Africa in the New York Times

Two articles from today’s online New York Times caught my attention.

First, some new research suggests that the transition of northern Africa from Savannah to Sahara was gradual and over about 6000 years.

Next, alarmingly, the Times reports that regional war and the global increase in food prices portend a major famine in the Horn of Africa.

Great books about Africa, Part 1 of 8 million

First, a technical note: I keep promising, and then not delivering, blog posts with pictures. The truth is that my internet connection is s o o o o s l o w and inconsistent that it’s almost physically painful to deal with uploading and then blogging photos. I have a million pictures just waiting to be blogged. Maybe I’ll get to them eventually.

Meanwhile, my friend K in CO asked me a glorious question: what are my favorite books set in Africa? Given my commitment to the African Reading Challenge, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I have two categories in mind: books by Africans and books set in Africa. Of course there’s tremendous overlap, but I will also eventually highlight a few books written by non-Africans but set on the continent.

I should also note that despite my residence in Egypt, my reading has focused on sub-Saharan Africa and especially East Africa, an interest that began before my kids’ adoptions (and really was probably one of the reasons I became interested originally in Ethiopia).

So, here are a few great books set in Africa I read before I began the African Reading Challenge (and really these books are on my unofficial life list of best-stuff-I’ve-read):

What Is the What by Dave Eggers. A fictionalized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, a former “Lost Boy” of Sudan, now a college student in the US. This book will knock your socks off (right, K?). (And my copy is autographed by Deng! But that was actually after I read it.)

We Wish You to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch. Did I say the Eggers book would knock your socks off? Well, this one will knock your shirt off. This non-fiction book inspired the Don Cheadle film Hotel Rwanda (also highly recommended), both of which focus on the Rwandan genocide perpetrated against the minority but historically dominant Tutsi tribe by the Hutus. (And, no, I didn’t know the difference between Tutsis and Hutus before I read the book.) Based on the description, it might be hard to understand on how this book can be so good. But it is.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie. Set in Nigeria during the Biafran-Nigerian War (the Nigerian Civil War) of the late 1960s, this novel focuses on the lives of three people, an upper class Igbo/Biafran woman professor; a white British expat who longs to be a true Biafran; and a young Igbo/Biafran man who works as a household servant. The writing is gorgeous and the story engrossing.

And now, a familiar promise: there is more to come.

Oh, happy day

We interrupt this hiatus to wish you a very happy Mother’s Day… from we Fours to you, especially Grammie JJ, Aunt A, Nana, Graeme, Aunt Ci, Aunt Ch, and Aunt M.

It turns out I had a very nice Mother’s Day, even given that it’s a work day here in Egypt (as are all Sundays). Mr. Four and I had haircuts scheduled with a new friend and stylist, a British expat who used to own his own shop in England but sold it to follow his wife around the world. He came over this afternoon, and I hope my haircut looks as good on me as Mr. Four’s does on him.

I knew my present was to be delivered at 6:30pm. I figured it was a plant. A big plant, tree-like, but a plant all the same. So imagine my surprise when, at the end of my haircut, in walks a masseuse, there to give me a massage.

It was unexpected and wonderful. Very relaxing, even though Bug kept coming in the room to “help,” by rubbing my arm until Mr. Four chased him out. Both boys insist we’ve somehow been cheated, though, because the masseuse didn’t leave a present. They were looking for something to unwrap.

I’m not usually one for holidays (except my birthday, which, as a consequence, is often a disappointment), but this Mother’s Day had me reflecting on my first Mother’s Day as a mom, two years ago. Mr. Four and I arrived in Ethiopia on Mother’s Day, and we met little Bug for the first time the very next day. We were expecting a slow transition, but he ended up relaxing with us during the day (when he met us, first he cried, and then he fell asleep in my arms), so we took him back to our guest house with us, and he’s been with us ever since. A day or two later, Mr. Four gave Bug a little box to give to me, and the box held a charm necklace called a “mommy tag,” a silver chain with a charm bearing Bug’s name. It was very sweet. I wore it just about every day for ages. (Now I have other jewelry from Ethiopia that I also wear.)

