The Demonstrations... Game Over Mubarak!

The demonstrations began this week on Tuesday, January 25, Egypt’s second annual “Police Day”.  The Egyptian people were appalled by the founding of “Police Day” in Egypt, in the first place.  A day set aside in Egypt, to honor the police force?  We are talking about an organized group of people, controlled by the infamous Mubarak, who patrol the streets as predators and are mostly known for their brutal harassment of people in communities, and especially in prisons.  Although the Egyptian government constantly denies such abusive acts by their police force, the memories of torture to the people are still fresh on many Egyptian’s minds.  Given this, January 25th seemed more than appropriate to commence such a movement.  

It is currently 7 pm on Friday, January 28th, and we are amidst the fourth consecutive day of protesting here in Cairo.  We are huddled around the TV in Patrick and Haley’s apartment anxiously awaiting Mubarak’s address to the nation which is said to be any minute now.  As of about 11 pm last night, all mobile phone networks, land lines, social networking sites such as facebook and twiitter, and now all Internet access in Egypt, has been completely suspended.  There is absolutely no way to communicate across the nation, much less with our families at home in the US.  In addition, the entire nation was issued a strict curfew of 6 pm tonight in hopes of repressing protestors.  The Egyptian military has been released in order to enforce this curfew Mubarak set into place a few hours ago.  

We just listened to Hillary Clinton’s live address from Washington, in which she confirmed the United States’ support for human rights in Egypt, and the need for “reform” in the Egyptian government.  She encouraged the government to make a move quickly in response to the wishes of the Egyptian people, also urging the Egyptian government, army, and police force, to refrain from violence and let the protestors express their desires while also urging the protestors to keep their demonstrations peaceful as well.

Now it is 8 pm and the fires that began in downtown Cairo, at the NDP building, which the protestors set ablaze a few hours ago, are spreading rapidly.  Many fear the fires will spread to the Egyptian National Museum which is next door.  There are also unconfirmed reports of clashes between police forces and military.  The protestors are not letting up and Mubarak has yet to speak to the nation.  

Over the past four days, the Egyptian people have banned together in such a way that hasn’t happened in decades.  What started out as underestimated demonstrations in which the national and international officials had taken very lightly, has turned into violent rages throughout all of Egypt, proved shocking to most people, and sparked much concern across the globe.  Today has been deemed “The Day of Rage”.  Protestors began around 2 pm this afternoon, shortly after prayer, by gathering in front of local mosques, as those were the safest places in the city.  The people marched to prominent places throughout Cairo, including Medan al Tahir, October 6 Bridge, The People’s Assembly, major intersections, government buildings, and all other prominent city icons.  The police forces, dressed in full riot gear, have spent the entire day trying to deter protestors by releasing tear gas and firing water cannons which are said to burn the skin.  They are also sending undercover officers into the streets with batons to beat and contain any and all protestors possible.  The protestors continue, ripping down posters of Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal, and setting them on fire.  Earlier today there were reports of the police forces resorting to live ammunition if protesting didn’t cease, and now those reports have been confirmed.  The protestors have welcomed the military forces, cheering them on in the streets, while continuing to demand Mubarak step down and leave the country.    

It is now almost 11 pm and Michelle and I just returned to Patrick and Haley’s apartment.  We snuck out long enough to go to our apartment a few blocks away to get a bag together so we could stay the night here.  As we were walking, the intensity of the situation hit us in the face like a ton of bricks.  Our neighborhood looks like a ghost town with only a few police men on the corners, and one homeless man outside.  Michelle and I locked arms and walked briskly in silence the rest of the way to our place, hoping we wouldn’t get stopped by an officer for being out past curfew.  When we got there we tried to get our TV working so that just in case the Internet service came back on, we could stay put since Patrick and Haley didn’t have Internet in their apartment.  After several failed attempts, we decided to give up and pack our bags.  20 minutes later I looked at Michelle and said, “This might sound weird... but we should go ahead and pack our bags as if we aren’t coming back.”  She agreed.  We didn’t know what to expect but we wanted to be prepared for any and all situations.  And if the US decided to evacuate American citizens, we would be ready to go.  If they didn’t evacuate us and we were confined to the house, we would also be prepared.  It’s a good thing we stocked up on food and water earlier this morning.  We brought as much with us over here to Patrick and Haley’s as we could.  We also have extra batteries, a flashlight, candles, matches, and a few other miscellaneous things just in case.  

