unfortanetetly, I was up for the challenge and, following Mohammad's lead, I scooped up a portion of it with a piece of bread and partook. It wasn't bad, but I did not eat any more of it.

We hope everyone is well and miss you all. We've just about reached the quarter mark, and as much as we like the idea of eating brain for the next 9 months, we are looking forward to seeing you all upon our return.

Sinai, jellyfish, Nile boat rides, and a birthday

2008-08-07T10:19:00.000+03:00

I am officially done with my summer classes and am now without a legitimate excuse for not updating the blog. So allow me to make up for lost time. The weekend of July 26th we traveled with my fellow classmates to Sharm el-Sheikh at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula. We went by bus and left midnight Thursday night. We arrived around 10am to our hotel, which was very resort-like. It was right on the beach but still found it necessary to boast half a dozen pools. Our first day consisted of hitting up the beach. The water was shallow, clear, and beautiful and was full of fish and coral. We snagged a pair of goggles and enjoyed the colorful fish, one of which tried to take a bite out of my calf, leaving a harmless one inch long fish bite mark on my leg. Needless to say I was startled by the encounter, but I never managed to actually find a fish with a mouth big enough to be the culprit. Later we embarked on an hour long glass bottom boat ride, where we saw lots of fish and coral, an eel, and a few sting rays. Afterwards, we had our first experience at the hotel restaurant. It had an immaculate buffet with a different theme of food each night of the week. Friday night was Egyptian food, and we gorged ourselves. Christine and I then hit up the main shopping area of the city. Sharm el-Sheikh is a huge tourist destination and there were lots of Americans and Europeans as well as Arabs speaking English. The shops and restaurants were all very westernized, and restaurant managers were constantly inviting us in English to dine in their establishment, in which case I would subsequently turn them down in Arabic only to then have to engage in a full conversation explaining how in the world I know Arabic. It was a hopping scene, but we were spent. So we crashed in our king size bed at the hotel.

We got up early Saturday morning to hit up the huge buffet for breakfast before departing by bus to Saint Catherine's monastery near Mount Sinai. It was relatively unimpressive. The monastery itself was closed, so all we could only go into the church there, which had lots of icons. We also saw what is considered to be the burning bush, although it was very much not on fire. What was more entertaining was the response from the locals to the Egyptian soccer jersey I was wearing. After watching a soccer match a few weeks ago, I proceeded to purchase jersey of the winning team, the Egyptian soccer club Ahly. I chose #22, which belongs to Abu Trika because I had gotten the impression that he was the most popular and talented player. The day at the monastery was the first to wear the jersey, and I found out just how popular Abu Trika was. Whenever I approached a group of Egyptians, they would see the red jersey and yell, "Ya Ahly!" But once I passed by, they would see the #22 and yell more excitedly, "ABU TRIIIIKA!!!" I was unaware of a more appropriate response than to merely reply "Aiuwa!" (meaning 'yes'). After the monastery, we set out to the town of Dahab, which is a less touristy/resort-like Sharm el-Sheikh. We rented snorkel gear and went to a beautiful and relatively remote beach from which we could see the faint outline of the Saudi Arabian coast in the distance. Despite the crystal clear blue of the water, snorkeling proved treacherous. The water was never deeper than 3 feet until at least 100 meters from the coast, which would not have been a problem if there had not been the bed of coral filled with long spiny sea urchins (which Christine aptly described as looking like death, as shown here). So our snorkeling consisted of scurrying from one coral-less patch of seabed to another as our masks and tubes filled up with water. We were able to enjoy seeing a fair amount of fish, but we were not disappointed that our stay at the particular beach lasted only for an hour. We drove back into 'downtown' Dahab and had lunch before visiting a papyrus store. We then returned to our hotel in time to enjoy the French-themed dinner.

On Sunday, we went by bus to the National Park known Ras Muhammad at the very southern tip of the Sinai peninsula. We rented snorkeling gear and hit up two separate beaches. Both of them required a short swim through very shallow coral-filled water before a steep dropoff. It was much nicer enjoying the scene from open waters. After returning to the hotel, we embarked on our 10 hour bus ride back to Alexandria. We were disappointed to find out that the dinner buffet at the hotel was going to be Tex-Mex, a category very much lacking in Egypt.