I don’t remember Mother’s Day last year. It was a chaotic time: we were in the midst of awaiting news from Egypt about a job offer and, much more importantly, news from Ethiopia about a court date to process our adoption of Giggle. Both came through around the same time, a week or two after Mother’s Day, which is perhaps why the day itself is a blur.

So here I am in Egypt, spoiled silly and feeling neo-colonial with all this pampering, but also loving Mr. Four and my wonderful boys.

Pupdate 3: Puppy pretends to nap

We had a busy weekend, and on Saturday, we told the boys they needed to nap. They found this an unreasonable request and insisted they’d nap only if they could do so on the living room floor. So they set themselves up with blankets and crashed out. Mr. Four worked on some sodoku and even Puppy Four joined in the naptime fun.

But Puppy Four wasn’t really asleep. He was chewing on the carpet! He’s too young to do much damage, but he seems also to enjoy yanking the arm covers off of the couch and chair, so upholstery repair may be in our future (and may I again say, thank you, employer, for providing us with furniture that you’ll also re-upholster eventually!).

The puppy’s legs grew approximately ten inches while we were in Dahab. He’s becoming more mischievous, but he’s still very cautious around people, even us. He scares easily, similar to our Old Hound.

Cairo is full of dogs that look just like Puppy Four.

And yes, his ears are like that pretty much all the time.

Moving moving moving

I am loving all the comments about our possible move! I particularly enjoyed the suspicion that I was keeping back something good about Choice A.

Yesterday was Labor Day here in Egypt, but the boys still had school, and Mr. Four and I had the holiday (after a grueling two-day work week), so, we did some errands and stopped by Choice B. Turns out Mr. Four hadn’t realized just how close it was to Giggle’s fall school and the neighborhood market. And the yard, small though it is, was bigger than he had imagined (and bike-able, for the kids). We also found out that his new employer’s shuttle makes a stop about one door down from that building, so it’d be convenient for all of us, not just Giggle and me.

We’ve decided to request to move to Choice B. I know of a few families moving out, but I’m not sure which apartment we’ll move into… except that one place opening up is a ground floor flat, with a slightly smaller floor plan but a large, private, enclosed patio (well, large for a patio, that is, and much bigger than our current balcony). And, the boys could go out our front door into the yard. So we’ll request to move into that flat in particular, but if we end up on another floor, with more space, that’s fine too.

Thanks again for all the comments! I’ll let you know what we find out from the housing office.

Another move opportunity

You all were terribly helpful the last time we were considering a move, so I’m taking a break from the Dahab travelogue to get your input.

We have the opportunity to move within our community. Our current place is fine, nicely finished if not exactly our style, but we have no outside space except for a little grassy postage stamp that even the puppy finds boring. My employer owns a few buildings in our neighborhood that have some outdoor space along with some other perks like free internet and bike storage (both of which we’d love to have). We also feel a bit isolated from the rest of our expat community here, so moving into one of these buildings would be way to connect with folks more easily.

So, there are two buildings we’ve had in mind. One that might be open, but isn’t right now, is further from the boys’ current school and Giggle’s fall school. It’s not a great location for the market either. But the apartments are nice, the yard is gigantic (the building sits on a double lot and the outside space includes lots of lawn and a playground), and there are tons of kids in the building. We know and like some of the families there. To get to both boys’ school, we’d have a walk of about 15-20 minutes through a busy-ish traffic area. I’d also have a similar walk to get to my shuttle bus for the work commute. An apartment might open soon, but this has not been confirmed.

