I am fine ...

Whenever you meet someone you greet them and then the next question is : How are you? The obvious answer is: I'm fine, thank you! There was a time when i used to get pissed and just said: Are you asking me because you really want to know (as in: you are concerned and wanting an elaborate answer) or you are just waiting for the classical "I'm fine thank you!" ?

So, now whenever people ask me how i'm doing i just say: " I'm fine!" with an emphasis on " fine"; so if they want to know more, they will get the explanation: F.I.N.E. Freaked-out, Insecure, Neurotic & Emotional

This is totally not mine ... but Hezzy's (i learned it from her!).

Relaxing ...

The Egyptian government decided to close down all schools because of swine flu ... therefore, we had not only the 4 days off we were suppose to have for the Eid, but 10! So, between Thanksgiving meals, friends, games, sleep i got to just relax, even if it was for 30 minutes.

I filled up the bathtub, lit up 4 candles and had a glass of wine. I did not drink all of it, but i richly enjoyed just chilling. After 17 weeks of teaching this came at the right time ... it was just perfect to have time off for myself.

There is no mystical thing in the 4 candles, nor the red glass of wine, as some people might think ... Every now and then i think we all need to switch off from the craziness of life, even if it's for just 10 or 30 minutes! For me, it took a bath, 4 candles, a glass of wine ... that is all!! I think i should do it more often!

Simply beautiful

I love flowers ... this is not something uncommon... most women love flowers! They are special to me ... i love the feeling and the comfort they bring to my soul. I guess God knew what he was doing when he made them!

It seems so weird to me how the simplest and the most fragile thing can bring so much comfort!

It is no longer a secret that my favourites are the calla lillies. They are rather expensive back home, but i was happily surprised last year to see them everywhere in Cairo, so i started building tradition: i would buy myself a calla lilly bouquet once a month, especially when they are in season. My cat loved them too and kept tipping the vase over and that was a bit demotivating.

Calla lillies ... there is nothing more simple but graceful ... to me these flowers are divine! They stand up straight, as if they have dignity, their colour is simple: white (although they do come in other colours as well), they do not have leaves attached to them ... it is just the flower, as if it is naked; to me it represents honesty and dignity! A flower that knows how to stand up for herself and doesnt need anything else to show off its beauty! A flower that is simply beautiful... and it is me!

Footprints in the sand

15 months in Egypt ... this is how long i've been here for... The first year was good... everything was new, there were so many things to look forward to, so many places to see...

Coming back i thought it will all be the same ... but now i find myself weary, overwhelmed with emotions that i cannot control ... A preacher referred to Egypt, while preaching about Joseph, as "the land of my sufferings". he made a point out of this and more like a joke he said: "I hope Egypt is not the land of YOUR suffering!".

Well, i think it is to me now! But the good thing about it is that i am learning.... i am aware that these are all lessons to learn from and no matter how difficult it is, i am willing to learn. Egypt is shaping me ... who would have thought that this country would be the place of my "suffering"?

I am learning to be more self focused and less of others ... does this make me selfish? does this make me less ME?? Am i loosing my individuality? Does this transform me into a heartless person? I do not know ...

I am trying to learn to do things my way, to speak my mind and do what I want to do and not to please everyone around me ... just because this is what i have been doing my whole life so far...

I am learning to finally say what i like or dont like! This reminds me of a scene in "Runaway Bride"with Maggie (Julia Roberts), when she doesnt know what kind of eggs she like. All of her previous "future husbands"had different opinions regarding the way she likes eggs.... when she decides one day to cook all different kinds and taste them. So, in the end, she goes to Richard Gere and tells him that she now knows the kind of eggs she likes. She has made up her mind, she has an opinion of her own... she knows what she wants, rather than what other people want/like.

Why "footprints in the sand"as a title? Well, i was listening to this song earlier and then i found this picture that i took in Ain Sokhna .... i just like the idea behind it, that no matter how difficult life is, or my struggles are ... there will always be footprints in the sand to remind me that i am not alone!!

"I see my life

Flash across the sky
So many times have I
Been so afraid ooh
And just when I
Have thought I’ve lost my way

You give me strength to carry on
That’s when I heard you say

I promise you
I’m always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow and despair
I’ll carry you
When you need a friend
You’ll find my footprints in the sand"

Autumn... and carving pumpkins

I never liked autumn... i actually hated it as it brought a sense of emptiness and death with it (i thought). Autumns in Romania are nasty i thought ... the weather goes bad, it rains, leaves are falling off the trees ... but i guess they're the same everywhere. Well, not in Egypt! There is no autumn season here, so i guess i've dealt with the months of September and October much better!

i am learning from Sarah to love the colours of autumn, the smell if it.... she has decorated her classroom beautifully for this season and her air freshener smells like autumn too!

I named my pumpkin Wally at first and then i realised that Jimmy would suit him better!!

Much better than last year - Lebanon!

Well, last year my pumpkin was rotten so i had to slice it in half!Anyway... Wendy hosted another pumpkin carving day, just as last year and i was very happy to attend - not to celebrate autumn, but to carve a pumpkin. We don't do it at home but i quite like it!

I rushed to Kimo market to buy a pumpkin - they were selling them for 6 LE/kg and i was not too pleased with that price. I had to get one for Sarah as well, so i managed to pay 55 LE for 2 pumpkins of around 6-7 kg each! Good deal!! Sarah was frustrated with hers and put a knife through his eye! :((

Well, of course MishMish was excited to meet Wally and ate some of it, then pushed him off the table! So, this morning i had to slice Wally up and put him in the oven! :(

How Egypt's law will never be understood

I was happy at the beginning of this school year, as we finally had a nurse! I have met Rachel soon after the first week of school. She had just arrived from the US and her excitement and joy to be in this country were very encouraging to me. She likes to paint, so i knew we have at least one thing in common.

Unfortunately her visa situation was not the best ... i could totally relate as last year by this time i was facing something similar. On one hand, i finally felt understood - i am not the only one having problems with my visa! On the other hand i felt really bad for her, as the Mogamma is not the most pleasant place to be; last year it became my most frequented place! Every time i went there i ended up in tears!! there is something about that place that freaks me out! (apart from all the unpleasant people who work there and forget to smile).

Rachel went to the Mogamma several times, being refused a visa. the worst part is that she was not given a reason ... That is the strangest thing in this country - the laws are weird, they change "according to the weather", as we say in Romanian; there is nothing stable ... no guidelines to anything, but i am sure that in this whole mess there is some sort of structure.

An Egyptian man once told me - the rule in Egypt is that there is no rule! That is what our country's leadership is based on!

Rachel was labelled as a "dangerous person", therefore having to leave the country. "Dangerous person".... someone who has come here to help the disadvantaged ...

Sad... too sad to describe in words .... sad how Egypt refuses help from people willing to offer it without anything in return.

I will miss your hugs Rachel!!!

A stress free life ...

When i am filled with cares, Your comfort brings me joy. Ps.94:19

I've had more lows than ups lately, but i guess i am like any other human who needs reminding of the fact that life is like school - we never cease to learn.

