just a few thoughts...

Sometimes I struggle to decide what to write about. Do I share a little anecdote of the day, or paint a bigger picture? I arrived here almost two weeks ago, and I have already had such a variety of experiences. It can be hard for my mind to unscramble it all. (Sidenote: on the subject of unscrambling, last night we played a game called Bananagrams... it's like Scrabble but each player has their own set of letters. Learned something new about myself: I am TERRIBLE at creating words out of a jumble of letters. Very disheartening indeed...)

So anyhow, I think instead of telling a tale, I will just share a few observations/moments:

1. They love Hannah Montana here. I love Hannah Montana too. Egyptians and Kathleen... not so different after all.

2. There are PLENTY of Starbucks in Cairo. I have yet to enjoy one, but I feel delighted to know that the option exists. Tragically enough, the gift cards don't work here. Mystery as to why not.

3. I had the opportunity to just play with babies at an orphanage the other day. It was just me and Amy and a roomful of Egyptian babies. At one point Amy looked over at me and I am surrounded by LOTS of crying children. In my lap, climbing on me, sitting next to me - all crying. From across the room with her perfectly content child she is like, "Kathleen what are you DOING to them?!" =) I plan on spending much more time there, if the children will let me...

4. In our struggle to get internet in our apartment, we have several more small tasks to accomplish. Yesterday Amy was on the phone with someone at whatever office it is we have to go to, and she asked what we need to bring with us. She is patiently listening, and then I hear her say, "You want me to bring a copy of our OWNER?" They finally explain we need a copy of our apartment owner's id or something fairly standard, but the rest of the day we amused ourselves with talking about making a copy of Mr. Iman. "Hey, Mr. Iman, can we make a quick copy of you?" Or picturing us walking a clone of Mr. Iman through the streets of Maadi to the office. I actually have never met Mr. Iman, but the concept of making a copy of him really tickled me..

5. I took my first lone taxi a few nights ago, and the experience was disastrous and comical. Turns out the driver actually had NO knowledge of the area, a fact that become painfully clear when we stopped and asked the EIGHTH person for directions. I counted. Basically, he would stop and ask someone, they fired off all kinds of unknown Arabic words, pointed, etc, and taxi man nodded and nodded. And then we would drive away from our helper and pull over to ask someone else about three seconds later. At first I thought the language barrier was the issue and my Arabic was to blame, but after we stopped at the local burger joint (why not?), and someone who was fluent in English and Arabic came out and translated everything, I realized I had simply gotten a very incompetent taxi man. Funny.

6. Amy and I are friends with two Egyptians who spent a year in Texas for work. They loved the cowboy boots, the hill country, and most of all, the kind and welcoming people. Direct quote. So compliments to all of you in Texas. As you go about your day today, just know that there are two guys in Cairo who insist the BEST year of their lives was in the homeland. In fact, they told us that their grand plan is if they aren't married by the time they are 30, they are moving back to Texas. Which we found extremely comical.

That's all for now....