EGYPT take two!
Arriving back in Cairo was
like coming home. We are truly blessed
to be staying in such lovely accommodation.
The kids were excited to get
back to Maadi House to see all their friends and as a family we produced a mini
‘movie’ for VAC Kids back in Vernon.
Amazing how long a 16 minute video takes to edit!!! But we got it done before the deadline and
the kids at church loved it so it was well worth the effort.
Another reason coming back to
Cairo was exciting is that our new friends from Australia we met in Peru while
sand-boarding in Huacachina were meeting us here! They too are travelling around the world with
their two kids Lachie (10) and Darcy (8).
It is so nice to have Katherine and Delmar to talk to as their
experiences with travel arrangements, problems, disasters, school work
challenges, language barriers and success stories are all so similar to our own. We totally “get each other”, now we are busy making plans to meet up again
in Turkey. Although finding
accommodation for 8 is much more challenging than a family of 4 but we’re all
determined and after 6 months on the road you get pretty good at travel
arrangements. Thank God for the internet
though!
“RAMADAN KAREEM”
We arrived back in Cairo just
in time for Ramadan which is a holy month of fasting for the Muslim’s. Sawm is the practice of fasting and Muslim’s
will not eat or drink from dawn to dusk during this time. They do this to teach people to empathize
with those less fortunate who are often hungry or thirsty. Many take part in acts of charities during
this month as well some temporary tents are set up in the street for Iftar to
feed the homeless and the poor. Iftar is
the sunset meal and Suhur is the predawn meal.
Although we respect this Islam tradition we do question the health risks
associated with it, especially not drinking any water all day during the
extreme temperatures experienced here in the summer!!
Tianna & I
were excited about taking Katherine shopping. Katherine travelling with her husband and two
sons needed some girl time and Tea and I were happy to be “the girls”. We had a great time on Road 9 and brought her
to our favourite shops like El Maadi where you can buy the nicest Egyptian
scarves. Katherine especially enjoyed
the jewelry and bought several gorgeous necklaces. We all loved the Ramadan Laterns however much
too large to fit into our backpacks!
We were also able to share
our visits to the Maadi House for swimming and hanging out with the Aussies and
both families were invited to Katies house for dinner one evening. 
Her mom Sally and dad Joe (General in the
Airforce) treated us to a wonderful homecooked meal and lot’s of wine in their beautiful homeJ
Her mom Sally and dad Joe (General in the
Airforce) treated us to a wonderful homecooked meal and lot’s of wine in their beautiful homeJ
A night on the town, with
“The Aussies” as we affectionately refer to them. Our driver, Meto we hired for the night took
us to The Khan where we laughed at several funny moments, the first one
happened the moment we arrived when Katherine decided she should wear her
leggings under her dress and proceeded to slip them on outside of the van while
the driver and I tried to shield her. In
a country where women do not show any of their skin we found this display quite
hilarious and ironic that she really was trying to abide by the rules even
though she was flashing everyone around her.
The next was when we were stopped at some shops and lost JC momentarily
only to find him inside a store enjoying an Iftar dinner with the local shop
owners!! Of course he was, he makes
friends with everyone. It actually was a
good time to be at the biggest market in Cairo since everyone was more
interested in their Iftar meal then selling to us. But even so we were presented with some very
fine lines in attempt to coax us into buying something. Our personal favourites were “I’m not sure
what you’re looking for but I have it” and “come into my shop, everything free
tonight”. After wandering in and out of
numerous shops and wishing we had a.)unlimited income and b.)a way to get the
stuff home we went to the Glass Guy (amazing glass ornaments) where the door was
of course made of all glass!! Well
Lachie walked right into that glass door with his head hitting first and a bump
immediately formed on his forehead. Poor
Lachie but too funny not to laugh!!
When it was time to find
somewhere to eat leave it to Tianna to remember from last time an excellent
Restaurant recommended to us and I was so impressed that she had all 8 of us
following her until she found it! We had
an amazing meal and particularly enjoyed the Egyptian dish called Koshari. Lucky for Lachie we got some ice for his
head.
Hard to leave… still so much
to see!!
