but if you'd like to read a bit more about my work, something new is posted on the StARS blog. This is an piece I wrote around Christmastime about the artisans' cooperative at StARS. The artists and the stories behind their work are incredible. Read on if you wish...
http://standrewsrefugeeservices.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/204/#more-204
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
I know, I know....
Sooooo I know it looks like I have dropped off the face of the Earth… oh dear. I truly have no good excuse for my silence from this side of the world… but rest assured that I have not gotten lost in the desert, kidnapped by Arabs, or trampled by camels. The last two months have been filled with countless adventures, changes, and general delights, and somehow in the midst of all of it I have managed to neglect writing, which is just inexcusable.
So this will be a short thought, just to reassure the world that I am alive. I suppose I can share just a few moments of what 2010 has held thus far. Amy and I moved apartments, which was a comical adventure involving one of our dear Egyptian friends who has a car. Amy and I approached the entire move (to a lovelier, if smaller and cheaper apartment in a similar but just slightly less expat-y part of Cairo) in classic Kathleen-Amy fashion: disorganized, messy, and as efficiently as possible. We basically started throwing things in the elevator as sweet Khaled stood there looking perplexed saying, “Girls, I don’t understand what you are doing.” And Ames and I are like, “Okkkk Khaled you just leave it to us and drive the car…” Several car trips later we were established in our lovely new apartment. I am completely enthralled with our new place mostly because of all the open windows and the magical balcony. I will try to attach a picture of the magical balcony to convey its’ magic, but it started when Amy and I inherited a sparkly, sheer, dare I say tacky, light pink curtain that seemed just the right size for the space…
My other favorite part of our new apartment is the comic relief it provides for our lives. Our dear landlord (who other friends here have rented with and trust, which makes life easier), asked us if we spend much time at home during the day. At the time, we both did work a great deal from home. Let me just say that I much prefer my little desk out in the entry hall at St. Andrew’s to ‘working’ from home now. You see, somehow, Amy and I managed to find a wonderful, pretty, new, perfect apartment in Cairo that is surrounded by a mosque, a school, and a fire station. Every awkward noise imaginable is at our doorstep, and it is truly hilarious. A and I have both adjusted to the morning call to prayer, but the first night when the mosque man, as I fondly call him, started screaming at me in Arabic at 5 am, I just thought, ‘Hmm. I just do not understand how the mosque man got into our apartment and is screaming prayers in my EAR.’ But alas, we started sleeping with the doors closed and scarves wrapped around our heads, and we are happy as can be. The more recent noise to add to the mix now that school is back in session is the morning BAND PRACTICE at 7 am in the school courtyard below my window. This time the woman screams in English instead of Arabic, which I appreciate. And while I am sure Egyptian children are blessed with many great talents, I really am not envisioning a future in music or singing for any of these little guys. Though, band practice ensures that I am up and greeting the day quite early, which can be difficult in a country that does not get moving until 10 or 11 am. So really, I am thankful for those disastrously untalented children. As for the fire station, it really has yet to affect our lives much except as a landmark, but I appreciate it for simply being there, knowing that at least the possibility of more obnoxious and unfortunate noises exist.
So that has been a great source of new joy and entertainment in our present lives. There have also been so many moments of adventure and just being enthralled with the history, ridiculousness, depth, difficulty, obnoxiousness, poverty, and simultaneous beauty of this place. The day before New Year’s, I hiked up Mount Sinai with my Australian and Scottish friends, and the three of us stood at the top and read about Moses meeting the Lord in that spot. We hiked down by a full moon, somehow managing to just barely stay warm in the chilly air, and we rejoined the rest of our friends in Dahab that night. The next day, we swam in the Red Sea and soaked in the sunlight and greeted the New Year with champagne and banana smoothies and general lazing by the sea. I felt overwhelmed that my life could involve such moments.
Many more stories to tell, but that is all for now. So much for a short post. I will try my very hardest to write more of current and past adventures soon….Until then, many apologies and much love from Egypt…
So this will be a short thought, just to reassure the world that I am alive. I suppose I can share just a few moments of what 2010 has held thus far. Amy and I moved apartments, which was a comical adventure involving one of our dear Egyptian friends who has a car. Amy and I approached the entire move (to a lovelier, if smaller and cheaper apartment in a similar but just slightly less expat-y part of Cairo) in classic Kathleen-Amy fashion: disorganized, messy, and as efficiently as possible. We basically started throwing things in the elevator as sweet Khaled stood there looking perplexed saying, “Girls, I don’t understand what you are doing.” And Ames and I are like, “Okkkk Khaled you just leave it to us and drive the car…” Several car trips later we were established in our lovely new apartment. I am completely enthralled with our new place mostly because of all the open windows and the magical balcony. I will try to attach a picture of the magical balcony to convey its’ magic, but it started when Amy and I inherited a sparkly, sheer, dare I say tacky, light pink curtain that seemed just the right size for the space…
My other favorite part of our new apartment is the comic relief it provides for our lives. Our dear landlord (who other friends here have rented with and trust, which makes life easier), asked us if we spend much time at home during the day. At the time, we both did work a great deal from home. Let me just say that I much prefer my little desk out in the entry hall at St. Andrew’s to ‘working’ from home now. You see, somehow, Amy and I managed to find a wonderful, pretty, new, perfect apartment in Cairo that is surrounded by a mosque, a school, and a fire station. Every awkward noise imaginable is at our doorstep, and it is truly hilarious. A and I have both adjusted to the morning call to prayer, but the first night when the mosque man, as I fondly call him, started screaming at me in Arabic at 5 am, I just thought, ‘Hmm. I just do not understand how the mosque man got into our apartment and is screaming prayers in my EAR.’ But alas, we started sleeping with the doors closed and scarves wrapped around our heads, and we are happy as can be. The more recent noise to add to the mix now that school is back in session is the morning BAND PRACTICE at 7 am in the school courtyard below my window. This time the woman screams in English instead of Arabic, which I appreciate. And while I am sure Egyptian children are blessed with many great talents, I really am not envisioning a future in music or singing for any of these little guys. Though, band practice ensures that I am up and greeting the day quite early, which can be difficult in a country that does not get moving until 10 or 11 am. So really, I am thankful for those disastrously untalented children. As for the fire station, it really has yet to affect our lives much except as a landmark, but I appreciate it for simply being there, knowing that at least the possibility of more obnoxious and unfortunate noises exist.
So that has been a great source of new joy and entertainment in our present lives. There have also been so many moments of adventure and just being enthralled with the history, ridiculousness, depth, difficulty, obnoxiousness, poverty, and simultaneous beauty of this place. The day before New Year’s, I hiked up Mount Sinai with my Australian and Scottish friends, and the three of us stood at the top and read about Moses meeting the Lord in that spot. We hiked down by a full moon, somehow managing to just barely stay warm in the chilly air, and we rejoined the rest of our friends in Dahab that night. The next day, we swam in the Red Sea and soaked in the sunlight and greeted the New Year with champagne and banana smoothies and general lazing by the sea. I felt overwhelmed that my life could involve such moments.
Many more stories to tell, but that is all for now. So much for a short post. I will try my very hardest to write more of current and past adventures soon….Until then, many apologies and much love from Egypt…
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