Back in the USA

Phew. What a week it’s been. I am not going to write any more about the flights over as they are best left repressed deep within my brain.

Mr. Four arrived late last Friday night. Between our arrival and his, the boys and I did a lot. It was pretty crazy. We went shopping (Old Navy, Target, and Kohl’s, along with a dollar store and a funky local toy store), swam at the lake, swam at the pool, played baseball in the yard, hung out with my dad, celebrated my birthday, went to a great science museum, bought toys, attempted to eat out in restaurants, went to a movie, stocked up on College Town paraphenalia, chased fireflies, played with friends, visited with other friends, and ate pretzels and ice cream (though not at the same time).

Since Mr. Four’s arrival, we’ve done more of the same, but with a break here and there for me.

A couple of friends here have asked us how it feels to be back. The answer is that it feels totally normal to be back. Totally normal to be able to call my mom and dad and sister without advance planning or a check of the clock. Totally normal to walk on nice wide sidewalks. Totally normal to be able to buy soy products at the grocery store. Totally normal to have play dates with our old neighbors. Et cetera.

Of course what’s not normal is trying to cram a month’s worth of activities into a week’s time. Right now we’re in College Town, a charming area with lots of old friends and kid-friendly activities. In a few days, we head to the mountains, to a small cabin Mr. Four built there years ago. We have a lot of friends up there, including friends with kids, but we’ll be much more isolated. Mr. Four is envisioning canoeing on the lake with the boys. I hope we find enough to do. Giggle and Bug are both pretty interested in bugs these days, so maybe we can go bug hunting. Other ideas are also welcome!

What’s been most striking about our trip home is how much my kids had become city kids. Especially for the first few days, things that seemed utterly ordinary to me were quite remarkable to them. When we pulled into the driveway of the house where we’re staying, Giggle said the front yard, with a few trees, was like a forest. Every patch of trees became worthy of comment.

The next night they ran inside, terrified, screaming at me about some strange flashing lights which turned out to be fireflies (they got over this fear quickly).

They’ve loved seeing mailboxes and checking ours multiple times a day. Fire hydrants also earn a call out.

It’s been a bit rainy here, and Bug is particularly stressed by thunder. This was true last year when we lived in the US, but the absence of thunder from our lives has only increased his fear. I’ve never seen him so terrified. Any plane in the sky has him asking if it’s thunder. Suggestions for dealing with this particular fear are also welcome.

We’ll be mostly unplugged, I think, in the mountains. We have a TV there (our cabin is set up to be a vacation rental when we’re not in it), but no internet access except the public library. I’m looking forward to some long bike rides, now possible as Mr. Four was able to dig my road bike out of storage this morning, and lots of reading. Another big treat for me has been buying the Sunday New York Times, even though it took me all of last week to read it, and I still haven’t cracked this week’s.

I’ll post again before we head to the mountains. What are your questions about our time back in the States?

(Not) packing and more (not) packing

My cousin went south to Upper Egypt for a few days, which I thought would give me plenty of time to start packing. It has given me some time, but I have not done any packing. I’m sure you are as shocked as I am by this turn of events.

I did go shopping this weekend, with cousin K, at the Khan il Khalili, a big touristy market/bazaar in downtown Cairo. It was Saturday afternoon and hot as all get out. And of course I managed to wander us into the wrong neighborhood even though the Khan was about two inches away from us. We finally made it of course.

Giggle joined us willingly because he loves going new places and shopping (both boys got new Egypt/cartouche shirts, which had been hidden under the t-shirts of camels smoking shisha). Giggle kept complaining when we’d go into stores and not buy anything. I told him he had to pretend to be uninterested in things so we could bargain. He largely failed at this. Anyway, he’s very happy with his new shirt and has already worn it twice. I ended the day with a headache so throbbing that it took a shower, a couple of Tylenol, and a nap to make it go away. I’m just no good in the heat (to which you respond, then, pray tell, why do you live in Egypt? Which is a very good question).