The building we can definitely move into is right next to Giggle’s school, where he’ll start in August, and right at a stop for my work shuttle bus. The outside space is much smaller, though still a huge improvement from what we have now, with some swings and sandbox; the other end of the long and narrow yard has an outside grill. It’d be a very comfortable place to sit outside when the weather is right. Rumor is that these apartments are also bigger and nicer than the ones in the other building. The location is very convenient for shopping and most everything we do, much better than our current place and the other building. I don’t know that many families in the building, but there are kids, and the people I know I like.

Both yards are nicely maintained and landscaped and particularly nice right now with a lot of flowers in bloom.

We could stay put, of course, though Mr. Four and I would both really like to have at least some outside space, so the move would probably be worth it in either case (and I should note that while we’d have to pack our stuff, my employer would coordinate the move).

So, should we go for choice A, with a giant yard, pack of little boys, and a worse location, or choice B, with a great location, smallish yard, and bigger apartment? Complicating this decision is the immediate availability of choice B (we’d move in a month or so, but could confirm it all now).

Mr. Four is leaning one way and I am leaning another. What would you do? And what do you think we should do?

Dahab in photos

I uploaded a bunch of photos from Dahab to my Flickr photostream. Take a look if you like. I’ll be blogging many of them eventually.

Here’s one of my favorites.

Back in Cairo

We’re back from a fantastic vacation. I left off blogging right before our trip to St. Catherine’s Monastery, which was great. The church itself is awe-inspiring, really old and dramatic and lovely. And on a hot day, the mountains were a nice cool break from the beach. Though of course we dove into the pool about two minutes after getting back to our hotel.

I’ll blog more about our trip once I get the photos loaded (which will probably take forever, as always; it’s not the downloading but the organizing and uploading which kills me). But the rest of the week also included lots of snorkeling with some colorful fish along with some pool side adventures. The kids ended up playing with some new friends from the UK, Germany, and France (including the kids of someone prominent enough to have a Wikipedia entry, which of course I didn’t know but only suspected until I got home and googled him).

Today is Easter here in Egypt, for Coptic Christians. It’s also Easter for Ethiopian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Christians. So Happy Easter to you easterners.

Tomorrow, Monday, is Shem El Nessim, the Egyptian spring celebration. I’ll learn more about it and then pass along my wisdom to you. But it does mean I have tomorrow off, so I’ll go to the kennel and retrieve the pup, who, as the boys have been saying, has been on vacation with other dogs (okay, that’s what I told them). I hope he hasn’t been too traumatized by it all.

On Tuesday, Mr. Four starts his new job!

And since Thursday is the Egyptian Labor Day, I only have two days of work this week. Not bad for the first week back after a vacation.

We did get some sad news tonight: our old cat, the Jekyll/Hyde kitty, who has been living with my mom since last summer, died yesterday. By all accounts, she had become mostly a Hyde kitty and had left her biting, grouchy ways behind, and my mom, previously an avowed cat-disliker, really fell for her. My poor mom–over the past few years, she’s taken in three pets from my sister and me and overseen the death of two (who were old; my mom is not a pet serial killer).

A year ago Mr. Four and I had had five pets, three dogs and two cats. Both cats and one dog died from July to yesterday. They were all old and sick, but still.

The other two dogs are with other folks now (including one with my mom) and seemingly in good health for now.

We’ve also managed to lose a cat (and I don’t mean through death) here in Egypt. Maybe we’re bad news for animals.

Anyway, I’m not sure if I’ll even tell the boys about the Jekyll/Hyde kitty. Of course they both know her and remember her well. But Bug in particular has been extra attentive to death issues lately. When we went to St. Catherine’s, Giggle and Bug expressed an interest in playing with Moses (probably because I described him as an original super hero). We said they couldn’t play with Moses (or “Noses,” according to Bug), because he wasn’t there, he died a long time ago. So all day we heard “Noses died.” This is the same as happened after Iggy the cat died here in Egypt. And the same with after the Hound died last summer. Any advice on this one, folks?

