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.