Janola Rambles

Good-Bye, Lily Rat :(

2011-08-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

This morning we said good-bye to Lily. Lily was a very sweet, determined rat. She out-lived her best friend, Black Rat, so it's comforting to think that they are re-united and can sleep together under the Rainbow Bridge.

Lily was an explorer. She loved out-of-the-cage time. She would sniff, climb, run, and waddle, sometimes finding a snack, sometimes finding her way to parts of the apartment we thought we had blocked off. While very patient when receiving cuddles and kisses, she was happiest when we let her run off on her own. She would always come back and say hello, then be off.

Lily loved snacks. She also believed that the crust was the best part of the bread and that blueberries and grapes were very yummy.

Artsy photo of a very sweet rat. I miss her. :(((

Her patience was a lesson for me. While other rats might show a bit of restlessness, she would calmly rest her chin on her crossed paws with her tail wrapped around her, just patiently waiting for her people to get a clue about rat needs (salad, out-time, snacks, kisses, etc.).

She was the boss-rat of this colony in spite of being smaller than WhiskaRat and Shy Violet.

Last year she had a tumor removed. Earlier this month, two more were removed. She seemed to be quite strong and active for an old rat (over 2 years old) so I felt she would survive the surgery and recovery. She did, and was her old self again (after 3 trips to the vet to re-stitch her owie) for a few days. Then, Lily seemed to slow down. I thought she was taking it easy after perhaps pushing herself a little much so soon after her recovery. But last night, we noticed she was trying very hard to breathe and was unresponsive to the snack sound. This morning we brought her to the vet who said she had pneumonia. :( She was just getting weaker and weaker. We decided to say good-bye and spent about 20min in an examination room, just holding and talking to her. I know she appreciated it, and gave us a final happy-rat face. At the end, I broke down and even though we knew it was better for her it was very, very hard to give her to the dr.

I loved her very much, my special girl.

No Coffee o_O

2011-03-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

Honestly, part of me still doesn't know why I chose, actually chose, to stop drinking coffee. After all I had given up- bread, pasta, cake, pastries (i.e.: nothing to dip in my coffee), ice cream, dairy (no cream in my coffee)- why was I letting go of my only comfort, my friend coffee? First of all, it's for 30 days. But, let me try to explain this to myself. again.

As we all know, coffee has caffeine. Even decaf coffee still has an appreciable amount of caffeine, and this caffeine affects our brains. Most of us, myself included, LOVE THIS AFFECT. THAT'S WHY I DRINK COFFEE. *ahem* Anyway, caffeine blocks hormones that make us feel sleepy, so we don't get quality sleep. And, caffeine other hormones in the brain that make us feel good and alert. This "alertness" is for danger, so your body is in "fight or flight mode" every day which is not healthy. Also, if you are prone to panic attacks, caffeine makes them worse. I am not prone to panic attacks, but who knows what-all types of mental woes I've inherited (and I've inherited quite a few).

And *sigh* I almost hate to admit this, but my weight-loss has been non-existent. I been trying for a year now, seriously since July, to lose the extra weight I've gained being back in America. Healthy eating and exercise don't seem to be working so maybe, just maybe, too much coffee is hindering my weight-loss. Since it does increase cortisol levels there may be something to it.

So far? Well, today is Day 3. On Day 1 I felt lousy. Huge headaches, tummy ache, couldn't focus on any one task, couldn't sit still, couldn't do anything! Napped for about an hour. Day 2 I subbed and that was not good. I was a bit scatterbrained and still had difficulty focusing. Today, my headaches are better but I've been tired all day. I did take a nap, but it was short. I still have a hard time focusing on tasks.

But, I'm hopeful and am looking forward to meeting myself at the end of the month.

I've Become THAT Person

2010-12-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

I've spent almost my whole life as the type of person who can, and did, eat almost anything. I felt fortunate in that I didn't have any food allergies or religious restrictions or new-age ideals against any types of foods. Sure, there were those years of "dieting" to lose weight with the occasional indulgence. And, yeah, I did discover a slight intolerance to lactose, leading me to greatly reduce (but not totally eliminate) my cheese and ice cream intake.

When I began the Paleo/Primal lifestyle I was delighted! Food was full of flavor and I still got to eat many of my favorite foods. It was a relief to eat bacon and eggs without the guilt. Steak became a healthfood (as long as it was grass-fed, of course). Trips to the farmers' market were an adventure as Froody and I harvested familiar and new fruits and vegetables. I was eating things like chard, kale, and kohl rabi along with organic heirloom tomatoes. Ah, life and eating were good!

The only downside was the fact that I wasn't losing any weight. Granted, I hadn't gained any, either, but I really, really, really wanted/needed to lose at least 25lbs. So I became more strict. In doing so, I changed. No longer the person who ate anything I was the one at the restaurant who asked all those annoying questions: "Is it unsweetened?", "Can I get that without the bread?", "There's no rice or pasta in it, right?", "No cheese, please, and can I just have oil and vinegar on the side?" "Can I have the side salad instead of the french fries?"

Seriously, it's that strange for me. We even had dinner with some friends, one of whom only eats raw fruits and vegetables. While she was making the salad she asked me if I wanted corn in it. I said I could pick it out, but she basically said it was the first time she had to deal with someone else's diet. For a change. That really got to me!

Honestly giving up the breads, cereals, rice, pasta, corn, tortillas, etc. wasn't all that hard. Cutting my alcohol back to a drink once or twice a month isn't that terrible, neither was giving up sugar and chocolate. The most difficult thing was cutting out all dairy (you've already messed with my coffee MoFo!! curse you for taking my creamer!!).

I feel like I'm the weird one making sure what I eat is gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free; that it's wholesome and organic; that it's locally grown (a plus). If I eat gluten or dairy, I feel bloated and nauseous. Even if it's a little bit. :( Now, I have to think about each bite of food and ask myself 1) Will this make me sick? and 2) If so, is it worth it? Because I will. get. physically. ill.

The longer I follow this lifestyle the more I come across folk who also have wheat and dairy sensitivities. (OK, lets' call them what they are: allergies). I've even heard of some restaurants having allergy-free menus. Gee, if so many are sensitive to gluten, maybe it's time to put down that bagel and have some more bacon.

The 12 Days of Christmas- CrossFit Style

2010-12-11T14:06:00.000-08:00

Merry Fitness to All, and to All a Good Workout!

Today, our gym co-hosted a Holiday Workout and Pig Roast. At first, I thought it was so awesome that our gym has created this amazing and fun community, one where we'd love to participate in a sort of "workout/party".

When we arrived, we discovered that this Holiday Workout had a theme: The 12 Days of Christmas. This is what was posted on the board when you walked in:

1. Weighted 100m run- run as fast as you can carrying a weight (I used a 10lb medicine ball. One of my trainers carried a 50lb keg)
2. Pistols- one-legged squats
3. Knees-to-elbows - hang from the pull-up bar and bring your knees to your elbows or as high as you can
4. Box jumps
5. Burpees- ugh... basically, fall on the ground, do a push-up (I do planks), bring your feet under you into a squat, then jump up and clap your hands above your head
6. Pull-ups
7. Sit-ups
8. Ring dips- I did regular dips on a tall box
9. Kettle bell swings (I used a 12lb kb)
10. Tire flips- flip a tractor tire. Choice between large and super large (I did the large one)
11. Hollow rocks- lie on the floor and curl up, keeping your abs tight, then rock back and forth. Is harder than it sounds
12. Hand-stand push-ups- yup, get upside down and do a push-up. (I did it kneeling on a box)

So, you had to do the workout like the song: 1 100m weighted run; 2 pistols and a 100m weighted run; 3 knees-to-elbows, 2 pistols, and a 100m weighted run....

I think you get the point. And you should've seen everyone's face as soon as this workout sunk in. I was none too happy about it, but I was determined to do it.

Man, there was a lot of cursing involved. At least on my part! (Hey, isn't Jesus the reason for the season anyway??). The trouble is that at first it's not so bad, but that 100m weighted run gets harder and harder. The worst part, for me, was the 10 tire flips. Jesus Christ... Goddamn f***in' tractor tire... Yeah, you're flipping a tractor tire 30 times!!!! Some of the middle ones also were deceptive. You're like, "*pshaw* 7 sit-ups... that's cake!" But you're doing 6 sets of 7 after all the kettlebell swings/pull-ups/and tire flips which are all things that require solid cores. It was also hard on my hands because you're doing 7 sets of 6 pull-ups and 10 sets of 3 k2e. For the first time in my life, the burpees were not the suckiest part of the workout, and that's saying something!

In the end, a lot of people showed up for this workout and we had to do it in two heats. I joined the first heat. It took me 50 minutes to do this 12 Days of Christmas Workout, which is very long for a Crossfit workout. But, after a little cry I felt better and am very, very glad I did it. :)

Farewell to Cream

2010-12-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Cream-

We've been together for a while now. Without you, I don't know if I could have dumped sugar out of my life. But my friends are telling me that you're no good for me and that I should give you up. :(

This is hard for me, too, Cream. It's not you- you're great- it's me. Somehow you're keeping me from reaching my goals. I decided that losing my excess weight is more important to me than how you make my coffee taste in the morning.

I see this as a temporary split. Maybe, in a month's time, we can try again. I hope that in the meantime we can still be friends.

Good-bye and God bless,
Janola

So Sensitive

2010-09-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well, the first month is almost over. How did I do?

Oh, man! I feel like a new person! Life is great and food tastes better. Ripe fruits taste like candy! I never knew how sweet tomatoes and carrots could be! Unsweetened sun tea is my new indulgence! Yes, life is sweet!

Last weekend, I had a glass of wine and dinner with friends where they cooked so I ate what they made. I didn't want to be "Oh, thanks for cooking but I'm not going to eat it." We had summer rolls, good conversation, and homemade brownies for dessert. They offered (and I accepted) tequila and juice. The next day my tummy was a little upset. But, it went away and I still felt good.

Yesterday I did Happy Hour with my friends. I started out with a diet soda and said no to the chips for about 45 min. But then, I ended up having 2 beers and about 2 cups of nachos/chips/salsa. Later on that evening I felt completely annoyed, angry, and frustrated. Fortunately, a part of me realized I was being irrational so it kept me from picking an argument with Froody. I felt so bad I just wanted the day to end. So, I went to bed early. In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a tummy ache. This morning I'm feeling a little better tummy-wise, but my mood is altered. I'm not as positive as before. :( What happened? Was it the nachos? Too many beers? Hormones?

However, I'm fairly certain that I'll be all perky again after another few days of eating right. Will I do Happy Hour again? *scoff* Of course! But I'll be sure to avoid the chips and stick with a glass of red wine and water.

No Sugar Week 1- Done!

2010-08-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made it! When I first thought of going a week without sugar, I thought it would be hard, that I'd be dying for chocolate or unable to enjoy unsweetened coffee.

But, I did it!

OK- I did have 2 glasses of wine on Friday and two more on Saturday. Eh. I'm still calling it a success. And I'm still riding that wave of positivity. What other differences have there been? Not too many, but I'll tell you anyway.

1) My "digestive system has been, shall we say, busier. Not wanting to get into any details, I've been going to the bathroom a bit more often than before. 'Nuff said.

2) I've been feeling "friskier." Again, not to get too personal but I do want to make note of this for myself at least. I think Froody has noticed and responded. ;-)

3) Not sleeping as well. It's been taking me longer to fall asleep and then I wake up in the middle of the night and it takes a while to all asleep again. :(

I talked to my trainer about the sleep problem and he suggested I give it three weeks. That should give my body a chance to readjust to the new sugar-free diet. I'm not entirely sugar-free. Some nights I've chosen to consume two ounces of fruit. Believe me...I savor every little bite.

Oh, and, yeah, I'm going another week without sugar.

NO SUGAR- DAY 3

2010-08-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

In case you forgot, this is the band Sugar Ray. "Every morning there's a halo hanging from the corner of my girlfriend's four-post bed."

OK. As you know, I've been trying to do two things: Follow the Primal Diet and Lose This Friggin' Weight. Again.

According to the PD, if you consume between 50-100g of carbohydrates a day, you should easily and effortlessly lose weight. So began my month-and-a-half long journey of weighing and measuring everything. Which I did. And I was good about it; just ask Froody.

Well, I didn't really lose any weight. OK- I lost 3 lbs for all that effort. Not the 8-10 that the PD leads you to believe. So, like any other normal, American woman... I got desperate.

Just how desperate????

So desperate that I figured I needed to be eating less than 50g of carbs a day. Like 30-40g. But, I didn't want to eat any less than I'm already eating. (Seriously- measuring out 1/3c of mushrooms or 2 oz of chicken per meal is kinda depressing.)

So desperate that I chose (ugh) to stop. eating. sugar. *groan* And wine. *gasp* And chocolate. *sob*

I KNOW. I KNOW. As a normal, American woman that's unthinkable. Especially since I only used 1 3/4 tsp in my coffee (morning and afternoon). And I would only eat 1 square of extra dark chocolate most nights. And I would only have 4 oz of red wine at night. (Yeah, when you pour wine into a Pyrex measuring cup and then into a wine glass, a lot of the romance goes away.)

But, let me reiterate: I. AM. DESPERATE. And I decided that cutting out those things would accomplish 2 good things: 1) I'd finally be strict PD and 2) I'd be cutting out 14-24g of carbs per day.

So that's what I did on Tuesday. I figured I'd give it a week and then reassess.

Now that it's Day 3 I have to say that so far, everything is pretty OK. I actually like unsweetened iced tea. Unsweetened iced coffee isn't that bad, either. I haven't heard the chocolate sitting in my fridge calling my name, either. But do you want to know the weirdest and strangest thing to happen since I stopped eating sugar?

Those negative voices inside my head have stopped. My self-esteem has climbed and my attitude is pretty positive. I know, I know...this sounds crazy. But I did come across an article that says there has been some research that suggests link between sugar and depression and anxiety. Obviously, there are all sorts of variables at work here, but I felt so good yesterday that it made me wonder. Some of you don't know this, but depression (and addiction) seem to run in my family. What if my body is just hyper-sensitive to sugar? Or, with my decreased carb-intake, the relatively high percentage of sugar was messin' me up?

Anyway, I'll continue to monitor myself. If there really is a link between sugar and feeling "happy", it may make giving up these things a bit easier to do.

Still Counting

2010-08-09T18:14:00.001-07:00

Well, one and a half months in and I'm still weighing and measuring. Go me!

Have I lost 25lbs? Gone down several dress sizes? Full of vim and vigor???

Sadly, the answer is no.

But wait! I have noticed changes in my behavior towards food, and that's what I want to tell you. It'll be good for me so that I don't focus on what isn't happening.

1. Tummy talk- This time around, I realized that I use to my mouth or eyes and not my stomach to determine whether or not I'm full or satisfied. My mouth tells me how tasty something is and how it's a shame to not finish it, because who knows when I'll have it again? Then, my eyes notice how there's not that much left on my plate, so go ahead...finish it. Now, I've decided to give my stomach a good listen and if it says it's full, then I stop. At first this was hard, because, hey, who doesn't like to eat tasty food? But it's gotten easier.

2. Make it a choice- Not only am I tuning in to my stomach, but I'm putting a positive spin on this Primal Diet. I tell myself that, really, I can eat ANYTHING I want (chocolate, pasta, beer...) but I CHOOSE not to. It's my decision. That has really made a difference. I'd rather eat something (or not eat it) because I want to, not because I feel like I have to.

3. It's smaller!- OK, I'm not talking about my pants-size. I'm talking about portion size. You know, I really don't need to eat big meals anymore. Even with WeightWatchers, I'd eat large portions. I could stretch a "point" like you wouldn't believe! But on PD it's not points but grams of carbs and proteins, and sadly, I can't fudge those. :( To my surprise, that's OK because I'm ....

4. Less hungry- My trainer asked me if I felt hungry during this past month, and that's when I realized I didn't. Three meals a day and one snack is all I need, amazingly enough. I used to need to eat more often, snacking in the mornings and evenings, grazing in the afternoons. For me, a snack is a cup of coffee with cream and 1 3/4 tsp sugar and a hardboiled egg. Or an ounce of almonds. Sometimes my mouth wants to chew on "something", even if I'm not hungry. I try to drink water at those times.

Alright, body! Seems my brain is adjusting to these diet changes. Now it's time for you to drop some lbs. Pretty please. :)

Weights and Measures

2010-06-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

bleh. As a lot of you know, I've been trying to lose weight for ever. Seriously. For a while now I've been half-heartedly following several diet tenets. Of course, that approach doesn't work. At least, not for me.

So it's back to focusing on one diet- the Primal Diet. What I like about the PD is that it's about eating food that's real food, not processed and full of bad chemicals. It means only consuming a certain amount of carbohydrates and proteins. That, in turn, means breaking out my trusty collection of measuring spoons and measuring cups, my food scale, and the Internet.

Part of me balks at all this fuss. It takes the fun out of eating. I can no longer just grab some of this and a handful of that and put it in my mouth. :( I have to actually think about what I'm about to eat. :-o

But, another part of me is all for it. At least when I'm measuring out an ounce of nuts, researching how many carbs are in 3 grape tomatoes, and deciding how many ounces of steak will give me 23g of protein I feel like I'm doing something towards losing this weight. It forces me to take control of this part of my life. I know that someday (next week? tomorrow?) I'm going to curse at my measuring equipment but right now it feels pretty good. Besides, I've already 1.5 lbs since I started 2 days ago, and that's very encouraging!

Is It Just Me???

2010-05-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

While wandering around the internet I found an ad for Bonobos which looks like a fancy-pants men's store. It's got pics of good-looking guys in khakis and polo shirts, posing in expensive flip-flops.

But when I think of bonobos, I think of chimps. Seriously, doesn't everyone think of monkeys when they hear that word? Why would you name your male shi-shi company after a bunch of chimpanzees? Maybe it's just me, but the word "bonobo" does not make me think of adventures with a man wearing madras shorts. It makes me think of the only non-human animal that has face-to-face sex.

hmmmm.....sex.... Maybe the company's PR people did know what they were doing.

New Beginnings

2010-05-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

"It's hard to think about your life when one life is made up of so many lifetimes."

Or something like that. I remember a friend of mine said this once. It made a lot of sense when I was 25. I was on life #3 or 4 by then, and I thought that was a lot!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all that I have decided to change my life. I am leaving teaching (for now? for good?). I am a good teacher, but it has been very stressful. To be a good teacher you need to invest a lot of yourself, heart and soul, into your lessons, school, and students. After my year off and my year back in the classroom, I've discovered that I don't have much to give anymore. Even less to bring to my relationship with Froody. He's the main reason I've chosen to change careers. For 9.5 months I'm too tired to go camping, hiking, even out to dinner with family and friends. It would be so nice to be able to do all those things I like doing- alone and with Froody- for more than just 2.5 months out of the year.

Now is a good time to leave. Teachers seem to be coming under fire in this country. Even my current good and supportive district is planning on increasing class-size to 34 (hell, who wants to be locked in a room full of 13 year olds all day everyday for 9 months!?), not give us the next step in pay, and add more "furlough" days (no school = no work = no pay). Not only that, but did you hear about the school that fired all their teachers because the kids aren't scoring well?? True, I think teachers do need to be accountable, but so do the students, parents, and school district. How can the government expect me to teach these kids when they keep giving me less and less $$ and resources to do my job??? How can I teach these kids when their parents are unable or do not want to be positive contributors to their students' education?

bleh. I'd rather be an animal nurse.

End chapter 8. Start chapter 9.

Farewell, Tastebuds

2010-04-11T18:52:00.001-07:00

As you know, all year I've been trying to follow a more healthy diet. With such a reduction in processed foods and grains, I thought I'd treat myself today with a diet coke and a bag of popcorn at the movies. (!) I also brought a small bag of nuts and my sister brought a bag of carrots. We had all the bases covered.

So, I buy a small bag of popcorn. With butter. Can you smell it? mmMMmm.... I'm so looking forward to this!!!...

Anyway, I sit down and have a kernal. then another. and another. Eventually, I put the bag down and reach for my sister's carrots and the bag of nuts. I was ssssooooo disappointed! I think after months of no grains my tastebuds have changed. The popcorn was OK, but I couldn't even finish it, not even with my sister's help. :(

*sigh* I used to derive so much pleasure from foods. They were my greatest comfort. Now it feels as if they are deserting me. Or, perhaps, I'm learning to live without them.

Rat Walk

2010-04-03T20:55:00.001-07:00

My sweet girls! From left: Lysia, Lily, and Lottie (or, as my husband calls them: Black Rat, Little Rat, Fat Rat)

Rats, like people, have different gaits. Their style and speed depends on their moods and purpose, just like us. So far, I've identified 6 different gaits

*Waddle- This is a slow walk. More like a human saunter. If they wore pants, they'd have their hands in their pockets, whistling, not really paying attention to anything.

*Speed Walk- I saw this one tonight. It's a much faster walk. Legs and tails are held high off the ground and they spend a lot of time sniffing. I think at this pace they are making their mental map of the area.

*Skulk- This is when they are trying to be sneaky (more likely, trying not to get caught). They usually hug the sides of the walls and stay low to the ground.

*Prance- They are so cute when they prance! My rats do this when they've found something (nesting material, nut, seeds) and they want to take it somewhere else. Their heads are held high and they do little jumps, trying to keep their treasure from touching the ground.

*Scurry- I love the sound of teen-tiny feet scurrying across the floor. :) Obviously, this is done when they are in a hurry. It looks like a fast skulk in that the rats seem to stay close to the ground.

*RUN!- Now, normally I see them running when they are chasing each other or if they get scared. Or, when they hear the snack sound and they want to get their snack RIGHT NOW. :)

Whence from Art Thou, Chard?