Meantime, I have apparently resumed my night owl ways now that I’m back in Cairo. More soon, I promise. Now I need to go to bed and sleep off this vacation.

Sights of Dahab

Mr. Four saw some amazing fish on his two dives yesterday.

Meanwhile, the boys and I went to a beach where the only available umbrella was several rows back where I couldn’t even see the water. So we abandoned the beach and ventured out on a glass-bottomed boat. Seemed silly at first, but it was fantastic. The boys hunched over the edge of window for almost the entire trip, shouting “Fish! Fish!” at every fish they saw. Plus the captain, when we stopped for some folks to snorkel at a reef, even put on an underwater acrobatics show for us. His intended audience–pretty much my kids–ate it up.

Unfortunately, we did not see Nemo, who apparently is over-represented on many locally available t-shirts (a Disney exec would have a fit).

At the beach, we also saw some other interesting sights, notably an older Russian lady sporting a crocheted orange bikini.

Today we spent much of the day at the same beach, with a British family of three adults (including the nanny) and four nice kids. Bug and Giggle really enjoyed their new playmates. And Mr. Four and I enjoyed chatting with the parents.

Tomorrow we’re going to the monastery at St. Catherine’s, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments (perhaps you’ve heard of them). I’m not much into Biblical tourism, but even cynical me is excited for this trip. Plus our travel mates are a French family with two boys about the same age as Bug and Giggle. These trips are always best when families are with other families.

So Dahab is still fantastic, and I’m so glad we decided to stay in town rather than at some sterile resort. Tonight again we enjoyed dinner while lounging around on pillows at a restaurant perched at the edge of the beach. It’s lovely here.

Dahab

We’re in Dahab! As I write this, at 8:30pm, Mr. Four and the boys are konked out in our hotel room. During so-called naptime today, I was the only one who actually slept, so here I am, enjoying the the free internet while my family slumbers.

We arrived at 10am (after leaving our house at 5am… and eventually realizing that driving wouldn’t have taken much longer than flying). The hotel is perfect. Intended for divers, it also has a small pool (with water the children insist is near freezing), a kiddie wading pool with caves and waterfalls (!), and a playground. The hotel sports Nubian-inspired architecture: our two large beds are tucked under domed white ceilings. And, as Mr. Four observed, here we have the most bed space of any hotel we’ve patronized in Egypt; usually Giggle is on the spare cot and Bug is smushed in between Mr. Four and me.

Our room lacks a TV, which isn’t really a lack actually, and we’re enjoying ocean breezes as there’s no a/c. This place is way more than we expected, which was a compromise between backpacker’s rugged and resort $$. And did I mention we’re right on the sea, staring across the Gulf of Aqaba at Saudi Arabia?

So today we rested and swam and explored and decided that our first impression is that Dahab is the nicest tourist area we’ve visited in Egypt, since usually we’re stuck on some resort with one or two overpriced restaurants. Here we have an entire village of overpriced restaurants, along with stores overflowing with Bedouin crafts made in China. Actually, Dahab exudes charm. A pedestrian walkway (the corniche) lines the sea, and comfortable restaurants with over stuffed pillows and low tables evoke the Bedouin-meets-hippie atmosphere.

Dahab is certainly the most laid-back place we’ve been in Egypt. The dress code is European resort (well, except for the topless part), a refreshing change of pace from downtown Cairo, where exposed ankles can seem scandalous. Now I understand why some expats return here time and time again.

Tomorrow Mr. Four is diving, getting re-certified and then doing a check-out dive. The reefs here at the Sinai Peninsula were a major selling point for Mr. Four in the move-to-Egypt decision (before the job offer, I thought of Egypt as Pyramids and desert and other old stuff, but not a diver’s paradise), so it’s great he’s finally getting underwater.

And while I considered taking the boys on an adventure to the water parks of Sharm, which is a few hours south of us, instead tomorrow we’re going to stick around Dahab for a relaxed day of swimming and wading and reading and playing.