Week 2- Dear Diary :)

Whew, the second week is over and we're still doing fine. Amen, it really has been an easy move! Thankful for the many prayers- they sure do work. We had a good week and are actually starting to feel quite settled here... still have one more shipment of goods to arrive so once they're here it will really feel like home. Also hope to have a car this week or next and we think we've found our Maid/Nanny so now I feel like I've actually accomplished something. A recap of the week:

We had dinner one evening at J's local friend’s house (we also hosted him at our house during his visit to Monterey). He had recently been married so it was nice to meet his wife and see their new home. Beautiful home, we felt like their first dinner guests so it was kind of a treat. They had their cook serve up a delicious meal that went on and on. The funniest thing for me was that when I asked to look at their wedding photos his wife insisted on bringing me in another room because she didn't want J to see photos of her without her head covering (hejab) on. Beautiful pictures though, and without the hejabs you would have thought that it was an American wedding by the outfits (although I was actually surprised at how revealing her wedding dress really was, certainly more revealing than my own dress was!) The weddings here are very big deals, usually last 3 days and although I don't know a lot about them, I know that for most of the time the men and women are separated into different rooms to party and dance. There is also another tradition where the groom’s family goes to the brides home to get her, lots of musicians and dancing in the streets from what I watched on the DVD. It was interesting to learn a little more about the weddings here, we hope to attend one before we leave.

We did get out to one of the large malls here. It had all of the same American stores, even Hallmark with all English cards in it- only many of the cards sold for about $10 apiece so needless to say if you don't get a b-day greeting from us don't be disappointed, ha-ha! The only notable things about the malls here is the parking is a pain, under the mall and confusing to navigate thru (this fact alone will keep J out of the malls for good) also you have to go thru a lot of security to get into the mall. Metal detectors and guards at every entrance. I guess this is a result of the 05 bombings here. Again, the stores were pricey, I had forgotten to pick K up some toddler crocs but here they were around $65 so I guess she won't be getting any after all!

I also went shopping with a couple gals to the local artistry shops. I got so excited when I saw the beautiful pottery that I can buy here (love my pottery!) I told J that we could easily spend a lot of money on the local designs here, jewelry, rugs etc. etc. I'm already excited for Christmas shopping!

The highlight of our week was our walking tour of the city center with our trusty Lonely Planet guidebook. We started at the Roman Theater and worked our way thru the streets and local suks (markets). We had a nice time- it was actually a little strange to me that we were the ONLY western looking people that I saw downtown. Boy did we stand out too! I guess I just assumed that in such a large metropolis, there would be other westerners around as well but once we left the theater (where we only saw a few westerners), there weren't any. The nice part, other than the delicious lunch, was the bootleg DVD’s we bought for a buck!

We attended the international Christian church here one evening; it was a nice service and felt unique to be a part of such a minority group. The small percentage of Christians here are mostly Coptic so to attend a non-denominational service really is a rarity. I was so proud of K, she said her first word before church that night, "Jesus", could you pick a better first word that that? :) Of course, I'm not going to count the time the other day when she tried to say banana. Anyhow, we are taking this as a sign that she's headed in the right spiritual direction. I've even gotten used to the five daily prayer calls now, so much so that I usually don't even notice them in the background!

K and I went to the weekly playgroup last week at someone's home and that was really nice but strange for me, many of the women were the nanny's and the other women brought their nanny with them even if they attended. I've never gone to a playgroup of mostly nannies before. I've decided that I will not be bringing my nanny along to the playgroup; surely, I can handle it myself, ha! We have been a little lonely here- mostly because I miss my wonderful neighbors and friends in CA so much! It was the best of times to be able to walk out my front door and have a dear friend in every direction, such special moms who gave me great advice and kept me company on the dull days. The hardest part about moving to a new place has always been going from being really busy to having nothing to do! It makes getting a job much more tempting but I keep hoping that in time we'll have some pals we can invite over for our own play sessions (minus the nanny). I miss you California ladies!!!!! We knew that we were experiencing a little piece of heaven at the time but boy does it make it harder to go without. :(

We interviewed three different maid/nanny's this week- that was tougher than I thought. All such nice people from the Philippians or Sri Lanka. We think we found an excellent person, Fina, and hopefully she'll start next week. J is getting tired of ironing all of his shirts (I think he's starting to miss wearing a uniform!) The really sad thing we realized is that many of these ladies have left their own children behind in their countries in order to come here and work to save up $ since the economy is better here. (We were slightly amazed that people come here to make money, since it is also a very poor country) One other lady we met, Jane, just broke our hearts thinking of her own 4-year-old daughter in the Philippians. I could hardly stand the thought of her caring for our daughter while her own daughter and husband were so far away. She hopes to live here for at least four years! Fina was actually married and divorced to a local man so she has permanent residency status here and no kids. It's funny to be called Madame S and Sir J... feels much too formal but I suppose we could get used to it, ha!

J planned our first trip last week; we leave for 12 days in Egypt next month. As excited as I am for the trip, I'm also very anxious about making the trip with a toddler. We'll be traveling throughout the country so it's literally planes, trains and automobiles. Add boats to that as well since we'll be cruising the Nile too. My list of concerns include getting sick (nearly everyone does) and the taxi's without a car seat. This is a bone of contention between J and I since I always insist she sit in one whenever possible and he is more relaxed about it. I was just about to spend loads of $$ online purchasing a special (easy) travel car seat (yes, this would be our third seat, I am obsessed) when we had dinner with another family a few nights ago. They have traveled to Egypt with their four four kids and said to give up on the car seat idea because there would not even be seatbelts in the taxis! This, in possibly one of the worst traffic dense regions in the whole world! Please pray, it is SO hard for me to enjoy myself when I feel like I'm putting her life at risk. We would drive a car there if we could but it's the one place J is not even allowed to drive. We have been discussing how to pack light but again, with a toddler who we have to bring diapers, milk and food for (can't trust it everywhere) it will probably leave J and I with one outfit a piece. On a happier note, the cruise down the Nile looked much more luxurious on the website than what I had pictured in my mind!

Did I already mention that the other day I saw a woman driving while also feeding her baby a bottle on her lap at the same time. Ahhh... I know I'll get used to it but it is hard for me when the traffic deaths here are such an epidemic. No wonder I'm getting a little stir crazy stuck in the house all day :) I'm passing the time reading Queen Noor's book, which is much more interesting the second time now that I can picture where she is talking about. It really is a fascinating book on the history of the region over the past 40 some years and easy read with a lot of the culture thrown in. I'm still surprised that I can't get a "cultural orientation" class over here. I've joked that the only thing I know is what my Lonely Planet guide tells me! On that note, I'll call it a week! Best, S.