We are glued to the TV to make sure we are updated on any and all breaking news.  Currently, Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, is hosting a press conference.  They have addressed the issue of Americans here in Egypt a few times and are considering an evacuation of American people, yet haven’t confirmed a decision.  We were all disappointed with Mr. Gibbs’ extremely poor press conference.  He made a complete fool out of himself on international television.  I realize many of the questions posed were ignorant, but he didn’t even have answers for the legitimate ones.  So once again, we were left with no useful information from the US as to what would be in store for us Americans.   

The feeling I have right now is so surreal.  I didn’t get worried until this evening when all communication lines were still suspended, making it almost 24 hours since I was able to call home.  I also couldn’t do any research online for possible evacuation plans if it came down to me deciding for myself I was ready to get out.  And although the US is encouraging the communication ban be lifted, we haven’t seen any hopes of cooperation.  It would make matters much better if I could call home and tell my parents I am ok, but then I ask myself... Am I ok?  I really didn’t know anymore.  The way things are looking, this situation is going to get much worse before it gets any better.  The four of us UNT alum are staying together, putting our trust in the US government, and awaiting the possibility of any word or direction for American citizens here in Egypt.

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We spent the rest of that Friday night wide awake, tossing and turning in our beds, looking at the clock, and checking our phones sporadically in hopes of communication abilities.  I really wanted to call home.  I knew my parents were getting worried.  I hadn’t talked to them in 2 days and the last thing I said was, “I will call you back later tonight.”  I also didn’t know how informed they were or weren’t of my situation because the Egyptian government was doing everything in their power to prevent news reporters from getting too much information on national television, much less international television.  I prayed western media had efficient and accurate information for our families.   

I rolled out of bed around 8 am on Saturday morning and peered out the window to a seemingly normal Cairo.  I was hopeful and a little relieved.  We watched the news for a little bit to see if there were any new reports, but the only thing we gathered was the fact that Saturday’s protests were supposed to be bigger and crazier than the day before.  We decided to go out and stock up on more food and water just in case we were house-bound for even longer.  Mubarak had issued another nation wide curfew but this time it started earlier and ended later, and again, we wanted to be prepared.  It’s definitely a new feeling to me to be afraid of walking outside my front door.  We made our journey outside as quickly as possible and things were actually much better than we had imagined.  Saturday afternoon we finally got the TV working in our apartment so the four of us moved our set up and agreed to stay at ours because it is much bigger.  At this point we were actually feeling a lot better.  The streets were fine, we didn’t have any trouble getting things we needed from the store, and our TV was now working so we felt hopeful.  However, in just a matter of minutes that feeling of hope and comfort took a downward slope into complete distress and fear when we suddenly heard gunshots from outside our window.  We ran to see what was going on only to find out that what had once seemed so unlikely it was impossible, had finally happened.  The ramifications of the demonstrations in Cairo that had begun in the downtown area and near government buildings, had reached our residential street.  Looking out of our living room window down the street to the right was a military blockade preventing protestors from getting through.  There were 2 massive military tanks with armed soldiers as well in hopes of deterring any looters and anyone else who posed a threat to the community.  Looking straight down to the street right below our window were gangs of youths carrying a wide variety of weapons.  These guys were inhabitants of our neighborhood who had come together to form an alliance in order to protect themselves, their families, and their property.  The men had utilized each and every resource they could.  They decided to cut a white bed sheet into thin strips so they could each tie a piece around their arm in order to distinguish between the criminals and the residents.  And in case anything went down, they would know who was on what side.  The men were armed with anything they could find such as baseball bats, heavy metal chains, knives, canes, sticks, and pieces of cars.  One man had a pair of num-chucks.  There were also men with samarai swords riding around on vespas.  The men built three huge bonfires on our street.  One on each end of the street as to prevent any traffic - cars or gangs of thugs - from entering onto our street.  The third fire was in the middle of the street.  We were given strict instructions from the neighborhood watch guys and then again from advisors on the news to turn off all lights in our apartment, close the curtains, lock all doors and windows, and be quiet.  We heard sporadic disturbances of loud whistling and yelling, usually followed by live gunfire.  The whistling and yelling was a chain reaction from neighboring communities in order to alert the watch guys on our street that danger was either close or here.  I was so thankful for the men on our street as they showed an immense amount of bravery and dedication to their families and communities.  When I moved to Cairo, into my Nasr City apartment, I never imagined that only weeks later I would be listening to live news reports a few blocks away of violent looters running through the streets torching vehicles and breaking into homes robbing the inhabitants of everything they could.  As the sounds got louder and louder throughout the night, and the gunshots more frequent; Michelle, Patrick, Haley, and I decided to act fast and try to stay as calm as possible in hopes of not further escalating the anxiety.  We did as we were told by closing all curtains and turning out the lights.  We kept the TV on at a low level and lit a candle.  We barricaded our front door shut with the couch, topped by the huge sitting chairs.  We put kitchen knives in our rooms and when we finally laid down in bed around 4 am, we clenched them all the way through the rest of the night.  We lived like this for a few days.  Late Sunday morning we noticed the mobile phone service had finally been reactivated.  We still had no Internet, but my Egyptian phone was now working again.  Since it was about 11 am and the curfew had already been lifted, Michelle and I walked to the closest place possible to buy more minutes for our Egyptian phones so we could get a call out to our families.  I finally got in touch with Mom and Dad long enough to say I was ok and could they please call me right back on this number so I wouldn’t lose all my minutes and get disconnected.  Right after I got that out, Mom was no longer on the other end of the line.  Luckily, I heard from her again about an hour later.  