I am trying to learn how to learn! Sounds weird but i have come to accept life's lessons a little bit better than yesterday ... It is hard, it is painful, there's many tears but the result is fantastic! I am learning so much about myself than ever, so once again i discover one more little thing God had in mind when he brought me to this land. I thought i was here to help, but the one who is being helped is ME!

I love this picture (copyright Samy) ... it reminds me of the tree in our garden at home ... and then, i love how these trees are just reaching for the sky.

I want to reach for the sky! I want the sky to be my ultimate goal!

This week i am learning on peace and joy ... I am learning to rejoice in every circumstance, to rejoice and praise! Praise to the ALmighty, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Alpha and Omega.

Happy are the people with such blessings. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Ps. 144:15

Happily surprised

One thing that i really enjoy here in Egypt is that i can just call the supermarket and say what i need and they will deliver it. Every single restaurant delivers, every supermarket, every fruit and veg. shop, the pharmacies, dry cleaners etc.

So i ordered 2 baguettes today from Saudi market. I was at a friend's house - so the guy comes and he says: we didnt have any baguettes, so i went to Kimo Market and got them for you!

I was a bit shocked, but happy - the man has delivered what i asked.

I wonder where else in the world will they go to a different supermarket to buy your things and then bring it to your house?

Football night

Some weeks ago a friend has asked me to join her to this football match. Her company had a tournament and each dept. had a team. It started 1 h later than planned but i richly enjoyed it.

We went to Nile City Towers first for dinner then we headed to Shubra (as far as i remember) for the game).

Egyptians are quite into football; they are very competitive! It reminds me of the night Egypt played Italy and the USA - i was in a pub and i cannot describe the atmosphere!

Anyways, i ended up being the cheerleader there and a group of young boys have joined me! They were all very funny! A lot of men were trying to chase them away thinking they are protecting me from them, but i was enjoying their company (i was winding them up, actually!!).

They seemed very wild and reminded me of my gipsy children that i worked with ... they brought back so many memories and i realised i miss those kids back home!!

I have richly enjoyed my evening that day!

Bab Zuwayla

Yesterday was the 6th of October, so we got the day off. I decided to do a little bit of exploring around Cairo. Esther has offered to take me and 2 other girls to Bab Zuwayla. Bab Zuweila is a medieval gate in Cairo, which is still standing in modern times. It was also known as Bawabbat al-Mitwali during the Ottoman period, and is sometimes spelled Bab Zuwayla. It is considered one of the major landmarks of the city, and is the last remaining southern gate from the walls of Fatimid Cairo in the 11th and 12th century. Its name comes fromBab, meaning "Gate", andZuwayla, the name of a troop of fearsome Berber warriors from thewestern desert who were charged with guarding the gate.

The city of Cairo was founded in 969 as the royal city of the Fatimid's Dynasty. In 1092, Badr al-Jamali built a second wall around Cairo. Bab Zuweila was the southern gate in this wall. It has twin towers (minarets) which can be accessed via a steep climb. In earlier times they were used to scout for enemy troops in the surrounding countryside, and in modern times, they are hailed for providing one of the best views of Old Cairo. The structure also has a famous platform. Executions would sometimes take place there, and it was also from this location that the Sultan would stand to watch the beginning of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. (courtesy to Wikipedia).

We got there around 11 and we stayed until the call to prayer, as people say it is quite impressive to hear all the surrounding mosques going on at the same time. We waited patiently and it was indeed impressive. I called it "traffic jam of sounds" - there are like 6 mosques around and it sounded quite morbid to hear them all from the top of the minaret.

I richly enjoyed it!

After that we decided to go for a walk around the area and we ended up in a souk; it was fascinating!! So many people, so many things, cars and bicycles, scooters trying to all find their way on this little path!

We were close to Khan el Khalili so we stopped there for a bit as well. I've never been to Khan during the day - there were too many tourists there i thought. In the evening it is nicer .. there are lights and there's a special feeling about it!

I took the girls to the famous (in my opinion) restaurant that sells Egyptian Pancakes. We got 2 big ones: one with bananas and one with mixed sweets (honey, sugar, coconut, raisins etc). The girls loved it!! I think every tourist needs to stop there and try a pancake; they are quite different than the American pancakes or the European crepes.It was a day full of fun!

On peace... of mind

This article was written by Leo Babauta and i took the liberty on posting it to my blog, as he suggested people can share it.

How many times have you gotten upset because someone wasn’t doing their job, because your child isn’t behaving, because your partner or friend isn’t living up to his or her end of the bargain?
How many times have you been irritated when someone doesn’t do things the way you’re used to? Or when you’ve planned something carefully and things didn’t go as you’d hoped?
This kind of anger and irritation happens to all of us — it’s part of the human experience.
One thing that irritates me is when people talk during a movie. Or cut me off in traffic. Or don’t wash their dishes after eating. Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances — don’t we all?
And it isn’t always easy to find peace when you’ve become upset or irritated.
Let me let you in on a little secret to finding peace of mind: see the glass as already broken.
See, the cause of our stress, anger and irritation is that things don’t go the way we like, the way we expect them to. Think of how many times this has been true for you.
And so the solution is simple: expect things to go wrong, expect things to be different than we hoped or planned, expect the unexpected to happen. And accept it.One quick example: on our recent trip to Japan, I told my kids to expect things to go wrong — they always do on a trip. I told them, “See it as part of the adventure.”
And this worked like a charm. When we inevitably took the wrong train on a foreign-language subway system, or when it rained on the day we went to Disney Sea, or when we took three trains and walked 10 blocks only to find the National Children’s Castle closed on Mondays … they said, “It’s part of the adventure!” And it was all OK — we didn’t get too bothered.
So when the nice glass you bought inevitably falls and breaks, someday, you might get upset. But not if you see the glass as already broken, from the day you get it. You know it’ll break someday, so from the beginning, see it as already broken. Be a time-traveler, or someone with time-traveling vision, and see the future of this glass, from this moment until it inevitably breaks.
And when it breaks, you won’t be upset or sad — because it was already broken, from the day you got it. And you’ll realize that every moment you have with it is precious.
Expect your child to mess up — all children do. And don’t get so upset when they mess up, when they don’t do what they’re “supposed” to do … because they’re supposed to mess up.
Expect your partner to be less than perfect.
Expect your friend to not show up sometimes.
Expect things to go not according to plan.
Expect people to be rude sometimes.
Expect coworkers not to come through sometimes.
Expect roommates not to wash their dishes or pick up their clothes, sometimes.
Expect the glass to break.
And accept it.
You won’t change these inevitable facts — they will happen, eventually. And if you expect it to happen — even see it as already happening, before it happens — you won’t get so upset.
You won’t overreact. You’ll respond appropriately, but not overreact. You can talk to the person about their behavior, and ask them kindly to consider your feelings when they do this … but you won’t get overly emotional and blow things out of proportion.
You’ll smile, and think, “I expected that to happen. The glass was already broken. And I accept that.”
You’ll have peace of mind. And that, my friends, is a welcome surprise.