2010-03-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

Today, Froody and I returned from a long weekend of camping. It was great, and as soon as the pix are ready, I'll share them with you. The home larder was bare, so I went to buy fruit and veggies for the rest of the week.

Normally we do all our produce shopping at the local farmers market. But since we missed it, I had no choice but to go to a grocery store. I planned on making a recipe that called for capers, so I decided that the local Safeway was the best choice (more likely than Trader Joe's to have capers, and cheaper than Draeger's).

My hand stopped midway to the kale, immobilized by the thought, "I have no idea where this kale came from." I pulled my hand back and scanned the produce aisle. Much of the veggies had come from Mexico. I had to look at the bands holding the bunches of chard and dandelion greens together to see where they were from, but they only said they were from the USA.

Then, I realized that I've never thought about where my food comes from until this January.

Next, I thought it was strange thinking it was strange not to know where my food is from. Anyway, I bought about $100 in produce. I had to suck it up and buy some stuff from who-knows-where.

The checkout guy started in on me about how kids these days don't eat enough vegetables or fruit, yadda-yadda-yadda. Blame it on the parents, blah-blah-blah. It took me a while to realize he was impressed with the amount of vegetables my family obviously ate.

Hardest Thing

2010-02-07T20:25:00.001-08:00

Teaching is a hard job. You work and work at it, with the understanding that it'll take you about 10 years before you're really good at it. You are under-appreciated and overworked. There are those satisfying moments, but they are oftentimes out-numbered by bad times.

I've bemoaned this before, but I find myself again thinking of other job options. yeah, my friends say I'm a good teacher, but I don't enjoy working this hard for so little return. My sister, Dre, left teaching to pursue her dream- middle eastern dance. My passion is knitting. Could I make a living knitting? I like painting, too. Could I do that instead of teach? Who'd pay me to knit or paint them stuff?

Dre loves her life and it shows. She works very, very hard but feels like it's worth it. I think that's the difference. I work just as hard, but don't feel the worth.

So Out of IT

2010-01-28T19:35:00.001-08:00

OK-being an adult in a teenage environment, you get used to the fact that "they" will always see you as grown up and uncool. I'm used to it and can handle it.

But yesterday one of my students said that his absent partner had their assignment (the downside to assigning group-work) so he couldn't turn it in. I said, "That's OK, just email him and remind him to bring it tomorrow."

The kid kinda half-laughed and said he wouldn't email him, but would most likely text him. A text!

Sheesh, I didn't think I was that out of it.

So Much Chard

2010-01-24T17:57:00.000-08:00

Went to the farmer's market today for our weekly supply of produce. Turns out everyone is selling the same two things: chard and beets. I never knew there were so many leafy greens that were not lettuce.

We did find one farm selling bell peppers and tomatoes. Bought a bunch just so we could eat something that wasn't green.

Primal Blueprint- week 2

2010-01-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

Rainbow chard- almost too pretty to eat!
Well, as of last week I had lost a total of 1.2 lbs, which made my week. Today, I'm up 1 lb. :( Froody suggests it's due to my weekend in Vegas (omg- it was so much fun!). And, if I think on it, I did happy hour with some friends last night (read: margarita with chips and salsa) before going to the gym (I wasn't drunk, but I didn't push myself as hard as I could have). Also, my muscles (all over) are tired and sore which means they are full of lactic acid, so I guess that 1lb gain is easily explained away.

My goal is to remain a bit more faithful to the primal way of eating this week. I'm also going to try to stay around 50g of carbs/day. Not so easy.

Anyway, part of our new eating habits includes local, organically grown foods. I'm surprised at how challenging that is. I mean, I live in California, the "promise land" of produce. We grow everything here!

But, it is "winter" time, even for us. A lot of fruits and veggies are not in season, so the ones available at the store (even at Whole Foods) are imported from Mexico and South America. So, sticking to our resolution means having to eat a lot of produce we didn't really eat before. Such as:

1. Chard, in all its colors
2. Beets- they do have a lot of carbohydrates, but they are in season. Their flavor is very earthy, but better than canned beets which had been my only beet experience. Note: golden beets are not as strong as red beets, but still beety.
3. Fennel bulbs
4. Mustard greens- I picked some up at a farmer's market because it looked like a small bouquet of yellow flowers and smelled nice. I thought it would be interesting to eat something with flowers.
5. Carrots- I guess they are always in season.
6. Spinach
7. Bok choy- adds a lot of texture to all those hardy, leafy greens.

That's about it for California winter foods. Not much selection. Honestly, I only get the beets to add some color to all those greens. Also why I like to get swiss chard- such a nice red.

It's going to be so nice when spring and summer get here and other veggies will be available again!

Fat and Ugly

2010-01-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

That is how I feel right now, and how I've been feeling for a while. I know that those of you who know me are telling me how wrong I am, and that I'm not fat or ugly. And, as much as I appreciate your thoughts, they're not enough to counter the voices in my head.

In fact, I have my own voice telling me the same thing, but for some reason it isn't loud enough. Or, maybe I'm just not listening to it. I don't remember ever feeling this bad about myself, or having such little self esteem. Maybe when I weighed over 200lbs, but that was a long time ago.

My good voice ("Betty" I call her) does try to talk to me. For some reason I can't believe what she tells me. I know that to make her stronger I have to more attention to her and less to that critical voice. (I don't have a name for that bad voice.) That ugly, awful, hurtful voice that is so loud and strong. Betty is more quiet and loving. She's also patient. I think she knows that someday I'll listen to her more carefully and that I'll trust what she's saying. She's not going to push herself on my like the other voice.

I wish she would.

Maybe she doesn't want to take power from me, but is waiting for me to give it to her. Not like the other voice who forces herself on me and takes my power from me. It's strong now because I feel bad, and by feeling bad I'm vulnerable and unable to fight her off. :(

But I think writing this down is Betty's way of helping me put my feelings in order, because it reminds me that she is there and that she doesn't think I'm fat or ugly. She knows I'm not happy but believes that I am strong enough to see things through. She knows that things will get better. She reminds me that I am surrounded by people who love and support me and who think I am worthy of being happy and loved. She's waiting for me to love myself again. Like a seed in the desert, waiting for the rain to come wake it up so it can bloom.

Thinking of her makes me feel peaceful. I'm not fat or ugly in this moment. My rats are playing at my feet and my Froody is working next to me, happy to have me back home after my weekend away. The sun is even out, letting me see that my life is good and that I am good, too.

The Great Experiment, Week 1

2010-01-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

OK, so this was my first week on the Primal Blueprint. I continued going to my Crossfit gym (3x this week!) and even did an extra walk early in the week. I hope to go on another short walk today.

I feel OK for the most part. I have been greeting the days with a slight tummy ache, mostly after a heavy dinner (that coconut and veggie curry was ssssooooo good, I couldn't help myself). Today (Saturday) is the worst: slight dizziness and moody tummy. I had breakfast anyway, but the yuckiness hasn't abated. :( According to Mark's book it's not unusual to feel crappy for the first 2-3 weeks. This morning's funny tummy (NO, I am NOT pregnant you guys, sheesh) could stem from a couple of things: overall change in diet, slightly acidic dinner (veggies in tomato sauce. also yummy), and my first school happy hour in a while (1.5 beers, french fries). So, who can say??

Anyway, just wanted to make a list of some of the changes I did this week:
1. cut back on carbs- Before reading the book, I had already cut out or cut back on a lot of grain-based foods, mainly pasta and rice. I did have the occasional slice of bread and would have a bowl of whole grain cereal/granola for breakfast.

2. cut back on sugar- I had cut out artificial sweeteners over a year ago, which meant using real sugar in my coffee. I was using 2 tbsp of sugar per 16oz of coffee *gasp*. But, I'm down to 1 tbsp per 20oz. Yay, me!

3. cut back on veggies and fruit- The book says that if you really want to lose fat, you should have 50-100g of carbs a day. This past week I cut back on the amount of veggies and fruits I normally eat, meaning I eat a little less volume. Surprisingly, I survived. :)

4. eat more healthy fats- Well, what helped with the reduction in the amount of foods was probably eating more fats, like cooking with butter, snacking on nuts, adding avocado to eggs and salads, and using heavy cream in my coffee.

5. no soda- No, not even diet soda. I did buy some sparkling water and lemon, which seem to help. Also, just plain ice water and lemon really hit the spot on those occasions when I really needed a soda.

6. learning to stop- I'm still having a hard time with this. Mark says to stop eating once you stop feeling hungry. I like the way my food tastes, so I want to eat it all, even if I'm no longer hungry and feel full. But, what I've learned from the book is that if I'm hungry later on, I can eat again. Amazing! No one's every said that to me before. Of course, lots of you are probably saying, "No, duh", but I never looked at food that way before. So, this week I'm going to concentrate on stopping when I feel satisfied, knowing I can eat a little later if I have to.

The result of this week is that I've lost 0.6lbs, 0.3% body fat, and my BMI went down by 0.1. I think that's pretty good.

What Will Power!

2010-01-04T17:02:00.000-08:00

Didn't even know I had it in me! There's been leftover Christmas candy, cookies, and cake in the staff room all day. Even chocolate, and I didn't have any of it. :)

Man, if I don't lose weight this week, it's not my fault! I'm being so good!

Primal Blueprint- Day 3

2010-01-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

What a happy fruit bowl! The fennel actually lives the fridge, but wanted to have it's picture taken. Oh, and the pineapple is from the grocery store, not the farmer's market.

Today, Froody and I went to the farmer's market. The author of Primal Blueprint is big on organic, locally grown foods. (As are a lot of other authors and environmentalists, etc. We think it's a pretty good way to go. Of course, it helps that we live in California where we grow everything.) We're definitely fortunate to live in a place that has a few farmer's markets a week with lots of variety. Ours also has folks who sell locally caught wild fish and locally raised chicken, eggs, and beef. We brought our full (reusable canvas) bags home and managed to find a place for all that produce. Our large wooden bowl looks awesome, full of luscious, colorful fruits and vegetables. Don't you feel healthier just looking at it?

The next step is....what to do with all that stuff! We bought some veggies we don't normally eat, like the fennel bulb, bok choy, and some rainbow chards. So for lunch I did our fallback cooking method: throw everything in a pan and cook it up. I heated up about 2 tsp of olive oil, 1 tbsp of butter, and some pine nuts. Chopped up a fennel bulb and a couple of baby bok choys and some swiss chard for color (another "new" veggie, from last week's purchase). Tossed them all in. Once they softened up I added in some chopped garlic and a couple of tsp's of seasame oil. Then, I chopped and threw in the leftover pork tenderloin from last night's dinner. And, some salt and pepper. Froody and I really liked it.

Man, is there anything olive oil, butter, and garlic can't do??

*******
Ok, so if I'm going to follow the Primal Blueprint, I have to do this right, right? That meant getting on the scale and calculating my lean body mass. I'll tell you right now, it's not pretty. But, if you want to at least have a guideline as to how much you should be eating, you need to know. Mark does say to leave it to your own appetite to tell you what's what, but I know from personal experience that that will only make me fatter. :( It's hard for me to eat only when I'm hungry. I just like food too much. :)

Anyway, according to the Primal Blueprint, since I want to lose weight, my goal is to eat less than 100g of carbs a day (from fruit and veggies, no grains, bread, pastas, etc.) and about 100g of proteins. I'll admit that I don't eat nearly that much protein in a day, so while I'll be eating less produce, I'll be eating more meats and healthy fats. I'm going to try it for January and let you know how it goes.

Modern Cave Girl

2009-12-31T14:35:00.001-08:00

For the past couple of years, Froody and I have been improving our diet by eating more fruits and vegetables and proteins- more real foods- and less breads, rice, grains, pastas, and fake foods. Believe me, in this modern day and age it's real hard to buy food that doesn't contain chemicals or high fructose corn syrup. You have to be careful and it requires "constant vigilance."

Anyway, during our trip it was even more challenging, so we just ate what the locals ate (with the occasional trip to McD's and etc.). But, now that I'm back home and settled, it's time to get serious. The signs are all there telling me that now is the perfect to get back in that cave! (so to speak):

1) Look Better (Almost) Naked challenge at the gym
2) Froody buying the book "The Primal Blueprint" (and me reading it)
3)New Year's Eve- day of making resolutions!
4)Blue Moon tonight

I mean, come on, who can ignore so many messages from the great beyond? And, besides, tonight is the night to live it up with wine, champagne, snacks, etc. In fact, I'm going to have a nice bowl of granola (hey, this is how I live it up) today, because as they say: eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we (primal)diet!

In a nutshell, the primal blueprint is all about diet and exercise in a way that promotes a healthy lifestyle. As far as food goes, I'm supposed to eat stuff that Grok and his mate ate about 10,000 years ago, before the agriculture explosion. Today I'm excited about it, as it seems like the natural next step to what I've already been trying to do: eat real food.

But next time I'll be ready to bitch and moan about the few non-food foods I still eat that I'll have to give up. :(

Lordy, Lordy, I'm 40

2009-12-28T10:17:00.000-08:00

I read this blog and how she's getting ready for her mid-life crisis to begin at 40 and since I'm already there, maybe I need to get started on it.

I'm very happy with my private-life, just not with my work-life. Teaching is hard and thankless, as every teacher will tell you. I'm teaching a class I can't teach (it feels more like I'm "showing"math rather than "teaching" it). Also, seems like the district wants to increase the number of students per class. I don't know about you, but 32 teens in one room seems too many to me already! I'm sure next year will be better for me in the classroom, but not good enough.

Anyway, I keep thinking of finding something else to do. But...what? There's the whole "do what you love" thing. What do I love doing? I love sitting in front of the TV. I love knitting. I like painting and writing. I love my ratties. Can't imagine anyone giving me money to watch TV and knit. Also, my paintings and writings aren't good enough to inspire anyone to give me $$ for them. Rat-breeding is also out. At $30/rat, I'd have to sell a lot of rats to make a living out of it!

Mainly I just want a job that I can "leave" when I leave, you know?? Not put in all these at-home hours. Not be stressed out and graying over it. Not losing sleep about it. It's just not worth it sometimes.

I keep thinking I could work for Trader Joe's. I like food. Or maybe I could be a librarian. I like books. Pretty much anything I could do for about $40K/year. Traveling would also be awesome, as long as I could take Froody with me.

What Are You?

2009-11-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

So, all month-long NPR's weekend edition has had this series called "Beyond Black and White" about people and race and ethnicity in America. I've actually enjoyed listening to it, as it features people who have been dealing with a lot of the same questions I've been trying to answer for years. As a kid growing up in America (well, in Southern California) you do get asked the question, "What are you?" fairly regularly: signing up for anything, going to school, meeting new people, etc. I've tried answering this question several different ways.

Racially, I'm brown. I know, I know, that's a color not a race, but I can't hide it, not even if I wanted to. OK- racially I'm mixed, but it's pretty complicated. According to the information I've gathered from my grandmothers, I'm: Spanish, French, Afro-Cuban, (probably also Mexican-Indian but grandma wouldn't admit it), Iranian, Italian, Jewish, and Japanese. So, racially, I look like anyone and everyone. If you've been following this blog (bless you!), then you know that in the Middle East and India people thought I was a local, until I opened my mouth.

Ethnically, I'm American-Mexican. I totally identify with being American. In fact, when I was a teenager/early twenties and people would ask, "What are you?" my answer was, "I'm American." *sigh* Sadly, this made things more unclear because then they'd ask me what tribe I belonged to or how many hundreds of years my family has been in California. So, I quickly gave that up.

Culturally, I'm Mexican-American, but I don't speak Spanish so for some this doesn't make me "Mexican" enough. When my family emigrated to the US, the attitude back then was, "We're in America now, so let's be American," and they embraced the language and a lot of traditions like Independence Day and Thanksgiving. They still kept some bits of Mexican culture like the food and music, piñatas on your birthday, and they all speak Spanish. But my cousins, siblings, and I didn't grow up bilingual.

Anyway, part of me thought that being back in America would make this question moot, 'cuz I'm back home. But, I got hired at a school where I am one of two brown people. Now, that doesn't mean that the other teachers aren't culturally mixed (which they are) but they have asked, "What are you?"

My answer? I figure if they ask, then they are going to get my big, ol' list of races that I already gave you. To me, being mixed in any way is fairly American.

Library Gossip

2009-11-15T20:12:00.001-08:00

So, I went back to the library today. It was good; got 3 hours of grading done! The science tests are all graded, which means I can give the kids back their tests tomorrow. It also gave me some time this evening to plan out the next project and get a start on tomorrow's power point lecture.

But, what I really wanted to share with you all are some things I noticed about the library. For starters, it is very popular with the several homeless people who live here in Menlo Park. ( No surprise.)So much so that the library staff posted a sign in the bathroom prohibiting bathing and laundering, with the location of the nearest shelter where they can bath and wash clothes.

Also, the library is full of adults. I'm more used to seeing tons of kids at the library, but this weekend it was full of grown-ups doing quiet, grown-up stuff: reading the paper and magazines, computering, looking for books, and even using Skype. I guess kids have more to do on the weekends than adults.

But the strange thing I witnessed yesterday and today was the interaction between a math tutor (an older guy, probably in his mid- to late- 40s) and the tutee, a woman in her 30s. Man, she would argue with him, rant, demand explanations, and she even cried once. All over calculus. He just sat there, not really saying much. He let her do things her own way, and when they didn't work out then he'd step in and show her another way to solve the problem. There would be these periods of quiet, then she'd start in on him about why the equations didn't graph the same, and she'd seem to get more and more angry while he just sat there. Then, there'd be periods of concern, when she'd ask him how he was, what was wrong, did he want to go outside for a break. He pretty much responded to these queries in a quiet, calm voice, saying as little as possible. Today ended by her asking when they could get together again and offering to give him a ride home. Which he declined.

Anyway, it was weird. She would get totally aggro with him. I've never seen or heard of tutees getting all mad at their tutors on a regular basis.

Library Marm

2009-11-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

Today i went to the library to grade some papers. i've never been in my neighborhood library, so i was grateful to find it large and quiet. being saturday, it thought it would be full of kids doing weekend stuff- animal show, read-aloud, etc. but, it was full of adults on their laptops or doing math with their tutors. i got a table to myself and graded one class-worth of tests in record time- 1hr 15 min.

on an unrelated note, my arms are tired already from typing! yesterday we did a great/hard workout and my muscles are still recovering. i'm sure white wine is very good for tired arm muscles.

Endophorins! Yeah!!

2009-11-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post. Froody and I worked out this evening and I feel pretty good. I felt so good after the workout that I wished I could get paid to workout!

Today I did my first ever, all-by-myself, against-the-wall handstands! My trainer and I were so proud of me. :-) Also, I think I found my "sweet spot" for doing deadlifts. Today I DL'd 52 kg (that's like 115lbs to you).

At the end of the evening I felt that life was pretty good, and if I can do handstands and deadlifts, then I can handle pretty much anything.

The Crying Game

2009-11-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

I hate to admit it, but I have been crying a lot more than usual. It's just stress, OK, but still....

You know, as a teacher you put a lot of yourself in your job, because it isn't just a job. The kids need more than just instruction. They need someone who believes in them and cares for them. They want to know that what you are asking them to do has some sort of purpose.

So, when someone criticises your teaching, you can't help but take it personally, even when part of you knows not to.

Therefore, another part of you just wants to tell them all to go to hell, and another part wants to say f*** this shi* and go work for Trader Joe's.

But, for now, I'll just sob on my husband's shoulder and know that next year will be better.

Like Poking Ants

2009-11-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

So, this weekend I took the advice of Cairo Typ0 and went to a salon to get my hair done. Being Menlo Park, there were quite a few to choose from. The hair stylist asked me how I chose that particular salon and I said it was due to the fact that it's right across from my local Trader Joe's, so I see it all the time. Plus, it's big, so I figure it's got to be busy enough to be able to afford such a big space.

Anyway, I got a trim and dyed my hair. My "normal" coloring was a bit too dark for their darkest brown, yet not dark enough for the black. (Actually, my hair had orange, gray, brown, and more gray all over it). I chose to go black, and I'm really happy with it!

The blah thing about my new hair is that in every class the kids just got loud and annoying over my hair. Most of them liked it, but it was as if I grew another arm or something. sheesh! It actually took them a few extra minutes to calm down at the beginning of class because they all wanted to say something about it.

At least it was mostly positive. And, I do like it and that's all that matters.

Cute and Nice

2009-11-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

Janola. She and her sister started my whole love affair with ratties.

Just wanted to share with the rest of the world my opinion on having rats as pets.

They totally rule. Rats are the best kind of pet. I have one sitting on my shoulder right now, sniffing my hair. I have another on my lap who can't decide whether to climb or jump down. And the third is exploring the computer desk, which eventually leads to "helping" me type.

Rats are awesome for a whole lotta reasons. They are quiet, for one. No barking or rude meowing at ungodly hours. They're small so they always know that you dominate their lives. While they do beg for food, if they get too annoying you just put them in their cage. Oh, and when they get tired, they put themselves away. Yup- they just up and go into their cage and nap or eat.

Rats are the original foodies. The quickest way to a rat's heart is through her stomach. Case in point: after hubby and I spent a weekend away, they were all in a huff because they were left alone and "locked up" in their cage for two days. To show their resentment, they acted like we were total strangers, running away from us and refusing to let us pet them. However, after a couple of extra snacks, all was forgiven and they were back to climbing onto and playing with us.

It's cute how something as small as a box of packing peanuts is, to them, a place of adventure. They love to dig through those packing peanuts and chew on a few. They also love to dig in the trash, going through waste paper and whatnots. Sometimes I put in seeds or nuts and they just love coming across this "treasure." They jump onto the basket's edge with their prize in their mouths, looking so pleased with themselves. Then they jump down and hide it in a corner somewhere.