Giggle and I also had a conversation this weekend about how no one is allowed to touch him if he doesn’t want them to. A very serious topic, indeed, but it started because Egyptian men seem compelled to touch his hair. And of course he doesn’t like it — would you? So now he knows to say “la! la-ah!” (no! really no!) when people touch him. Hair touching is a big issue in the African American community, and apparently it’s an issue for native born Africans in North Africa too. Seriously, folks, if you’re a hair toucher, you really should stop. It’s weird.

Deep down I have much anxiety about all the packing I need to do in the next few days. Packing for the States should be easy because the boys have new clothes waiting for us there, plus we’ll be going shopping, plus we can get anything we need there, plus we won’t really need all that much. But as a friend of mine used to say, “Should is a dangerous word.” (Okay, an old flame used to say that, and he probably still says it, but I haven’t talked to him in MANY years.)

I think really I’m anxious about the flights even though there’s nothing to be done except laugh instead of cry. A colleague of mine did tell me some horror stories yesterday about transferring at JFK from international to domestic. At most airports, when you land internationally, you collect your luggage, walk it through customs, and then toss it back on some carousel for the airport folks to transfer it to your next flight. But apparently at JFK you have to walk it to the next terminal. This guy told me that he has a distinct memory of pushing his trolley of bags uphill through a construction site (but at least not in the snow). And he didn’t even have two little boys with him. Eh, que sera sera. And maybe JFK is better now.

We leave on Saturday around noon. Giggle will watch every movie that plays, and listen to every in-flight music station. He’ll attempt to call the flight attendant multiple times and the flight attendants will ignore us. Bug will be harder to entertain but he is also more malleable. I’m also trying to get used the idea of being on my own, without Mr. Four, for the week. But I think I’ll keep us busy with swimming and visiting and movies. Hurray, movies! Will Kung Fu Panda be too much for Bug? Because Giggle and I would really like to see it.

Last night, the boys and I went to a local toy shop tonight to pick out a few things for the airplane (I said so many times that they wouldn’t get the toys until the airplane that Giggle started saying, “I know Mommy! It’s for the airplane!). We couldn’t find many small toys. So we bought some real cheapies that probably won’t last much past JFK, but the boys seemed happy enough until this morning, when Giggle cried because he wanted his new airplane toys. Bug has mostly forgotten about the new stuff or is taking “for airplane use only” very seriously.

Bug also decided last night that he’d rather be in the sling, really an Ergo baby carrier, on my back than in the stroller. He really likes being carried sometimes, especially in crowded places or when he’s tired, and I think the sling will work better for me as it’s more comfortable for longer distances than our basic little umbrella stroller. Plus he’ll be able to watch the crowds.

So, we’re not packed, but we’ve got some toys and made some very important decisions.

Today or tomorrow is my last day at work… probably tomorrow since I’ll have still have some stuff to finish up. That gives me two days to pack and plan and make sure I don’t forget anything important like my driver’s license. It’s so quiet at work many of my colleagues have already left for the summer.

Croatia

This place is amazing! The landscape - the mountains and the sea - is beautiful. The old town of Dubrovnik is surrounded by thick fortress walls built during the 13th century, and the town streets and alleys, all closed to traffic, are dotted with churches, cafes, and shops. It’s lovely and charming.

I wish the business part of this trip were as interesting, alas.

I really miss my family. Mr. Four said this has been an especially tough separation for Bug. He’s been sleeping a lot, so perhaps he’s going through some growth spurt. Mr. Four told me he’s cried for me every day, which makes me want to rush home and cuddle him.

I hope the Lightning McQueen present I bought for him eases his pain retroactively.

Off to Croatia

On Sunday, I leave for six days in Croatia for… work! I have a professional meeting there. Here are two great things about this meeting: 1) It’s in Croatia, and, 2) Some friends and colleagues from my beloved alma mater will also be there.

The more I learn about Croatia’s coast on the Adriatic, the more I wished Mr. Four and I had decided to make this a family vacation. The airfare is expensive (mine is covered by work), though, and, at the time of booking, before Mr. Four had his job, we didn’t think we could swing it.