Another taxi ride story

I decided to have an early start of the day so i met up with Helen to get some work done, although we are still on holiday. We decided to start "in style"and we went for a delicious breakfast at Lucille's on Rd 9. I was very pleased and stuffed!
But the day didnt quite start as pleasantly as it sounds; since i had no Egyptian pounds i decided to go to the Grand Mall first to get some money exchanged. I took a taxi from Kimo market and asked him to wait for me at the Mall.
Well, as soon as i got on the taxi the driver kept going on and on about how beautiful i am. I should be blushing now! LOL Then he went on asking personal questions (which i usually do not mind - especially coming from the children in my class): am i married?, do i have a boyfriend?, do i work in Egypt? etc. It was rather uncomfortable, especially when he started saying that he is single.
At one point he lit up a cigarette asking me if i smoke; my "No"led to another question: Why?
I was puzzled and didnt know what he means; he kept going: "you are beautiful, you do not have a boyfriend, you do not smoke ... you have everything!" He said me and him should be together ...
Hmmm, i pretended i didnt hear that.
Thank God my phone started ringing right when he started saying that he wants to see me again. But he made sure i get that info, so when i got out of the taxi he said it again! I said: "I'm not sure about that!"

So, according to this man, i "have everything" - i guess this is what they look in a woman when they want to get married - single, beautiful, not smoking.... Hmm, i wonder how many eligible women are there for this guy? Probably thousands!lol

Trying to find peace

This week has started pretty rough ... very challenging children, very challenging behaviour but something that i kind of wished for, since i love challenges. it does tend to get overwhelming at times....

I wanted to cry today, but i couldn't ... i haven't had that feeling in a very long time; and i cry a lot! It is my way of letting frustrations and stress out. Today i couldn't ... Why? Don't ask me! I don't know!

I have come to realise that there are just so many things that i "do not know"about myself ... things/ emotions/ reactions that i do not understand. People often come and ask me: "What is wrong?"I cannot explain to them and if i try it makes no sense, although it does help me at times; as i vocalize my thoughts, it starts making sense to me. But, once again, it takes people who are willing to listen to all of my "junk"... and those people you do not find easily.

I have come to realise that i put other people's needs above my own and i never do what i want/like, but what other people want.... Sometime you think that is what Christianity is all about, but i dont think God wants me to "burn" myself.

Then, people hurt me and i do not say anything ... i tolerate it, ignore it for a while, but with every drop of hurt, i get more and more upset and anger starts growing inside me.... Does that sound like i am a doormat?? It kind of does to me! I usually ignore it, because i think people do not do it on purpose and it is just an accident that comes out of lack of knowledge and understanding of who i am, how i am, my culture etc.

I was talking to a friend saying that i like to be myself and i do not pretend to be somebody i am not ... "what you see is what you get!", but not standing up for myself and what i like/want/think, instead of what others want proves the opposite.... Shocking!

All i want is to find peace, first of all peace with myself ...

I need discipline ... i need to finish all the books i have started, i need to finish my cross stitch, i need to go for walks, i need to do something more than school-home every day ...

Overwhelmed?

Life is insane ... everything seems to be hectic around me and i get lost in my daily schedule. I feel tired, i feel exhausted, i feel overwhelmed, i feel helpless, i feel misunderstood, i feel i cannot express myself, i feel sad and frustrated.
I go to work and it seems that everything is not working as it's supposed to, everything i do is not right, everyone seems bitter, everyone's got problems, everyone complains about something, there is no joy, no peace ... and then i wonder why i feel the way i do.
People around are sucking all of my energy .... i feel drained and have nothing to offer. I've been quite antisocial this past week - something totally opposed to my personality; i love people, i love spending time with people and talking, but i guess we all have our limits. Just like one of the little boys in my class says: "Excuse me, i need alone time!"that is what i should be saying, although loneliness kills me!

I get so distracted with so many things! As someone said: busyness is a modern illness from which many of us suffer. Rest is its opposite and of the things the Lord came to offer. In Matthew 11:28-30 He said: "Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I’m gently and lowly in heart, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light"

Maybe i can keep this in mind for this week!

What’s It Like To Wear a Burqa?

British journalist Liz Jones wore a burqa for a week and chronicled her experiences in “My Week Wearing a Burka: Just a Few Yards of Black Fabric, but It Felt Like a Prison.” Her inspiration? Lubna Hussein, the Sudanese woman who will receive 40 lashes for wearing pants in public.
When she went to pick up her daily coffee, she realized that she had no idea how to eat or drink in a burqa. Upon seeing her reflection in a window, she wrote, “Instead of me staring back, I saw a dark, depressed alien. A smudge. A nothing.” Wearing the head-to-toe garment, she felt physically oppressed. “I felt blinkered, like a racehorse. Walking to the platform, I could hardly breathe: I kept getting my nose out from beneath its shroud for fresh air. I felt weak, and faint and itchy.”
On one occasion, an Arab man shouted at her, but she had no idea what he was saying. She wondered whether being out alone or eating was her sin. A British Muslim woman told her, “I have had so much abuse on the train.” A Western friend commented: “How fantastic, you don’t have to bother to put on make-up, or wash your hair. How liberating and at least you won’t catch swine flu or be leered at.”
Inside the burqa, she says, she felt “clumsy, slow, and fearful.” For her, the experience was like being disabled. By the end of the week, she felt like a Muslim schoolgirl. “I know now exactly how they feel: marginalised, objectified, kept box-fresh for the eyes of male relatives.”
Ultimately, this journalist’s experiment wasn’t all that dissimilar from Tyra Banks running around in a fat suit. It was close to touching on something important about women in the world.

This was Posted by: Olivia Allin on www.thefrisky.com and it does not necessarily reflect my personal oppinion.

The first low cost company in the Middle East

I am often amazed when it comes to prices of flights within the Middle East. It is cheaper to fly to Asia most of the times than to fly from Egypt to Lebanon.
Well i came across this information today and i am thrilled!!
www.flydubai.com is the first low cost company in the Middle East. They fly from Alexandria to Dubai and have other flights between The Emirates and Lebanon, Syria ...
A flight from Alexandria to Dubai is 535 EGP one way; return - you add another 800 EGP. At least these were the prices when i checked them today.
Happy flying! :D

Life in Egypt has started .. de nouveau

De nouveau .. i like that phrase in French; it has been a while since i spoke French! :) But, luckily my friend from Belgium is coming to see me in December - she speaks French, although we always communicate in English.

So, back to Egypt back to life (?); Bronwyn got back from Malta last Sunday, so we went over to say a belated happy birthday. We got her white lillies and made a special cake for her (name not to be mentioned here). She brought back goodies in different forms and a beautiful ring for each of us ; i shud post a picture of it soon.

We've been living at her flat for the first week as there was no running water at our place plus it was very dusty, as it hasnt been cleaned the whole summer.

Anyways, nice "rencontre"(French again - just because i cannot find the word in English.

Ramadan Kareem/Karim!!

Well, not so kareem to me ....!
It is that time of the year when all the Muslims fast for 40 days ... hats off to them! In the business of getting ready for the school year to start, i hardly noticed that Ramadan has started (apart from yesterday when Kristen went to the shop and came back saying it was closed for iftar).
I left school late today, around 5 o'clock - half an hour before iftar (breaking of fast); i had an apple and i took two bites. I started walking home (i hardly ever walk, i usually take a taxi) ... well, as i was walking on the side of the road and there was a traffic jam, the drivers have noticed the apple i was holding in my hand... So, one man started shouting and cursing me for eating during the fast, another one shouted something, another one passed by saying "Haram!", and another one on whose face i could read anger apart from his voice....
That is when i decided that walking was not such a good idea and i got into a taxi!