The following Saturday, we had a party back at my professor's mother-in-law's house in Agamy. After losing and finding my wedding ring while playing in the pool, we had another giant, delicious Egyptian dinner before heading to the beach. Christine opted not to swim and it proved to be a wise decision. Our last time, the waves had been large and fun. This time they were ginormous and dangerous. My classmates and I futilely attempted to body surf but instead repeatedly got tackled by huge waves and thrown down to the ocean floor. It was rough. I was fortunate to have called it quits before many people in our group instantaneously received mild to moderate jellyfish stings.

The next day one of my professors took us on a field trip to his hometown of Rashid (Rosetta). It's claim to fame is that the Rosetta stone was discovered there. We saw the point in which the Nile meets the Mediterranean. It was weird because although the water is flowing from the Nile into the sea, the waves going from the Mediterranean into the Nile made it seem otherwise. Our entire group had lunch at my professor's sister's home, which could hardly fit us all. I ate fish with a few others at a table squeezed into one of the bedrooms. We then loaded up on two small fishing boats and had a short cruise on the Nile.

We have managed to stay in Alexandria since then. Last Wednesday was Christine's birthday. We passed up on another party in Agamy to eat at Chili's and see Wall-e on its opening day in Egypt. It didn't disappoint, except that Chili's was out of chips and salsa. Last Friday after church, we accompanied the American couple that we know from church to a Christian Egyptian wedding. It was long and hot and took place in a large Catholic church. I was also delighted to find out that the American couple also attends that Egyptian evangelical church that the university hooked me up with for my internship in the fall. I had the opportunity to visit the church last Sunday. After the service, I met with the pastor, and he told me about all of the ways I can plug in to the church. They do work in the slums providing micro-loans and medical care for the poor, in addition to working alongside other churches worldwide putting on ministry training clinics. That day there was a South African woman and a Filipino and and Malaysian couple who were taking part in a children's ministry seminar. Needless to say I was encouraged to hear about all that God is up to in Alexandria.

Thus far during my break from classes I have been hanging out in the Dar (our lounge) at the university watching the Olympics while Christine is teaching at Amideast. That's about it. We miss you all and are moderately jealous of the students who went home at the end of the summer program.

Day trip and Revolution (Batman) Day

2008-07-24T15:26:00.000+03:00

Tuesday afternoon, Christine and I accompanied my colloquial Arabic class on a field trip to our professor's husband's t-shirt factory. It was a good half hour drive to get to the factory which seemed to be on the southern or western edge of Alexandria. The factory was nifty. They were currently producing Batman and Winnie the Pooh t-shirts. The conditions of workers were relatively humane, but I nevertheless have no interest in ever working in a t-shirt factory in Egypt.

We then proceeded to our professor's mother and father-in-law's summer home in an area near the coast called Agamia. It was quite possibly the finest establishment I had visited in Egypt. The family seems to be pretty wealthy. Apparently part of the area is named after our professor's grandfather-in-law, and our professor seems to have connections in every major restaurant in Alexandria as well as every major city in Egypt, meaning she makes nice things cheap for us foreigners.

After swimming in the nice pool which was shaded from the late afternoon sun by the large house, we ate an exceptional Egyptian dinner prepared by the family (there were about a dozen students present). Afterwards we took a short walk to the beach where I took my first plunge in the Mediterranean. The water's temperature was ridiculously comfortable, and the huge waves made for endless body surfing as well as getting knocked over. We swam until the sun set and then returned to the house for dessert and socializing as well as another dip in the pool. It might have been the best day ever if we had brought a frisbee, both for beach play as well as throwing in their yard which had perfect grass. All and all we got home shortly after midnight. It was the best Arabic class ever.

The following day (yesterday) was Revolution Day, and therefore we had no class. It was also the first day the new Batman movie was showing in Egypt, so we made the most of it by seeing it twice. Movie tickets range anywhere from 2 to 6 dollars in Egypt depending on the time of day and the location of your seat: You pick out your seats when you purchase your ticket, kind of like at a sporting event or on an airline (unless it is Southwest). We attended the first viewing of the day at one in the afternoon, and then returned again at 7 to watch it with my language partner. It was an enjoyable experience.

Tonight at midnight, we head out by bus to Sharm el Sheikh for a long weekend. We promise to report in detail. Take care.

