My mother has been emailing friends and family in Oklahoma about our adventures here in Cairo, I thoroughly enjoyed this last email and I thought it would make for a great blog post.
Yes our team mates have finally arrived…it is great to have them here and they are all doing great.
Ok, the new little family moves in. Everything is cool. We’re up till about 11:30, Adam till after midnight, making beds, hanging shower curtains, etc. I get up at 4:00am – Richard is snoring loudly because of his sinus trouble. I get on the couch. 6:15am, Cohen comes in and gets right on top of me and turns on the TV. I said, “Cohen do you realize you are on top of your Nana and not the couch?” He says, “yeah, I’m snuggling”. Well that’s sweet. I go back to sleep to the sounds of Disney. 7:15am there’s a soft knock on the door. Cohen jumps up to answer. There stands the Osborns, fully dressed and ready to begin the day. They woke up at 4:00am wide awake. Showered, emptied tubs and needed to relax on some real furniture. All they have are some plastic outdoor chairs and no TV yet. So they come in and I rise from the couch blinking my eyes, making small talk till I can excuse myself and go get descent.
11:00am, a carpenter and their language teacher come to talk about Kenny and Ashley’s kitchen cabinets. This meeting goes on till about 1:00. I don’t know why it took 2 hours. Meanwhile we’re taking care of everyday things and kids.
Adam, Kenny and Matt go to by cable and I don’t know what all to try to hook them up on internet. Successful!.
In the hall some men are trying to replace the lights (those long tube things). We hear a huge crash. Look out and the boys who do Liz’s ironing come with bags of ironed clothes. The bags have knocked over a few bulbs. They are yelling at Liz and waving their arms. She yells back in arabic something about what do you want me to do about it, sorry!! Cairo is peeking out from around his mom yelling too. I’m just shaking my head.
Liz won’t let me clean in the kitchen. Her housekeeper is coming around three and will take care of it. I say, “no problem, I don’t mind doing some stuff”. She won’t hear of it, says she is paying him 80 pounds to do it. Well come 4:00 no Billeno. I say ok I’m going in. The light won’t turn on! And there is no window. Very dark in there. Richard tries to fix it. Not successful. Hopefully the light will come on soon. Meanwhile messy kitchen.
Adam says to be ready by 5:30 to go to the mall. We’re taking the Osborns to buy some stuff at Spinney’s and have some dinner. We get ready. Doorbell rings and there is Cairo’s pre-school teacher and her daughter. She asked Liz to meet with her from time to time and help her with her English. Well, she is wanting to meet us. So we sit down and with quite a language barrier we visit. They are sweet and she wants to make us an egyptian meal while we are here.
Finally at 6:30 they leave and we set out for the mall. Liz says she wants to drive the girls and Adam and all the guys go in a taxi. So here we go, Liz driving in this horrific traffic all the while talking to Adam on the phone about when to turn etc. We come to the first parking garage and it is closed so we have to keep driving. Bumper to bumper we inch our way to the next garage. Cars and people are everywhere. Liz said, “man, everyone and his dog is out tonight!” We finally get parked. It’s after 7:00. We join the guys in Fudruckers. They’ve been there some time, having been dropped off by the taxi. We slump in our seats but here you actually sit down and they wait on you. Finally at 8:30 we’ve had our hamburgers and chicken fingers, free ice cream for the kids, and we decide to let the Osborns go to Spinney’s on their own and take a taxi home, so we can put our cranky kids in the bed. I thought it seemed a little cruel to just leave the sweet family standing all alone out in front of the walmart on steriods but Adam assured me it was good for them.
We make our way to our parked car, Liz decides once again she wants to drive home. I protest slightly. She says, “Mom, I’ve got to learn”. She, Adam, Cohen in the front. Me, Richard, Caroline, and Cairo in the back. We’re dodging traffic and people. The kids start whining. Caroline drops everything given to her. We’re in there so tight no one can bend over to pick it up. She is wailing. Cairo is saying, “my water, my water!” There is no water. Cohen is singing his ABC’s. Then Liz begins to sing God is So Good. We pass our turn and get lost. The above mentioned keeps going on and on. Finally we get back on our street. It is bumper to bumper traffic and we are trying to find a place to park. The above mentioned is still going on. Then we hear women squealling and clicking their tongues. Horns start a rymthic honking. Traffic stops altogether. It’s a wedding processional. The above mentioned is still going on. We finally park. Go upstairs. And the little ones are sound to sleep in their beds. All that for some chicken fingers!!!!
By the way, the Osborns did make it home safe and sound but not with everything they wanted. They couldn’t fight the crowds any longer. Also, when I came in I checked the kitchen light. It works. But I’m too tired to wash dishes. But Liz is still singing God is So Good!
!
…I believe it can happen)