Free jokes in KG

Now, most of us go to see stand up comedies and other things like that when we want a good laugh ... Well, i get it for free! LOL You might ask how is that possible ...
When you teach 5 year olds, believe me you will laugh a million times a day!!!
This is a fresh story .... as i was trying to explain the classroom rules with rewards and consequences i had to talk about the headmaster - so, i basically told them that if they do not listen to the teacher and they get constant warnings, and end up on red (on our traffic light) they are going to the headmaster's office. As most of them have English as their second language, i wanted to make sure they know what is a headmaster (and what i am talking about) Can you say headmaster?, i asked .... They go: HeadMonster!!!!
:)))))))))))))

Funny story

I cannot remember if i have put this story on the blog or not; i saw somebody who reminded me as i almost forgot about it.
This is from last year - in one of my very private conversations with my pupils (we got loads of those - from why i am not married, to i should get married, to do i have a baby in my tummy, to how babies are born but most of them about my personal and not so private life - since i am sharing it with everybody)... one of them suggested that if i cannot find a man, i should marry a woman! My response: I will think about it!
We didnt get that 2 years ago in schools!! :) Children are more and more up to date nowadays!
It made me smile!!

Ahelen Wasahelen to Masr!!!!

My Arabic is still rubbish, if you think i can speak it (dont be misled by the title)...
After a trip that took around 8 hrs (usually a flight from Bucharest to Cairo shouldnt take more than 2 and a half hrs) i arrived back to Egypt! Thank you Alitalia for the flight! They seem to have the cheapest flights, although i hated the food ... they are bankrupt after all!
Thank God John came to fetch me at the airport! it was good to see him and talk to him, from a Romanian to an Egyptian! By the way, our cultures do have a lot in common! I should write a post one day about this... this would be an interesting topic!
So, the first thing people ask me when i tell them i live in Egypt is something to do with the weather. They ask if it hot... Well, to be honest now, we had hotter days this summer in Romania than i've experienced so far in Egypt; of course that has to do with the fact that Romania's climate is humid, whereas Egypt's is dry.
But this summer, once i've arrived i was pleasantly surprised by the weather ... it was just perfect; still hot, but bearable! hamdulilah!
I remember last year when i got in it seemed so hot!!! Now i sleep without my AC on, and even during the day i feel that i need to switch the AC off if i am indoors; it gets too cold!
Once again i am happy to be back ... i managed to catch up with some friends, at least to see them and say hello; i am still waiting to catch up with a few who are either away or sick.

While in Rome ...

I never considered myself as having great taste in Art, but while i was waiting for my flight from Rome to Cairo i came across this beautiful fountain. I absolutely love it!

It was donated by the airport in Casablanca, Marocco to the Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome, Italy in 1992 as a sign of friendship between the two countries.

Meet Mohammed!

I promised myself i will do this a long time ago ...

So, this is Mohammed, our cleaner! He comes every two weeks, or now every Monday and spends the whole day cleaning!!!

He is very good... he cleans the balconies (covered in dust) and hte shutters, although he often forgets to do the surfaces in my room and i get annoyed with that!

He was such a blessing to us, because when both me and Nichole returned to Cairo, our house was just covered in dust; we called him... he came over one evening just to see us, while i was cleaning the bathroom. After a long chat with Nichole, he decided to join in and help, although we asked him to come next day.

Anyway, next morning he went to the flat - we had left a key for him. At 4 when we got home, he was still there and disapointed, as there was no running water at our place... actually just a few drops coming out... poor thing!!! He;s been trying to clean the whole day! I ended up in tears that day, as there was so much to do at school and then coming home to a flat that was still dirty ... I left to Bronwyn's house with Nichole and left Mohammed there. He stayed until 10 pm and returned next morning to finish off...

Now our house is clean and we managed to do the groceries!!!!

Mohammed is so funny!!! His English is limited to a vocabulary related to cleaning (coz that is what he does) and he always feels like he needs to show us what he did; so he goes, with his funny accent: "Zis: Clean! Zis: Clean!""Too much dust here!"

We always laugh when he says: "it's ok"coz of his accent!!! Such a shame that cannot be written down!!

A thought on Arab women

Do you know how we often get those emails with power points attached about random things? I usually dont bother to open them, but some time ago i got one about arab women wearing burkas and how bad they are treated and how much they suffer etc. The powepoint reffered to women in Afghanistan in particular but i couldnt help not replying to that email, especially that i was living in an Arab country.
I did not agree with the sympathy for these women that the email was inviting to. My response at that time was that to these women it is normal to wear a burka and be covered all the time and they find nothing wrong with it; to them, wearing a burka is the same thing as it is to me wearing a skirt.
The email was talking about the fact that Afghan women have no rights at all and how they are forced into arranged marriages, raped by their own husbands etc .... Well, i wont go into that, because to be honest, it happens nowadays even in the Western world, but we do not want to accept it. Just turn the News Channel on and you will be surprised...
I am not here to say that it is right and we should accept what is happening to these women, but sympathy does not help at all.
I kept thinking about this very often since that email and i was wondering if i was right or not - if these women do feel pressured, or have hard feelings because they are wearing a burka...
But now, if you do not know anything else apart from that, how can you say you do not agree? If this is how you were raised and have nothing else to compare it with, how can you feel sorry for yourself, in bondage?
This takes me back to the comunism that me and my family endured in Romania; i know i was still young, but i remember some things. At that time you couldnt have more food than you were allowed to buy, you had only 2 hrs/ day of tv (and that was news and some Russian cartoons for children), you had to have at least 3 or 4 children and i could go on and on about it - my point is that people thought this was normal just because they did not know anything different than that!!!
I remember when my dad came back from Irak, in 1987 or 1988 and he brought us oranges. We DIDNT KNOW what those are because we had never seen oranges before!
So, how could i crave oranges if i didnt know what oranges are? I hope you get my point.

Anyway, i was watching National Geographic and this Arab woman (the first female photgrapher in the UAE) dressed in a burka said: "i do not mind wearing a burka; it represents who i am, an Arab woman, it shows my identity; i am proud to wear it!"...
And i hope this says it all!