We're still alive

2008-07-21T18:28:00.000+03:00

Brace yourselves for a two and a half week update. The weekend of the fifth we went on a 3 day group trip to Cairo. I was paid for by the program, so we only had to pay for Christine's trip; but when I went to the ATM the morning of our departure to retrieve the necessary cash, the ATM ate my debit card. I then proceeded to exhaust my cell phone credit while discovering that it was impossible to contact our US bank since it was the 4th of July. We nevertheless were able to take part in the trip and pay later. It was a three hour bus ride from Alexandria to Cairo with nothing but Nile crops, which resembled barren desert, in between. Upon arriving in Cairo, we saw the step pyramid in Saqqara (above) and then the pyramids of Giza (below). Due to our cash strapped situation, we were unable to take part in any camel rides or go inside either of the large pyramids, but we plan to return some other time... The next day we went to the Egyptian museum. It was more of a giant air condition-less warehouse full of a ridiculous number of ancient Egyptian artifacts. We saw lots of statues, coffins, mummies, and hieroglyphics. That evening, we had a nice dinner on a two hour Nile cruise. There was musical entertainment including several belly dancers and a whirling dervish. Our final day, we visited Al-Azhar mosque as well as the Cairo citadel which had a mosque of its own which resembled the Blue Mosque I had seen in Istanbul, except that this mosque was very brown because it is in Egypt, and Egypt has a lot of sand and dirt. We also ventured to Old Cairo where we saw the "Hanging Church" (it has no real foundation, which seems kind of unbiblical) as well as an old synagogue. It was both Christine and I's first synagogue. We then returned to Alexandria by bus. Despite all of the sites and attractions that we saw, I feel as though we have yet to really see Cairo because it is a huge city.

The following weekend, we hit up the Alexandria zoo. It is the second largest zoo in Egypt, but we had heard it had the potential to be a depressing experience. Fortunately, it was a lot of fun. There were lots of animals, most of which seemed to be kept in relatively humane conditions. We saw a California sea lion, several hippos, dozens of lions, and an elephant. Any cage that wasn't inhabited by a common zoo attraction housed one or more ordinary cats (pictured below). The best part was the 20 cent admission. In addition to that, we often found ourselves to be a more interesting attraction to the Egyptian children than any of the animals.

Other than that, it has been fairly life as usual in Egypt. Last week Christine finished teaching her very first three week session at Amideast and today began her next class, this time with fifth graders. We both got our visas extended for a year and can now open an Egyptian bank account for Christine's paychecks, which will save us the hassle of international ATM fees with our U.S. bank.

Meanwhile, I have continued to meet regularly with my language partner outside of class. We've become good friends, and Christine and I have had the opportunity to dine out with him as well as see a movie. I have two and a half more weeks of classes before our break between summer and fall courses. We don't have class this Wednesday on account of Revolution Day. We will also be missing class next Sunday as a result of our upcoming weekend trip to Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai peninsula.

Also, we found a church! We visited an expatriate/international church for the first time last Friday, and we really liked it. There are Americans, Europeans, Africans, and Egyptians, and the service is in English. We are looking forward to getting involved as well as enjoying the fellowship.

And finally... Last night, several of my classmates and I had the opportunity to go with one of my professors to a three story cafe to watch a big time soccer match between Ahly and Zamalek, rival Egyptian soccer clubs who are both from Cairo. We were cheering for Ahly and they won. It was a fun experience. We met a group of our professor's friends, who were all very rowdy and enjoyed yelling Ahly chants. That is all for now. Stay tuned for more.

New job; new sights

2008-07-03T12:00:00.000+03:00

Sorry for the long break in blog-posting. Update number 1: Christine has a job! I am working at Amideast (America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc.) (amideast.org), an American-based company that has centers in cities all over the Middle East. They have English classes, cultural programs, and computer proficiency classes, among other things. They are a well-established company that was started in 1951. I am working for them as an English teacher, right now in the kids' summer program. I teach 2nd graders! The program runs 3 days a week (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) from 10am-2pm, and each session is 3 weeks long. There are 3 sessions total for the summer, and the 2nd session just started. I've taught three days so far, and apart from a few discipline issues with some of the boys, most things are going smoothly. There is a new topic each day, and we're supposed to engage them in the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) every day. So far the topics have been the Middle Ages, nutrition/food groups, and American Independence/the 4th of July. The teacher who teaches the other 2nd grade class (also named Christine, also from America, also of Italian descent (last name DiPietro)) and I switch of planning lessons every other day, so last week I planned out and gathered materials for the nutrition day, and she planned the other two days. Next week I have to plan two days. I think we'll do bats/caves on Monday, and country flags/geography on Wednesday. After the summer program ends (or maybe before), I'll be taking on some adult classes.