I know you may find this hard to believe, but rats have personalities. In my current bunch, Lily is the most engaging. She has a certain Je ne sais quoi about her. Everyone picks up on her vibe. She's curious and outgoing. She's a rex, which means her coat is curly as well as her whiskers. (Which means she has to put up with me calling her "my little curly-cue" as I kiss her belly.) Her fur is extra soft, and she is a bit more active than her best friends Lisa and Lottie. Lily doesn't seem to have the "big bones" of Lisa and Lottie. Lottie lurves her food. She is my little pudge. She's no where near as fat as her great-great-great-great-grand auntie Fat Rat, but she is the biggest of the bunch. I have to make sure she doesn't get too many treats. On the other hand, Lottie is the love bug of the group.

Lisa is the beauty queen of this group. She has beautiful black fur. It's very shiny and smooth. She was our unexpected journey into babyhood earlier this year. Lisa had 17 babies in August and managed not to lose one. I think she's a bit more aloof than the others, but she does like a little lovin' now and then.
Too cute.

Ho-Ho-Holidays!

2009-11-06T19:34:00.001-08:00

The holiday season is upon us! How do I know? It isn't the Christmas directions at the drug store, nor is it lay-a-way commercials on TV. Also, in this part of the world we don't have what you all call "weather," so no brisk, chill days. No frost. No rain.

No, no.

What did it for me was the return of the peppermint mocha at Starbucks! I love that stuff! And they only advertise it during this time of year. The holiday season. While others may scoff or pooh-pooh this time-marker, I find it rather cheery. Much better than the other seasonal cues of store sales and wooden snowmen.

So, happy holidays and to all a good-night!

VENGENCE IS MINE

2009-11-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a conference. The parents were concerned about their son's grade in science (the only C), especially since he/they want to go to a private high school. Fortunately, his English teacher attended the meeting, too, and he was a big help and totally had my back. One reason the kid's grade wasn't better is that I'm way behind in my grading. (No surprise to you other teachers.)

The funny thing is, after this meeting and his parents going on and on about his grades and what he has to do, etc. the kid did not do last night's homework! Nor the night before's! I shared this with the English teacher at lunch who said I should totally email the parents.

So I did. Ha!

Just Some Thoughts

2009-11-02T16:46:00.001-08:00

*My husband pointed out last night that we are empty nesters. How cool is that??
*I'm worried about my students' performance- the quiz average was 77%. It's a strange time we live in when 'C' isn't good enough. Turns out I ask "level 3" questions instead of just lower-level questions.
*One student felt I should have more questions on the tests. Weird.
*I'm watching a very chubby little girl walk through Starbucks. She'll probably order some sort of frappucino. Oh! she just ordered a water for her and her mom. That's awesome!
*I think I'm having a bad-hair year.
*I really don't like parent-teacher meetings. They always leave me feeling so drained.
*I actually miss working out. I didn't workout last week because I'm fighting off a cold, but I think I'll be OK today.
*Not sure how seriously I should be taking the whole "piggy flu" thing. Part of me just wants to resist the flu-shot pressure. It's like not buying cards for Valentine's Day.

Cash Money

2009-10-10T11:12:00.001-07:00

Well, on top of working I also workout. I do it for health reasons, both physical and mental. I really do feel good after my workout class.

Sometimes, when I'm squatting and sweating and aching and grunting, I can't believe I actually pay someone good money to make me do this. Last night, we ran, did pull-ups, and cleans-into-overhead squats. :-( My butt was still sore from Wednesday's workout.

Of course, it's all worth it. I know that I'll get stronger. And, while I may only have lost 6 of my 15 lbs gained during my year abroad (actually, 8.5lbs were gained on the trip and 7 lbs were gained during my first month back in America. *sigh*), I've already lost about 4 inches in my hips and waist. I can fit into some of my pre-trip clothes! :-)))

And going to the gym really does reduce a lot of the stresses one experiences as a new teacher. It's nice to be a student in a class, goofing off and making jokes with the trainer/teacher, knowing that I don't have to know anything.

Because I paid someone else to tell me what to do and how to do it better, so that I can become a better person in the end. :-)

Toto, Where Are We?

2009-09-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been at this new school for a month now. I'm just trying to make it from one day to the next, celebrating each week's end.

Only 8 months to go then hello summer!

Anyway, it's a different school alright. First of all, the class time is longer so I've had to make adjustments to my pacing. Also, that means no more days of just lecture-- it's too much for them and for me.

This also means that it takes less time to cover the material.

Speaking of lectures, it's kind of neat to say, "get ready for notes" and see 80% of the kids not only take notes, but get their papers set up for Cornell notes. Amazing.

However, this school, which is very good, doesn't have a special day class.

I think this year is the first time the STAR scores have been broken down into groups (ethnic and socio-economic) which really offended some of the teachers.

But, the staff is awesome. They are so supportive of me and all the other new teachers. I'm not expected to head the department (no one wants it) or any field trips this year. And, if I do one differentiated lesson, then I win. :-)

We also have a lot of TGIFs.

But the cincher.... as a staff, we are learning the Thriller dance to perform at lunch time on Halloween. Yup, at this school, everyone gets dressed up.

Overall, seems like good times.

Back to School

2009-09-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yup, back in the saddle again, as the song says. I feel just like a first year teacher and those of you who teach know exactly how SUCKY a feeling that is.

I feel like I have no bottom, that I'm falling and all I can do is hope to land on my feet. Over and over again.

I feel like I have no past, just newness in front of me. I don't know why all my past experience has left me. I guess taking a year off from work will do that.

I have to learn again. Where to put the projector. How to make copies. How to grade papers. How to pass papers back. How to talk to students. How to open up a can of whoop-ass. So much learning.

I don't like my kids. But, I never like them before Thanksgiving (sometimes Christmas, sometimes Spring Break).

Things keep popping up. A bunch of "oh, yeah" moments.

I keep wondering if someone's parent is going to call me out on something. I wonder if my contract will be renewed next year. Why am I thinking all these negative thoughts? I need to give myself permission to mess up and realize that when I do (no "if" about it) the world will not end.

A part of me is cringing, curled up in a ball and won't let me help myself. Won't let me be positive about teaching again, about learning how to challenge those in my classroom, won't let me enjoy the other happy staff members.

I don't know why I can't just relax and breathe. But, writing this out has made me feel a bit better.

For now, at least.

Man, You'd Better Hope So!

2009-08-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

I wasn't worried until they broke out the Earth Science questions. Go ahead, click on it and take the quiz yourself. I know you want to.

Last Chance to Boogie

2009-08-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

Photo of my sister Dre in one of her many fabulous costumes.

It's 10"30pm on a Sunday and I just got home.

Tomorrow is my first official day of work with the San Carlos School District. It's an orientation, a day-long meeting for all their new hires, so it's no big whoop. Anyway, at 4:30 I was getting all settled into my normal, humdrum Sunday afternoon when I received a call of distress on my BatPhone.

My sister needed me, or someone, to shoot the vid for her dance revue. Ummmm....maybe I need to do some 'splainin'. My sister Dre is a professional bellydancer and the Tannourine Restaurant in San Mateo is one of her regular performances. Froody and I had been there before a couple of months ago for one of Dre's dance revues, where she and other local/national dancers perform throughout the evening. They are all very primo, and the food there is excellent. (OK-plugs are in, now on with the story.)

So, I get this call for help and I decide to go. After all, what else was I going to do but cook chicken for Froody and I and then sit in front of the computer working on school stuff and stressin' out over it. This sounded much better and it was so much fun! It was one of the few times this summer where I got to be social without the husband. I met some of Dre's friends, worked the video recorder, which really consisted of turning it off and on. I also got to eat some awesome food. For free. Man, I wish you all lived up here, 'cuz then I'd tell you to go there and eat.

Oh, and my glasses of wine were also free. Can you tell I've been drinking? Maybe a bit? Dre was the final performer and at the end of her set she and some of the other dancers got pretty much everyone in the restaurant up and dancin'. Even me. (It's been a long time since I took any belly dance lessons, but I remembered a move or two.) That was fun! I think the owner got dragged in for a song. It was like being part of "teh dance party" at the end of a movie. I must have been pretty good, because a couple of people came up to me and asked if I was a dancer, too, like my sister. Me! Can you imagine?

The perfect way to end the summer.

Crock Pot Belly

2009-08-14T13:30:00.001-07:00

I've heard people say on the WeightWatchers boards and meetings that they've dug out their old slow cookers and have made many low-calorie meals. I've read blogs (OK- one blog) where people raved on about the glories of their crock pots. Even the FLY Lady recommends using a crock pot to make your life easier.

So I finally gave in to my curiosity and bought a crock pot. A Rival, which regards itself as the "original" crockpot. Right now, it's kinda nice to cook dinner out of the Joy of Cooking and serve it up to Froody, but the first day of school is looming ever closer and that usually means stir-fry for dinner. Now, don't get me wrong; stir-fry is great. But not every day. Five days a week. 36 weeks a year.

In my mind's eye, I see myself chopping up veggies and stirring up sauces on Sunday or Saturday. Then, sometime during the ensuing week all that is tossed into the crock pot along with some sort of meat and the baby is switched on. Lastly, I arrive home to the sweet, sweet smell of my dinner being cooked for me. *ahhhhh*

My first recipe for the CP was one from the WeightWatchers website for what they call Chicken Paprikash. I would call it Hungarian Inspired Chicken. It was OK, not bad, but Froody wasn't asking me to make it again. Tonight I decided to use a recipe from the interwebs- Apple Sausage with Onion and Mustard Sauce. I did a little switcheroo, replacing some bratwursts for half the chicken apple sausage called for in the recipe. I hope it turns out.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

2009-07-28T08:58:00.001-07:00

Being a summer housewife leaves me much time during the day for observation, especially when walking. I'm always curious who else doesn't have to go to work. I guess you wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are other stay-at-home wives, most of them mothers. I also see nannies pushing strollers about, sometimes collected in a small knot as they chit-chat in front of the library or playground. Retirees also abound. Most of them are older but a few are about my age.

If I go walking in the morning before 10am, then I see the bike-commuters. Now, I'm going to use a stereotype here, but they do look like computer programmers. For one thing, they're all dressed like Froody. And, since we now live in/near Silicon Valley, it probably isn't a bad assumption. Especially when they're biking around with backpacks that say "Google" on them.

Anyway, besides road bikes some of these commuters also use fancy-ish bikes like recumbent bikes or folding bikes. I have never seen so many folding bikes in my life! I used to associate them with RVers, but a folding bike makes sense for urban commuters as well. They fit neatly in your office or cubicle.

Of course, there are those who drive to work. A lot of these commuters do own fuel-efficient cars like the Toyota Prius, Honda Fit, and Toyota Yaris. I have even seen a Tesla parked in someone's driveway, all plugged in for the night! (And, yes, it was the roadster. Did you see the pricetag on the website???)

The people in my neighborhood seem to enjoy drinking coffee and eating Indian food. They also like gourmet pizzas, Hagen Dazs, and buying organic groceries. They don't like using plastic bags. Except at farmers markets. But, they do clean up after their dogs, a big plus. :-)

In the end, these people, my neighbors, seem to be alright. They are a lot like me, I suppose.

We're in the Money

2009-07-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

I think I told you all that Froody has a new job. Now that he's working 5 days a week instead of 4 he is bringing in more money than before. Natch. Once I start working I'll be making money as well. Not only that, but I'll be earing more than if I had stayed in my old district.

Let's do a little math, shall we:

Froody's income + my income = a ton of money!!

I'm finding it hard to wrap my head around how much money we'll be earning. On the other hand, the money explains what I'm doing here in Menlo Park which, for some reason, feels ritzier than Santa Barbara. I'm surrounded by people who make a lot of money. The homes are very nice. The stores are very, very nice. The neighborhood is clean and beautiful.

Part of me feels like I don't belong. Living here feels surreal.

I do remind myself that we don't really have much more disposable income than before the trip. Any "extra-earnings" are going to the higher rent and etc. we're paying to live here.

I do think I'll get over it, however. The signs are good: I've got my eye on a pair of fancy Dansko shoes I'm trying to convince Froody I need. :-)

Home Sweet Home At Last

2009-07-18T17:42:00.001-07:00

Froody and I just spent a week in New England visiting his side of the family. It was a nice, long week and a chance for Froody to finally relax, which he hasn't really done since we've gotten back. We spent a few days with his parents in their huge RV at a campground in rural Massachusetts. One afternoon, we went to an alpaca farm. It was kinda cool. Even Froody and his dad enjoyed it. Man, alpacas are so soft, no wonder I love knitting with their wool!

After that, it was off to my sister-in-law's house. She and her husband had a baby a few months ago so it was so nice to finally meet my new niece. :-) She is very adorable! Of course, it was good to re-establish ourselves with our other niece and nephew. We also managed to meet a couple of old friends of Froody's for dinner.

One really nice thing was getting on the plane this morning and realizing that we were actually going HOME. I think it's the feeling we didn't have when we returned to the US.

The difference was that we had our own place in our own neighborhood in our own climate we were heading for. It so feels good to finally be home!!!!

Back in teh US of A!!

2009-07-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Now that we've been home for 5 weeks, I can finally say that it feels so good to be home.

It didn't start that way.

Don't get me wrong- nothing bad happened or anything. It just didn't feel like home at first. It just felt like we were in another country where we happened to speak the language. And understand what was going. And knew some people.

Some of my initial reactions to America were mainly in amazement at how RICH everyone is! Yes, even you are one of the many rich people in this country.

There's also a lot of white people here. I guess everyone else in the world is right- Americans are white.

American's are also spoiled, spoiled, spoiled! Yes, even you! Even me. There is so much strife we never experience. I know, we've got plenty of problems and hardships, but, we live in a country where people spend $5 a day on large choco-caramel coffee drinks with extra-whip.

We also live in a country where people pay. to. pick. fruit. People, we PAY real MONEY to do this. I mean, what? srsly. No one outside of the Western World would even think to have a business like that.

But, now that I've been back and Froody and I got jobs and we got a new apartment and moved our stuff from Southern California to the Bay Area and visited my family and visited his family and unpacked and Froody started his job, NOW I feel like I'm home.

Although it still feels weird.

One More Adventure

2009-06-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Our time in South Korea was too short. It's a lovely country. We were both surprised by how quiet everyone and everything is, especially after staying in the Philippines for two months.

We were planning on spending 11 days in South Korea, but on the 10th day our ship had come in. Literally. We decided to book passage on a freighter from Busan to Long Beach, California. It was way more expensive than flying, but we couldn't pass up the chance of just one more adventure before arriving home.

The Hanjin Pretoria is a huge ship! And it isn't even the biggest one around! We arrived at night and got to take some pictures among the containers and giant cranes while waiting for the gangplank to be lowered. When aboard, we met the captain in the "office" on the Upper Deck (which is the lowest deck, just above the engine room, so I don't know why it's called the Upper Deck) and handed over our passports. Then the steward came and led us to our room. Actually, he loaded us into the elevator and met us on D deck. We had one of the two Extra Rooms to ourselves. It's a good sized room with a big enough bed, banquette, table, comfy chair, TV with VCR and DVD players, a head w/shower, and a small refrigerator. We flossed and brushed our teeth, rejoicing in being able to use water right from the tap. (The ship makes its own freshwater from the sea.)

The next day began early, at 6:30am. Plenty of time for Froody to do his morning stretches and for me to do a highly modified Crossfit-esque workout. This is pretty much how each of our 15 mornings began aboard ship. The rest of the day/s was spent filling in the time between meals: 7:30am - breakfast, 10:00am- tea w/cookies, 12:00pm- lunch, 3:00pm- tea w/cookies (cake on Sundays), 5:30pm- dinner. It was very relaxing. We both did a little of nothing and a lot of hobbies. I read a ton of books; all of the used ones I bought in the Philippines and some of the English ones in the Officer's Rec Room (most of the books were in Russian). Froody did computering and we both looked through and labeled all 6000+ pictures from our amazing trip. It was neat to see a pic and go, "oh, yeah, I remember doing that cool thing!"

I was surprised by the size and make-up of the crew. This huge ship had only 21 men working on her, including the captain. The captain and chief engineer were German. The cook and half of the crew were Russian. The steward and other half of the crew were from Kiribati. Everyone spoke English, and Froody and I spent a lot of our meals talking with the captain about traveling and the life of a sailor. The captain liked to bring up how certain German things like food and beer were better than their American counterparts. (Especially sausages. I couldn't get him to even consider the tastiness of gourmet chicken apple sausage.)

We spent some part of each day outside, walking a lap around the ship. The most exciting time was being in the ports of Osaka and Tokyo when containers were being loaded right outside our window! Watching the tugboats was a reminder of the ungainliness of the huge ships. I liked watching the crew as we pulled away from the dock, wondering if they still enjoyed the harbor sights after all their time at sea.

Some more nice pictures:

**Lovely morning in Long Beach

** Steward serving up German-inspired food to the captain

** Huge flippin' ship's engine. It's 10 m tall, people! With 9 cylinders! (Here we are standing in front of the spare cylinder. Did I say it was big?)

**At long last, LAND!

In retrospect, I'd say traveling by container ship is more of a retreat than an adventure. We were the only passengers on board and didn't mix with the busy crew much, although they all seemed to be very nice. It's a very quiet way to spend 2 weeks. Much of that time you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, not having seen land nor another ship for days.

Out of My League

2009-05-20T17:56:00.001-07:00

Koreans take hiking to a whole other level. Seriously.

At home, if I wanted to go on a hike, I'd put on a pair of shorts, hiking shoes, sunglasses, and a t-shirt. I'd bring some water, an apple or orange and, if I'm feeling particularly saucy, a granola bar. Then I'd hike up to wherever, have my snack, enjoy the view, and hike back down. Easy-peasy.

The people we've encountered hiking in South Korea go all out. In everything. Take their trails. So many of the trails here go straight up, up, up. No switchbacks, I mean it. Parts of them are pretty steep. On our way to Manjangdae, in Songnisan National Park, the last 2km were not only steep (and up), but consisted almost entirely of stairs. STAIRS. How many of you want to climb up 2km of stairs?

The Korean hiker dresses the part. Almost everyone wears a well-put-together outfit of mesh cap, bandana, wicking pants, long-sleeved wicking shirt with a zip-up vest, hiking boots, and sunglasses. Half of them also use trekking poles, which means having a pair of wicking fingerless gloves. Hikers are mainly adults. We saw a lot of senior citizens, since we went out during the weekdays.

Lastly, Korean hikers do not mess around with their snacks. Once at their goal, they're either going to eat at one of the many small restaurants along the trail (like we saw on our hike around Sangdang Sanseong fortress) or munch on the wonderful foods they packed in. On top of Manjangdae peak, I saw one family settle down with sushi rolls and instant coffee (ie: carrying up a thermos of hot water) and another bring out bottles of soju for everyone. We chose to go back down the trail and eat at a restaurant when a couple of hikers, Miha and Kyam, invited us to share their lunch with them. They had brought an orange, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, greens cooked with sesame, watermelon, sushi rolls, a thermos of hot rice and beans sprouts, a smoked fish and red sauce dish, some sort of thick noodle in red sauce, squares of seaweed (for wrapping things in), kim chee, and, of course, soju.

It was a tasty meal and they really enjoyed sharing it with us. Her English was a little better than his, but there was a lot of charades, pointing, smiling and giggling on all sides. Miha would also use her cell phone for looking up English words. Once we learned that they lived in Cheongju and we were staying in Cheongju (we took a 1.5 hr bus ride to the park), they offered to give us a ride back in their car. We said yes and we all hiked down together. Before getting in the car, Miha bought us more snacks and drinks to try.

We were looking forward to a nice day in the outdoors, and found so much more. Thank you Miha and Kyam.

SOUTH KOREA

2009-05-17T02:14:00.000-07:00

Flying into Seoul, South Korea was, thankfully, quite easy and boring. We did get scanned for fever at the airport, but since that didn't slow us down or anything, it was no big whup. Just for fun, each time either of us sneezed or cough before leaving the Philippines we'd say to the other, "Uh, oh! Better not be swine flu!"

Ah, the silly jokes between travelers.

Anyway, as soon as we arrived we met Paul, our Couchsurfing host, and he immediately took us out for traditional Korean bbq and soju, some really strong national liquor. The food was good. Any food would be good after the unsatisfying fare of the Philippines, but, really, Korean food is very good. I didn't know if I'd like the kim chee, but I love the crunchy spiciness of it! Korea is the first place we've been to in a long time where you get lots of veggies with your meals: kim chee, cucumber salad, pickled radish, and more kim chee.

Since we only have 11 days here, we've decided to spend a lot of it sightseeing. Our first sight was a quiet hillside, popular with the local shamans. It's tucked away behind huge apartment buildings and is quite peaceful and green. There's a small buddhist temple nestled there as well.

The next day (my birthday!!), we visited the DMZ and it's about as weird as what little I've read said it would be. The weirdness began about 30 min away, with the banks of the river Han covered with barbed wire and high fences, with guardposts every 200m. It's strange to think that South Korea has been on edge, anticipating an invasion from North Korea, and has been for years. Strange that North Korea has dug tunnels into SK (at least 4, that have been found), and that they tried to disguise one as a coal mine. Strange being told not to point, when to take pictures. Strange seeing soldiers on each side poised, still as statues, facing each other. The photo-happy Indonesians and the gift shop at the end were also weird.