Although I had already decided in my head that I needed to get out of Egypt asap, I didn’t tell Mom and Dad.  I simply let them know I was ok and that I was monitoring the situation, looking at all options, devising a contingency plan, and making sure I was prepared.  I had packed up my entire apartment so that I would be ready to leave if and when I was able to.  At this point, the Cairo International Airport was complete and utter chaos.  Most airline companies were canceling all flights going in and out of Egypt.  The planes that were already there were being grounded.  No ticket sales were successful.  The thousands of foreigners that were trying to leave were being turned away and left stranded at the airport.  The few flights that were scheduled to leave were either delayed or cancelled.  Not to mention the fact that all public transportation had been shut down.  Very few cabs were running and the ones that were definitely didn’t want to go to the airport.  Even if it was possible to get transportation to the airport, I knew I would be taking a risk by being on the streets.  On top of that, I had zero Internet access to even research any information on the slim possibility that I might be able to flee.  However, I knew I had to get out of there and although I had all forces working against me, I was going to try like hell.  Michelle and I stayed up all night again on Sunday night trying to get a plan worked out.  Michelle’s boyfriend, Nelson, was our saving grace.  He stayed up around the clock once we finally got our phone lines working again and called every airline, every airport, and all the necessary officials, and kept us informed.  He searched every website and finally found a flight with Ailitalia to Milan, Italy, that was leaving the next afternoon at 1:20 pm.  We took it.  We realized the stakes were very high.  There was a good chance we wouldn’t be able to get a cab to the airport.  There was an even better chance that once we got to the airport, we would be denied a boarding pass.  And there was the almost definite chance that once we got our boarding passes and went through security, our flight would be delayed or cancelled.  We also knew that if that happened, we would be stuck at the airport for the entire night, and possibly several days if flights didn’t start running again.  

It is only by the grace of God that Michelle and I got out when we did.  We each had to leave our big suitcases full of personal belongings behind in our apartment along with our bedding.  The only way we could have taken all of our things is if we took two separate cabs.  We knew that wasn’t happening because it was hard enough to find one cab.  Even if we were successful in finding two cabs we could have gotten separated and who knows what would have happened then.  We took the hit by leaving our things in Egypt, and found a cab after about 30 minutes of searching in hopeless agony.  We paid the driver 4 times the amount it normally costs to get us there.  The 20 minute drive took about an hour and a half.  We had to drive through downtown first to drop off a different passenger.  The streets were quite different than they were when we first walked them the first week in January.  The mass crowds of people that were once walking the streets in a fury to shop in the suq and sit at cafes with friends were now walking the streets in a fury to get away from violence.. or get a point across to the government depending on which group of people we’re talking about.  Every intersection and street corner was manned with a military tank full of armed men.  There were burned vehicles everywhere and several police tanks that were torched the night before as well.  The barricades and blocks neighborhood watch groups had built the night before were still up and the damage to the NDP building was more than apparent.  And until we got to the airport, there was very little traffic.  