Favourite tune at the moment

You Were There - Avalon (quite inspiring for these moments)

I wonder how it must have felt
When David stood to face Goliath on a hill
I imagine that he shook with all his might
Until You took his hand, and held on tight

'Cause You were there, You were there
In the midst of danger's snare
You were there, You were there always
You were there when the hardest fight
Seemed so out of reach
Oh, You were there, You were always there
You were always there

So there he stood upon that hill
Abraham with knife in hand was poised to kill
But God in all his sovereignty had bigger plans
And just in time, You brought a lamb

So haven't I learned that my ways
Aren't as high as Yours are
And You alone keep the universe
From crumbling into dust
You are God and though we would
Not have understood You
There You were

Hanging blameless on a cross
You would rather die than leave us in the dark
Every moment, every planned coincidence
Just all makes sense
With Your last breath

You were there, You were there
During history's darkest hour
You were there, You were there always
You were the Victor and the King
You were the power in David's swing
You were the calm in Abraham
You are the God who understands
You are the strength when we have none
You are the living, Holy one
You were, You are and You will always be
the Risen Lamb of God
You were, You are and You will always be
The Risen Lamb of God

A wonderful surprise in the midst of a hectic week

Being home hasnt proved to be such an exciting experience that i expected it to be (at least, so far). After 2 days spent home (excepting the weekend in Bucharest) i was already complaining that i want to go back to Egypt, i was missing my friends etc. Well, slowly i started to readjust and even though i am still looking forward to be back in Cairo, i am trying to enjoy my time at home.
It is great to be with my mum and see my friends, but some unexpected situations have arised and it makes me want to be away. I had a rough week with many frustrations, but i spent today on my own (with my ipod) and i learned to accept everything and find a solution to all of this thing.
I was out for a walk, and on my way home i saw the most beautiful sunset ever!! Such a shame i didnt have my camera with me! I cannot describe it ... the sky was all red and you could see the fluffy clouds floating around, melting in the sun and combining the white with red and yellow... it was gorgeous!! I took it as a gift, as a surprise after this whole week!!

Summer thoughts

I just realised i've been home for a while and i havent been updating my blog ... I had so many stories about Egypt to post!! I am angry with myself for not doing that!
Anyway, i guess i will use this blog as self-therapy this summer, as much as some people might condemn it ... i just need to find balance, peace and sort my life out + post more pics from my first year in Egypt! :)

Egyptian experience in Rome LOL

I have richly enjoyed my first year in Egypt and in spite of all the cultural shocks I had it has proved to be a very constructive year. I have learnt so many things that I would probably never have learnt anywhere else in the world.

Now, as I am sitting here at the airport in Rome, thinking that I ran away from Egypt for at least 6 weeks, I realize that Egypt is everywhere!! How is that you might ask… Well, my second flight is delayed, which usually happens, so there is no need to get my panties in a twist… The only thing is that they keep saying: ït is delayed for 30 minutes"; after 30 minutes they announce that it has been bedayed for another 40 minutes. People started losing their patience… I guess I should be used to it since I live in Egypt, the country of inshállah! LOL
Some men demanded they are told exactly when the plane leaves etc… I don’t blame them, I would've probably done the same a year ago… my level of patience has highly improved! Should experiment with my sister! LOL
PS: the flight was delayed for 3 hrs!

Holiday in Dahab

A couple of weeks ago together with Nichole (aka Muppet, Nix), Kelli and Bronwyn i went to Dahab, one of my favourite places in Egypt (there's at least one thing i like about Masr LOL).

Thanks to Bronwyn i was spared of a 9 hour bus drive which is often a terrible experience, just because she had a 4x4 and we drove there. We left Cairo on a Thursday afternoon, right after school.

We rented a beautiful apartment there that i totally reccomend (http://www.dahab.net/; check the Sea Stars apts - very cool and friendly owner - Tim). During the 4 or 5 days we spent there we got henna tatoos - all the same, apart from Kelli which has betrayed The Pride (as we called ourselves).

We have also taken the quads into the desert (Bronwyn stayed behind, as she had homework) - that was an awesome experience, especially for Kelli ... I am sure Nix has enjoyed it as much!! :P Luckily, we were with some Jordanian guys and they were able to get our guide to offer the best ride ever!

most afternoons were spent on the beach, snorkelling, having drinks (soft), getting a tan ... and getting hassled by the little girls who sell bracelets/anklets.

Our apartment had an awesome rooftop with a nice sitting area, so we spent most evenings there, apart from the one night spent at RUSh .... quite an interesting place, with even more interesting people, i'd say. We went to our friend, Dr Sheesha for his special mix - apple mint sheesha. We actually bought a big sheesha to have for ourselves at the apartment.

We had more fun than it sounds in this post, just because i am talking about facts and activities... but it is something that i will remember for a long time! :D

My children are sorting out my love life

Alright .. now that we have only a few more weeks/days of school my children are really interested and concerned about me and my love life (they've been concerned all year! maybe now more than ever, just because it is the end of our time together).
So, amongst our endless conversation about jelly fish yesterday (very long story) they thought i should get married today only for a day. Needless to say i tried to tell them i need to find a man first ... when "Cucumber" says: "Well, if you dont find a man, you should marry a girl!"
What do you think? I told them i would consider!! :D:D:D There's more women than men anyway!! Hahaha!!
Cant believe how their little brains can actually think about these things! They made me laugh!!

Another quick note

Havent been faithful to this blog for the past couple of months i guess... Cant believe it is June already!! 2 more weeks of school!!!!!!!!!! Yuppeeeeee!!
My life has been a rollercoaster with so many things and especially decisions. Just to contradict myself, i am staying in Egypt for another year, in spite of many things .... according to many people, it is a stupid thing to do ... according to me and my motivation: ... i still dont know about it.... but i am still young and i can "play" a bit.

Change of plans

It has been a while since i posted smth on this blog, but i've been busy with many many things. One of them, and the most important one is that i am getting ready to leave Egypt. It appears that my adventure here has come to an end, at least for this season of my life. There are too many reasons i am leaving and it is not even worth mentioning them.
So, i am trying to sort my life out, as someone once told me and exploring possibilities/opportunities.
If you ask me now, i do not know where i will be in the next 4 months ... dont even know what continent! Asia (first on my list), Africa, Middle East .... hmm...
I will keep this blog... i will probably rename it depending on the country i will be in. :)

Tomorrow i am off to Dahab for a little vacation. Only 4 days... but enough to breathe some fresh air and enjoy the sea for the last time.

The postman ate my chocolate - Part 2

Right when i have given up my hope of finding the lost parcel from Belgium, i said i'd give it another try and go to the post-office (again!!). So, Sunday after a busy, long day at school with staff meeting et al, i went to Road 9 for the 4th time asking for my parcel.

Before i go on with the story i need to apologize to Mohammed, Ahmed, Mahmoud... or whatever his name is ... because he did NOT eat my chocolate... because there was no chocolate in it... only a teddy bear (the cutest Teddy Bear)!!!