Driving through the crowded streets
of Cairo at night is an experience unlike anything else. The cars & motorbikes are everywhere,
even donkeys hauling carts can be seen, forget lanes they don’t exist, what
does exist is endless traffic and anywhere there isn’t a vehicle there are
people and beyond the people are block after block of tall apartment
buildings. We drove for miles and every
street we looked down was the same jammed packed with people and Ramadan
laterns and strings of light everywhere.
And just when you think you’ve seen it all we saw a vehicle driving
fairly fast, backwards opposite of us down the busy road?!
On top of the hill
overlooking the city is where we all drank tea while marveling at all the
lights and the breathtaking view below us.
A trip around Teher Square
(where the revolution took place Jan.2011) before driving home with some very
tired kids on board.
Before the Aussies left for Jordan we all headed to Road 9 for that last minute shopping and then the just the girls had to have one more date so off to the spa we went!To celebrate Ramadan we had an evening with the International Doctor that we met through his unfortunate accident here a few weeks back. She chose a really cool Restaurant named Coco Cabana’s and once again just as we were about to feast on this scrumptious display of a variety of food Landon announces he’s not that hungry. What?!? Not again….we always tell him when it’s a buffet you EAT!!....we give up! The food was great and Dr. Amira is so nice and we enjoyed getting to know her on a personal level and meeting her friend. After dinner we watched and learned while the two of them enjoyed their “shisha” which is popular amongst men and women in Egypt and other Arab countries. The Shisha water pipe produces a lot of smoke, but take it from us, the world’s biggest anti-smokers, it doesn’t smell all that bad, in fact it has a fruity smell. Likely because it is mixed with different flavours, theirs were mixed with watermelon and vanilla. Believe it or not JC, Landon & I all tried it, just one small puff each, and of course I coughedJ
Just one of the many remarkable architecturally designed homes/apartments in the Maadi area. This one included its own moat surrounding the building.
The next day was hot, hot, hot day……who am I kidding everyday is HOT here….we were invited to go with a local
Muslim family to buy some Ramadan Lanterns. As a teacher at the pre-school where the kids helped out at, she was
responsible for buying the Lantern for the school and wanted us to help find
the perfect one. Such a unique
opportunity to spend time with a local family on an outing so we accepted the
offer. As we tried to sneak sips of
water while the sweat dripped from our bodies we felt for the Muslim community
as they are now half-way through the month long Ramadan. Even their 6 yr. old daughter was fasting but
I especially felt sorry for her because in the car on the way back to Maadi she
would ask her mom, “how much longer mommy?, meaning until she could eat and
drink again that day” I hid my water
bottle out of site after I asked her Mom if I could give her some and she
replied “no, she’s fasting”. Kid’s
aren’t required to fast but many do at the request of their parents. Although we don’t understand it, we do
respect them and their family was so lovely and kind.
Ever have one of those days
when nothing seems to go right? Well the
day we decided to go to the Egyptian Museum was one of those days.
Riding the Metro was
interesting being the only English speaking, non-Egyptian’s on board and
melting from the heat. Not sure what was
hotter the air outside or inside the train?!
Arriving downtown Cairo
mid-day we took our time getting into the museum since I checked online to what
time it closed and it said coming later in the day was better to avoid the bus
loads of tourists, I question the reference to “bus loads” these days but
nevertheless I took note. We bought our
tickets, negotiated with a guide and we were in, but something was telling me
to confirm the closing time. Here is the
response I received and the conversation, which took place with our hired guide…….4:00……WHAT?!?!?!.....but,
but I went online and it said 7:00pm, it’s 3:15 now…….Ramadan……it’s the answer
for everything…….how can we possibly see everything in 45 min.? we should get our money back and come another
day…..No they won’t refund our money?.…..
oh you have a DVD to sell us that will show us what we missed…..ahhhh so kind
but NOOOOO. We hired you for an hour but there is only ½
hour left….I’m not paying for an hour.
Quickly come I show you lot’s….look here is Moses staff….really? in a case with 10 other sticks and that one
there in the middle was Moses’ hmmmmm.
Here is the Mummies room….oh you have to pay extra to see thousand year old
bodies wrapped in cloth…..no thanks, kids want to see though so off they go
with the guide. (See Tianna’s report on
this on her page) JC & I walk/run through
as fast as we can, we meet up with the kids and tour the King Tut artifact room
together, actually pretty cool in here.