Thanks to our cab driver, we were able to get to the front door of the airport.  He put his car in park in the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic and prevented the traffic to continue, however slowly it was, and created a gap big enough for Michelle and I to squeeze through with our bags and get to the front doors.  We had to bribe a man to get us inside the airport past the mob of people swarming the exterior.  Once we got in, it was another journey in itself.  We waited in line for hours, staring at the screen full of delayed and cancelled flights, but still wanted to try.  We finally got our boarding passes and went through security.  Our 1:20 pm flight finally took off at about 4 pm - Praise the Lord. 

Intensive studies, moderate nightlife

It is currently Sunday afternoon at about 12:30 p.m. and I just began week 3 of classes here.  Time is going by quickly.  Or is it?  This point could be argued, but I’ll save it for now.  

As far as school is concerned... I am taking classes at an intensive language institute called the Sibawayh Center.  Intensive might be an understatement.  (Might is facetious.)  I have five hours per day of one-on-one instruction Sunday thru Thursday each week.  I have two main teachers - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  My first class is from 9-11:30 in the morning with Amel (translates to “hope” in English), a 24 year old Egyptian woman whom I have come to absolutely adore.  We spend the first 30 minutes or so talking about what we did the day before, what’s going on with our family and friends, the news, books we are reading, and anything else that may be on our minds.  After class with Amel I have a break until my 3 p.m. class with Zanneb.  She is also 24 years old and was born and raised here in Egypt.  Although she is a great teacher, I believe she is in the wrong profession and should leave her current job to take up stand up comedy.  She could be the first prominent female comedian in Egypt!  I don’t even think she tries to be funny most of the time, she just is.  Bottom line, I love both of my teachers and I’m excited about getting to know them better over the next several months and gaining them as lifelong friends.  

This weekend was interesting.  Since our school week is over on Thursdays and we begin on Sundays, Thursday nights are like our Friday nights at home.  We were all happy to have reached the end of the school week and were looking forward to a relaxing night out.  We decided to go to dinner with some friends in Mohandessin, the district in Cairo that accommodates cheaper prices for “the engineers”, (the literal translation of the name) here in Egypt.  The restaurant was a quaint place located on the rooftop of a high rise overlooking the Nile River.  The view was stunning, the company exceptional, and the prices reasonable.  I had lasagna for dinner and a cafe au lait all for 38 LE, about 7 USD.  After dinner we sat at a coffee shop and visited for a few hours and then came home and called it a night... Wild huh?  Although charming, my night life here in Cairo definitely holds a stark contrast from what I am accustomed to at home.  In Texas, I spend 6 days out of the week anticipating girls night which usually consists of dinner, drinks, stories, laughing, and going out dancing, amongst other miscellaneous adventures we wind up embarking on, all of which has led to the creation of an intense sisterhood bond between a group of about 15 girls whom I cherish dearly.  The significance of this creation is not to be taken lightly as it has been the utility of my survival on many occasions.  Given that, my transition into a place where I am largely disconnected from such ties has not been an easy one.  Michelle and I have found it to be extremely uncommon for two women, or men for that matter, to have a cocktail or a glass of wine for an evening out on the weekends.  Alcohol is served in many places around the city, but consumption is looked down upon immensely as it is against Islamic doctrine.  Most people here prefer sheesha (hookah), which I personally choose to refrain from using.  Despite its’ delicious taste and smell, it is the worst kind of smoke you can inhale because it goes straight to your lungs, and unlike the majority of Cairo’s population, I enjoy breathing and would prefer to keep my lungs free from black fumes.  With that being said, most of my nightlife here results in a lot of sitting and visiting with a cup of coffee or tea.  Don’t be mistaken, I enjoy this incredibly.  The problem begins when my anxiety kicks in from too much time sitting still, followed by my thoughts wandering away from table conversations, which in turn presents an attitude of arrogance and disinterest in the group on my part, although that is not the case.  Ultimately, I succumb to explaining my somewhat aggravating tendencies to have a need to be more active in order to maintain my attention, focus, and enthusiasm.  That being said, Michelle and I have decided to go on an adventure next weekend in search of a safe, possibly westernized, getaway destination for times like these when it would just be nice to have a drink and mingle with other young adolescent students and professionals.  The anxiety can be maddening, but minor in hindsight... I digress.       