Alright ... so, i am back on Road 9, at the post-office, this time under the "cobri" (bridge). I put on the sadest and angriest face (i was too tired) and start bursting out to the man: "I have received a parcel... the postman came to my door with it... i was not at home... now they tell me they dont have my parcel! I want my parcel!!" So, i keep going for 10 minutes on how i tried several times to get it.
The man behind the counter, looks at me, offers me a seat (i refuse, saying i am busy and i want my parcel right away!). The man asks me where i live ... right when i say Degla, he goes: "Ohh, Miss, your area belongs to another post office... and he tells me the name of it; never heard of it. I seem puzzled. I look at him, he looks at me... i say: "Now, what?". "Well, you need to go to that post office to get it!"
I get a little angry, and i tell him i dont want to go there (needless to tell him that all the parcels both me and Nichole have received before came to THIS post office).
He is still very calm (quite strange for an Egyptian); he calls the other post office, they check and .......... THEY HAVE MY PARCEL!! At this point i am excited ... I ask the man again how can i get it; he tells me i need to go there.
Here comes the funny part..... i ask him for the name again; he tells me the name, i dont understand any of it... i ask him for the address; he says he doesnt know and suggests i should take a taxi there. That is when i am loosing my patience (again!!) and raise my voice: "How on earth am i suppose to go there if i dont know the address and i dont know what to tell to the taxi driver???" The man offers to help me to get a taxi .... i'm even more surprised as i really have no idea where i am going....
In the end, i get on the taxi, having no clue at all where he is taking me. I suddenly remember i have only 20 pounds in my wallet and praying it wont cost me more than that to go there and come back.
I managed to find it and collect my parcel, after the guy looked at my passport and the parcel (which said "Gaby Mocanu") and asked me who is Gaby; i said: "It is me!" He points out that the passport says Gabriela.... At that point i was too tired to say anything... He gave me the parcel (i didnt have to pay anything to get it - which is quite unusual.)

Taxi ride in Cairo

This is Nichole's story:

Yesterday I took a taxi home from school. First of all, let me describe the taxi and its driver. The outside of the taxi looked like any other in Egypt, but maybe even older if that is a possibility! I'm sure the car had to be older than the finest 1960's model and would probably fail every vehicle standards test given in any other country. The standard Cairo black and white paint - hand painted of course with brush streaks and paint chips revealing the car's original color. The word "tax" slapped on the side with an uneven script, sometimes even spelled wrong like "tex" or "taxe" . . . . something like that.

Now, the inside . . . like most other taxis in Cairo, the upholstery is completely redone. The seats look nice, plush, and bouncy, until you take a seat and your bottom meets the steel frame of the car with an unpleasant wallop. All springs, no substance to the seats :) I learned to "sit carefully" pretty early on. You are lucky if the taxi doors have inside handles. This one didn't - instead just wire shaped like a handle that needs to be tugged just the right way to get the door open. I wonder if locking the doors even helps . . . . hmmm. In this particular taxi, I noticed that the driver's seat was being held up by a broomstick with its broken off end secured by twine wrapped around the hinge.

The driver was friendly and understood my VERY broken Arabic. "Fee Midan Victoria" . . . "Iowa." Arabi quiss." Shokran." "Afwan."
The decorations in every taxi vary widely - but the most prominent one in the car was the tasseled tissue box in the center of the dashboard. Other taxi decor includes obnoxious stuffed animals, colored lights, wood carvings, and even a disco ball. Most have a money counter that doesn't work - all prices are negotiable.

About half way through the ride, the car stalled in the middle of the road. No ruckus was made, no driver was mad: this is a normal traffic occurrence. To my surprise, my driver dug out a screwdriver and inserted it into the ignition. Soon sparks flew and the car started again. The process was repeated about 3 times until my destination. Amazing . . . I wondered how he started the car with no key for the ignition. I think it might have been the dangling wires near the emergency break. . . . .

Well, I finally reached my destination - about a 5 minute taxi ride turned into a 10 with all the unforetold stops. I gave my driver a 10 pound note (=$2) and he seemed ecstatic. He thanked me about 15 times on my way out the door. . . . . . just another everyday Egypt experience!!!

Trip to the Romanian Embassy in Cairo

I finally managed to go to the Romanian Embassy in Cairo; it is located somwhere in Zamalek on El Kamil Mohammed street - quite a narrow street, with no parking places (except for the diplomats).
Anyway, it was good to speak Romanian again and meet some new people.
I've been having problems with my visa (as always), so i tought i will go there and they might have some advice for me. Well, it turned out that they cannot. I was told that even them, as diplomats, should get a 4 year visa, and they dont - they get only 1 year.
Then, they told me stories about students who have come here through programmes and agreements between the Romanian and Egyptian government and they were all given different visas, although they were all on the same programme, the same course, for the same period of time.
I have learnt that Egypt has no system at all - there are no rules that conduct this country; everything works as the wind blows, as we say in Romanian.
Now, i am loosing my hopes of being able to stay in this country... but i guess i should let myself carried by the wind... this is another Romanian saying (i am feeling wise today!... NOT!)

The postman ate my chocolate!!!!

So, you thought the USA was the land of all opportunities!! Now, here is another story from Egypt, the land of all possibilities!
My dear friend Leen from Belgium sent me a little parcel some time ago.
The postman came to my door last Thursday with it but i was not there and he did not want to leave it with Elin (my room mate). He said i shud be there to receive it. Well, he never came back again, so i went to the post office yesterday around 4 pm. After many gestures and arms up in the air, and me trying to speak 5 words of Arabic and tell them i need my parcel, another man came (who spoke more English). He said: "you need to come back tomorrow, between 8 am- 3 pm". He couldnt tell me why...
I went back today - a different lady - i tell her the situation, she says my parcel is in Ramses - at the main post office in Cairo; i try to tell her that the postman had it last Thrusday, therefore my parcel is in Maadi; why would it go back to Ramses?? She doesnt quite understand me ... i dropped it, as i had the driver waiting for me outside (illegally parked - as if it matters, anyway!)
I left very disapointed ... i dont know what is in the parcel - might be some Belgian chocolate; i hate the thought of the postman eating my chocolate!! Just try and picture a postman eating my chocolate right now!! :(( :X

Friends from work said the Egyptian mail service is quite good and that they've received most of the parcels they were sent from abroad - even money in a card!!! (u shud've seen my shocked face when i heard that!).
i hope he didnt eat all of it, and i will be able to track it!

10 things to do while you are single (??!)

I was reading an article the other day about things to do while you're single. I pasted them here. My only question is: what do you do when you've done them all?

1.Travel alone to develop your independence.
2.Wallow in a broken heart. This gives you time to heal from any previous relationship problems.
3. Spend a weekend with a married couple your age. You will see marriage is not the ideal state you might imagine it to be.
4. Don't stay home all night. Live a little and enjoy your single status.
5. Stand up for a cause you care about. People are attracted to others who are passionate about the things they love.
6. Learn to fly a plane, surf some big waves, or start your own business. This can also help to nurture your self-reliance.
7. Learn how to take care of yourself. You'll be better suited to a wider range of partners.
8. Buy something hugely impractical just because you love it. It's a good idea to treat yourself every once in a while.
9. Develop a hobby. More skills and interests can make you more attractive.
10. Be completely, utterly, wholly single for at least three months.

Spring has come to Maadi

There is nothing more exciting for a teacher during this time of the year than Easter break! This break was so longed for!!! I had friends visiting from Belgium (more details on that in another post) and i loved having them around.
I have never thought Egypt has any seasons; i have to admit that before coming i thought it is hot all the time. Well, to my surprise, we did have a winter - rather cold (of course, nothing compared to our snowy winters back home), but when you dont have heating in your apartment, it does feel cold! I was walking in Maadi yesterday and this morning as well and i stopped to have a look at the trees - thye look much greener and most of them have beautiful flowers. There is one next to our house that has purple flowers - it is absolutely beautiful!!
Today was rather hot - summer is definitely gaining ground. I am so looking forward to go home this summer, far from the heat!

