This week has been filled with humorous lessons that can either cause me frustration or I can learn to laugh at myself....
Simple things that I have done for most of my life (laundry, cooking, shopping) can easily make me look like a fool. :-)
Okay so I will start the explanation with laundry. My flat has a washing machine in it (Yipeee!), however it is a front loader with only one dial on the front and a drawer for the detergent. (Oh by the way, there are very faded picture instructions on how to operate this antique, but unfortunately they are so faded they do not assist me) Opening the door is easy enough to figure out, but then the challenges start....In the drawer for the detergent is three slots, which one does the detergent go in I wonder?...I choose the first one, seems reasonable enough...I put my clothes in and search the machine for a temperature gauge, finding none I assume that the machine must be cold water only. The only dial has numbers 1-17 with occasional breaks in the numbering where it says stop. I assume these are for different cycles, but again I am not sure which is which, so I guess again...1 seems to be a good idea again since it is the beginning. Two hours later the washing machine finally stops running. I reach in to pull my clothes out and they are really hot to the touch, (this is a bad thing since they are darks) and I notice a few of my things are now all the same shade of purple! Okay seriously I have done laundry for at least 15 years, and none of my clothes are new enough to bleed, but evidently when you wash clothes in 95 degree water something is bound to bleed. I hang my clothes out to dry (btw if you know how to get jeans soft even when hanging them on the line please let me know :-) and go back to study the faded instructions...somehow I make out that the different numbers are indeed different cycles based on water temperature and slot one for the detergent is for prewash, slot two for regular, etc. Oh well you learn something new everyday :-)
In our kitchen we have a gas stove/oven. Like the washing machine it is ancient, but it works! The dials on the front have no numbers (acutally there are no dials on the front just metal knobs LOL!) so it is complete guess work when it comes to cooking. Big flame=boiling, mid flame (if you are talented enough to get one)=not burning or underdone, small flame=this could take hours to finish cooking :-). Same with the oven, but at least it is a kitchen! And I finally complete d my search of the city for all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies so tomorrow or Monday we will celebrate with our first attempt at cookies in our temperamental oven! (Btw I must acknowledge my deep gratitude to my roommate who helped me search 4 stores for baking soda...who would have known to look for biocarbonate next to the garlic?)
Please do not think this is how all flats here in Egypt are :-). Just like the US you have places that are more up to date than others. I chose this flat because it fit my salary and although the furniture/appliances haven't been updated since 1970 :-) it is still home for now.
I love hearing from you! Hope you found some humor in my stories.
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