Apartment 5 and batalii Alaa

Upon our arrival here in Cairo, we stayed in a hotel for a few days until we had time to find a suitable apartment.  (I use the term suitable lightly.)  In fact, when we did finally arrive here, apartment searching was one of the last things on our minds.  We just wanted rest.  To be precise, we were actually searching for soap, hot water, and a bed.  We found that at the Marshall Royal Hotel and were completely satisfied... until the next morning.  We woke up the next day ready to conquer this objective of finding our school, meeting our pen pals from the previous six months, and locating an apartment.  We didn’t want to waste any time finding a place we could call ours and getting situated.  Our first task was to find the Sibawayh Center where we would be attending classes for the next five to six months.  We arrived there and were received with a warm welcome by Muhammed “wa-Had” (one) who is the manager of the center and responsible for conducting our orientation and helping us get set up.  He presented all the necessary info and without any further ado introduced us to the man who would be helping us find an apartment, Muhammed “ith-nain” (two).  Muhammed ith-nain was assigned to the job of showing Michelle and I around the area and taking us to look at different apartments.  Three hours later after walking all around the community, (about five feet behind Muhammed ith-nain because he walks so fast it would be a tight race between him and my mother who is the fastest walker on the planet), we returned to the center to speak with Muhammed wa-Had again.  We had looked at two apartments... Two.  Michelle and I were then supposed to make a decision.  Should we take the extra large apartment which offered a cold feel, uninviting aroma, completely furnished but probably hadn’t been cleaned in several months, and contained dis-functional appliances amongst other things - however these seemed to be the most prevalent?  Or.. we could choose the slightly smaller apartment whose only advantage over the former was its‘ balcony and the huge yellow vintage lamp in the foyer.  Oh and it also had a coat rack like the ones you see in old black and white movies - that was a plus for me.  With much disdain, we chose the first apartment.  We gave Muhammed ith-nain the verdict and he walked us back over to the mid-rise where our flat was located, and he guided us through the process of finalizing the paperwork.  This “paperwork” primarily consisted of about four people going back and forth rapidly in deep Arabic discussion while pausing sporadically to look at Michelle and I before proceeding once again with their debates.  After about thirty minutes Michelle and I signed our names at the bottom of a document printed on blue paper, less than half of which we were actually able to read.  Afterwards, we shook hands with our new landlord, ZouZou, paid our money, and received the keys.  Suddenley the crowd disappeared and Michelle and I stood in utter silence in the middle of our new home.  

We then went through about ten minutes of freaking out, however it didn’t take us long to realize we had work to do and we had better get started.  After moving all of our things here, we hurried to the store to buy cleaning supplies and disinfected the entire apartment from head to toe.  A few days later we met up with a friend of ours who lives here.  His name is Alaa, but we call him batalii (my hero).  We explained all of our struggles to him and he laughed a little and then began therapy.  He has been a huge blessing for Michelle and I.  He came into our apartment and fixed our heaters, provided us with Internet, spoke to our landlord, taught us how to use the microbuses and metro system, helped us figure out how to use our kitchen appliances, took us shopping for housewares, showed us around our part of town, and took us to eat Egyptian food.  Wow.. without him we would probably still be standing in the middle of the living room in apartment 5 on the street whose name we still can’t pronounce correctly, wondering what to do.  Now it is one week and two days later and we are finally somewhat situated thanks to him.  We took today to relax in our new comforters, drink hot tea, and just take a breather.  Now we are prepared to take on these next several months full throttle!  Or so we think... :) 

Cairo 101

My first time to visit Cairo, Egypt, and I choose to stay for 6 months and live in an apartment amongst the locals... Culture shock?  Not exactly.  I’d like to think of it as a blind date.  You never know what to expect.    