Speaking of weird, we're currently staying at a love motel. Yes, that's love as in "bow-chikka-bow-waah." I know you're picturing some tiny, dingy room with questionable linens, but the rooms are quite nice. This current one has a big bed, huge-screen cable TV (with one free porn channel), mini-fridge with one beer and one small soju, instant coffee, one juice, several bite-sized candies, his and hers robes, full bath, big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, gels and lotions, toothpaste and toothbrushes. The food items are included in the low-low price of W30,000 (less than USD30). AND all you have to do is pay up front for the night and leave in the morning. No paperwork or nothing! (The manager didn't speak any English, but thanks to a couple of phrases in the guidebook we were able to make our wants known. I guess the big bags weren't much help.)

The Philippines- Your Next Vacation??

2009-05-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

I think I've said before that I knew nothing about the Philippines when we got here- no sights, no activities, no nothing. I think that's probably the best way to visit a new place. You have no expectations so you cannot be very disappointed (very buddhist).

Well, I sure am enjoying my time here, especially once we're out of Manila. Don't get me wrong- Manila has it's historical quarter, modern and old sites, food, etc. But in the end it's just another big city and we've seen a lot of big cities on this trip. They all have their own vibe, but life seems better for the budget tourist outside of the city.

Anyway, after hanging out in Camiguin we headed out to Donsol, on South Luzon. Since we're short of funds we thought it best to NOT FLY. That means taking it in short bursts of 3-4 hour bus rides and one-night stands in hotels before boarding another bus or ferry. Fortunately, we've got the time to travel slowly, and it's allowed us to see just a little bit more of regular life in the Philippines.

Donsol is known as the whale shark capitol of the Philippines. We're so fortunate to be here during the right season! Froody made a bunch of text messages to a guy named Taks who organized a place to stay, two trips out to see the sharks, and one evening on a river to check-out fireflies. He was a very relaxed guide and happily answered our questions about himself and the island.

He picked us up at sunrise and we all hopped onto his motorbike, stopping for breakfast before boarding our whale sharking boat. We spent about 3 hours on the water and had 7 "encounters" with the beautiful animals. I wish Froody's pictures did justice to the awesomeness of the experience.

After that, Taks took us to his uncle's house, who was having a party for his entire baranguay. It was nice relaxing, eating authenic filippino food (complete with scary red and awful tasting hot dogs. But it wasn't all bad.), and drinking warm beer poured over ice. That afternoon, Taks again picked us up and brought us to the river where we all loaded onto a small fishing boat--me and Froody, Taks, and the two young men who ran the boat. We stopped at a piece of land owned by Taks's family on which another family was living. We all relaxed in the shade of coconut palms and Taks asked that someone climb up and bring us all some young coconuts (buko). Froody and I had one and a half coconuts between us, water and meat. Young coconut is a bit different from the mature fruit we get at home. As evening approached, Taks (Froody) bought a fighting cock off the family. The young men and Taks then killed it about 3 yards away from us and gave it to the wife to clean and cook up for our dinner. Froody and I agree that while this chicken was tasty and flavorful, it did not taste like chicken. This took a while to prepare and it was full dark by the time we were served rice and chicken. I think Taks was a bit embarrassed and very hungry by the time it arrived. Anyway, when all of us were done eating, we slipped and slid down the mudbank onto the small boat and found the fireflies. Seems there are a few trees where hundreds-up to 1000- of fireflies congregate. It was beautiful,the tree outlined by silent, moving light.

The next day we did another whale sharking boat trip! We had another 8 encounters with about 6 sharks. One shark Froody and I had to ourselves, as the others on our boat couldn't keep up with it. :-) Of course, Froody didn't have his camera for this, but it's a good thing. I don't think he'd have been able to keep up with it while worrying about his camera.

Well, after that we thought it would be cheaper to stay on the island of South Luzon. So, it was off to Legaspi- the biggest town on the island- where we enjoyed cable TV and internet before deciding to get to the small island of Cataduanes, just off the coast of South Luzon. This meant a van trip to Tabasco, an overnight in a hotel, and an early (7am) ferry ride to Catanduanes. I had arranged for someone to pick us up through the Majestics Beach Resort, where we hoped to stay for a week. The "resort" is actually a main house with the kitchen and dining area and a small library. The guests stay in small, bamboo huts behind it, all encircling a small lawn of nice, green grass. The huts are very basic- a bed, mosquito net, fan, and toilet, with a faucet and bucket for washing! We also had a small porch and hammock where we spent most of our afternoons.

Our days here started around 6am. We'd eat breakfast (whatever Irene made-usually an omelette with toast or pancake), then go for a snorkel. The snorkeling was very nice, notwithstanding the loss of my mask and snorkel in a wave on our first day. I ended up renting snorkel gear from Lacy, the guy who owned another resort nearby (this one was a real building with a/c, cable tv, and an actual menu). After our snorkel we'd wash. Then, we'd read on the porch until lunchtime. After lunch we'd stay in the shade of our porch until 4 or 5, when we'd go snorkeling or Froody would go try surfing and I'd snorkel by myself. After that, we'd visit Lacy and check our email. We used that time to organize our final stage: the trip home.

We were lucky enough to book passage aboard a huge container ship bound for Long Beach, CA from Pusan, South Korea. This shortened our stay in the Philippines (ok by us) and allowed us a quick visit to one more country!!

During our stay we got to talk with some of the other guests. Many come here for the surfing. The coral reef we liked to snorkel around made an excellent wave break and in the mornings and afternoons you could find everyone, including Irene and her brother Alan (those who run Majestics), grabbing their boards and heading out. One such guest was a 58 year-old man from Japan who has been surfing for 40years!

Maybe I should add that Froody and I drank a lot more soda and beer than we're used to.

After Catanduanes (yes, you could call it a tropical paradise) we realized we have time for only 1 more big site- the rice terraces of the Cordillera, in Northern Luzon. We took a ferry from Catanduanes to Tabaco. From Tabaco we caught an air-con van to Naga. From Naga we boarded an all-night bus to Manila. After one day and one night in Manila (in the smallest room we've been in this trip) we got on one more all-night bus for Banuae...

...We arrived in Banuae butt-early, as Froody would say- 5:45 am. Luckily, we were able to check in to our room at the Banuae View Inn. We were greeted on the bus by Lolita who was politely if determinedly trying to get us to hire her as a guide for one of the many walks and trips to and through the rice terraces. (Because that's why tourists come here- for the rice terraces.) We were able to leave her at the door of our inn, both of us too tired to really commit to anything or anyone. Once in our room, the innkeeper brought us towels, soap, and Lolita's business card.

Anyway, Froody and I got to sleep for a bit. After showers and breakfast, he decided to give Lolita a call and she ended up meeting us at the inn. We decided to do the short 3 hour walk from the viewpoint back into town. This time, we all got into a tricycle (operated by Salvador, Lolita's husband) and had a pleasant ride up to the viewpoints where we took some pix. Then, Lolita and Salvador lead us up and down the rice terraces, following the irrigation canals downhill. Again, Froody's pictures capture only a part of the quiet beauty of this place. Having spent almost my whole life in SoCal(really the best place to be in the world), I could not get over the green of the young rice plants, the furry green of the mosses and ferns that covered the mud terraces, built by hand over many generations. I also loved the sounds of water that just fills the terraces.

Really, you should come here. The only thing to remember is to not have any hight expectations of the food.

Blehh for Blogging

2009-05-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off blogging because I'm pretty much tired of blogging. I'm also tired of writing in my journal. Froody is very good. He blogs about every place we've been and includes info on hotels, guides, etc.

I just feel like I'm done with it all.

However, Froody does remind me that if I don't write or blog it, then I'll regret it later. I'll be wondering where we did that cool thing and not be able to search for it here or in my several journals. :-(

Anyway, I think I'm going to read my Google Reader for now instead of blogging some more. :-P

3-in1 Philippines

2009-04-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

On this trip, I've learned that good coffee is hard to come by. I know that I've blogged about it before, but I'm still searching. It's even harder in the Philippines than India. In Hong Kong, there were Starbucks and Pacific Roasters and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf everywhere, but it seems that hot places don't really do coffee.

But, they do instant coffee. And the brand of choice is NesCafe. Seriously.

As a result, I've become inured to drinking NesCafe. Usually, it's nothing that milk and sugar cannot make palatable. But in the Philippines, as I've discovered in other countries, milk is very hard to come by. So, what do you get? You get instant creamer, namely CoffeeMate.

OK-I had to admit to being enough of a junkie to really not mind sinking this low. (Oh, how my pre-trip self would shudder at the thought: instant coffee! powdered creamer!)I think having it all happen in small increments has made my decent possible. But just when I thought this was pretty bad, it got worse.

Now when I ask for "coffee", I don't just get a mug of hot water and instant coffee anymore. I get NesCafe 3-in-1. That's one packet complete with instant coffee, sugar, and CoffeeMate creamer. :-( I didn't even whimper at this. In fact, I'm impressed with whomever had the guts to put it all together.

OK-so I've been drinking my 3-in-1 for a couple of weeks now, when Froody and I went to the store last night for water. What did I find in the coffee aisle? Not only did we see 5-in-1 coffee, but I even saw 8-in-1 coffee!!! As if instant coffee wasn't enough with sugar and powdered creamer, but now you can get it with powdered mushroom and ginseng and other herbal kickers!!!

Of course, I bought an 8-in-1 and had it this morning in my hotel room. Sad to say that it made me miss my 3-in-1.

The Philippines!

2009-04-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

Is where we're at. I know, it's been about 3 weeks since I blogged, but there really wasn't much to say. We left Hong Kong on the 26 March and arrived in Manila in a few short hours. We spent a few days getting to know our new city. In a word, Manila is big. In another word, it's hot. We spent a lot of time in air-conditioned buildings or in front of fans. We did get away for a couple of days to the town of Tagaytay. It's main site is a lake in an extinct volcano. In that lake is a small volcano with another lake in it. It was very pretty and picturesque.

After that we returned to Manila. Why? To meet our friends from America! We really liked hanging out with people who know us for a change and they took us to some good Filipino food (we hadn't been lucky enough to find good food on our own at the time). They also invited us to attend her aunt's 30th wedding anniversary. It was fun; full of family, food, and disco!

When that was done, we finally left Manila for good. Wanting to go snorkeling, we decided to head out to Camiguin island and spend a week staying in a cottage on the beach. Sounds delish, right? Well, turns out that was Holy Week and every place on the island was booked up. However, we found someplace for that night only. It was cheap and very near the beach. The owner actually helped us out and called a relative who had room for the next night in one of her beach cottages. This other owner, Rosie, had another cousin with a private cottage who was willing to let us have it for 2 nights. So, with a little flexibility (which I was short of for a bit there) we had our first 4 nights covered, which gave us a chance to relax and get some snorkeling in.

One morning, I was sitting in front of a window, reading and watching the waves lap the pebbley beach when I realized that I was in yet another country. And it didn't feel weird or anything, like it was normal. That thought made me happy, and a little sad that our next country is the USA. (But, our travel budget is dwindling and we do like to eat and sleep in beds.)

Anyway, after our quaint cottages we got a room in a hotel on the northern side of the island for the weekend- all the Holy Week travelers having gone home- called Secret Cove. We chose it for better snorkeling and the on-site dive center. Turns out they have a really good restaurant, albeit more pricey than we wanted. It was cheaper to take a motorcycle (all 3 of us on one) into town, eat bbq chicken with rice, cokes, and halu-halo, than it was to stay and eat there. But, the food at Secret Cove is very, very tasty.

We snorkeled and even did a dive skills review. Man, diving in warm water is so different from diving in California. I can really see what all the fuss is about! You wear a much lighter wetsuit, no hood/gloves to worry about, and the viz is so nice! We saw so many different types of fishes, corals, sponges, and tunicates. We even saw a sea snake and a sea turtle. :-)

It was during our stay on Camiguin that Froody looked into the budget and was shocked on finding that our travel allowance was almost at an end. :-( After some discussion and compromising we decided NOT to go to South Korea and instead stay in the Philippines until our visas expire...on May 24.

Then, we fly home. :-)

Hong Kong Adventures

2009-03-25T01:05:00.000-07:00

Today is our final whole day in Hong Kong. :-(

There were those who scoffed at our intention to spend 10 days in the city. "You really only need 4, at most," is what one person said. I can now scoff back at them!

Pah!

While we've managed to check-off all the major attractions and sites of Hong Kong, we could easily spend another 4 or 5 days here. There is so much to do! Some of you may not know that HK is comprised of a bit of the chinese mainland and a few islands, so there's something for everyone. It's fortunate to have a harbour bisecting it, making it very easy to view its famous skyline.

HK seems to do a lot of things over-the-top. There's no such thing as an understatement here. The parks are beautiful and well thought out and carefully maintained. The ones we've seen have man-made lakes, waterfalls, and the big park near central HK has a walk-through aviary. All this is free. The architecture is amazing. I've never tired of seeing this city at night and I don't remember feeling this way about a cityscape before. DC comes close.

And, of course, there's the food. I think what we really like is the diversity. We've managed to eat a lot of cheap Chinese food, which means tons of noodles, dim sum, street food, and a little bar-b-que. But we've also enjoyed a surprising array of international foods: Australian, American, Turkish, Balinese, and Lebonese, for starters. I can't say about all of China, but in Hong Kong people do love to eat. We met Joel and his girlfriend, Sunny, via Couchsurfing and they took us to a hotpot place. Now, this was a lot of fun! More fun than shabu shabu. You get a pot of water and veggies and then you order meaty stuff to add once the water boils (with the help of a hotplate). We let them do the ordering so this is what we got: fried fish-skins, fish balls, shrimp balls, squid balls, shrimp wanton, veggie wanton, thinly sliced beef, thinly sliced lamb, pig intestine, and goose intestine. And, Froody and I ate a little bit of everything! Once all the boiling of all the balls and meats and intestines are done and all the veggies eaten, the flavorful, oily water is thrown out! Joel did say that (if you did this at home) you could separate the fat out and use the water to cook rice in. But, usually, it's just tossed out.

After dinners Froody usually makes his way to dessert. Sometimes it's a bakery. In Central HK we walked by a bakery that was full of people buying egg tart (very yummy) and taking photos in front of the bakery holding their egg tarts! Obviously this must be some famous egg tart place, so after lunch we did the same. Sometimes it's a restaurant. Here we are with a tasty chocolate fondue at a place called Choco-Cat. Yup, they serve chocolate desserts and drinks, and have at least 5 cats that customers try to coax onto their laps. Joel and Sunny introduced us to sweet soup. Froody ordered the papaya soup. It was served hot and had some kind of mushroom in it, too. That really drove home the fact that the Chinese not only like food with flavor, but they like food with texture. Different textures than what Americans are used to. They also aren't held to any conventions about food. Sunny said she could never understand why Westerners eat cereal for breakfast, when in HK you eat pretty much whatever you want whenever you want. Including noodles with wanton for breakfast.

If you are a shopper, then Hong Kong is your city! I'm not just talking about 5-star malls and Fendi bags. The street markets are fun. We spent our days among the flower market, bird market, goldfish market (my favorite), jade market, ladies' market, wet market, and produce markets. Nathan Road, where our hotel is, is also known as the Golden Mile 'cuz it's full of jewelry stores, fancy restaurants, and name-brand everything.

Hong Kong isn't all city. The suburbs are still green, naturally. There are hiking trails outside of the downtown area. (We went to the Wetland Park yesterday, hoping to do some trail walking and birdwatching, but it was closed. :-() Lantau was very pretty, with only a few highrise apartments and the largest outdoor bronze statue of Buddha in the world....

..but it was still over-the-top!! We went to see the large bronze Buddha statue. The trip out there seemed like fun: first you take the ferry, then you take a cable-car, then you walk up to the Buddha statue. I thought it would be a quiet place, full of people who've come to pray at the statue. *pshaw* There were tons of people! It was like a buddhist-theme park! You ride the cable car and a "monkey" takes your pic and you can buy it at the end of the ride. There are two short films, one of a fable about sharing and another about the life of the first Buddha. (We didn't see either.) Between the cable car and the stairs leading up the the giant statue are all sorts of restaurants (really classy places) and gift shops, even a 7/11 and a Starbucks!! We just bypassed all this (excepting the restroom) and walked up the stairs to the statue. It was pretty cool, even in the fog. I wish the day was clearer; the views would've been great.

Overall, we really liked being in Hong Kong. Yes, they're always building something and there's the whole issue surrounding reclamation, but there's something to be said for tearing down the old and making way for the new. The city is able to adjust to its growing population and traffic problems with many footbridges (some go on for what feels like a mile). Buildings can be outfitted with energy-saving technology. Everything has running water and electricity. And functional plumbing!

On the other hand, all this organization requires a lot of rules. Now, India and Egypt had rules, but Hong Kong can afford to enforce them. Another downer is the feeling that you're living in a mall. All the footbridges and pedestrian subways have stores in them. Not just a snack-stand or newspapter stand, but high-class shopping and sometimes you have to walk through a fancy mall just to get to the other side.

Still, I'm going to miss Hong Kong. It was fun and I hope we come back someday.

HONG KONG, BABY!

2009-03-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

We've just arrived at our next destination- HONG KONG!!! After all the bacterial infections and watching people pee and poop all over the place I told Tim I needed something totally different if he wanted to keep traveling and not go home right away, so we chose Hong Kong. I can't believe how different it is from anywhere else we've been to on this trip. HK is so clean, so busy, stuff is easy to find, people obey traffic laws and use the crosswalks (I've missed the green man!). That said, it's also way more expensive than East Africa, Egypt, Jordan, and India so we're limiting ourselves to 10 days. Just enough time to fall in love with Hong Kong, before all the bad stuff gets annoying.

Arriving late at night was pretty cool, as I was able to check out the skyscrapers' lights reflecting on the water as we traveled by express train from the airport to Kowloon. From there we actually queued up for a taxi- we lined up inside a hallway with glass doors on either side and a man in front directing us to the correct door beyond which was a taxi! It was so weird to be calmly standing in line, no one pressed up against you and no one cutting in front. It was also weird to drive through the town at midnight and see how clean the alleyways were by Egyptian and Indian standards and, this is important, no one. was. peeing. or. pooping. anywhere. srsly.

This morning we wandered a bit in search of a cheap breakfast (alas, I get the feeling we'll be doing a lot of searching for good, cheap food) and it was so nice! You could actually walk on the sidewalks! No stalls or piles of garbage to walk over, no huge holes or mysterious puddles to watch out for, no poops from various animals to be careful of. I mean, you have no idea how awesome it is to just walk on the sidewalk and not have to walk in the gutter/street dodging cars, bikes, and motorbikes (OK- some of you do, of course). Oh, it was so nice to be able to look about you at the tall buildings, storefronts, windows full of fatty cooked ribs and ducks with crispy skins or windows full of beautiful jade and diamond jewelry (sometimes next to each other), and signs. There's garbage bins everywhere! And people use them!

Oh, I think I'm going to like it here. :-)

What Have I Learned?

2009-03-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

I guess you shouldn't be surprised when I tell you that a teacher-friend of mine asked this of me on Facebook. I mean, we're all about learning, right? Anyway, he was the first one to ask me that, so he made me think about it in a way I hadn't before. Sure, I felt that I would learn something from this trip- who wouldn't? And, I felt that I probably had learned something by now, but hadn't put it to words.

So, Hugo, wherever you are, thank you for giving me the opportunity to think about....

What Have I Learned?

*No matter what the background, everyone wants the same thing- a decent job, some dignity, the ability to support a family.

*People are basically nice. To date, I've never encountered any flak for being American.

*I really don't need a closet full of clothes nor do I need an apartment full of stuff to be happy.

*I may be traveling with only one bag of possessions, but I've seen people who own a whole lot less.

*More people than you think still rely on wooden carts being pulled by donkeys, oxen, or camels.

*And, they live in mud and straw houses. Srsly.

*And, they sweep with bundles of reeds only 2ft long.

*You can fit an entire family of 4 on one motorcycle.

*I like school kids, no matter where they are from.

*As Americans, we are very isolated. We don't have to worry about attacks from neighboring countries, refugees flooding in across the borders (whatever # of illegal aliens we get, it's not what other countries in Africa or India get), cholera epidemics, or a government so corrupt that it would rather see the entire nation die of hunger and thirst than change.

*America is diverse, yet we don't have bloody clashes involving whole cities or states over ethnicity or religion.

*Democracy isn't always the answer. Some countries have wonderful monarchies and, for lack of a better word, dictators who genuinely care for the well-being of their people.

*Many countries rely on man-, woman-, and even childpower to build skyscrapers and repair roads.

*What I've paid for one cup of coffee in a Western-style coffeeshop in Egypt, Jordan, and India is about what one person earns in a day in that country.

*In America EVERYONE can have the opportunities to improve their lives by hard work and education. (hello, President Obama) That is not the case in many of the countries I've seen.

*Not enough Americans travel internationally, and those that do seem to stick to Europe.

*****************************************************

That is a good start. Some of you may be asking what kind of lessons will I carry with me or how will these experiences affect my life, but I think I'll have to wait until I get home to find out.

Desert Adventures

2009-02-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

Western India is mostly desert and in Rajasthan, camels are very important beasts of burden. So, Froody and I had to take a camel safari in the Thar desert. Actually, we only spent one day and one night in the desert, but after 5 hours of camel riding, it was plenty.

While in Bikaner (former capital of Rajasthan), we stayed here at Vijay's Guesthouse. We had a good time and Vijay was a jovial host, sharing drinks with us on the veranda in the evenings. He was our guide of a day and took us to the neighboring sights, including the Karni Mata temple. It's also known as the rat temple and it's someplace I've been wanting to see for ages. It isn't as big as I thought it would be, but it was crawling with rats! We went in the late afternoon when the crowds were less and the rats were more active. Vijay said he's seen the white rat, but that was 17 years ago. We didn't see it, but enjoyed seeing rat-enthusiasm taken to the extreme! Everyone was praying to the rats. There was one very holy inner-sanctum we weren't allowed into, but I peeked in and saw a woman bowing in front of a shrine, with rats pouring out of it. Vijay said that here Western tourists aren't very common, so some people show Froody (and Pietr) a lot of interest.