Making myself feel better

Saturday morning, as i had to go to Mogamma and miss the race in the wadi (such a shame!! would've loved to be there with my children, especially that one of them got a medal!) i went and got myself a nice bouquet of flowers; and not any flowers, but my favourites: calla lillies!!

i had a long day on Saturday - i went downtown to MOgamma, then i had breakfast on Road 9 at Jared's bagels where i met Luke. We then decided to go and have coffee. So, we spent some time together talking about future plans etc. I then headed to school - although it was the weekend, i had a lot of things to do so i spent most of the afternoon there, tyding up, planning, listening to music.

Most of all, i was pleased wt the flowers i got after; Mish Mish was too, as he tipped them over a couple of times, so then i moved them to my room, on my tidy desk. :D

It feels like spring here, the trees are all blossomed and it makes me think of home, especially my dad - as we used to plant things in our garden dring this time of the year. I planted potatoes with my children for Science on Thursday, so that compensated a bit.

Geting old ..er?

I've been wanting to write this post for over 2 months now and one particular moment today reminded me of it...
A few days before my bday i have discovered my very first grey hair; i was not too enthusiastic about it and tried my bet to hide it. I thought to myself: "a nice bday present for my 25th bday!". Anyway, there's nothing to do about it ... no point in crying about getting older or whatever ... I dont feel old, although grey hair is in itself a sign of being old.
Over the past week i have discovered 2 more grey hairs ... now i think it is time to dye my hair, as i've never done it. I guess i should consider it. I bet in 6 months there'll be more and more.
Now i should start looking into a new hairstyle and what colour to choose.

"Fighting with the windmills"

Life in Egypt is never boring... although according to Nichole we had a boring week; we did not do anything apart from going to school and back home (actually Kathy's home, as we've been house sitting). I was exhausted this week and didnt do much; just work and home. So, just to compensate, we went to McDonalds onThursday evening for dinner, just because we didnt know where else to go. :(
So, as i was saying... Egypt is not boring; i was suppose to go to a race today ... one that i've been looking forward to go since the beginning of March. Don't get me wrong, i was not planning on running for the big prize, but just being there with all the people only to be able to say i was in a race. In was a fundraising event for CCS. Anyway, i had to cancel that and go to my "favourite" place in Cairo - Mogamma ... again!!!!!!
I had arranged with Ehab to have an Egyptian man coming with me this time. So, Hany came- he does not speak any English, but this time i had a less traumatic experience that the previous ones. I just handed the papers and i'll have to go back in 10 days.
When i left the building (which btw, depresses me) i was at peace and i had a picture of Don Quijote/Quixote fighting with the windmills. Don't know if you've ever read the book or know the story; we have a saying in Romanian when you're fighting against something that is not worth fighting for because there is no way of winning and that is "fighting with the windmills" - just like Don Quijote.
That is how i felt like this morning - there was no point in fighting with them anymore or getting frustrated, because they still have their system, which is "no system" (quoting an Egyptian).
I chose to do it their way and left without any comments. I went to Road 9 for a bagel, met Luke then headed to Cilantro for coffee. Now i am at school, although it is the weekend ... i have loads of work to do! Nearly done...

Too tired

Too Tired

I am too tired to trust and too tired to pray,
Said one, as the over taxed strength gave way.
The one conscious thought by my mind possessed
Is, Oh, could I just drop it all and rest!
Will God forgive me, do you suppose,
If I go to sleep as a baby goes,
Without an asking if I may,
Without ever trying to trust and pray?
Will God forgive you? Why think dear heart,
When language to you was an unknown art,
Did a mother deny you needed rest?
Or refuse to pillow you on her breast?
Did she let you want when you could not ask?
Did she set her child an unequal task?
Or did she cradle you in her arms,
And then guard your slumber against alarms?
Ah, how quick was her mother love to see,
The unconscious yearnings of infancy.
When you’ve grown too tired to trust and pray,
When your over wrought nature has quite given way;
Then just drop it all, and give up to rest,
As you used to do on a mother’s breast.
He knows all about it – the dear Lord knows,
So just go to sleep as a baby goes,
Without even asking if you may,
God knows when His child is too tired to pray.
He judges not solely by uttered prayer.
He knows when the yearnings of love are there.
He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust,
And He knows, too, the limits of poor weak dust.
Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,
For His chosen ones in that mid-night tryst.
When He bade them sleep and take their rest
While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed…
You’ve given your life up to Him to keep,
Then don’t be afraid to go right to sleep.

Poem

IF...
by Rudyard Kipling

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Girly weekend

I had a relaxed weekend. Friday after church, me and Nichole sneaked out, just to be on our own. We went to TGI Friday's and had a huge burger each. We just relaxed there talking about things.

After that we went to Bronwyn's house as Kelli was cooking dinner for us: chicken curry. It was delicious - maybe a little bit too spicy for me. A bunch of people came over and we watched Slumdog Millionaire. Amazing movie!! I reccomend it to anyone who asks for a good movie.

Today was relaxed - we had Grace over for a manicure/pedicure session and we had so much fun! We listened to music - Disney and Jackson 5 :), Nichole did the twist, we had chocolate...

The fun part was painting MishMish's nails - he didnt enjoy that as much as we did, but Grace thought it would be fun and i agreed - just to kind of go back in my childhood when i painted Pity's nails with my sister. MishMish didnt quite like the bright red colour we had chosen for him, but he didnt have a choice! We all thought he looks kind of cool!! :P

Beauty ...and i had a glimpse of it today

My favorite flower of all is the calla lily. I absolutely love it and i decided it will be the motif for my wedding (whenever that will happen!!).

As i was walking back from school today, i saw a man carrying a bunch of white calla lillies and i couldnt help not staring at them; he saw me admiring them and called me. He took one out and offered it to me.

It made me feel special and it made my week!! I dont see calla lilies very often in the shops here and i always thought of them as being very expensive flowers. Well, i guess God has given me the best present i could ask for, especially after my weekend adventure. I just wish someone will give me a large bouquet one day!

The most amazing adventure i have had so far in my life

Most of my friends see my life as being very interesting and exciting ... i have never considered it to be too special or out of the ordinary; i guess i am just doing what i love doing and following the paths that God is taking me to. Amazingly (or maybe not) it always seems to be a surprise ... God has a way of surprising me that sometimes scares me. I know it might sound like a cliche, but just as somewhere on my blog is written, God's ways are always unpredictable.Getting there
I had to travel back to Israel this past weekend for a renewal of my visa. I've done it before, so i had everything mapped out - i knew exactly where to go, how to get there etc. It seemed like a very simple procedure, although quite exhausting, having to travel by bus from Cairo to Taba during the night for 8 hours. After a busy day at school on Thursday and dinner with a family (the same family had me over for dinner before my previous departure to Israel - we thought we should make a tradition out of it) i managed to get on the 11 pm bus to Taba. John kindly drove me there. There were feelings of confidence and fright mixed up together ... but i somehow thought everything should work out. The main reason of my concern was the bus ride - as the Egyptian drivers have different rules than any other nation, or should i say no rules at all?

