Just a Little Odd to Me

People ask me for pictures with my children all the time. I've considered charging 5 pounds for each photo shoot because it would buy groceries for me at least once a month, but I don't really have the guts to do it.

Normally, people want to take a picture of themself with my baby and/or children with their own camera, but this guy was different... He didn't have a camera. He just wanted me to take his picture with my baby with my camera. I just assume that meant he was interested in donating his picture to my blog.

 As did his two equally camera-less friends.

    
After the pictures were taken, they did not even ask to see them, but then proceeded to chat up Brian.

I can't help it, I like my funny little life.

Al Azhar Park

Yesterday we visited Al Azhar Park which features the only green grass and trees in all of our city. I may exaggerate a little, but only a very little.

The girls really enjoyed playing and running around like little crazy people.

More pictures to come...

Khan al Khalili

On March 19, we visited the Khan al Kahlili. The Khan is a maze of narrow streets lined with shops and vendors. Love it.

I also love that braid and the spice bins. I don't know why out of all the things at the Khan, spice bins attract me the most.  Well, those and glass Christmas decorations. :)

I think this is one of the two old gates...

I Can't See Texas from Here

I can't say I don't like Tennessee

The people here have all been good to me

So please don't take offense

if I start to gettin' tense

It's just 'cause I can't see Texas from here

I can't see Texas from here

No matter how I try

it makes me wanna die

So if you see me looking down

I'm trying not to show this frown

'Cause I can't see Texas from here.

- George Strait

My sweet Emily has been bitten by the homesick bug. Bitten pretty badly, in fact, and it seems to be affecting all of us. This morning, she woke me up and said:

"Mommy, I really miss hugging Maw Maw. I think we should go back to Texas today. Well, actually, we need to go back tomorrow because we will have to pack everything up today." 

For the past month, every.single.day, she has talked about going home. Things like:

"Mommy, I miss swinging on the swings with Granny."

"Mommy, I miss baking cookies with Maw Maw."

"Mommy, I want to move back to Texas."
" Mommy, we should take a vacation." "Really? where should we go?" "To Texas."

At first it was only about once a week when we would find her hiding in her bed crying, or sitting the couch looking at pictures of her grandparents weeping her little eyes out. 

But when we were packing the suitcases to come back to Egypt from Jordan, she said, "Mommy, I don't want to go back to Egypt, I want to go back to Texas." And ever since then, her loneliness has increased and she has mentioned it in some form or fashion at least once a day. 

A couple of nights ago Maw Maw sent a message to say that she was going to call and talk to Emily in a few minutes. The girls sat at the computer and waited for about 10 minutes and started getting fidgety, so I sent them to play until we heard the call. At bedtime, we went to check to see what had happened. We had a missed call from Maw Maw, but she was no longer online so we couldn't call her back. And it was bedtime. Emily cried and cried and after I put the girls to bed, I came back and looked at the computer. Before leaving the computer, Emily had put a "crying face" in the chat box.

Today at lunch, I asked her what I could to help not be as lonely and to help her be happier during our time here. She looked at me sadly, and said, "Nothing."

It is hard to know what to do to help her. I've tried keeping her busy and active, but even on a busy, happy day, when I put her to bed, she starting crying, talking about missing her grandparents.

It is sad and my heart hurts for her.

Fish

So, I'm thinking maybe I should learn to like fish...

My friend, Mary, offered to bring and cook dinner for us last night. Fish and crabs.  
I wish I liked fish.

Luckily, Emily and Savannah love fish and crabs :) But Savannah kept calling it "chicken" all through-out dinner.

Emily in particular was very excited about this dinner. But just after I snapped this picture, she picked up the crab, but then got scared and dropped it on the floor and started crying. Brian coaxed her into picking it up despite her fear and after her initial shock wore off, she happily worked it over and learned to de-shell it herself.

A Day in My Life

March 7, 2011
         I thought it would be fun to post A Day in My Life...

8:20 am: my alarm went off. I pushed "snooze".
8:30 am: got dressed and put on a little makeup
8:45 am: yesterday I made Banana Bread muffins because breakfasts are not easy meal here. So I put a plate of muffins and some yogurt on the table for the girls.
8:55 am: Selawa knocked on the door. She watches the girls while Brian and I have language lessons. 
9:00 am:  Brian and I walked to class. We have Arabic classes 3 hours each day, 4 days a week. Most of the time we really enjoy them. Occasionally, on days when I am very tired, I count down the final hour. But I feel lucky that I enjoy the classes so much.

12:15 noon: walked home and greeted the girls. Sophie is always very happy to see us when we walk in and I love tiny little baby hugs.
Between then and about 2:00, I chatted with the girls and said "goodbye" to the babysitter. We made and ate lunch and a grocery list for dinner tonight. Brian got a phone call, inviting him to hang out with some friends, so he kissed everyone and left.