Times up, that will be 50LE please….really for ½ hr.??? here’s 40 and not a penny more, we should
have been told by you, the ticket seller, someone that we only had a half hour
to see the biggest museum in the world!!!
Ushered out the door right at
4:00 we looked at each other in disbelief.
Can we get ice-cream now the kids pleaded? Yes, I promised you we would, sure……oh look
they just closed…..Ramadan!
Let’s walk to the revolving restaurant it doesn’t look too far, we finally get there……it’s closed……right of course it is…..ok let’s book one of those boat cruises on the Nile and have dinner on board….booked…..booked…..and booked, thanks for checking. hmmmmm anywhere else to eat?….sure we have several restaurants here in the 5 star hotel, let’s look at a menu, ohhhh we can eat here if we take a second mortgage out on our house!! At least Landon was able to play a magnificent piano in the enormous lobby until some Shieks having a meeting complained it was too loud.
and while we were deciding where to eat we came across these two lovely ladies baking bread for the restaurants. Fresh bread still steaming from the oven never tasted so good! back to our hunt.....the restaurant next door serves Egyptian
food, okay let’s try…..oh not opened until Iftar in 1.5hrs. Let’s just take a taxi to somewhere on the
Nile to eat and watch the sun set. I
take you there for 30 LE, 15 min we drive, and bring you to some great
restaurants with cheep food. We drive.
After 5 minutes the taxi drops us off in front of a very large marooned
ship with several fancy looking restaurants…..”you want how much?”….keep
walking kids….Really feeling the stress of the day now and when a taxi driver
pulled up beside us and gave a little honk of his horn I lost it…..thinking it
was the driver who had just dropped us off I yelled at him “you hosed us, we
asked for cheap food 600LE for our family is not cheap!!” Mom, that isn’t him. Oh.
This place looks fine…..nope
don’t want fries for dinner thanks........... okay let’s try here….the prices seem
reasonable so we try to order, nope we don’t have that or that or that, okay
what on the menu do you have? We settle on California rolls and finally have a nice relaxing time eating our food all alone on top of the Blue Nile Boat Moon Deck under the sparling lights while watching the boat cruises float by.
We
are so done with Taxi drivers, so instead we call Meto, our driver from the other night
to come pick us up. Just as we are about
to leave a family of five wanders close by.
Ohhh how I’d love to get their photo I whisper to JC since all 3 women
were wearing burqas, veiled in all black, which cover everything with only
their eyes visible. We see these women
all the time but I have yet to get a photo. 
Just as I was wishing I could sneak a picture of them, the man asks us
“can we get a picture together?” and for
the next 5 minutes we share who we are, where we’re from, discuss ages of
marriages in Yemen vs. Canada and of course had a photo shoot with both our
families posing together. Thank you God
for giving us an awesome ending to a perfectly disastrous day!!
Meeting our neighbours Mark & Deb’s step
brother, Dave and wife Andrea, daughters Laila & Sophia from Vernon at church was such a God moment and we made
plans to get together with them before we leave. JC's had a few tennis match's with Kim and he and his wife Jen invited us to their place for dinner along with their son's Aaron & Ben. Watching the Olympics together was so fun, especially Canadian athletes.
Something we’ve wanted to do
since we got here was a cruise on the Nile River. JC made our favourite Egyptian meal, Koshari,
with hummus and pita bread, which we ate while floating on the river just after
sunset. After our cruise we had the
driver take us back to the pyramids to see them at night. Since the light show had already begun we
were immediately ushered into a store up the stairs to the roof where we had an
almost perfect view of the pyramids lit up. 
Wow, still hard to believe the history and the stories behind the
pyramids. Imagine how many sets of eyes
have gazed upon them over the past 4000 years!