And, especially surprising given that Croatia isn’t really all that far from here, it’s quite a schlep to get there: my travels on Sunday will include four cities, three countries, and three airlines. I fly Cairo to Vienna to Zagreb to Dubrovnik. My layover in Vienna is long enough to be long but too short to zip into town and see anything, unfortunately.

I read once some silly thing like “you know you’re an expat when … you have at least three currencies in your wallet.” That’ll certainly be the case next week: I’ll have my Egyptian pounds for home, Croatian kuna, American dollars to convert (my per diem from my employer), and maybe a few euros so I can buy a snack in Vienna.

The conference is long — Monday to Friday — and I know I’ll miss Mr. Four and the boys. But what an amazing opportunity for me. And of course it is easier to be a tourist without kids. And I’m really looking forward to seeing my friends, especially one in particular, my old supervisor and a dear friend. Plus she’s bringing me treats from the US: magazines and swimmer’s shampoo!

We have a busy few weeks when I get back: my wonderful college-aged cousin is coming for two weeks (the first family to visit!), and we leave on June 21 for the States. We talked to my mom last night, to wish her a happy birthday (the boys sang “Happy Birthday” in English, my idea, and in Arabic, their idea). The night before, the boys talked to their Grandpop, Mr. Four’s dad. Now they are both ready to hop on that plane and see all these relatives. Me too.

But first, Croatia. This is one of these times when I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world. I’ll try to post once or twice from there. Otherwise, see you in a week!

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.

Some news, and off to Dahab

Mr. Four has a new job. He starts in a couple of weeks. This will mean big changes for all of us. He’ll be working part-time, but will have less time with the kids, unfortunately. We’re lucky to have a great housekeeper who will be doing more for us, especially nannying. I hope it won’t be too disruptive for the boys.

It also means we’ll have some extra money. We’ve been getting by fine on my salary, but another salary will be a huge help.

Mr. Four is really excited for this. He’s been quite happy to be home with the boys, but now he’s looking forward to an interesting job with interesting people.

And to celebrate his new job… we’re off to Dahab this weekend. Okay, we’ve been planning this trip for ages, but now it’s especially nice to have the time together as a family before Mr. Four begins his new job (just a few days after we get back to Cairo).

Dahab, on the Red Sea on the Sinai Peninsula, has the reputation of being a backpackers’ hang-out, though I think the true backpacker days are long gone. In any case, it’s supposed to have great character and great diving. Mr. Four is newly certified and these will be his first real dives. Plus I think we might be able to do some kiddie snorkeling for the boys. Maybe they’ll see Nemo.

I’m also hoping we can take a trip to St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mt. Sinai (yes, as in Moses) and take what’s here called a desert safari, which means hanging out with camels and Bedouin.

Mr. Four and I have traveled a bit over the past few years, but this is the longest real vacation we’ve taken since we went to the Everglades about four or five years ago (which was actually part work for Mr. Four so I guess that wasn’t even a real vacation either). And the first long vacation we’ve taken as a family.

The beach

We had a great weekend at the beach with our friends Cindy, Mike, and Maya. Courtesy of Mike, we also already have some great photos. He managed to download them and send them along while ours are still in the camera. And, he said I could blog with them. So, here you go.

It was hot in Cairo, but a bit cooler at the beach. The water in the pool, however, was really cold. So the kids spent as much time outside of the water as in it.

They had a great time with the cheapy plastic beach toys bought at the hotel gift shop.

The kids all really like each other, and, for the most part, get along really well, especially considering the age range of Maya (2 years old) to Giggle (5 years old).

Here are Maya and Bug with their buckets at the kiddie pool.

Giggle, as the oldest, was the trailblazer of cool. After he swam in the very cold water, he’d lay out in the sun on his blanket. Here’s Maya, chatting him up.

Giggle really got the hang of sun worshipping; note the lemon juice on his blanket.

And of course Bug and Maya followed suit.

In a few days, I’ll download our photos (which won’t be nearly as good) and share some more. I should clarify that, yes, indeed, I am showing Maya’s face in these photos when I don’t really share my kids’ own pretty faces. Mike and Cindy gave me explicit permission to do so. Which means you get to enjoy an actual human face. And a cute one at that.