Dough-nuts?!?! July 5, 2009

Since living in Egypt our family has mourned the loss of good, melt in your mouth dough-nuts.  We do have Cinnabon, but it just isn’t the sames as a Paradise glazed doughnut, or a cake doughnut from Krispy-Kreme!  So we have attempted twice to make our own.  So far they have just been ok, we are still on the look out for the best recipe.  One night after dinner, we, or let me make the CORRECTION, Adam decided he wanted doughnuts.  He and Stacey began the process, and before long we had doughnuts.  They were good, just not the same!

The dough

The doughnut makers!

The awaiting customers!

Excited, can you tell?

Happy 4th of July! July 5, 2009

We hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July weekend!  We sure missed being there with our friends and family.  We did however have a small celebration in our corner of the world.  We were told also that usually the American Embassy throws a big party, but because of the “swine” flu, they had to cancel due to the fact that they bring in hot dogs from the states.  Maybe next year!!!  So we decided to have our own little get together at our house.  We made yummy hamburgers, potatoe salad, baked beans, and of course the Egyptian version of  hot dogs.

The men went on a hunt for fireworks, but came back with sparklers!  Again, maybe next year we can find some fireworks!

Heating up the charcoal before taking it outside to the grill.

The grill (we borrowed our friends)

The spread

Yummy hamburgers

Sparkle, Sparkle! Notice the hot dog Cairo is using for a stick, and yes he did eat it after the sparkler burnt out.

Just a few thoughts… June 30, 2009

Somedays I struggle with what to write about, not knowing which story to tell, or if the day has not been interesting, I find myself not wanting to write in fear that I may bore my readers.  But today I thought I would just share some things the Father is teaching us as we live here in Egypt.  I really did not understand the full scale of HOW DIFFERENT Cairo, Egypt really is, and by that I mean the culture.  There are so many differences it would take an afternoon to fill most of you in.  Because of these differences, it is hard to adjust to their way of thinking.  Sometimes it makes me laugh and other days I want to scream and yell.  They have so many stinking rules, it is CRAZY!  We were at the pool and the lifeguards were baulking at my sons shirts.  They are swim shirts and I put them on my boys because they are white and the lifeguards were telling us that they can’t where them in the pool.  Which is absolutely crazy.  There were majority women wearing their full dress made out of spandex in the pool.  We however did not obey them and said we would be happy to talk to their manager, but they never brought him out.

Sometimes I want to say, “Please get out of my face and my baby’s face, AND stop touching my children’s heads with your dirty hands!”  I hope that is not too honest for some of you!  Obviously I know that I am to love all people and that God has called us here to be a light, but I do get frustrated and tired of being on display.  Everyday, the moment we step outside, we are on display. 

One thing I have learned though is “…if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, and Your strength will support me.” Psalm 139:9-10  I love that word, because I know I am not alone here.  Some days are very lonely…but it is good to know that my Father is with me wherever I go.

He also has given us fresh words and visions for the Copts.  Which is very encouraging, because without those words from the Father, Adam and I both would feel we are here for no reason.  Honestly that is a struggle that many of you could pray for us.  We sometimes can believe the lie that we are doing nothing.  But language and relationships IS something.  We often feel we have stepped back into college, which I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Awesome”, but not really.  The feeling of accomplishment is very little.  Just today we learned our colors, fruits, and vegetables in Arabic.  I feel like I am in an Egyptian preschool. 

Just so you know as well, we do miss all of you in Tulsa!  We think of you often and really appreciate your comments on our blog. 

Cairo's face says it all!

Adventures in Ain Sohkna! June 28, 2009

Well I intended to write a bog on our quick get away to the beach this past week, but as it turns out, I did not even unzip my computer bag.  We intended to get away and relax in a town off the Red Sea called Ain Sohkna, and that is exactly what we did.  We had a wonderful time playing in the pool with the boys and Caroline.  I can’t say that we did much laying out by the pool for two reasons.  #1, we have 3 small children that require attention, and #2 it was just way to hot to sit outside of the water.  Again though, we had a great time.  It was good for the boys to exert energy…they wore themselves out.  Caroline loves the water, she would get a very serious look on her face once we entered the pool, but then after about 5 seconds, the smile returned to her face and she would splash and splash.

Yesterday we re-acquainted ourselves to our home.  I fully intended once again to open my computer, but it is funny how vacations work, you almost need a day of vacation to get over the vacation.  However we did have a language lesson yesterday, with our 3 children around to “help” us.  Our language helper is so sweet and patient that she enjoyed seeing our kids. 

So today we began our week with purpose.  I decided to open my computer and I have already uploaded pictures to my fb as well as planned out our week of things to accomplish.  So we will see how many checks I can check off of the list. We have much to do to get ready for our teams coming in a couple of weeks as well as just continuing to do things around the house. 

So cute!

Playing in the Kiddie pool.

Playing in the sand.

More pictures June 18, 2009

I just have to say that our internet is still not hooked up so we are still using our friends who live right above us and it is still a little slow.  And as of late, my computer has been a booger to deal w/ uploading my pictures.  Because of that, I have been avoiding my computer…I guess I am giving it the silent treatment!  Anyway, we are still working on calling our building manager everyday until we have a phone line….just how things work here! 

Just a quick update, we are resuming our language lessons today.  And we are continuing working on our home!  We have our closet/dulabs almost complete.  Then I am going to begin bugging Adam to start hanging things on the walls !!! 