The driving is crazy, it feels like we are cheating death every time we get into a cab or try to cross the street.  And speaking of the street, people here seem to be confused on the distinction between a street where a car drives and a pedestrian walkway.  There is no such thing, it is one in the same.  Pedestrian right-of-ways do not exist here.  So good luck getting around because if you are walking, cars will not stop for you unless you just dart out in front of them and hurry up... and that is if you are lucky!  You could be driving along in a cab on the highway and look up and see people walking amongst the cars.  It’s insane.  And there is also no concept of lanes.  They sure do have them painted on the streets, but no one stays in them.  You just drive where you want.  It’s a motorized free-for-all on the pavement where people may also travel by foot.  Survival of the fittest!!  It’s Darwinism at its‘ finest!!  Earlier today we were riding along in a cab on an overcrowded highway when all of a sudden we were taken over by a swarm of motorcycles.  When I say swarm, I mean about 100 - and when I say motorcycles, I mean vespas.  Each of which was carrying 2 to 3 people.  These guys were serious.  Weaving in and out of cars that were simultaneously weaving in and out of the non-lanes.  Suddenly our cab became a speck in the middle of a stampede of raging two-wheelers.  It’s each man for himself here on the streets of Cairo.  You must fight or fail.  Cairo is definitely a different world, and it’s crazy to see it first hand.  I also have Morocco to compare it to which I thought would be pretty relatable, but it’s not at all.  Totally different.  For one, Cairo is filthy.  Mind you, only about 3 million people in this city live above the poverty line.  Most live on less than $2 a day.  So when you think about it in those terms, you can imagine the lack of cleanliness and sanitation here.  One of the apartments Michelle and I looked at was located right by a massive trash pit.  We didn’t realize it however until after viewing the decadent flat and lastly, stepping out on the balcony to see the view.  This was possibly one of the saddest things I have ever seen in my life.  Imagine an area of land about half the size of a football field completely surrounded by buildings in a major metropolitan city, but covered in garbage, sick animals, human feces, and throw up.  In two of the corners adjacent to one other, are shanties.  Yes, they are inhabited.  When I saw this I checked out for a minute, completely forgetting that the owner of the property was still talking to me.  Is someone really LIVING in there?  I ask myself.  And for a few moments I go back to the US picturing my beautiful life there where on any normal day, one of the last things on my mind is the possibility that there is someone somewhere on the other side of the planet living in such conditions.  Don’t get me wrong, I have been completely aware of such facts for a long time now.  International news doesn’t hide these and given that International Development is my field of study and desired line of work for the future, I have read and learned a lot about it over the past several years.  However, there’s just something about seeing it in real life, right before your eyes, that changes you.  It’s impossible to explain the emotions I experienced.  Walking along the streets you will also find that trash dumps are on most corners and are overflowing all around it.  I’m sure the cats appreciate it though because that is how they survive.  There is a surplus of cats roaming the streets.  Apparently they don’t belong to anyone though because most of them are sick, skinny, dirty, and sad.  Cairo is also very smelly.  And I don’t mean smelly as in it stinks (although it gets pretty rank in certain areas of town), but smelly as in pollution.  I’m talking, all of my internal organs are screaming at me with every breath I take in.  Mostly my lungs, but the others are pretty angry too.  There is a lot of smog.  It comes and goes though.  Sometimes I look out my window and it’s only halfway smoggy (whatever that means) and at other times I look out and can’t see my neighbor’s house, but I sure can reach out and touch it.

It’s hard to believe that many of the world’s majestic beauties are hidden in such a place as Cairo.  Of course there is the most well known treasures of this land - the Pyramids of Giza.  But this city is also packed with fascinations most people are completely unaware of.  I have a list going of things to seek out and discover while I am here and cannot wait to share them with you.  I will post again soon, “Insha‘ allah”!  

Welcome to Egypt, Mel!

So far, my travels have gone smoothly.  Other than being completely exhausted due to lack of sleep on the plane - I don’t know whether to blame this on the screaming baby in front of me, the anonymous farter in my vicinity, or the simple fact that my bum kept falling asleep and going numb thus creating extreme discomfort - I can’t complain about a thing.  We landed in Amsterdam safe and sound and took advantage of the 12 hour layover by doing some sight seeing.  And let me just say I have never seen so many bicycles in my entire life.  Not only is the city covered with bikes parked everywhere, most people opt for them as their primary mode of transportation.  The US really could learn a thing or two about economic efficiency, but we’ll save that topic for another day.  