India- Not So Bad?

2009-02-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I've been out of the hospital for a couple of weeks and we've got our tickets for our next stop-HONG KONG-India isn't so bad. I mean, I still grumble every time I see someone pissing or pooping (which is quite a bit), but at least I'm able to see the good stuff, too. Like birdwatching in Keoladeo National Reserve, where we hired a guide for the three days we spent there. He was very knowledgeable and showed us over 70 different species of birds.

The tiger safari in Ranthambore wasn't that bad, either. We saw several large mammals, like the sambhar deer and black faced-langur monkeys. I saw a wild tiger. Froody would have, too, but I think he was busy trying to take pictures of it.

This is what 1.2 billion people feels like. Actually, this is the mela (festival) our friends took us too. Froody and I even tried out a McDonald's. No beef, of course. Froody got a chicken royale. This looks better, though: a thali bought at a restaurant where we were the only western tourists.

Internet use in Delhi is more than what it seems. Anyway, our last day in Delhi before heading for Rajasthan was spent walking around the presidental palace and hanging out at the India Gate. Pretty, isn't it?

Oh, India. Where Danger Lurks Inside Every Meal and Snack

2009-02-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

I expected some adventure on this trip, but I didn't think there was danger in each mouthful. Froody and I just spent another week in the hospital. This time I had a bacterial infection and Froody had that plus giardia. bleh. I felt as pathetic as I looked. That IV really, really hurt! These infections have kind of extinguished what little remaining enthusiasm I had for India. One of the two things I am looking forward to is the Kari Mata, India's infamous rat temple. Gosh! I just realized that going someplace infested with rats, with floors made extra gooey and gross from thousands of rats running around, probably isn't conducive to maintaining good health. Froody and I are also determined to see the Himalayas. But I am heartily glad knowing we leave soon.

So, here are some of the pictures Froody's taken these past couple of weeks.

* View on the train to Agra.

* A pair of rose-ringed parakeets. These birds are everywhere, but we love them anyway.

* Some remaining blue tile on a mughal-era tomb, the Chini-Ka-Razza.

* Sandstone and marble gate to the Itimad-Ud-Daulah, aka the Baby Taj. We loved the detailed inlay work and how quiet and peaceful it was around the monument.

* Our driver brought us to a "marble institute" where we got to see how the tiny semi-precious stone pieces for the inlay in the Taj Mahal was made. Yup, it's still made the same way and looks like a lot of difficult, painful work. It surprised me how much Froody liked the marble work, and we bought a couple of souvenirs.

* Next day we went to the Jama Masjid in Fatehpur Sikri fort. The Jama Masjid is a huge mosque. The fort had a palace and other rooms full of beautiful carvings. Oh, better pic of the gate.

* The. Taj. Mahal. It's one of those place I NEVER thought I'd ever see. It's more beautiful than I expected. It's a tomb for one woman, the favorite wife of Shah Jahan.

* Also saw some Egyptian vultures when we were there.

* Froody ate all of this huge thali- metal plate with different types of breads, rice, and sauces.

Traveling. Is. Work.

2009-02-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

I know. You're sitting there, reading this and you're thinking, "No way is what you're doing work." I know you are and it's OK. But I'm here to tell you that long-term traveling is work. Really. It must be, because Froody and I are tired a lot the time.

Part of it is doing all the actual stuff you wanted to do in that country. Sometimes this requires getting up early- butt-early according to Froody. You get up early to catch a plane, train, or sunrise. Or safari or tour. Or bus. Or check out because you checked in at 6:30am and the hotel has a 24hr check in/out policy.

Part of it is all the learning you do. Where is the hotel? Where are the restaurants? How much should a taxi/tuk-tuk/rickshaw cost? How do you say "hello," "good-bye," and "thank you" in this language? What is the exchange rate? How do you get there? Is this a large or small bill? Where is the bus station? What are we doing here? How badly are we being ripped off? Are we still on budget?

Part of it is just dealing. It gets tiring saying "no thank you" all the time. And I feel bad because I'm probably offending 1 in 50 people who are truly trying to help and not sell me something. Not to mention dealing with all the cultural differences, like giving up my personal space and wondering where all the women are. Or trying to make room for the mother and two boys seated next to me on the train. (Mom only bought one seat, so she's half on mine.) And, it's hard having beggars grab me. And, it's hard when the child beggars are not begging for money but for whatever food you just bought. And begging for money.

And dealing with each other. Sometimes Froody gets grumpy and it takes all my energy
not to get angry with him. Sometimes I get cranky and it takes all my energy not to take it out on Froody. Sometimes we get on each other's nerves and there's nowhere to go to get away from each other.

Froody and I like to blog and that takes time. So does uploading all the pictures Froody takes. So does packing up in order to leave the hotel. So does writing postcards. And if we decide not to do anything, we feel guilty because shouldn't we be seeing the sights?

Anyway, this is a lot different than a regular vacation. But, I'd do it again. :-)

Delhi, Part 2

2009-02-06T04:38:00.000-08:00

So, just showing you all some more pix, then I'll be able to tell you what I've been doing this last week.

* Just outside our hotel room were these guys, waving stuff and whistling. We think there are pigeons involved.

* The Red Fort is another major Delhi sight. It's made of red sandstone, but back in the day it was covered with painted plaster, and gold leaf. This is wherethe throne sat in the public audience pavillion.

*The private audience pavillion at the Red Fort. It's made of white marble and used to be covered in semiprecious stone inlay work. A lot of it was looted, of course.

* How cool is this door handle?

* All this was behind the Fort walls.

* Of course, there are sacred cows everywhere. This one was looking very majestic. These are window shopping, which is what I like to do, too.

Delhi Pictures!

2009-01-25T05:52:00.000-08:00

So, Froody has been up and at'em for almost a week now, and that means finally seeing Delhi. It's a big city, of course, and is old enough to have a lot of monuments scattered about.

*Froody gets his IV removed at last.

*View from our rooftop restaurant of Main Bazar in the morning.

*Another morning, this time a procession of sorts. None of the waiters could explain what it was about. There's always something going on, even if it's just one man on a drum walking down the street.

*On a walk around our neighborhood we found a Christian cemetary. It must be very new, as none of the dates on the graves were before 1995.

*OBAMA

*Our first walk through Old Delhi was near the mosque, Jama Masjid.
We walked by the poultry market (or what's left of it), some butchers, breads and pasta, and everything else.

*Froody at a small restaurant on Main Bazar. His tummy was ready for a bit more Indian food!

*Humayan's Tomb is part of a big complex with his tomb and several others, and a couple of mosques. It's also known as the Red Taj Mahal.

*I bought myself a salwar kameez, a very comfy, traditional Indian outfit.

*We also checked out the Bahaia Temple, also called the Lotus Temple. It is very beautiful and very modern.

*The Qutb Minar is a 74m tower erected by the Arabs when they conquered northern India and introduced Islam.

*In Islam, representations of people are not allowed, so the muslims chopped the faces off of many Jain and Hindi temples (and lots of Egyptian temples, too) and used the blocks of a temple in the area to build the first mosque in India.

*The Qutb Minar and Humayan's tomb are made of blocks of red sandstone. Some of the patterns reminded us of Petra.

*We also visited Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. The guidebook says that every Friday 30,000 people go to the mosque!

*Imagine tens of thousands of people here, not pigeons.

*Back in the day of Shah Jahar, the women of the royal court would sit here and perform prayer, safe from common, male eyes.

*It's interesting to see the common structures of mosques, be they Indian or Arabic. They all have a place to wash, this one the biggest we've seen, and a mihrab, the niche that faces Mecca.

*This mosque has relics of Mohammed and is made of red sandstone and white marble.

*We climbed a minaret and got some nice views of Old Delhi.

*Here I am about to go down the wrong street as we walk through more of the market place around the mosque.

*Mmmmmm.....lots and lots of colorful fabrics. This is the bridal section of the market where you can buy fabric for your wedding sari.

*A parade for something, but we don't know what!

*In the mornings, people stop and worship at a temple. This includes chanting and ringing a bell.

*We decided to splurge and eat at a revolving restaurant near Connaught Place. It's nice knowing we can spend USD20 on one meal and then USD5 on the next, and still be on budget.

India: My Thoughts So Far

2009-01-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

Just my thoughts and impressions on India so far. The people (ie: men) who work in our hotel are very nice, especially since Froody was sick. They are a good resource and seem to want to offer good services, even referring us to another hotel down the street when we wanted to hire a car.

Hiring a car: That was something I never thought we'd do. It seemed like a very expensive thing to do, but since we wanted to see some sights outside the downtown area hiring a car just seemed the easiest way to do it. We were surprised how cheap it was; only Rs650 (~USD15)for a car and driver for 8 hours. He did a good job, was friendly, suggested a tasty and not too expensive place for lunch, and offered to take us to other places after we were done with our temples. He even told us that if we go to this handicraft emporium he'd get Rs50, which would mean a lot to him and his family, but we didn't have to if we didn't want to. We declined one, but let him take us to another later on.

Different: Obviously, things are done differently here than at home. Like, getting to school. In the mornings and afternoons you'll see these rickshaws full of children going to and from school. That is one hard-working man! Another difference is in all the dogs. They are EVERYWHERE and I think it's lucky that people mostly seem to ignore them, so they don't learn that people are mean and therefore attack you. What's funny about them is that during the day you see them sleeping everywhere, as if their nightlife is so busy that they just crashed where they were. There is a local newspaper printed in English, that's something we haven't seen yet. I found the personals, only here they're called the matrimonials and the ads seem to be written by the family. I think the categories are regional and religious and caste. A lot of the ads include the girl's/boy's age and weight and many include the date of birth and a few include the time. The one requesting brides will also talk about what line of work the father is in. One asked that you reply with a photo, a bio, a horoscope, and a paragraph. The divorced/widowed section is very small and will describe the person as "issueless."

Tired: I'm done. I told Froody that I was done with 5 months of in-your-face poverty. I'm tired of seeing people peeing in the streets, watching I don't step in poop (animal and human), minding the stray dogs and cats, and ignoring the beggars. It's not that I really want to go home right now, but my empathy has been played out and I'm not strong enough to handle another 5 months of the same (South East Asia). Each morning I have to brace myself for the stink, the filth, and the poverty I'm going to see as soon as I leave the hotel. I need a break.

Life: Life is lived in the streets of Delhi. All kinds of life! People, dogs, cats, monkeys, parrots, pigeons, hawks, oxen, goats, horses, cows, calves, can all be seen in the streets. Also, all kinds of living! You see people excreting every kind of bodily fluid. I saw a young girl just puke out the window of a crowded bus as it rolled to a halt right next to me. And the men spit everything everywhere. You see poor men sleeping on the sidewalks and everyone just steps around them. I've seen older boys bathing in the street- yes, all lathered up in soap with a cloth around their waists. I've seen women working in construction, mainly with a pick-axe or shovel, digging holes as their small children play nearby. You seen people eating, drinking chai, getting a shave, right on the streets. There's men asking my husband if he wants his ears cleaned, their implements sticking out of dirty red turbans.

You can't help but be a witness to life in India.

The World Is Watching

2009-01-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Really. It is.

Now that Froody is better my mind can focus on other things, like Obama's inauguration. I know that you've probably heard on the news how 12 billion pairs of eyes will be on Obama tomorrow and I'm here to say that that is no lie. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is happy and hopeful that Barak Obama will be the President of the United States of America.

People in Kenya and Tanzania hope that he will increase aid to Africa. Egyptians and Jordanians hope he will bring peace to the Middle East and change the way America deals with Israel. (Our guide in Karak was very confident that Obama will make big changes for the Middle East, especially since he will "rule America" for 8 years. (That really got me. Ruling America. I don't really see the president as ruling America.)) Indians hope he will help them with Pakistan.

I try to remind all these people, gently, that Obama has to fix America's problems. And we all know that we have some big problems.

I'm writing this after watching an Indian-based news program (ie: not BBC World News nor CNN) covering the pre-inauguration lead-up to the actual inauguration. They were discussing the theme for his inaugural speech and all the security measures. A couple of young men from Delhi happened to score inauguration tickets and the newspaper quoted them as being very excited about it.

America will have it's first black president. Everyone knows that Obama is a black American. Yet, I still get incredulous looks when I say that I am American. "Are you sure you're not Indian? No one in your family is Indian?," is the response I'm getting here. No one seems happy until I've explained my family roots. And I don't think this helps to get them to see me as an American. We met a Belgian who said, "Really? You're so brown." Dude, I am so. totally. an. American.

So, Obama, I have a wish for you, too. While you're out there creating more jobs, making our country greener, and bringing peace to the world, can you remind EVERYONE that not every American is white? Some of us are even brown.

Froody Is Sick :-(

2009-01-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, Froody is suffering from a little cold. We both get a little sick in each new country, which makes sense since with each move we are exposing ourselves to new viruses and bacteria. Again, we aren't being as careful as some other tourists might be. On the one hand, we haven't bought any food off a cart on the street. On the other hand we've had street-side juice and lassi (Mmmmm...lassi).

Before getting sick, Froody and I wandered about our small part of Delhi. Yesterday, Froody felt a bit yucky so we both took it real easy. Even I used the time to catch up on sleep and rest.

Today, however, I was ready to do some stuff on my own! Making sure Froody was OK without me (ie: tissues and water within reach), I stepped out to so some shopping. I have been DYING to buy a salwa kameez, a traditional dress for women consisting of a long tunic with matching pants and scarf. Yesteray I did sneak out of the room and tried on some tops which were too small (even though they were marked L) which, unfortunately, sent me into a little bit of a downslide into low self-esteem. :-( But, today I was going to give it one more try and if it didn't work, I was going to find a tailor and get one made for me. With the help of some nice shop owners, I found a place on the Main Bazaar and bought myself 2 lovely salwa kameezes: one light blue and the other yellow-gold. They are made of cotton with embroidery and sparkles...for Rs1060 (USD22):-) I returned to Froody, triumphant. He was still feeling sick, so I once again left, this time in search of a beauty parlour. I found a little place for women only and got a shampoo, cut, style. (Our hotel bathroom is a little bigger than this!) The woman talked me into getting my eyebrows threaded, where she plucks and trims my eyebrow hairs with a white thread, no tweezer, and a yoghurt facial. I managed to get all this for Rs700 (USD14). I think she would've charged me Rs1000, but I showed her all the money in my pocket, Rs700. She agreed to do it anyway. Guess that's one way to "haggle."

Now Froody is trying to nap and I just finished a plate of dinner in "our" local eatery- a small place we've eaten at a couple of times. The man asked me where my friend was and I told him my husband was not feeling well. :-(

I hope he gets better soon. Shopping and stuff is OK for a short while, but I want to see the Red Fort and Agra with him.

In Delhi

2009-01-12T03:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, Froody and I arrived safely in Delhi. Big tip: If you ever plan on flying to Delhi, arrive in the middle of the night. That way you aren't plunged head-first into all the noise, traffic, and everything else.

On the plus- side, all our previous travels have made it so Delhi is more interesting than overwhelming. So far, my impression of Delhi is equal parts Cairo and East Africa, and two parts cool and amazing (India). What I mean is, you're walking down a crowded one lane dirt road, full of bike rickshaws, tuk-tuks, and people when a wooden cart driven by a brahma bull pushes past. Also, we're sitting in the (very modern) hotel lobbey when a demonstration passes by, with chanting people, drums, banners, and two elephants. Elephants!! Walking past the hotel! In the street! and NO ONE CARES. Very cool.

We've eaten Indian food each day we've been here so far. We've gotten some folks trying to scam us and others insisting that they aren't trying to sell us anything, just come into their office so they can tell us about some day trip out of Delhi.

Final Week in Jordan

2009-01-10T22:52:00.000-08:00

***Photo links added!

It's funny, blogging about Jordan when I'm now in India. Guess I'm spoiled from living in Cairo when we had internet all day every day. Which means a quick summary on our last week or so in Jordan. (fyi-Jordanians love their king and feel that he really cares for them. It's nice being in a country where the people like their government.)

We discovered early on that, while Jordan is way more organized than Egypt in many ways, it doesn't seem to have a good public transport system (ie: bus) from anywhere other than Amman. It would take a good one two days to travel from Dana to Madaba by bus and since we didn't have the time, we did what's more popular: We hired a car from Dana to Madaba. It is more expensive this way, of course, but we were lucky in that Roger decided to join us and shared in the cost.

Walid, our driver (or Hajj Walid, the title "hajj" for those who have made the mandatory trip to Mecca which he has, 5 times), suggested a visit to Karak and the Dead Sea, both being on the way to Madaba. Sounded good so we all agreed. Karak is the largest Crusader built castle in Jordan. It's huge! It's also made from bits of Roman and Nabatean temples which was a common practice everywhere (remember: mosque made out of pharonic temple). Everyone ever since has added on to it and it was 7 stories high until a pasha blasted it to bits to rout out the rebels. Here we had our first glimpse of the Dead Sea. We had an hour and a half at the castle, but I would've liked at least another half hour.

The Dead Sea. We have all heard of it, but I never really knew where it was until researching Jordan. In fact, there's a lot about Jordan I didn't really know about until we got there, like how so many biblical events happened there. On our way to the tourist beach we got a closer look at the sea and Lot's wife. Yes, Lot's wife as in turned-into-a-pillar-of-salt. At the beach we had fun learning how to float in the water and "swim" without splashing the foul water into our eyes and mouths (bleh. it tastes awful). I even paid (3JD) to get all covered in stinky, oily, black mud. (Hey, some people pay big bucks for this at home!)

Anyway, we eventually reached Madaba which is famous for its mosaics, another thing I hadn't known about Jordan. The mosaics decorated the floors of fancy homes and Byzantine churches. When Islam became popular in the area the iconoclasts demanded all images be obliterated from everywhere, and it was interesting to see how the mosaicists tried carefully to cover-up the people and animals in these mosaics. This is a pretty neat art form. I've only seen pictures in textbooks and did the usual making of a mosaic from paper in art as a kid, but seeing how huge some of these got to be and how small the tiles, I developed a real appreciation for all their work. We spent all of one day wandering around and seeing these works, starting with the mosaic of the Middle East which is believed to be the oldest map of the Middle East known. Some mosaics escaped being changed over because they were under years of dirt and debris and some are still being discovered to this day, especially when someone decided to re-do their bottom floor.

Amman. Amman is a very Western city, which means to us that it's clean, streets and sidewalks are well-paved, everyone obeys the traffic laws, and no one pees in the street! (Really, I never saw anyone pee in the street anytime in Jordan unlike Egypt, East Africa, and India.)We even got to use crosswalks and welcomed the sight of the green man (the light that tells you when to cross the street). We were there for 3 or 4 nights. We wandered around the downtown area. I loved the Jordanian galabeyyas, but didn't buy any. Things were more expensive here than in Egypt so I didn't get any big souvenirs, just a few chachkis- prayer beads, zip pouch, earrings, bracelet, brass donkey ornament. (Remember how I said Jordanians love their king? Here is a pic of Froody eating at a falafel stand under a picture of the king.)

Another day was spent looking at the Roman ruins in the heart of the city: the nymphaeum, the Odeon, and the Roman theatre. At night a friend of a friend of my father-in-law drove us about Amman. That really showed us how big a city it is! It's also built on hills (which turned our wanderings into butt workouts!) Essam took us to see some great views of Amman at night and some expensive villas and chi-chi shopping. We were very greatful to him for giving us so much of his evening after a busy day at the office- the Ministry of Environment.

The next day took us to Jerash, the largest Roman ruins I've ever seen. It's a whole city! Three theatres, a main street, temples, large nymphaeum, and a bath house. After the second hour, Froody was pretty much done with ruins (remember, we've been seeing ruins for 3-4 months now). After the third, I was done, too. We both liked the first hour: seeing Hadrian's gate and watching some Roman re-enactments at the Hippodrome (the smallest in the Roman Empire so far).

Well, I'm hogging the lobby computer and Froody is talking about lunch, so I'll sign off now and try to come back and link up to some pix- including me in a bikini. XD

Dana Nature Reserve

2009-01-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

After Wadi Musa and Petra, we got a taxi to the village of Dana, right on the edge of the Dana Nature Reserve, Jordan's first nature reserve. I know, it looks like a bunch of piles of rock, but those piles were people's homes for a long time, since the Ottoman Empire. Nowadays, only two families live here. Everyone else lives in the village of Quadisiyya about 3 km away and built just for these people when the government decided to preserve this area.

Dana reinforced the fact that Jordan is way different from Egypt. First of all, there's a lot more water here. More water means things like trees and plants.

We stayed at the Dana Tower Hotel. Our guide book didn't really like it, at least that's how it seemed to us, but folks on the internet seemed to love it and since it was the cheapest thing there, we decided to try it. It was a pretty nice backpackers' stop. The food was awesome and the rooms sweetly done up. The beds were OK and while there was no heating in the rooms we got plenty of blankets, which was great because it was really frikkin' cold while we were there! (non sequitor- I got to play with more puppies there! This time, a litter of 9!!!)

Our first afternoon there we wandered about and met a few of the locals. We got some nice views of the old village, perched right on the edge of a canyon- Wadi Dana. This part of Jordan is so different from what we've seen so far. It's almost like being at home again.

In the evening we hung out in the "tent". It is a big common room with a heater (+) and lights (+). Trying to warm up, we met a few other travellers and swapped stories. Again, I met with folks who couldn't believe I was American, even a Belgian basically said I was a bit more brown than your typical American. :-) Anyway, after a tasty buffet meal served up in the same room, Froody and I went to bed and huddled together under about 4 blankets.