“Work” is going great.  Despite the fact that we are supposed to be doing only language, we have had good opportunities to get some things ready for this fall. 

Cairo playing in the fountain, boy did he attract attention. People were coming from the wood works!

A little bit of everything June 17, 2009

I don’t have one thing to blog about just many little things that occur in our everyday life here in Cairo.  We have been busy living our life here day to day.  Seriously not ONE day here in Cairo is EVER the same.  Maybe eventually it will get like that, but I seriously doubt it.  My friend who has lived here almost 3 years now said, “Everyday I am amused by something here in Cairo.” 

We have officially begun language.  Can we say, “DIFFICULT!!”  My brain is so very tired after a lesson of saying over and over in Arabic, “You, I, he, she, they, we, us…”  Adam however put his first sentence together by putting together most of the Arabic words he knows and said, “Ana iza inta hinna.” Which is “I want you, come here.”  I actually called our friends for what to say exactly, but we had a good laugh. 

Also we have been busy with a team member who came to work at the Hadonna for the summer, but due to some health issues, she is going home tomorrow.  We were very sad, but are glad she will get better in the states!!! 

Our home is becoming more of a home.  We are acquiring more furniture and will begin putting pictures on the walls.  It has been 2 months exactly since we first stepped foot in Cairo.  We are still adjusting to this place becoming our home, I think we get a little closer to that feeling everyday.  The weather here is hot, summer has officially begun!  Because of the weather, we tend to stay indoors more.  It is just to tiring to venture out in a hot taxi with all 3 children.  We usually wait to run our errands either after the kids are in school, or after we eat supper.  The city streets are hopping now with activity even as I am typing.  Everyone seems to be running their errands at night now that the weather is warm. 

We were able to go to a water park with the school Cohen will attend in the fall.  It was a great time to play with our boys!  Caroline even enjoyed sitting in the water.  We also went to a local park, which is a story in and of itself.  This park is not your typical park.  It does have a playground area for the kids along with a water fountain that is a walk through one, yet no one is allowed to play in it.  Also you cannot throw balls in this park, we got ours taken away!  We did get it back though!  Cohen was extremely frustrated.  He said, “Man, you can’t do ANYTHING here!”  We did find though a grassy area where the kids could chase each other and roll down the hills.  This is also the place I chose to do some 6 months pictures of Caroline Grace.  Yes she is 6 months old.  I can’t believe it!!  She is starting to crawl and recognize when her mommy leaves the room.  Just tonight she reached for me!  I love it.  Enjoy the pictures of her!

I love this crooked smile! I don't think she knows whether to be happy or serious about the water around her.

Super Heroes! June 7, 2009

It is the weekend and we have been hanging out.  It is too hot to go outside AND we don’t have a yard   So we are playing inside for right now until we can find some good places to take the boys to run and play ball or even swim.

"Arrghh, here I come!"

 

Playing dead

Super Cohen to the rescue

Attack

Eating apples and watching the craziness

Obama is coming… June 3, 2009

or as Cairo Samuel says, “Obama-mama”!  Yes, Obama is coming to Cairo tomorrow.  We are going to try and catch a glimpse of his motorcade that will come through our area.  He is speaking at a university as well as visiting the pyramids.  They have completely closed down several streets as well as fixing streets up.  There will be no trash in the areas he is coming, at least for a day   Because Obama is coming, our language lesson was cancelled due to all of the road blocks.  Our language helper lives by the pyramids so it would be very difficult for her to get to our side of the city.  Therefore we will have to begin next week.  We did howeverhave a small beginning lesson today with Matt and Stacey and will continue one tomorrow.  It is extremely overwhelming, but I am so glad we have them along with April (Adam’s old assistant who now lives here and is awesome at arabic) to cheer us on.

Just a small update on what is happening on our small spot of the globe!

Teachers Needed! June 2, 2009

We have a need for several teachers in our International School that Cohen will attend in the Fall.  I’m not sure of all the details, but we are in need of a kindergarten, 3rd grade, 5th and 6th grade, high school science, and music teachers.  This school is a wonderful school and if you or someone you know would love the opportunity to come and teach worker kids here in Egypt please respond to this post and I can give you more information.

“Mama, Hot!” June 2, 2009

Well as many of you know I have been attempting to make multiple meals for my family.  Which has been a really good thing, it has almost been like therapy for me, feeling more normal as I cook in my kitchen.  Tonight however was one of those, “Hmmm, I probably won’t make that again.” kind of nights.  I made a recipe according to a cookbook and I thought, “Awesome, all the ingredients I can find here!”  So, April, Kristi, and I made a Spanish dish called “Jiffy Spanish Rice.  April patiently made the homemade corn tortillas (they were absolutely delicious) and I was in charge of the meat mixture and the rice.  Everything went fine, even though we had 2 crying children at our feet, we still managed to get dinner on the table.  Adam and Kristi by the way are managing the 3 children…Kristi and Cohen were playing Star Wars Wii! 

We sit down to eat and the first thing we notice is, the meat mixture is extremely HOT!  Cairo was saying, “Mama, Hot!”  Evidentally the chili powder here in Egypt is stronger than ours in America, hence the 2 tablespoons was way too much!  I will be marking in my cookbook, “add chili powder to taste !”