In other news, Brandon and I had a chance to tour Alexandria a little bit last weekend, courtesy of Brandon's flagship program. I joined up on the tour after lunch, because I was at work doing lesson planning in the morning. In the morning, Brandon got to see a coptic church, a Roman amphitheater and other Roman ruins, and catacombs. When I joined we went to the Alexandria National Museum. The museum covered the Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic, and Islamic ages, all of which have left fabulous artifacts and history here in Alexandria. After the museum, we visited Fort Qaitbay, which is a 15th century fortress built on the Mediterranean coast, on the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world). Then we visited the Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque, the most historic and elaborate mosque in Alexandria. There were separate sections for men and women, with women not actually able to enter the main mosque area.

For future news, we are visiting Cairo this weekend! The whole program is going together. We're leaving tomorrow morning at 7am. Some notable things for the itinerary are the pyramids at Giza and a Nile cruise, where we'll get to eat dinner on the boat. We're also staying at a 4-star hotel, so it should be a pretty nice weekend! We'll upload some pictures afterwards.

Brandon's studies are continuing smoothly. He had some midterm tests last Sunday. He and his native Egyptian language partner are meeting three times a week and having a good time conversing.

We also visited a church here in Alexandria last weekend. Jesus is here! So exciting! He is followed by few, but he is here. Praise God! The church was all in Arabic, and we might visit a few more before settling down anywhere. Our friend Kelli (also in the program) has a friend Vivian (who has lived in Alexandria for awhile) who is helping us out with locations of churches.

Settling in?

2008-06-19T18:43:00.000+03:00

Well, we are still alive. I just finished my second week of classes (they are Sunday through Thursday) and might be a quarter of the way through the summer program. In a mere 11 days, Christine and I have had an abundance of experiences and are now shooting ourselves in the foot for not keeping up with the blog on a more regular basis. Nevertheless we will attempt to highlight the most pressing developments.

First and foremost: We have an apartment! After a few futile attempts to find one by means of inquiring a taxi driver and asking at an internet cafe and being told "Mohammad" in the cafe down the road knows of one, we hit jackpot when I mentioned our apartment hunt to one of the resident directors at the guys dorms. He came across one after merely a few hours. We saw the building that night, saw the apartment the next night, showed up to meet the simsar (the shady real estate agent guy who told our friend Mohammad Waheeb about the apartment) the next evening to sign the papers and pay up, but he never showed. While we were waiting, though, a lady from the building who wore a burqa told us that she knew of a second apartment that was a available. She considered it better because it was farther from the frequently traveled train tracks that were next to the building. So we bailed on the simsar, who we were going to have to pay for his services if we took his apartment, and agreed to check out the second apartment the next night, which we did. We were accompanied by the owner of the apartment, a nice old lady called Madam Olfut, and the lady in the burqa, Madam Iman. Both apartments were 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a kitchen, 2 verandas, and a large living room, but this second apartment was bigger. It was a relatively new building so everything was in relatively good order. We decided we liked the second apartment on account of the lack of noise and simsar, despite its unnecessary size, so we negotiated the price and signed the contract that evening. A shower was installed and we found ourselves with task of furnishing our new unfurnished apartment.

(Backtrack: We at first had in mind to get a furnished apartment because we had seen some reasonably priced ones online, but Mohammad Waheeb advised against it, because they are much more expensive than unfurnished ones, and the furniture in the them is oftentimes in poor condition. Thus an unfurnished apartment.)

Fastforward: Mohammad Waheeb and Madam Iman's husband took us to a local furniture store that evening where we purchased a decent bed. We discovered later that night that we didn't have any water, but the problem was solved the next morning. Since then we have purchased a refrigerator, oven/stove, and television, which we discovered was defunct when we had cable installed. We also had internet installed yesterday and today we had the stove hooked up to a propane tank (which they appropriately call a "bomb"). The apartment is slowly becoming homier and homier. We plan to exchange the TV this evening and look into purchasing a washing machine, because Christine's try at hand laundering was exceedingly time consuming.
In terms of food, we have an unnaturally large supply of grapes and bananas (which are smaller and greener but still good) since I ordered "kilo wa noos" (a kilogram and a half) of each at the market. Last night Christine wanted hummus, so we set out to find some ingredients to make some. We made it only a few meters from our apartment building when we were bombarded by friendly, helpful Egyptians from the nearby car interior business. We casually told them what we were trying to do and it soon became an affair that involved much of their extended family. It was finally decided that one of the younger sons, Mohammad, would take us to a nearby store so that we might purchase bread and chickpeas. It was a simple example of Egyptians' natural tendency to go way out of their way to help people, especially foreigners.