The next day was very cold and very, very windy. After discovering that hot water was not forthcoming at that time, we dressed and headed for the communal tent. We had some more nice conversation around breakfast, with lots of hot tea. Froody and I had decided to walk the entire canyon (having only one full day in Dana), which is about 14km and arranged for a car to pick us up at the end. Luckily, a Spaniard and a Swiss chose to join us and we had a pretty nice walk. (Hmmmm...that sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke, "A Spaniard, a Swiss, and an American were walking around one day, when...)I was very glad as it warmed up, even though it meant carrying all my layers most of the way down.

It was interesting how much the rocks changed during our walk. Froody and I kept on saying what a shame it was that we didn't major in geology. I wished I could read the stories the rocks were telling us.

Happy New Year?

2009-01-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

So, how was your New Year's Eve? I hope it was good. Over here, it's just another day as the Islamic New Year was the week before.

Well, for me it wasn't so good. I'm not very political, so I'll just say that it's a bit strange to be on this trip with Israel and Gaza being so near and that the people of Jordan are sympathetic to the Palestinians.

Anyway, we did go out to dinner on New Year's Day and I finally got to try the local beer. It wasn't so bad, actually. Scary how much it looks like a can of Coors, isn't it?

Yes, Petra is Better

2009-01-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Petra is truly a sight to see. You have to see it yourself to really appreciate its beauty. There's some poem that describes Petra as the "rose-red city" but that's not true. In fact, the author didn't see the city until after he'd written the poem.

On our first visit to Petra, we walked through the Siq, a 3km path through a narrow canyon from the gate to the city. Even there we were impressed with the colors, not knowing how wonderful it would be later on. My first view of the Treasury made me gasp. I knew Petra's most famous and elaborate site would greet us after the Siq, but it was still a delightful surprise.

We were both unaware of Petra's size. It was plenty big enough for us to happily explore its tombs and canyons over 3 days. Day 1 was spent seeing the Treasury, the Street of Facades, and the High Place of Sacrifice. The High Place afforded some nice views of the city. Then we took the back way down, not as popular as the way we went up which meant not seeing hundreds of tourists, which we liked. This trail passed some tombs and a home and some more wonderful color. We also climbed up another hill that in the end gave us a view of the Treasury from above. Again and again I was in awe of the lush colors or impressed with the skill of the ancient stone masons. Walking along the Street of Facades, we had a little fun with some of the holes eroded in them!

Day 2 we entered Petra from a side route through the Tunnel. This trail led us through a canyon and for the most part we were alone, except for the occasional tourist. We met a Bedouin man who asked us to have tea with him and his friend. We chatted a little and in the end he asked us if we wanted to buy some old coins, which were nice but we declined. I did give them my orange in return for their hospitality. The canyon got more and more narrow and opened up in this small "room" of niches and a facade. We walked by another tomb, one of a Roman governor who wanted to be buried in Petra. We also found the Petra Church. Neither of us had read much about it so the mosaics caught us off guard. They were pretty neat. Finally, we hiked up to the Monastery, Petra's second-most famous site, which would explain why there were so many people walking up and down it all day. The monastery is huuuuuugggee, way bigger than the Treasury though not as elaborate. I still find it difficult to believe that someone just carved away at a cliff-side, leaving these incredible facades behind. The area boasted the View of The End of the World, too. Like Sinai, it did give me the impression of being on top of the world.

By Day 3 we were both tired but looking forward to taking a little-known trail recommended by Nassr, our hotel manager. It was more wild and we only saw a couple of other tourists on horseback in the distance. The trail went past a set of tombs and purple canyons which led to maroon canyons. We found our way to the Treasury again (after losing and finding the trail once or twice) and I would have really enjoyed being the only ones on that bluff looking down on the Treasury and all the other tourists if it hadn't been so cold. :-( We ate our boxed lunch and Froody tried to get a fire going. Before lunch was over I was cold, sore, and not having fun anymore, so we decided to head back the way we came. Warmed up from the walk, I didn't want to leave Petra so soon, so Froody suggested we spend time exploring the tombs we had passed. That was fun, and I got to collect some pieces of pottery. Some are probably Nabatean, others could be Roman, Ottoman, Persian, or from anywhere since Petra was along a major trade route for a couple of centuries. This was our shortest visit to Petra, only 4 hours instead of 6 or 8!

So, if Petra is not a "rose-red city," how would I describe it? A city made of shifting colors in bands of white, burgundy, blue, purple, and yellow. Like bruise? Oh, yeah, that's romantic- See Petra, whose walls and columns beautifully show the bruises of the Earth.

Now in Jordan!

2008-12-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

Froody and I have been in Jordan for about a week now, maybe more. Leaving Egypt, crossing Israel, and entering Jordan was fairly easy and much cheaper than the ferry. We stayed in Aqaba for about 4 days. Aqaba is Jordan's one seaside city, so it has a port, huge resorts and cheap hotels, and skindiving!! The corals were breathtaking and the fish were great. Not as many different types as we had seen in Hurgada but it was all right off the beach and we saw a ton of lionfish each time! On Christmas day we were skindiving (of course) and Froody found an octopus, my favorite animal, for me.

After Aqaba was Wadi Rum. We spent two nights in the desert. Man, it was very cold!! The stars were lovely at night. We opted for a trek through the desert. It was pretty good, but in retrospect we should have done the jeep safari instead. I think we would have seen more of what Wadi Rum is all about.

Now we are in Wadi Musa. We arrived yesterday and just rested for the afternoon so today was our first day in Petra!! We spent about 7 hours wandering the old town, poking our heads into tombs, and just marveling at the colors. It was like walking in someone's psychedelic dream, full of colors- reds, whites, blacks, yellows, browns- all of them rippling across the facades of ancient buildings and flowing around the cliff faces. It was so much better than Wadi Rum. And the first glimpse of the Treasury after walking along the Siq or canyon made my jaw drop! We hiked up to the High Place of Sacrifice and up to the High Place of Khabtha (this is where the filmed part of Indian Jones and the Last Crusade). As soon as Froody uploads the pix, I'll tell you about them. We bought a 3 day ticket and we're both glad we did. Tomorrow we go to the Monastery- another climb!

Pictures!!!

*Aqaba had its own version of juice bars

*Sunset in Aqaba

*Some great snorkeling is here

*Laundry day- again. Ewww!

*In-between snorkels

*Christmas Day at the beach

*On the way to our Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum. That's the luggage rack, and our luggage, next to the jeep.

*Wadi Rum has excellent rock formations

*Us in the desert!

*The Ship of the Desert

*We spent one day trekking in Wadi Rum. Next time, I'd do a jeep trek. We did a lot of scrambling that day, better than slogging through the sand.

*Froody got to ride the guide's donkey

*Our evening's entertainment!

The Low Down

Aqaba- our first night was at the Al-Masra, a fairly cheap hotel near the town center; friendly managers, large room with fridge, tv, toilet; some hot water, no breakfast. 25JD. We also spent several nights with the Alcazar: large hotel with pool; nice buffet breakfast, good-sized room, tv (not as good as Al-Masra), cheap shuttle to Majun, their private beach club where you can rent all the gear you need for diving and snorkeling; excellent reefs right off the beach. 38JD.

Wadi Rum- Mohammed Sabah Al-Zalabeh. Was impressed with his organizational skills; he's willing to do what you want; should really do a jeep ride or camel; evenings around the fire were nice, but wouldn't want to do more than two nights; food very good; 45JD per person per day unless you get more than 4, then might go down to 35JD. Even cheaper if more than 10 in your group. Most people met him, did jeep tour of Wadi Rum, ate dinner, campfire w/music, slept in permanent tent (plenty of blankets and good sleeping mats), ate breakfast, then left. He helped us make the bus to Wadi Musa.

On Top of Mount Sinai

2008-12-29T06:58:00.000-08:00

OK-So, after visiting St. Katherine's Monastery the other thing to do in St. Katherine's Village is hike to the top of Mt. Sinai. If you're really cool, you hike up for the sunset, sleep out, and wake up for the sunrise. We're not that cool, but we've got all the time in the world and, that's what we came to Sinai to do. (Actually, it's what I wanted to do since we were passing through and Froody eventually bought into the idea after talking to a few folks who had done it.)

We agreed to let a taxi take us to Nuweiba, so the driver happily drove us around the morning of our hike up the mount, buying some water, chocolate, and koshari to help us make it to the top. Additionally, he saved us about 85LE. He told us that the police check-point will ask us what we were doing and we were to say that we were going to spend the night at the monastery's hotel, because if we said we were going up the mount the police would insist on us taking a guide for 85LE otherwise they wouldn't let you go. At first I thought this was just a bunch of baloney. The guidebook said nothing about this but we went along with it. Later, we learned that everyone else on the summit had to buy a guide, so I guess this is true. I'm not sure why because it's a very easy to follow trail.

Anyway, we started up the camel-path which was a bit long but a nice, steady climb up. We were the only ones up there for a long while, not counting the black cat who conveniently crossed our path! Halfway up we stopped for koshari and were passed by another couple. We passed by many closed little stands and rest huts which was great because it meant no one could harass us into buying anything. About 30 min from the top we found a couple of "cafeterias", really some sturdy 3-sided wooden structures covered in tent material and wool- and camel-hair rugs which sold hot and cold drinks and snacks, and asked about renting some blankets and sleeping mats for the night. (20LE per blanket and 10LE for the mat). We also asked if we could sleep inside his cafeteria, since it was very cold at night and there were long benches hugging the walls. Surprisingly, he said no and that we should really sleep out on the summit. We were flummoxed. No one had ever passed the chance to take our money, and here was a guy who was sending us away! He did explain that at 3am we'd be woken up by 400 Russian tourists, all up in his little shop. !!! Well, we kept on walking (wanting to make it to the top) and , about 5 min from the summit we stopped at another cafeteria and asked the price to rent blankets and mats, were told the same as before, and, again, we asked if we could sleep in his store. Again, we were told that at 3am, 400 Russian tourists would arrive and wake us up, so we should sleep out on the summit.

A few minutes later we were on the summit of Mt. Sinai, the very place where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God. The landscape was beautiful and us and a few other hearty souls enjoyed the quiet sunset together. There were two men selling tea and coffee and with a cuppa in hand, I asked one of them if, really, 400 Russian tourists would be arriving at 3 in the morning? He was thoughtful for a moment and said that during the high season, 400 Russian tourists really do arrive at 3 am for the sunrise on Mount Musa (as it's known in Arabic; Musa = Moses) but since it's so quiet only 200 will show up. That's still a lot of tourists!

Froody and I walked back down to one of the little cafeterias after sunset and decided to sleep out on a flat surface behind the shop (with many benches leading up to it) and joined another couple sleeping out for dinner. Let it be known that if you're planning on sleeping up on Mt. Sinai you really don't need much. The store provided us with a warm, filling dinner. Everywhere up there you can buy water, coffee (turkish or nescafe), sodas, chips, and cookies. We got 3 mats and 7 blankets (for about 110LE), changed into long underwear, and fell asleep underneath a sky full of stars.....

....Until about 3am when I was woken up by 200 Russian tourists! At least! In fact, there were tourists from all over the world who had been driven in from the coast on huge buses at midnight and had climbed up in the dark and were now drinking tea and coffee, eating cookies, talking, and waiting for the sunrise. I managed to doze off and on until 5am when Froody and I decided we couldn't sleep and wanted to find someplace to see the sunrise without 200+ people in the way.

That done, we enjoyed a lovely sunrise with 200 other souls, all of us in awe of the lovely golden ball peeking out above the mountains of Saudi Arabia.

Then, we all got to hike down together. This time, we took the Steps of Repentance. It's much more dramatic than the camelpath.

Making Way to Sinai

2008-12-24T07:24:00.000-08:00

After our great few days in the desert (this is Froody and a huge piece of quartz from Crystal Mountain) and oases, we returned to Cairo to take yet another bus to yet another beautiful place- Sinai. We had to take it easy in Cairo because I had some bad sinuses after our time in the desert dust. But, I did get better and we boarded a big bus for the long trip to St. Katherine's village near the base of Mt. Sinai.

OK, so we arrived at the village and, let me tell you, there really is nothing to it. It's main attraction is that you can sleep in a hotel or camp before hiking up Mt. Sinai. It's unknown attractions are that it is the base for lots of trekking in this area (with a guide, of course) and if we had known we might have opted to stay longer and do some hiking. Also, being in the interior of the peninsula it gets pretty frikkin' hot during the summer, so the hotels are built to stay nice and cool during the summer months, thus being frikkin' freezing during the winter. The hotel was called Safary "Moonland" Hotel and Camp and the managers were friendly. We paid 100LE for the room plus 15LE for breakfast (each). The food was OK, but not worth 15LE, but there really wasn't anywhere else for brekkies. Our room had hot water but not enough pressure for the shower to work. But, it was cheap.

ANYWAY-we spent our first full day at the St. Katherine Monastery. I've never visited a monastery before so really didn't know what to expect, except that we'd see the burning bush (yes, this is supposed to be THE. BURNING. BUSH. MOSES. GOD. and all that). Whoa, it wasn't what we thought- we expected to see some half-dead, dusty bush-thingy and not this amazingly healthy plant. Many people were quietly contemplating this miracle, praying around it, touching it. A few broke off pieces to take home. One surprise at the monastery was the gallery which featured many pieces in the monastery's private collection. Photos are not allowed! but we really liked all the icons (images of holy people) and appreciated the fact that it's the most complete collection of it's kind, the monastery having been declared protected by Mohammed so no one came in and defaced all the images like they did all over Egypt (and everywhere else, I imagine). We had to rush b/c the monastery is open from 9am-12noon and we wanted to check out the church. It was small and packed with chandeliers which, I was glad to see, were not electrified. It was so different from all the mosques we had seen. It was full of icons, gold leaf, the scent of burning candlewax.

I liked it.

The Desert!

2008-12-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

*We finally made it to the desert! Not everyone goes, but you really should some day.

*Mahmoud was our guide. He may not have talked about the desert much, but we didn't mind because he let us explore to our hearts content.

*Froody and I had fun in the dunes.

*So much treasure in the sand!

*Our first night was spent in the tippy-most part of the Great Sand Sea.

*Wagdee was a great cook.

*The next day we checked out some springs that have been around since the Romans. Yes, this is a Roman mummy and there was a lot of broken Roman pottery everywhere. It was easy to pretend you were an anthropologist on a dig.

*Time to go, but I want you to see a bit of the White Desert.

Luxor: Part 2

2008-12-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, so much has happened since Luxor that I'm just going to finish up *talking* about some of the pix from that trip.

*The Colossi of Memnon

*The Valley of the Queens. Cameras were not allowed into the tombs so we can't show you the neat painted interior walls. Not only the queens, but royal children were also buried here.

*The Temple of Hatshepsut. She was the first female pharoh. This is a chapel deep inside the temple. Again, I love all the residual color! I also loved these columns topped with the head of a goddess.

*We also went to the Valley of the Kings, but, again, photos inside the tombs were forbidden. And we were too cheap to buy more postcards.

*Sunset from the top of the Nefertiti Hotel. You should stay there if you go to Luxor. The staff are friendly and offer tours at reasonable prices and don't pressure you into buying them.

*One of the few ways you can make a sunrise even better- in a hot air balloon! The hotel offered balloon rides at the bargain price of 300LE which was less than USD60 at the time, so we had to try it.

*Luxor Temple at sunset and sunrise.

*The mosque built on top of the Luxor Temple. They man who gave us the tour said it was the oldest mosque in Egypt, so I guess built during the 1st century sometime. It's pretty cool to see how they used the column tops and lintels of the temple (and weird to think that they were sticking up out of the ground instead of being up above you). They even carved into one for the mirhab. btw-it was being rebuilt when we were there.

*Taking the train back to Cairo. While we were there the Feast began. (This one celebrated Abrahim about to sacrafice his son to God, then God sending a ram instead.)In the more rural areas you can actually watch the sheep, calfs, and goats being slaughtered but in Cairo that all happens in the less tourist parts of town. Everyone else just has fun in downtown.

Luxor! Part 1

2008-12-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

OK- from Aswan we woke up early to catch a bus to Luxor. On the way we were to stop at a couple of temples. They were pretty cool, but not that old- Ptolemic instead of Pharonic, so only, like, 1300-2000 years old.

My jaw dropped when I first laid eyes on Kom Ombo. It's a temple dedicated to two gods: a crocodile god Sobek and the other I can't remember. It was so amazing and I just love the residual color. In all the textbooks you just see these old buildings that are just mud- brown, but I loved them just the same and to see that they had colors!!! It makes my head swirl just imagining the walls and columns as they were first built.

Sadly, we only had 30 min to enjoy it before heading to Edfu temple, dedicated to the god Horus. This was even bigger than Kom Ombo!! And the carvings, the details, are so rich. We had a bit more time to explore so we got to see some of the storage rooms and climb the stairs that the priests would climb carrying a statue of Horus so that it could be bathed in the sun and get more energy and live longer, etc. One of the storage rooms was where they made perfumes and stuff, so the walls were carved with the recipes. Unlike Kom Ombo and other temples we've seen, Edfu still had ceilings. In the chapels, they were painted blue with stars carved into them, representing Mut, the sky goddess. The ceilings helped preserve even more of the colors. Blue! Red! Black! Yellow! It is amazing when you stop and think that these columns were actually handcarved by people! BTW- I really liked the falcon statues.

That night, because we hadn't seen enough temple for one day, we saw the Sound and Light Show at Karnak temple. It. was. awesome. First, we decided to walk, being only a couple of kilometers from our hotel and the guidebook made it sound like it was just straight up Karnak Temple Street (no brainer, right?) So, down the street we go. It's very busy but no touts so we don't mind. But eventually we began to feel lost because the street got very quiet and the tour buses and caliches just disappeared towards the Nile. We did happen upon the rest of the Avenue of the Sphinxes. It starts at Luxor Temple and runs all the way to Karnak. It was weird to realize these ancient sculptures were right here where the sidewalk should be and even weirder still to see kids playing hide-and-go-seek among the sphinxes!

Anyway, Froody asked for directions a couple of times and we reach a locked gate to the temple parking lot and so we have no choice but to walk all the way around, but we did make it to the ticket booth just as the music was starting! I haven't seen any of the other light shows (this was supposed to be the best one), but the show starts at the main portal to the temple along the Avenue of Ram Sphinxes. There's dramatic music, colored lights, and voice actors talking about the history of the temple and a bit about the pharohs who added on and about some of the festivals that took place here. I'll admit that it was a little over-theatrical, but I didn't mind at all. In fact, it seemed to fit because Karnak is, in itself, over-the-top and surreal, this 3000+ year-old structure. The story leads you through the temple itself. It was like a dream, finding yourself walking through an ancient temple at night. The end of the show has us all seated by the Sacred Lake and I'm sitting there, allowing myself to get carried away by the music and voices, and that's when it hits me: I'm in Upper Egypt, someplace that seemed so far away when I was in junior high (ahh, so long ago) and first learning about Ancient Egypt, the pharohs, the Nile, the desert and wishing I could see these things for myself.... And now I was! For a while, even after the show, I was so full of warm happiness. Froody said he was glad I was happy and glad he could be there with me.

So, the next day we ventured to the West Bank- the side of the Nile dedicated to the afterlife whereas the East Bank is dedicated to this life. (A restaurant owner said that it's kind of true even to this day. The people of the West Bank all go to sleep when the sun goes down and don't stay up late like the Egyptians of the East Bank.) We decided to go on a guided tour of the Valley of the Queens, Al-Deir Al-Bahari temple, and the Valley of the Kings.

Aswan

2008-12-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm about to try to squeeze everything into one post. Here goes!

Us budget travelers take the train from Cairo to Upper Egypt, either Aswan or Luxor. It is a long ride so we opted for the sleeper car. We went to Aswan first. It is really lovely with a set of islands in the middle of the Nile, the largest being Elephantine Island. Most people who go there take a day to go and see Abu Simbel, a very famous temple, but we decided it was just too dang far- 4 hours one way! Instead we happily toured the Aswan Museum, wandered along the narrow streets of a Nubian village on Elephantine, and checked out the ruins of Satet Temple. At the temple, Froody and I were amazed by the details of the carvings (as always). I mean, what were they doing in Europe at the time? Fingerpainting on some cave walls? The Egyptians just blow that all away with their carvings and writings.

In Aswan we took our first felucca ride. We went at sunset which is beautiful in Upper Egypt because the sun actually sets instead of sliding into the murk.

We also spent some time at the High Dam which once and for all put Nubia under water. That day was weird. Feeling adventurous, we took the train to the end of the line where we were told the dam was. We figured we'd walk or hitch a ride to the top of the dam. Well, we were approached by a taxi driver who was there with his two clients (French girls I had seen at our hotel) and said that if we were interested he'd take us along with them to Philae Temple, the top of the dam, and back to Aswan. After some negotiating, Froody got a decent price and a trip NOT to Philae (bleh, we were almost done with temples)but to the unfinished obelisk instead. And the top of the dam. So the taxi driver, Abdul, hustled us all into his car and took us to the top of the dam. Then he started to say something about a ticket, and did we have one, and do we want one, and there is a guarded checkpoint coming up and do we have a ticket, and if not it's OK but...now it's too late. I tapped the shoulder of one of the girls and asked her if she understood what was going on. She smiled and said, "No" she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Instead of letting all of us off at the viewpoint he stopped his car a couple of times and hurriedly waved, practically shouted, at Froody to get out and take a picture. In retrospect we all four tourists figured out that if we wanted to stop at the viewpoint we needed tickets (which the girls had so I don't know if they ever ended up going or not) but the tickets were about LE20 each, and the taxi driver didn't think it was worth it since all you really needed at the viewpoint was 10 minutes to take your pictures, so he "saved" us some money and let Froody get some pictures.

