Mid Summer :)

My first experience in Egypt was over the 4th of July back in 2002. Wow has it been 8 years ago?! The American Embassy threw a huge party for all the American expats, students, visitors, in Egypt. It was a lot of fun I remember!

Last year rumor had it the party was canceled because of President Obama's visit to the country just the month prior to the 4th, but the party was canceled again this year, leaving the Americans exchanging messages on a list-serv asking what other parties or events were available to celebrate the 4th. I remember it seeming a bit ironic to me when I heard of people outside the USA celebrating the 4th of July, but after living abroad for a few years, I realize the need to capture the moments and celebrations of the familiar, and the importance of remembering your own heritage in the midst of being submerged in another.

So for me, there were no fireworks for the 4th of July over the Nile, but I did celebrate with a dinner at a nice steakhouse and by going to a club to listen to some live jazz music (what is more American than that? okay maybe ragtime?). Conversations with my family back home, who were grilling hamburgers outside, surrounded by 4 wheelers, bales of freshly cut alfalfa, and a sense of peace (with the exception of my little brothers playing with blackcats) now that harvest of wheat is done, made me miss home.

The past few months have been full of work (getting into nice routine now and still enjoying the work for the most part), hanging out with friends (I should really remember to start taking more photos of us hanging out), and looking for a new flat and car. My lease on my current flat ends August 1st, and on Wednesday my Italian roommate and I will sign a lease on a new one. The new one has a rooftop area for BBQs and watching TV, but with a view of the Nile from up there, I don't expect the TV to be on much :). I love having dinner parties with friends, and so I am really excited about this part of the new flat.

Social life is important here. Back home usually the second question you get asked is "where do you work?", here it is something along the lines of "who are your friends?". Not really that direct, but usually in the first conversation you begin to find mutual friends. The social networks here work both electronically and in 1st person. Usually my friends and I hang out at someone's flat and watch a movie, go out to dinner, play cards or board games, or go to a club to listen to live music, pretty much the same stuff as in the states, it is just a lot more frequent! LOL! The other day one of my friends was saying how he hadn't had time to hang out with the "gang" (my nickname for one of my groups of friends that are connected at the hip) recently. That week the "gang" had gone to his flat to watch a movie one night, another night had gone to watch Toy Story 3 together and to dinner afterwards, and to a coffeehouse another night to watch one of the semi-final matches of the World Cup...hanging out three times in one week...and they were all feeling like they hadn't hung out much :). I love spending time with friends, but I must admit sometimes I play hookie from the hang out times...my introvertedness gets the better of me. But I am thankful for the friends in my life right now. Life in Egypt is stressful (even just crossing the street), challenging (language and cultural barriers), hard (fighting with landlords over repairs and taxi drivers for change or directions), and the opposite of convenient (they are not linear in processes, conversations, driving, parking, or even standing in line), but it is friends that encourage you, teach you, and share their knowledge and life with you, that make it the beautiful culture that it is, and I have to admit, the landscape is beautiful as well :) (remembering a recent weekend trip to the Red Sea, surrounded by rugged mountains and beautiful water).

So here's to summer and enjoying time with friends! :)

....Ramadan starts in just a little over a month, hard to believe it is almost here already...