2:00 pm: I started school with girls. Savannah is very serious about her preschool work. Emily works through literature, geography, spelling, Shurley English - which she has declared her favorite subject, and math. This year we focused on the basic skeleton, but I'm looking forward to expanding next year. It will be more of a challenge because Savannah will be in Kindergarten and will need more focused time. Right now, I can take turns working with each of them while the other is working on their own. I've already  been looking at the catalog and I'm excited about next year, even though it will be more challenging for me.

3:20 pm:  Sophie woke up from nap so I got the girls ready to walk to the store. I had planned on walking and using the stroller to carry everything back, but as I was getting things together, I realized that the stroller was still in the back of the car from our excursion on Saturday and I couldn't find the keys. So I put Sophie in the baby back-pack and we started out.
I don't know how Brian carries that baby in that back-pack for hours on end when we are sight-seeing. It was killing me! I must not have had it adjusted correctly for me, because he swears it is comfortable.
I caught a taxi home. So worth it! 

4:30 pm: and we are back home and groceries are in the house!
4:32 pm: I got Emily started on math
4:45 pm: I have been toying with the idea of putting Sophie's crib in with Emily and Savannah to sleep. Since they slept very well together for 3 weeks in Jordan, Emily and I decided that now was a good time to take the plunge. Savannah was a great helper as we cleaned out toys and moved the crib. The room that Sophie was in is now the "play room."
They seem to really like the arrangement and I think since they have to be quiet because Sophie is sleeping, that the bigger girls fall asleep faster at night. It also is much better for Sophie's nap time because she is further away from the traffic between the bathroom and the girls room. So far, we like the new arrangement. 

5:30 pm: Emily finally finished her math and was playing in the new "play room" with Savannah and Sophie, so I started dinner. We were having taco salad.

At 5:45 pm, my friend Mona, from upstairs brought food down. This was the first time she was in my house and I was excited!

 

I was not as excited about the food... the big tube things are cow intestine, stuffed with rice. It was chewy, but had a delicious flavor. The brown strips of meat are lung. Yes, lung, my friends. I don't eat lung or intestine, for that matter, but this was my friend. So I ate. If the lung wasn't such a weird texture, I could eat it. The white round things that are out of focus, close to the front edge of the plate... I'm not sure what they were. But they were nasty. And crunchy. And nasty. And I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what they are.

But she calls me "sister" and I need a sister here. So, I eat. And smile. And I tell her what a marvelous cook she is. That is no lie. She makes the best swarmer and mashey I have ever eaten in all of my forays into Middle Eastern food.

At 6:15 pm, the girls and I sat down to eat dinner, Taco Salad dinner. I saved the rest of my friend's food for Brian when he gets home. He likes adventurous stuff.

6:45 pm: I put Sophie to play in the bathtub because she had enjoyed her dinner very much and while she played I cleaned the bathroom.

7:00 pm: the girls were playing nicely in their new play room so I finished organizing the leftovers from the girls room exchange and then cleaned the kitchen.

8:00 pm: I put Sophie to bed and let Emily and Savannah have "book time" on the couch. I started my Arabic homework. I was working through my verbs out loud at the coffee table next to the girls and Savannah finally looked up from her book: "Mommy, could you please stop talking like that, I'm trying to read here."

I put the girls to bed at 8:30 pm, a little earlier than usual tonight. We have had some late nights lately and they are both a little more tired than they usually are.

I finish my homework, Brian came in and we snuggled on the couch for awhile before taking showers and going to bed.

Good day!

Egyptian Food

My sweet friend, Mona, from upstairs, brought down this plate of food today (March 9, 2011).

I know she is a good cook, so even fish eyes didn't stop me from trying the shrimp. And they were delicious!

When Savannah first saw it, she said: "Our friends killed some fish, Mommy!"

 And then, both Emily and Savannah dug into the fish like it was marvelous meat! They picked it apart and found bones and talked about guts and finally discovered the eyeball.
Savannah said: "Its squishy!"
Brian said: "Your eyeball would be too if I were sticking a fork in it!"
Emily, without skipping a beat or a bite, said: "Yes, but you wouldn't."

Ah, what amazing kids have I! More adventurous than their Mommy, that's for sure!

American Food

Now that I live overseas, I get really excited when I see legit American Food.
Even food I rarely ate in America is highly desirable now that my options are so limited.

For example: Wonka's Chewy Sprees.

Not my go-to candy in the States, but since being back in Egypt I've seen them in the Super Markets that I frequent. And although it is not as exciting as, say, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups... the mere fact that there is absolutely no Arabic on the package has made me a little drooly.

And after walking away from them three times...

I gave in.

It was anti-climatic.