The French girls were taken to the ferry for Philae and then Abdul took us to the Unfinished Obelisk. When he dropped us off, he invited us over to his home later on that night for tea with his wife and two daughters. We politely said we didn't know, he said the French girls were going to be there and that he wasn't trying to get money from us he just really wanted us to have tea with him. Eventually we exchanged mobile numbers and said if we weren't too tired we'd try to make it.

The Unfinished Obelisk is pretty cool. It's in the Northern Quarry and it's supposed to be where a lot of the red granite we've seen in all the temples, pyramids, and the statues in the Egyptian Museum came from. Story goes they were making an obelisk which was to be the twin for one that is now in Rome and would have been the tallest one around, but before they were done a crack was discovered so it was abandoned. Being there just got us to ask a whole bunch of questions: how long did it take to carve something like that? what types of tools did they use? how the heck were they going to lift up that thing? how did they get all the granite out of the quarry?

After the quarry we wandered through the Fatimid Cemetery (actually much older than the Fatimid dynasty). It was interesting to see how different these "modern" graves are from the tombs and pyramids.

That evening Froody and I discussed whether or not to have tea with Abdul and his family. I was pretty tired and fed up with people trying to get us to spend money (felucca captains, touts, shop owners) and I was convinced that Abdul was going to try to sell us something. Froody was convinced that his offer was sincere, and wanting to believe in the good of mankind again, I gave in (also, it helped when Froody promised that we would leave if Abdul did try to make a sale). Man, was I so glad to be so wrong!! Abdul and his wife and children were very nice and hospitable. I think, if he did have any ulterior motives, it was to get pix of his kids and you can't really blame him as cameras are very expensive and his girls are very cute. The French girls also showed up so it was a pleasant evening. We all left at about midnight and even then it was a bit difficult. Abdul couldn't understand why we would leave so early. :-)

Last Minute Stuff

2008-11-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

Froody and I were lucky enough to stumble into a Thanksgiving dinner invite. Of course it was with a small crowd of American expats. We had a good time and both enjoyed speaking to people who 1) were native speakers of English and 2) were people we were not married to. We laughed a lot except when us girls got around to sharing our harassment stories. But still, a good time was had by all. :-)

Other than packing up our bags (gee, did it all used to fit in one bag?) Froody made a final batch of chili and took pictures of the people he bought ingredients from. I guess it takes a village to make some chili!

*butcher #1 and butcher #2 of this shop

*hot peppers

*tomatoes and herbs

*cleaning supplies

********************
Hey, is this really in Cairo?

Where Are You From?

2008-11-27T00:04:00.000-08:00

I get this question a lot, usually after someone has spoken to me in Arabic and seen the puzzled look on my face as I try to make out what they said.

"Where you from?" is the natural question. "America," is my answer. They blink, after which they either ask me again or say "Really?" Sometimes they'll even ask if I was born there.

Once I convince them that I really am an American, born and bred in the USA, they smile and tell me that I look Egyptian. (Here I am with a native Egyptian. What do you think?)

I was sharing some pix of my family with our Egyptian neighbor, which she enjoyed, and once she saw my father she exclaimed, "He looks Egyptian!" and "He looks like an Arab!" and "If I met him on the street I would speak Arabic to him!" Then I showed some pix of my husband's family, and our neighbor pointed to our niece and happily said, "That's an American!"

Most of the time, I see reactions like these as an opportunity to educate others on the diversity of my country's citizens. :-) Americans come in every color. I mean, really, we just elected a black president! :-))) But when our neighbor said that about our niece, it does remind me that there is a reason we, American people of color, are a minority. And that is that most Americans are white and most American tourists are white.

So I can't really blame people for double-checking where I come from. Especially since I'll continue to be mistaken for a local for the next couple of months!

Final Cairo Sights

2008-11-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the time has finally come. Froody and I leave Cairo this weekend. We took some time off of class to see a few more sites before we go.

The last thing we did with my in-laws before they left was see Saqqara. We all agreed it was much more interesting than the pyramids at Giza, yet everyone needs to see them, too. Many of the artifacts in the Imhotep Museum were so well-preserved, it was like they were just made yesterday. And remember, this is the oldest of the pyramids and started that whole pyramid trend. Even cooler than the pyramid and its complex was the tomb of a high official and Teti's pyramid. Unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed inside either and I wish I could share the details of the river scenes in the tomb and the star-covered ceiling of Teti's burial chamber.

After the in-laws went home, Froody and I were on our own. We did more exploring; there are still some things that still surprise me, like goats grazing in the street and huge mosques coming out of nowhere. We found the Ibn Tulun Mosque and the madrassa right next to it. We also met some school children who asked Froody to take their pic. Again, I love the friendliness of the people we've met here and everywhere. The minaret of the madrassa was a nice place to take pix of my hubby, too. The Ibn Tulun Mosque was lovely and there was something peaceful in the large, quiet space and the graceful curves repeating over and over again.

We also found Bab Zawela and the Tentmakers' bazaar. The walk through fabrics and quilts gradually became a walk through a market street, though with a "small meats" section we don't have in our own neighborhood. Sometimes we had to stop because the sidewalk and street were too crowded for anyone to make it through. Another surprise! an ancient door, probably 600 years-old and crumbling.

Finally, we made it to Rifai mosque and the Sultan Hussen madrassa, somewhere we've been meaning to see since Ramadan. Pretty incredible, don't you think? I find it strange that one was built in the 1400s and then in the late 1880s someone built another huge mosque right next to it. The new one (Rifai?) is also a family tomb.

My Thoughts So Far-DELETED

2008-11-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

The other day I was talking with my sister, who is a professional Middle Eastern dancer and has made several trips to Egypt. She asked me about my impressions of Arabic culture. This was a good question; I've never taken the time to make them comprehensible to anyone else. Or to myself, for that matter.

So I started blogging on how Egypt is different for female tourists than for male tourists, and a bit about the dirt, garbage, and pollution, and a bit more about how religion is a part of your life. Everyday. 5x a day.

BUT after reading what I wrote it all sounded like whining and I don't like whining. I don't want to get all down on Egypt, because it really is a cool place to be. Do I want to live here for ever and ever? No. Am I glad to have been here for 2.5 months? Heck yes!

Instead, I will share a couple of amusing bits of conversations we've had with locals.

The waiter(? owner?) at the fuul place we frequent complimented my husband on the fact that I was dressed appropriately. That was weird: my way of dressing was a good reflection on my husband! Of course, this was all said in a nice, friendly way with lots of smiling.

Our neighbor has told us that she really wants to go to America, especially Las Vegas where she hopes to make it rich on the roulette table. Then, she tells us that gambling is not allowed in Islam, but she wants to do it anyway! She also told us that if she was to meet Bin Laden she would hit him with her shoe!

I do want to share this pic with you: In Cairo the sun doesn't set as much as it sinks into a thick sky.

Another neat cultural difference is in all the greetings! Every other day we find another way of saying "How are you?" There's also greetings for the normal stuff like congratulations, condolences, and welcome back. The funniest one is the greeting for having just gotten a haircut or taken a shower: "naiyman" to which you reply "allah yenaiym aleek." There is no direct translation, but based on all the other greetings and their resposes it might be something like this: "That is a nice haircut/ You are nice and clean." "Yes, but God has the best haircut/God is always April fresh." XD

I do hope you make it to Egypt.

The Citadel

2008-11-19T01:14:00.000-08:00

Well, the in-laws are safely back home in the US. Froody and I ejoyed their visit and are glad they had a good time.

We all spent a whole day at the Citadel together. Like much of Cairo you find a lot of monuments from a lot of different times in history all clumped together. The walls were built by Salah al-Din to protect the city from the crusaders, around 1180. Inside there are two mosques and two museums. The Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir was built in the early 1300s and is an empty shell as all its marble was carted off to Turkey later on. It's still great to wander in, and I love the striped arches and wooden ceiling. The military museum was OK. The most interesting part was the building itself, built for a sultan's harem (his wives and children), but we didn't want to pay the camera fee so there aren't any pix.

The police museum was one none of us had any interest in, but the view from the terrace was pretty sweet. Last thing we did before leaving was to go into the Mohammed Ali Mosque which sits on top of a hill and looks down on the city of Cairo. (Sadly, with all the tall buildings you have to be high up and pretty close to the Citadel to see it watching you.) It was built in the 1800s and its interior is the most beautiful I've seen. Mohammed Ali is still there, in fact. By now it was well after noon and the sun was coloring the limestone on the outside of the mosque and playing in the shadows.

We decided we weren't tired enough so we walked the 1.2 km to Al-Azhar park to show off the view to Froody's parents. It's wonderful standing there at dusk and hearing the call to prayer reaching up to you from all over town.

And, we all got a kick at watching the young people act like young people seem to do all over the world- hang out and play with their cell phones!

Teh List

2008-11-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

This blogger that I like to read had posted her TO DO list. You know, the one comprising all the things you want to do before you....die. And last night I was reading an article in Oprah's magazine that mentioned the Bucket List. So, I think the signs are telling me to finally write down the list I carry inside my head, which is good because then I can cross them off! (Or, the signs are telling me to remember all the great stuff I have already done and therefore stop thinking that I am a very boring person who hasn't done anything. Hmmmm...definitely another post.)

Ladies and Gentlemen- Janola's To Do List:

fly first class
see Turkey
dive among ancient greek ruins
see Antarctica
see wild polar bears
go to Alaska
visit all 50 states, even the square ones in the middle
walk on the Great Wall of China
visit the Louvre (actually go in it next time)
see the Sistene Chapel
see Da Vinci's Last Supper
visit rat temple in India
see Mt. Everest and hike along its foothills
ride a hot air balloon
see cave dwellings
experience a winter with snow
become fluent in Spanish
swim with whale sharks
write a book
paint and draw more
rebuild an old car
visit Australia
fly a plane
knit a beautiful cable-knit sweater
participate in an archeological or paleontological dig
take a ceramics class

*whew* of course, there's more I haven't thought of yet.
Your turn!

Which are 3LE per Kilo??

2008-11-16T05:20:00.000-08:00

Buying produce is, like everything else here, different. And it's taken us a while to learn how to it.

Not every produce stand is alike. Some sell only veggies and some only fruit. Some stands only carry herbs. And, they may only sell one or two types of fruit/veg. Also, about half of them have a price on any of their wares, usually printed or written on a card and stuck into the lovely pile. We've seen some that have one fruit priced, but not the others. I take it to mean that the sellers expect me, the customer, to already know how much everything costs. I've learned to pay attention to the pricetags whenever we're wandering the market street.

Another thing is that the quality of the produce varies from person to person, so the tomatoes of the person you bought from today may look good, but they might look worse later on in the week. So while we do try to buy from people whose produce and prices we like, there are times when we have to go elsewhere.

Then it becomes an opportunity to learn how to "look".

For example, we found a man who was selling oranges from a cart. He had a price, 3LE (that's about USD 0.75 for two pounds), on a card stuck in the front of the only pile of orange oranges we could see. We gladly walked over to buy some and he directed us to the back of his cart. I just thought he wanted us to not disturb the neatness of the front of the pile. After picking 2 kilos, he weighed them and we gave him 6LE. He asked for 1LE more. ??! But the price is 3LE a kilo! we said that comes to 6LE. Yes, he said,smiling, but that's for the oranges in the front. The ones you got are 3.50LE because they are bigger. Of course, all this was said in very broken Arabic on our side, broken English on his side, and a lot of pointing on both sides. *grrrrrr* We paid him, grudgingly. But it was a good reminder to be careful. Especially with that guy.

Part 2: Since then, we've gone to other places for oranges, as that's all I've ever seen him sell. But the other day we found ourselves in front of this same cart of oranges. And there was the sign, 3LE per kilo. I got another two kilos of oranges, this time from right around the sign. He weighed them and I gave him 6LE and, again, he asked for one more pound. What do you mean? I said the sign says 3LE a kilo! Yes, he said, but that is for these oranges over here on the side. See how they are smaller?

*grrrrr* If we weren't so tired we would have dumped the oranges right there and filled the bag with small ones.

*sigh* But then, I say to myself that I'm getting upset over USD 0.20. But then, another side of me says: I don't like getting taken advantage of.

CHOCOLATE!!!

2008-11-10T23:20:00.000-08:00

This is a desperate call for help. I am on my "moontime" and have a huge chocolate craving. I've tried all sorts of chocolates on this trip, and have failed to find anything satisfying. :-( I think the problem is where we've been- Tanzania, Kenya, and now Egypt. These are all hot places (AFRICA hot), and chocolate does not seem to survive well out here. The chocolates I have bought (and eaten. hey, it's better than nothing... sometimes) are either stale-ish or taste very waxy. We bought chocolates for the wedding (under the advice of our tutors) and placed them in an inlaid box we had bought as a souvenir, and had a few left over. These were bought at a fancy chocolate shop/patisserie so we thought we had some decent chocolate, but no. They were really bad. :-( really.

*sigh* And looking forward, we seem to be moving even deeper into non-chocolate friendly territory.

In-laws in Cairo

2008-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Our first apartment guests arrived earlier this week- Froody's parents! I've been looking forward to their visit and am real glad they're here. It's always nice to have visitors and share a new country with them. This is their first trip to Egypt, too.

Froody and I have shown them bits of Cairo we've already seen and much that we've never gotten around to. Of course, we showed them around our neighborhood- fruit and veg stand, the bakery.

Then we all wandered Islamic Cairo together. I particularly love how minarets are just everywhere here. Naturally the streets led us to the Khan il Khalili, a huge bazaar or souk where you can buy almost anything. We went into the Hussein Mosque which we later learned non-muslims are not allowed in, so I don't know how we got in. Froody's mom and I had to cover our hair, of course, but then had to enter on the other side of the mosque and stay in the harem section. Froody and his dad got to enjoy the huge interior. But both sides led to this smaller room and I wondered what was inside the silver box. Turns out that a grandson of the prophet Mohammed was beheaded, and his head now lives here. :-O

MIL made a friend during lunch and did a bit of shopping. (Really, it's hard to resist buying anything here, although I did the first time around.) As we followed the Muski (this street here) we eventually left the tourists behind and found all the locals and most of the women- shopping, of course. The Muski gets more and more narrow and you get more and more squished as you walk through. I think my in-laws found it a bit overwhelming. I know I did my first time there!

Of course, we haven't done everything together. They spent a day at the Egyptian museum and we met them on the top of the Nile Hilton in the evening, as we had class that day. We also invited Morad and his family over to meet them.

Egyptian Wedding

2008-11-09T04:44:00.000-08:00

According to some blogs I've read, wanting to go to an Egyptian wedding seems to be a not uncommon desire among travellers. I always thought it strange that anyone would go to another country where they don't know anyone with the hope of being invited to a wedding. I mean, in America the wedding couple spends weeks making and editing a guest list. I can't imagine going to someone else's wedding and inviting two strangers. But that is what happened to us a couple of weeks ago.

We found our landlady in the apartment next-door. Seems she was helping the woman of the house (Sarah) cook for the wedding the next day. After receiving the rent money, the landlady invited us to the wedding that was to take place in that apartment. This invitation was seconded by Sarah,who is the step-mother of the bride. What could we do but accept? The event was to take place "early"- 7 or 7.30pm. I say "early" because most weddings don't start until after the final prayer ends, around 9pm. And, I think most weddings happen on the weekends.

OK. What to wear? Froody and I take a look at our meagre wardrobes. I wanted a splash of color so wore a kanga from Kenya as a wrap and pinned it shut- don't want my arms to show too much! In spite of our tutors' reassurances that women wear whatever to a wedding, we decided to go conservative. Good thing as all the women were covered (and still looked great, btw).

We got there at 7.30pm and sat in the living room with all the other guests, including the father of the bride and the landlord. Sarah seemed very pleased to have us there. :-) Just then we all gathered outside along the stairwell to watch the wedding party arrive. I think there was a ceremonial part somewhere else and now was the community part/ party! There was a dj in the livingroom along with some friggin' huge speakers which pumped out loud music all night long. I mean really loud- it would have been a bit challenging to hear the tv in our place, the music was so loud!

After the happy couple arrived they were given the seats of honor. There was a lot of clapping and cheering all night. In Egypt it's mainly the women who cheer by making a trilling sound which carries throughout the neighborhood. Whenever you hear this sound it's almost always a wedding.(Morad said it could also be a new baby). Then the bride and groom have their first dance. At first, it looks like your first jr. high slowdance, but then the music changed and they both started shimmying and shaking, dancing like everyone dances here. And, the music and dancing pretty much continued during the rest of the night. The dancing stopped for the jewelry ceremony (Sarah walked around slowly with a box containing rings, bracelets, earrings, and a watch. Then the couple put the rings, etc. on each other and everyone got up to congratulate them.), the food (ah, so good! There were plates and plates of meat, chicken; cabbage leaves, eggplants, peppers, and squashes stuffed with savory rice, samosas, and a different rice), and the cutting of the cake. Once these events were over, it was back to dancing! Even we got pulled in and tried to dance with everyone.

Eventually, the bridal party left and we all ran to the balcony to see them off. They made a convoy behind the couple's car, which was decorated with bouquets of flowers and ribbons, and proceeded to drive around town, honking the horns and blasting their music! Sarah kindly gave us a plate of leftovers while they were cleaning up.

Once home, Froody and I reflected how everyone seemed to have a good time and even got a little crazy. It seems to me that here, any occasion for music and dancing is seen as a time to let off some much-needed steam.

Man, I really wish I could paint a better picture of all the food, music, and happy people.

President Obama!

2008-11-06T00:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who got out and voted! It's so amazing that we now have a new president and that power will peacefully pass from the old to the new. :-) Today is a day of celebration in Kenya. My father-in-law (Brit now American citizen) said that the world always watched the American presidential elections, but this particular one has generated a lot more interest due to the war and, of course, the global financial crisis.

As happy as I am for Obama, I don't envy him the task of cleaning up the huge messes we're in.

The Americans Are Voting!!!!

2008-11-04T08:08:00.001-08:00

OMG I AM SO EXCITED IT'S FINALLY HERE ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA.

Random Election Thoughts

*I've said before how lots of people, once they discover that we're from America, ask us who we want for president. And I've said how glad they were to hear us say that I (Froody can't vote, remember) was going to vote for Barak Obama. Everyone seems to like him. I did hear a blurb from Germany that said basically how "business as usual" didn't work (think: global financial crisis) so he wanted something new and different. So, I guess Obama represents a change to everyone.

*I mean, according to CNN, my little vote added to your little vote added to their little votes will affect policies that influence the WORLD. Man, I never thought about it like that.

*Some folks here get confused over the fact that if all the Americans they speak to don't like Bush, then how did he get elected in the first place? They look skeptically at us when we explain
that people who like Bush tend not to travel to East Africa or the Middle East and if they did they didn't do the budget safaris etc.

*Our Arabic tutor listened with eyes wide when we said that, as Americans, we could stand in front of the White House and yell out how much Bush sucks and how we hate him and all his policies from the top of our lungs and no one would do anything. Except maybe some police might watch us and eventually might ask us to leave. She said, "And that's it? You'd be allowed to go home?" And we said "yes." And Froody added how this trip so far has made him appreciate the Bill of Rights.

*Anyway, if you're able I hope you vote or have already voted!!

Hey! Cool Things in Cairo

2008-11-02T05:34:00.000-08:00

At last more pictures have been uploaded so I can share a few more cool things we've been doing with our time.

* We are always on the lookout for tasty food. Froody got to try stuffed pigeon- a local speciality. I enjoyed my mixed grill. That's Froody's bowl of meat casserole in the foreground.

* We don't mind the non-alcoholic atmosphere here in Egypt. Froody finally ordered a "cocktail" which is really a fruit smoothie. I'm having a big glass of hibiscus tea.

* Spent part of a morning in Islamic Cairo and got to see a mosque from the inside for the first time. I had to cover my hair which was no big whoop. I do always try to keep my arms and legs covered. Each mosque has water available for washing before entering. This is inside Al-Hakim mosque. It's in the process of being restored inside and out.

* This is the Sabil Sulayman Aga al-Silahdar mosque. Beneath it was an old reservoir with a cool echo. I liked the stripes! In a Christian church this would be called a pulpit. I forgot what it's called in arabic, but serves the same purpose.

* Part of an old madrassa or school. This part of Cairo is full of wonderful architecture!

* There were many art students trying to capture the beauty of this place. I hope you can see how stylish the young women are. I particularly like how this young woman smiled for Froody's pic, unbeknownst to us!

* We went back to the Egyptian Museum to see the second floor.

* The courtyard has some neat granite statuary. At first you catch yourself thinking about how the weather and stuff might affect them. Then you remember that they've been around for frikkin' evah.

* Sadly, we can only bring you pix from outside the museum. Cameras aren't allowed inside.

* Take it home!

* One of many local butchers.

* Not too many women in the coed car of the metro.

How to Cross the Street

2008-11-02T05:13:00.000-08:00

Some of you have shared your harrowing tales of street-crossing in foreign lands, and I'm here to add my own observations. As I've said, Cairo is full of aggressive drivers so this is no easy thing. Below is a list of the ways I've used to cross:

Crossing the Street
1- Not me, but I've read on the internet how some folks will just not even bother, instead choosing to plan their route so as to not cross a busy street! Sheesh!

2- By far the safest way is to use the Metro, as each stop has an entrance on either side of the street. I think we've done this once when we were really tired.

3- The best way is to stand near or "downwind" of a local who is also crossing and going when s/he goes. This works very well and is my favorite way.