By the time our flight to Cairo took off, I was so worn out I slept almost the entire four hours.  We finally landed here around 2:30 am, and couldn’t wait to get to our hotel rooms and get some rest.  After all, we had been awake for nearly two days straight at this point.  Couldn’t we just get through customs quickly, pick up our bags, find our driver, and head straight for our hotel where we were long awaiting those comfy beds?  Well, that would be nice, but it’s not the Egyptian way.  Things could never be that simple!  It didn’t take too long getting through customs and finding our bags, but once we met with our driver, the chaos began.  He met us in the airport and helped us get our luggage outside to the curb where his sidekick had the car parked.  Come to find out, the car was no longer there.  And before we knew it, there went our guy running around aimlessly through the crowd of people trying to find out what happened, leaving us three girls stranded on the curb with our luggage wondering what was going on.  About 20 minutes later we think the car has been towed but quickly find out otherwise - the other driver got his license taken away...?  We don’t ask questions.  At this point we hussle up a few cabs and get our luggage loaded and off to the hotel we go.  We finally arrived about 30 minutes later and got settled into our rooms, crashing asap without passing go and without collecting $200.  Sleep was no longer a fantasy, but a reality.  (Huge sigh of relief.)  

The next day we had to be at the learning center by noon for orientation.  We decided to wake up at 11 and that hour came much faster than we desired and needless to say, we were all suffering from severe jet lag.  However, we had things to accomplish so off we went.  The entire day was spent going here and going there trying to get our living accommodations finalized.  In Cairo, when you are looking for an apartment, there are typically two ways to go about doing so.  For one, you can walk around the city and when you see an appealing building, you may ask the doorman if there are any vacancies ready for move in, and if so may you take a look.  Or, you could opt to use a boab like we did.  A boab is a man who takes you around the area to show you different apartments (sort of like a rental agent).  When we met with the boab we were under the impression that we would be able to see several different places, but instead, we saw two.  After seeing these, Michelle and I head back to the center where Patrick and Haley were to discuss the options.  Little did we know, our boab took us to see the exact same two places Patrick and Haley saw.  After much confusion, we decide who will take which place, and begin the paperwork.  The landlord tells Michelle and I we can move in the next day, once they have a chance to clean... THANK GOODNESS.  The place was pretty dirty.  We go back to the hotel for one last night, get up early today and head towards the center with all of our luggage, ready to move in to our new digs.  We walk in and the place looks exactly the same as it did yesterday.  Michelle and I were confused.  Cleaning?  What cleaning?  Who cleaned?  Oh yeah... no one did.  Nor were they going to.  We attempted to discuss the issue with the landlord but apparently that was offensive because she thought the place was spotless.  “You want me to clean?  This flat is very clean.  You think it’s dirty?”  Those were her exact words... At this point Michelle and I knew we were going to end up cleaning it ourselves.  Long story short, we finished up the paperwork and took over the keys.  Then we just looked at each other, looked around at the apartment, then looked at each other again and asked what in the world did we just do.  So without wasting any time we set out to the market and got all the necessary supplies to come back to apartment 5 and begin a deep cleaning process from head to toe.  We scrubbed all the floors and countertops with disinfectant, through out the loose trash, took the stained floral curtains down, removed the heinous paintings from the walls that were crooked anyways, and scraped the scum from all the surfaces.  Four hours later we lost steam and decided to shower and wind down.  We got a lot done and our place looks much better than before.  Home sweet home for the next six months!!  Ha.  

Staying behind my blocker!

Well it's coming down to the last few days for me here in the US for a while and I am scrambling to get everything I need organized and ready to go along with finishing up preparations for Christmas day.  I finally got my visa and all of the necessary shots for traveling.  I had to get four, two in each arm so it wasn't that bad.  It was probably worse for my mother whose hand I squeezed... Off... LOL, jk.  She still has her hand.  The past few weeks have flown by and I am now coming to the realization that I am leaving in 11 days.  I am going to miss my family and friends very much, but I am so excited and so anxious to be there.  I plan on cherishing the next 11 days and I want to say thank you to everyone who has been an encourager for me.  I appreciate the support and love you all have showered over me.  I have been praying constantly that this experience will be fulfilled through Him and that His guidance will be prevalent in my life so that I may follow.  This is something completely unimaginable to me and to Him I will be forever grateful for such an opportunity.  I ask for your prayers while I am traveling and would love to hear any thoughts, advice, or words of encouragement anyone may have.  On another note...                