The bus ride turned out to be pleasant, mostly thanks to the pillow Nichole's mom has given me. They didnt play any Arabic music, as they often do, nor the Coran. However, i was ready to plug in my ipod, just in case... I was the only foreigner on the bus and one of the three women, which can be quite scary at times here, especially if you are culturally super sensitive. I didnt have a problem with that at all. I lowered my chair and slept the whole way through. I did wake up arund 2 am because the nature called ... Of course there was no place to go ... so i had to wait; my bladder is quite strong anyway.

"Mushkela" = Problem

Around 7 am the bus stops; what i thought to be one of the regular stops, turned out to be a flat tyre. That is when i said: "Now is the time to find a toilet!" We were in the middle of the desert! But not too far, there was a small security office and i stopped there and asked to use their bathroom. I entered this huge bathroom, with only a sink and a toilet that was not flushing; it smelt really bad, but i didnt really care. The need was increasingly forcing me to use that toilet. I thanked the men for letting me use it and headed back to the bus. At that point the bus driver had taken out his trousers and shoes and he was wearing some sort of pyjamas. He was trying hard to unscrew the "buttons" (or whatever they're called) in order to take out the wheel. Other 6 men made a semi-circle around him and were watching; this is the way things are getting done in Egypt: one man works, 5 are watching or worse, trying to give advice on how it's better to do the job. After half an hour, the driver seems to have abandoned ... he gets angry, calls people and doesnt quite seem to know what to do.

At the same time, people get off the bus and hitch-hike. I totally look like the stupid foreigner who doesnt know what to do and worse, doesnt understand a word of what they're talking about. Different ideas start running through my mind: should i hitch-hike? I've done it before in Holland, Norway ... it should be ok... but what if something happens? So, in the end i decide to stay on the bus. 45 minutes later a bus comes and this guy with really black hair peaks in ... and waves his arm, calling the remaining people. A bit confused i follow and then i understand that the company has sent another bus to take us to Taba. My little heart is all excited thinking i will soon be in Taba.

Panicking

Afer a couple of hours of driving, the bus slows down ... i look around saying to myself: "i do not recognise this place, it doesnt look like Taba to me!" Then, i spot a huge sign saying: "Nuweiba Port!" That is when everything in me started moving ... my stomach, my hair, my heart beating fast, my knees shaking and arms trembling ... I go to the bus driver and tell him i dont need to be in Nuweiba, i need to be in Taba! He looks at me with worying eyes... an tells me to get on the bus. he takes me to the main bus station and shouts from the bus to the man behind a counter that seemed like an official desk; he probably told him i need to get to Taba; so he sent me to talk to the man (it was the same guy with dark hair from earlier). Almost with tears in my eyes, i tell him i need to go to Taba, he goes: 11 pounds!! That thing just didnt help me at all! So typically me, i show him how indignated i am by saying: "I HAVE a ticket to Taba and i have already payed for it!! I do not see the need of paying again, as it was not my fault that the second bus driver took me to the wrong place!" At this point tears start coming out and i leave and go and sit on a bench. I burst out in tears, thinking of how lost i am and having no clue what to do next. I started calling people: Nichole, Heather, Wendy, John ... nobody answers, as it was quite early in the morning. In the end, Heather calls me back and i start crying on the phone. I was panicked, scared and feeling lonely. Heather tries to calm me down, which she managed in the end. I find out the next bus is in an hour, which is not that bad, but i kind of wanted something to leave right on that moment and take me to my destination. Then, Wendy calls and i start crying again, then Nichole calls and i start crying again.... You might think it sounds stupid, but i am a woman, and women cry a lot (especially me!!) ... Everything was kind of under control, but i just freaked out and felt really lonely and abandoned in the middle of the desert in a country whose language i do not speak (and refuse to learn it, according to Kelli). I have travelled to many places on my own, to countries and cities i do not speak the language of, but it always seemed to have worked out just fine.

At the border - Surprise!!

In the end i get on the bus and it takes about 1 hour and a half to Taba. I am all excited i am there. Now the next step is to just walk over the border into Israel ... it shouldn,t be too difficult i thought! Well, the Egyptian authorities kept looking at my passport; i went through 4 check points and they each looked at my passport for at least 5-10 min. I was too tired to talk to them or try to show them my previous visa ... I just stand in front of them without saying a word. They let me go in the end. Phew!!! i was out of Egypt! 2 more steps to Israel. I get to the border, i enter, they ask me about the purpose of my visit and have me waiting behind a group of Canadian explorers. It takes a while for them to check all their bags. One of them turns to me and apologizes for delaying me; i said: "i've already been delayed, so it makes no difference to me anymore!"

Surprisingly i was very calm and waited patiently for my turn. At last, the last Canadian hands in his bags to be checked! I am next!! During this whole time, part of the security personnel had taken aside one guy and were checking his stuff inch by inch. I had a short conversation wt hte Canadian man; he asked me where i'm from, being indignated by my accent; he thought i was from Wales. Suddenly, the security guards and all the personnel starts rushing towards us and shouts: "RUN, OUTSIDE, FAST!" The Canadian man tries to take his suitcase with him, somebody says: "No, leave it behind!" and they hurry us out through the emergency exit. We are taken outside. Everybody was worried and had no idea about what might have just happened. I assume they found something suspicious in somebody's bag. I call Heather to let her know about the situation. Kelvin aswers ... i try to explain things to him, when this Israeli security guard approaches me ... i get a bit scared, thinking that maybe i am not allowed to make any phone calls as that might be suspicius and i kind of imagine being taken away and interrogated. The man asks me if everything is alright.... I seem to be speechless for a second... i probably ended my coversation with kelvin without saying goodbye. I look at the guy and tell him i am worried because i do not know what is going on. He says: "It is only emergency procedures, so you should not worry!". Police came and other vans. They had us waiting outside for a couple of hours, but they kindly offered us water.

I try to read a few more pages from the book i have started that night: "The Shack". I am too overwhelmed and cannot follow the line of the story so i close the book. After a while we hear a voice through the speakers announcing us: "In a short while you will hear an explosion. Stay where you are and do not panick!" 3 explosions followed. 15 minutes later, the same announcement - 2 explosions followed.

In the end, they got us back to the gate and having to go through the procedure again, only this time asking if we have any guns.

I walked out relieved and taking the first taxi to the hostel. I get there, take a shower, run to the closest shwerma place, grab one, as shops were closing at 2 because of the Sabbath, and head to the Egyptian consulate. There i found out they are closed Fridays and Saturdays and open only on Sunday. Ruined my plans... but i did not have a choice - i had to stay in Eilat for another night and miss school on Sunday.

At least i got to go to the beach on Saturday after vegetating most of Friday in bed (or what was left of it) as i was exhausted!!

I will not give any details about the trip back, because getting there was already too much.

So... i guess this is another "story to tell my grandchildren from my rocking chair". Somebody told me once that my travels are always full of surprises and turn out to be an adventure.

In the past year i've been thinking a lot about writing a book one day, maybe when i retire ... i guess it might be sooner than that! Life is full of surprises! And that is what is so exciting about it - they come when you least expect it!