4- Another way is to cross where the local police are directing traffic. There is a brief window in-between his stopping the cars one way and allowing the others going the other way.

5- Or, walk down the street to the next busy intersection, waiting for the cars to slow down before they cross or turn.

6- Many times you just have to do it piecemeal. You see an opening, but it only gets you half-way so you end up standing in the middle of some very busy lanes, cars whizzing closely by you. Usually, after a minute, you're able to make it the rest of the way across.

7- If it's not that busy cars do speed up. In that case you walk slowly across, making sure there is enough room on either side of you for the cars to swerve around you.

Note: There is an understanding between drivers and pedestrians. Pedestrians trust that the cars won't hit them and the drivers trust that the pedestrians aren't so stupid as to get hit.

Eyes Wide Open and I Still Can't See

2008-10-27T13:39:00.001-07:00

The other day Froody and I stopped at the local bakery to buy some bread. It was a bit crowded so I opted to wait on the sidewalk. This meant that I had several minutes of being outside and not moving, something that doesn't really happen much for me in Cairo, so I was able to look about me and soak in a bit more of my adopted neighborhood. Being on Sharia Tahrir means lots of people and many cars honking and trying to zoom past. But now I actually got to see it all as well as look UP at the tall buildings lining the sidewalks. It felt a lot like a river in a rainforest- the one place where there aren't any trees overhead which means that the sun can finally reach the ground. The city is like that, too. On the smaller, narrow side-streets it's a bit dim and the buildings are so close that looking up rarely affords a good look at them.

Why not look up more? I, for one, like to see where I'm about to place my foot so that I can avoid potholes (yes, on the sidewalks, too), manhole covers (again, on the sidewalks), trees, cats, garbage, mysterious puddles, beggars, beggars selling tissues, shoe-shiners, people selling any of the following: shoes, headscarves, clothes, sunglasses, ties, watches, pens,food. Oh, and cars. Because the sidewalks are so...full... most folks choose to walk in the street, which still requires one to keep their wits about them, as you may be run over by cars, trucks, bikes, pushcarts, horse carts, donkey carts, and motorcycles.

So, while I walk about with my eyes ever scanning the ground beneath and ahead of me any opportunity I get to raise them to the sky is usually taken advantage of. And I'm usually glad I did.

Quirks- We Has Dem

2008-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Every old apartment everywhere has Quirks. Ours does, definitely. Some of them are: 1)None of the doors close very well. 2)The showerhead and bathtub are at an odd angle, so that a lot of water shoots off our bodies and onto the floor. Meaning that 3)There is a squeegie in the bathroom we use to push the shower water into the drain on the floor. And also for 4)The washing machine drains through a hose on the floor that is very close to the drain in the floor, but not quite. 5)You have to pick the lid up off the toilet tank in order to flush. 6)The kitchen sink has no cold water. 7)The doorbell ringer sounds like birds chirping. This was done on purpose. 8)The chandeliers each have two (one has 3) different light sockets and wire sources.

But, overall, we do like our diggs. Like Froody said, everything is very conveniently located. It's a nice enough neighborhood and much quieter than downtown. I thank the embassies for that. If you're ever in Cairo, you'll be amazed at the huge (and ever growing) number of street cats. There are hardly any dogs so there's no infernal yelping and barking at ungodly hours. About a thousand years ago, the caliph Al-Hakim ordered every dog to be executed because he hated their noise! I'm sure that isn't the reason for the lack of wild dogs here, but it couldn't have helped. (I think this, and a few of his other actions, made him a pretty sick cookie.)

Another quirky thing- at Cilantro, an Egyptian chain coffeehouse, you can order an American coffee...served in a french press.

Sheesh!

2008-10-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Man, where did all that come from?? Let's go to what you all came here for...more interesting stuff! Pictures!!

*These pastries came from the little bakery that Froody told you about. All that for 5LE or US$1.

*Ya' know, I really love looking at the Nile. I bet the pharoh's never expected anything like these hotels!!

*Yes, this really is a sushi place and yes, we did eat there. Pricey but not bad sushi!

*View from a 4 star hotel nextdoor. The food was pretty bad,
though.

*We invited Morad and his family over for dinner. We wanted to make them good ol' American ribs but due to the existing language barrier we couldn't. It was still a tasty dinner, though.

*Spent some time in Coptic Cairo. Of course, the architecture was amazing. Inside the Hanging Church is this high altar they use during special occasions like Palm Sunday. Can you find the column that represents Judas?

*If you go to this page you can click on the movie-tour Froody gives you of our Cairo apartment.

*We are constantly discovering new mosques. We need to actually go inside one before we leave.

*Sunset in Cairo as seen from the rooftop lounge of the Nile Hilton. Yes, those are the pyramids in the background. Was a pleasant evening and waaaayyy cheaper than the Cairo Tower.

I VOTED!!!!!

2008-10-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yup, I practiced my God-given right to vote! And it's still October! Many of you already know that you can request an absentee ballot so I went online to learn how to request mine. Seems some states, like California, will allow you to fax in your vote on an emergency write-in ballot if you promise to mail in the hard copy, and that's what I did! People do vote here in Egypt, but seems it doesn't matter much, as the same guy always wins as president. In fact, Morad says he already knows who the next president will be- the son of the present president! We hear about the continuing power dispute in Zimbabwe and we have seen burned-out villages- the result from Kenya's last election. There's also the protests in Thailand over their prime minister- someone died there! And yet, in less than two weeks America will have an election and emotions will run high. In two months the power will shift from George Bush to ... well, we'll see. Will there be anger? Will there be accusations of stuffing the ballot boxes? Probably. But will there be huge mobs of people raping and setting their neighbors homes and businesses on fire? Definitely not. This election and traveling have really made me appreciate all sorts of things that I took for granted.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but God Bless America! I know it isn't perfect but I'm so glad my home is there. I'll admit, this song has popped into my head more than once this trip while talking to people and seeing how different their lives (the norm for that country) are. I thank goodness for Planned Parenthood, for pre-natal care, for welfare, for medicine that works, for tax dollars that really are at work, for free public education that really is free, for most kids staying in school through high school, for respecting ourselves and everyone else, for clean drinking water, for minimum wage, for a government that can change albeit slowly.

I truly believe in the American Dream. I do believe that anyone can have a good life if they are willing to work hard for it. I know we are not all created equal and that it's rigged so that the big guys stay big, but us little guys get a chance which is more than I can say for people living in some other free countries.

Global Economic Crisis

2008-10-16T10:03:00.001-07:00

Ok, so according to BBC World News, CNN (internation edition), and NPR there is a global economic crisis going on. So, I'm assuming that a lot of you have or are asking yourselves "How does this affect me?" and "What can/should I do?" Well, Froody and I have been asking ourselves these questions, too. Basically, we're going to "wait and see," which seems to be very popular with everyone in the news. We are fully prepared to alter our trip, perhaps hanging out in northern Africa instead of visiting Turkey and SE Asia, or coming home a lot earlier so as to have more cushion while looking for work. We both feel pretty good that I'll be able to find a job quickly, but wonder how long it might take Froody to get hired anywhere and I really don't want to support the two of us on a teacher's salary.

On the other hand, I'm not too sure how this plays into the life of the average Egyptian. If I knew more arabic I'd totally ask someone how they felt about this global crisis and the possible upcoming global recession. As it is, I'm not all that sure that folks around here keep up on international news. (The juice-man keeps telling/asking us about Hillary Clinton becoming the next president.)I think this is just part of "being Egyptian", the whole "insha' allah" attitude that everyone here has.

Cairo Living

2008-10-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been in our apartment for a week now and, no, we haven't done any "real" sight-seeing until today. But, I don't feel too bad about that (now that we've seen a sight). There's just so much to do when you first move in as many of you know. Plus, living in another country makes everyday living an adventure. Oh, I mean an ADVENTURE!!1!

List of Adventures Had This Week
1) Crossing the street- it's like living a game of Frogger each time

2) Buying produce from the street vendors. Are they ripping me off or not? Actually, they're probably not.

3)Riding the Metro. Took us a while to figure out the right exit so we don't have to cross the street every time (see #1). Also, I feel a bit weird every time because I'm one of the very, very few women in that car. Most women use the "Women Only" cars, which is very colorful and pretty as it zooms past you and then everything goes blah when the men's cars go past.

4)Buying groceries. What is in stock? Egyptian versions of American foods! How much everything really is since the blurb on the shelf doesn't match what is on the shelf about half the time.

5)Buying meat from the butcher. How do you know it's a butchery? Why, by the carcasses hanging outside, of course! We wanted to cook some ribs and serve them up to Morad and his family. You know, give them a taste of American food (to which Morad answered, "Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Hardees...aren't these American?" I sheepishly agreed and Froody said we wanted them to have real American food.)OK- so-back to the butcher who didn't speak English (natch) and had difficulty figuring out what we wanted even with a pic. Eventually, everyone figured out what we wanted and he went into the big fridge and pulled out 2.5kg of rib meat and lion (no bones) of veal. We bought 2kg of it and it was really nice. Froody thinks this can become a weekly thing: go to the butcher, get whatever loose meat he has laying around (in the fridge), and cook it up.

6)Eating lunch. Yup, it's an adventure when you A-Don't know what the heck that stuff is, and B-Don't know how much it should cost. At least it was tasty and cheap for us Americans. :-)

7) Go to the Post Office. It's adventurous when you can't find it! And we had two maps!! Anyway, ended up going to the Main Post Office instead which is a bit overwhelming because of all the windows with digital numbers over them and all the people sitting down in front of them. Are they waiting for their number to come up? Are they waiting for the window I'm about to go to? Which window sells stamps? (OK, we know the answer to this one now.)

8) Standing in Line. Not sure what it is, but Egyptians have no sense of the "queque" that we westerners have. Yeah, there's a "line" but older women seem to have the right to cut right to the front of the line! And, when your turn is next, there's no sense of personal space and the person behind you will crowd and get in front of you if you're not aggressive. And once you're at the window the people directly behind you are now right at your elbows (srsly, I'm not kidding) and some even have their money out and in the window! And you're still waiting for tickets or change!!

9)Driving in Cairo. We definitely aren't ballzy enough to even dare to imagine driving in this crazy city. I thought Nairobi was bad. Still, Cairenes do seem to follow a couple more driving rules than the Kenyans, but,...sheesh! You have to see it to believe it. For instance, at night, they don't turn on their lights. They do drive with the running lights on and use the headlights to warn other cars and pedestrians of their approach. During daylight hours the horn has this job. They also use their turnsignal for things other than turning corners. And they have a total disregard for the lines in the road. Basically, the road is going to have anywhere from 3 to 5 lanes, depending on how busy it is. I've even seen roads hardly big enough for one car fit two cars!! There's no real speed limit, either. If there's no one in front of you, you can floor it!

Killing Time in Cairo

2008-10-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. Froody and I have now been in Egypt for about 2.5 weeks, yet I feel as if we just got here. One reason is because of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan all good muslims are fasting during the daylight hours, which means a lot of shops and sites have strange hours and good luck finding cheap, local food. Also it was frikken' hot so we were not motivated to do much during the day anyway. However, the nightlife during Ramadan cannot be beat. The streets are (finally) full of people, all the stores are open, as well as all the coffee houses and juice bars. (yah, yah, I know I blogged it before, but whatever.)

So, yesterday we FINALLY ate food at a locals-only type place. No, we don't speak Egyptian yet (class hopefully to begin tomorrow more likely Saturday), but the waiter was very nice and by smiling and pointing we got some fuul (mashed fava beans with onions and flavor), falafel (not what they call it here, but can't remember the real name), some sort of eggplant stuff, and aisha or pita bread. We also had a side of cucumbers and tomatoes and pickled veggies which Froody didn't like but I find OK. The waiter asked us if we wanted Pepsi and we said, "yes," and he served us nice, cold Sprites. I guess "Pepsi" is the general term for "soda". Dinner was spent at a kushari place which serves only kushari (very easy to order!). Kushari is made up of short macaroni, noodles, rice, lentils, fried onions, and a choice sauces: tomato-y, garlicky, and spicy! In spite of (or because of) the inordinate amount of carbs this was a very filling meal and very tasty. Tonight we stopped at a fried food stand that showcases all sorts of fried fishes, shrimps, and pigeons. We got whole blackened fish that came with pita bread and more pickled veggies. We got it to go and looked forward to more tasty egyptian food, but that fish was a lot of work! The black stuff just got everywhere and the veggies were really salty. :-( Luckily, we had bought some tomatoes and cucumbers at the street market yesterday (man, a smile and pointy-finger really go a long way in this world!) and we each enjoyed this makeshift salad. (BTW- one kilo of tomatoes set us back 2 LE, about 45 cents!)

Now it is evening and we walked around a bit. I got a deck of touristy playing cards, the kind with pictures of ancient Egyptian gods and stuff, and we made our way to this internet cafe. Cairo is chock-a-block full of internet places and you can smoke in all of them! We're thinking of getting satellite TV, mainly for the American football and BBC news, but I ~~think~~ know that I'll like listening to well-spoken English.

The Color of Cairo
Cairo is the color of dust. Each building is a different shade of something that isn't brown. To me, brown is a very solid color, warm and soft, but that doesn't describe Cairo. Sometimes, while I'm waiting for a break in the traffic so that I can cross the street, I'll look up and find that I can see through the layers of dust, all the way down to the building's original beauty: a mosaic, a reference to pharonic times, wrought iron vines, art deco lines and curves. Through all this grime emerges the imposing bulk of the mosques, the only things enhanced by the dusty environment. It's as if the dust emphasizes the details, making the delicate structures appear more solid and allowing the minarets to pierce through the haze.

The true color of Cairo is carried by it's women. I love how the women are drenched in color from head to foot, the colors layered expertly on each other. These colors undulate, moving between headscarves and long, flowing skirts. Even those who are all in black have a sparkle of sequins about them.

No matter how they are covered, the women's personalities still shine through. I've seen women in full veil laughing with each other and cuddling their children.

I wish I had new pix to show you, but Froody hasn't found fast-enough internet to upload them yet. :-(

Hurghada and the Red Sea

2008-10-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a week at the Red Sea. We shared a flat with our Egyptian family and, for the most part, had a good time. We didn't do too much together, which was sad, but Froody and I had are hearts set on doing a lot of snorkelling, and they didn't. We did all spend an evening in the desert on safari, which meant riding quads across a wasteland. Really. Egyptian deserts are not at all like California or Arizona desert. It looked like the surface of the moon. This desert was in the shadow of the Red Sea Montains, hugely tall and jagged-y peaks, like Mordor. Really.

OK, back to the safari. You ride the quad to a "bedouin village" which, in reality, is a desert theme-park. I expected to learn a little bit of the bedouin lifestyle, but instead you go there and do some desert-y stuff, like climb a sandy peak to watch the sunset, ride a camel (for all of 2 min), drink bedouin tea (tastes a lot like egyptian tea), ride your quad in a circle, and then eat lunch. The food was pretty good. I think if I knew ahead of time that the safari was I would have enjoyed it more while I was living it instead of in retrospect. But, riding the quad at night back to the beginning was pretty sweet! Especially when the crescent moon and stars showed up.

But the most frikken' awesome thing was the snorkelling!!1! We went with two different organizers. The first called Prince Safaris and it really was the cheapest snorkel trip out there. For about 20 LE each we got on a boat (with 40 others) to some nice snorkel sites, gear rental, and lunch (if you were quick; they ran out before we got ours). The ride out was rough and several people hurled. :-( But once there it was calm enough. Froody and I kicked out away from the boat to the main reef both times so we were pretty much left alone. Most of the other tourists (German and Arabian)stayed very close to the boat,but there was plenty of fish for everyone to see! It was amazing. I wish I had the words to describe it for you. Clear water. Warm sea. Hard and soft corals. Every kind of fish: Angel, Butterfly, Trigger, Wrasse, Parrot, Damsel, Pipe, Puffer. And, several species of each kind! I felt like I was seeing famous celebrities in person- so many fish I had seen dead, floating in preservative, or alive and in small tanks, nothing like being in the ocean right along side of them. Our second trip with Aquanaut, a very good outfit, it felt like being on a dive trip at home it was so well run. For starters, it left ON TIME and not 45 min late. Plenty of food. All staff spoke English. Nice gear. And it only went to sites depending on weather, not to some pre-arranged-must-be-followed itinerary. We had perfect weather so the sea was nice and calm. And again, the skin diving was amazing. Heavenly? yes. I had to keep from crying I was so happy to be somewhere I never thought I'd go. The dive guy said they rarely got Americans as it's so expensive compared to the Caribbean, and it's true. Even Froody loved being in the water here. AND, he said if we go again (in December! cross my fingers!) we might even go DIVING!!! Though I will admit, there isn't much more you can see diving. We saw everything, even lion fish and a beautiful file fish that hung out with us about 2 m below the surface. Again, I wish I could tell you about the clouds of black stripey sergeant major fish and cardinal fish and half-and-half fish. Each fish was like a work of art (hello, picasso trigger fish), really, and just when I think you couldn't do more to a fish, there would be one with a crazy tail or freaky color mix.

My kind of heaven. I was sad that day, knowing that it was our last snorkel and that we were going back to Cairo the next day. The good thing was knowing we were going to our own apartment. We are ready for all the freedom that entails, our friendly hosts notwithstanding.

Oh, Cairo!

2008-09-29T06:29:00.001-07:00

Well, I finally have the computer to myself. Admittedly, I haven't tried too hard to wrestle it away from Froody. But now I can bring you up to speed on our Cairo stay.

Whatever you opinion on Egypt Air, I will say that their flight attendants worked to get everyone seated and the plane off on time. I think it's the first time I've been on a plane that left when my ticket said it would. Could be that we were the first flight of the day, too, but those stewards do run a tight ship! We got here at 9am on Sept 17, which meant leaving Kenya at 5am. Cairo is an interesting city. It is a sprawling metropolis overflowing on both banks of the Nile. "Downtown" Cairo is on the east bank and that is where all the charm is: ancient mosques, giant bazaars, Coptic and Islamic Cairo are all here. The west bank is a bit more upscale (according to our guidebook) and home to many embassies. We spent our first night in Zamalek, a more Western neighborhood on an island in the Nile.

The next morning we called a family of friends of my sister Dre. She said they would offer to put us up for a bit and, sure enough, they did and have let us stay here ever since. They've even asked us to join them on their holiday to Hurghada on the Red Sea coast and we said yes and are paying for half our stay, thank goodness! When we told them our plan to stay for two months and rent an apartment they were quite vocal and couldn't understand why we would even think of renting a place "for a short time" instead of staying with them. I don't think we every convinced them that it is just our way was Americans. They really are nice and Amani is a good cook, but we had to tell them that when we returned from Hurghada we'd be ready for a place of our own.

Say It With Pictures!

*Our room while we stay with Morad and his family.

*Their daughter Merna, teaching me Arabic and showing off her English. Somehow, we manage to communicate just fine. Once, when I couldn't understand the housekeeper she stepped in to translate, which just sounded exactly the same to me.

*Posing at the juice stand. Morad is back there buying sugar cane juice for us to try. If you're good (or six years old) sugar cane juice will give you a nice moustache!

*Wife and mother Amani with their dog, Nini (well, that's what we say). She loves animals, even allowing herself to be adopted by a street cat.

*Egyptian salesmen are very smooth, much cleverer than the ones we found in Kenya and Tanzania. He did have the best flower essence shop we've been to (took us a while to learn the M.O.).

*Yes, almost all of the women we've seen follow the muslim code of covering themselves up, but that doesn't mean they don't have any fashion sense!

*Al-Azhar Mosque and a bit of the huge Khan al-Khalili bazaar. During Ramadan, Cairo comes alive at night and stays that way until after 2 am. We've even started going to bed "early" at about 1 am and sleeping in until 11 am!

*Only sad thing about Ramadan is that none of the small, local restaurants and food stalls are open during the day. Us non-fasting tourists must find other breakfast alternatives.

*I really love islamic architecture. That was a mosque and this is the ceiling of a house built by a rich man 100 years ago.

*Of course. we had to try sheesha. Neither of us liked it. Yes, mom, it was only flavored tobacco.

*This isn't how you expect to see the pyramids, but it is your fist view of them. It seemed a bit more real than when you are really there. I did finally get to ride a camel! The pyramids are cooler up close and personal.

*At last! Froody gets to buy some street food.

*View from our family's living room window and another from the balcony of the room we're in.

*Oh, I forgot that we went to this giant western-type mall in Nasar city (a suburb of Cairo). Froody took advantage of the air conditioning and free wifi, along with a giant smoothie- taller than his compy!

*Drugs! are cheap abroad. What cost us $50 in America was about 40 LE here, about $8.

*A peek into our new diggs.

Walk Like an Egyptian

2008-09-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, bad pun, but I couldn't help myself! I'm not going to blog a whole lot even though we've been in Egypt for a week now because it's hot, the compy is hot, and I'd rather be sitting in front of the open window. (According to BBC WorldNews, Cairo had a high of 38C today!)

I do want you all to know that Froody and I are not kidnapped and have not been dragged into Sudan or Libya. Instead, we are staying with friends of my sister. They are the epitome of egyptian hospitality. We haven't been allowed to pay for anything and are encouraged to make their home our home. It is now Ramadan, a holy month of fasting with the main meal, iftar, after sunset. They've taken us out a few times in the evening to see the city and we have learned that is really the way to go (see temperature above).

Next time I will tell you about our visit to the Egyptian Museum and the pyramids of Giza, about Merna, their 6 year-old daughter/translator, and about everyone having a cousin/brother in America. Right now I want to invite you to our flat in Cairo, as we have decided to stay and learn arabic for two months!