Anyone ever thought you could tell God what your plans are?  How has that worked out for you?  Did He laugh hysterically in your face like He did in mine?  Ha!  Man, I love Jesus.  He has such a good sense of humor.  In fact, good is an understatement.  He has the best sense of humor.  I have tried many times to tell Him what my plans are.  In fact, I still struggle with this issue now and probably always will.  However, I have just recently been made aware of the extent to which I do this.  Tuesday night's church service this week was right on.  Preston taught on disobedience.  "Dis" is a dangerous word!  This week we learned three types of disobedience and our response to it versus God's response.  The type that stuck out the most to me was the second one - Selfish disobedience.  This is what happens when you are telling God your plans... You have all these ideas of what your life should be like, the choices you should make, how you should achieve your goals, relationships you enter into, etc, and you tell God, "I got it."  God's response - "I'll let you finish."  (This is another area in which His sense of humor comes into play.)  And really, how funny!?!  We tell the Almighty what we are going to do and how things are going to be, and although He knows better, He simply says, "I'll let you finish."  That's great stuff.  And we all know how the story goes... Indeed, He lets us finish.  We try our best to keep Him at arms length, not letting Him get too close as to prevent Him from intervening, but He is still right there beside us the whole time.  We often don't realize it though... Until we fall flat on our faces.  Here is the beautiful part of the story - As we are laying face down miserably in a pool of our own tears and failures, we look up and there He is, hand extended ready to pick us up and He quietly whispers, "Let's try this again."  Ahhh.  Such a relief.  We also have a merciful God.  He just wants us to stay behind His block.  You are the running back, and He is your blocker!  (I am drilling this into my head every second of every day.)  I believe it's something that we have to be reminded of.  We must make a conscience effort daily to remind ourselves of the amazing Father we have who will take us exactly where we need to go if we just stay behind His block.  I am making this my motto for the rest of my life.  Praise be to God for delivering such a powerful message to me at JUST the right time.  Now I feel prepared and ready to go.  :) 

I will probably have at least one more entry before I leave and then will start writing a lot more once I'm there.  Thank you thank you thank you again to everyone who is following me and venturing out on this journey with me!!!   

28 days and counting...

If someone would have came to me 3 or 4 years ago and told me I would be dropping all of my belongings in storage and moving overseas for an extended amount of time, I would have thought they were crazy!  After all, I had my life completely figured out by the age of 20, and that was simply no where in my plans. I knew exactly what I was doing with my life, where I was going, and who would be there with me along the way, and I definitely didn't want anyone to try and tell me otherwise.  Little did I know, the Lord had other plans for me as He soon let me know in 2008 & 2009, when every single aspect of my life took a complete 180 degree turn.  I refer to it as my years of discovery, as my life began to take a turn down a completely different path which has led me to where I am now.  

Exactly 28 days from today I will be leaving for Cairo, Egypt, where I will reside for about 6 months to continue pursuing my Arabic studies and work towards my future career goals.  This is something I considered for a long time and finally decided to commit to shortly after graduating college this past May.  My departure date is Monday, January 3rd... 4 more weeks!  

The purpose of this blog is to keep those interested updated on my progress, travels, and experiences once I get there.  I also hope to provide some cultural insight into the lives of Egyptians for curious minds or those considering embarking on an adventure there as well.  Let this be an avenue of new perspectives and provide a glance into other ways of life.  On a deeper level, I pray I will be able to create a bigger imagination for young adolescents who may be in the midst of finding their way in life.  Let it be clear that one should never settle... I want to offer support and encouragement for those who are still contemplating their dreams rather than running as fast as they can after them.  There is massive power in perseverance and determination to turn your dreams into reality, and if one can begin to look at a closed door as a window opening, and be open to new opportunities, I can guarantee your life will be enriched immensely, and you never know where the Lord will take you.  Who knows?  Maybe you will end up in Egypt with me... ;)