Before leaving and to show
our appreciation for using the roof top we stopped in their studio where the
walls were covered with the ever so popular papyrus art. Landon decided that a large King Tut on his
bedroom wall would look cool so the negotiating began. In the end, and after enjoying lemonade &
tea offered to us, we paid way too much for the piece. But they weren’t done with us yet…..on the
bottom floor was their essential oils room where we were seated and dabbed with
several scents. Once again, we purchased
3 bottles (for the price of two), we were likely over charged but justified it by
feeling good about aiding the hurting Egyptian economy.
 |
| JC's Egyptian hair cut |
Today I got to see inside my very
first mosque, after buying yet another scarf to cover my hair of course. Just like in Old Jerusalem where men pray
separately from women JC and I entered through different doors. It didn’t seem to bother me as much this time
but I think it’s because I finally understand that this is thousands years of
tradition and whom am I to question it? Anyway
JC joined the men in the main part of the building which is a large carpeted
area where men are mainly lying on the floor, praying or sleeping we’re not
sure. I entered through the side entrance,
which took me to the back of the mosque and up the stairs to a much smaller
dark room with a perfect view of the men below through carved through cement
blocks. Also, on the carpet were mostly
sleeping women and some even had children with them. A place to pray, no furniture, no frills just
men and women worshiping God. Cool.
Unfortunately our perfect day
of shopping on Road 9, visiting a Mosque and swimming at Maadi
House ended badly. JC returned home to get dinner ready for all of us, while I walked home
with 7 kids in front of me. I was so focused on taking pictures of the kids and
their friends and only 1 block from our apartment a man on a motor bike, after
watching us for a while, rode
past me, reached out and snatched the
phone(camera) from my hand and took off.
I screamed, chased after him but he was gone and so was our phone. After the initial shock wore off I was
grateful for the help from a local security guard who called the police which
surprisingly showed up within minutes and took off after him but that’s where
it ended. The kids were great and went
to the school to find someone bilingual to help. Even after a witness and an
employee of the school who spoke both Arabic and English escorted me to the
police station we got nowhere. Mostly
due to the fact that the young police chief was more interested in the loud
movie playing on his TV than solving a crime.
Although I’m not so naïve as to think they would actually try to catch
the guy but we were told to make a report so there we were. Once we identified the perpetrator from
albums of photo’s we were told to come back after Iftar……it’s Ramadan after
all. Anyway, not wanting to waste any more
of their valuable time we left. I’m more
upset about losing the photo’s than the phone itself!!! If there is a silver lining it would be having
five people immediately coming to our rescue and wanting to help including two
of the nicest young men in all of Cairo.
Good guys win 5 to 1.
How do I summarize 2 months
(less 10 days) in Egypt? The only way
without making this incredibly large blog even longer is point form. Sorry if some of this makes no sense to you,
the reader, but it’s really just to jog my memory in years to come.
We will never forget…….
-
being in Egypt during
their first ever democratic election
- listening to the call to prayer five times a day including one at approx. 3:00 am every morning
-
the many
approaches by poor and/or homeless women & children selling small pkg.’s of
kleenex
-
receiving
directions from someone, that does not speak English, with just a wave of their
hand (happened a lot)
-
how crazy things
seemed to get during Ramadan….we saw fighting in the streets and a man actually
throw large rocks and a heavy metal grate onto a busy road (seemed to be aiming
for us but hard to tell if that was the case)
-
all the people
and families we met through the Maadi House.
We heard many stories about the Revolution and the evacuation that
resulted from it
-
the frequent
power outages (about once a day)
-
watching more
Olympics than we ever had before
-
all the CRAZY
drivers!
-
having to take
Landon to emergency for stiches in his head
-
all Landon & Tianna's ‘third culture kid’ friends
-
witnessing Iftar meals
being consumed and enjoyed on the streets (we had many offers to join them)
-
JC’s numerous attempts to converse with Arabic speaking people especially our drivers who
would just nod!
-
Although much of
our time was spent in the “bubble of Maadi” we still felt so welcome in this
incredible country of 85 million people
-
Meeting people
from Vernon at Maadi Community Church (small world!)
-
How close Landon
& Tianna became with their new friends:
Isky Haggarty & Aramis Haggarty(Arrow), Katie Lengyel, Maud
Weaver & Galen Weaver, Westley Casper, Princess Kongaika, Emma Thompson, Adam, Tallon Hannus, Bailey Price, Chris, and Gray Lewis
IN SHA’A ALLAH meaning God
Willing
In Egypt as with our entire
trip we have felt God’s presence…….
“never once did we ever walk alone, never once did you
leave us on our own”