We haven't hit up any churches yet, but know the addresses of two protestant churches. So we might try one this weekend, if we can figure out what day and time the service is.

That is a slightly decent summary of our last week.

First full day in Alexandria!

2008-06-09T12:50:00.000+03:00

Today, Brandon and I are experiencing our first full day in the lovely city of Alexandria. We began with an excellent breakfast at the hotel where I'm staying for a few days. Then we came to Brandon's school, where he had an interview with one of the program leaders. He's in a class now, and I'm waiting in the Daar, which is a room for the American students equipped with computers, lockers, and a living room. Very comfy. Afterwards, we're probably going to get something to eat, and we're going to get in touch with Professor Magdy, who's going to help us look for an apartment.

Yesterday, we got cell phones, went to Carrefour (the French equivalent of Wal-Mart), where we bought water, laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc., and then went to my hotel.

One thing I've observed so far: driving is crazy, which I was expecting. I mean, there seem to be no rules whatsoever. Cab drivers are prevalent, as are jaywalkers. Some roads don't have lanes, and signs and stoplights are, for the most part, ignored. I think there is a minimum quota of horn honks that drivers have to meet (maybe 10 per minute). We'll add some pictures as soon as we get the chance, so that you can see the craziness for yourselves! I haven't seen any accidents, however. It seems as though, as wild as the traffic situation is, all of the drivers and pedestrians are so experienced with it all that they manage to avoid hitting each other. Crossing the street isn't too difficult. You just follow behind an Egyptian who knows what he/she is doing! It is actually pretty common for a man to set off across the street and wave a woman along behind him, protectively inviting her to join his venture. I saw a guy do it for a woman and her baby today.

I'm probably going to taking my English-teaching certification test tomorrow, on the internet. Hopefully it will go smoothly! I have to begin it and submit it within 24 hours. I plan on taking it here at Brandon's school, as their internet connection seems quite stable.

That's about all I can think of for now. Thusfar, God has shown himself to be so faithful! Things are definitely working out for Brandon and I here. We are very thankful! Love you all!

D.C.

2008-06-03T04:54:00.000+03:00

We are married! We celebrated our one week anniversary today in Washington DC where Brandon has orientation for three days before we leave for Egypt on Friday. Christine gets to spend her free time getting her travel visa, working on her TEFL course to teach English in Egypt, and writing thank-you notes. Our hotel is near Dupont Circle, and we walked around earlier and checked out the area, and yet somehow managed to avoid every known national monument. But the area is beautiful and there are alot of embassies, fancy townhouses, and purebred dogs around. We saw the Swaziland embassy (Becca!), and a Phi Beta Kappa (Brandon's new "fraternity") building that looked like the group's swanky get-together headquarters. We're tired, but are ready for this adventure to begin!

We're married!

2008-06-02T02:55:00.000+03:00

So, it happened! We are officially Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Wilson. MUCH thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!

So close

2008-05-21T05:12:00.000+03:00

Now the wedding is only 6 days away! And I'm watching Brandon pack up his room...it was a good three years, apt 630.

And action!

2008-05-11T02:37:00.000+03:00

We have figured out Christine's webcam, and now have video capabilities for the blog. Something to look forward to....

Graduation

2008-05-10T19:07:00.000+03:00

Brandon and Christine are both done with college. Yay!!!

Come fly with me.....

2008-05-07T07:05:00.001+03:00

We just bought Christine a plane ticket. She'll be flying from D.C. a few hours before the Arabic crew. She has a layover in New York and then Athens, Greece (16 hours!). Then she gets to Alexandria a few hours after me in the wee hours of the morning Sunday June 8th. It's official. She's going.

2008-05-03T23:37:00.001+03:00

We're getting married on May 26th! It's about three weeks away!