a very short post :-)

Today is THURSDAY!!! (the last day of the work week here!) Humdililah! 

Word of the week: Ossify (thanks to my interviewee for expanding my vocab)

And for the record, my hot water still only works intermittently :-( sorry mr. professional (he actually came back yesterday when we complained it hadn't worked the  next morning, he turned on the facet, pointed at the water coming out, laughed at me and left :-(, so much for getting it fixed before we leave...) 

Tonight is dinner party with friends! Yipee! 

That isn't logical...

The past few weeks have been full of mishaps and lots of not fun unfortunately. I am hoping soon my life will be filled with joy and laughter...but to share with you how the grass isn't always greener...here is a few stories. 

The other day a friend posted on her website about enjoying a beach in a foreign country. I turned to my roommate to comment "A trip outside of the county sounds really nice right now" in midsentence I realized the irony of the statement. I live out of the country! The urge to travel comes from a want to escape the mundane, or overwhelming issues of life for just a little while and immerse myself in a culture full of opportunities to learn and be inundated with something besides "me" for awhile. Happens even while I live abroad apparently :-). 

One of the strong attributes I know about myself is that I am a very linear thinker, meaning I connect my thoughts directly from one point to another until a solution is reached.  Egyptians as most Arabs tend to not be linear thinkers.  They think more in circles, each circle growing until a solution is found, but inbetween there can be many unrelated subjects, thoughts, statements, or even the solution may seem unrelated. This is very confusing for me when conversations or solutions are translated to me.  I am always asking the question "how is this logical"? Confused yet? Let me give you an example.  I awoke yesterday to find our shower no longer had hot water. It wasn't that the water wasn't hot, there was simply no water coming from the hot spiget or shower head. A man arrived this afternoon to fix it. He changed the "hot" knob on the shower and said this was the problem. I tried to get him to explain how the knob on the shower made no hot water come from the hot water heater to any of the facets in the bathroom. But all I got was "I am the professional". 

The same type of situation has come up multiple times, always leaving me with a very confused look. I must admit two nights ago when two boys showed up to put cement down one of our pipes because it was leaking to the flat below us, I am sure this was one of the most confusing. Pouring cement down pipes? I wish I had taken some classes on home repairs!

Today I was in an unfamiliar part of the city, and due to bad directions and banks with the same name being located in the same area, I arrived at the wrong one.  When I called a friend for directions and she couldn't help me I gave my phone to an officer (which I have been told not to do before, but my friend insisted this is correct- this is an example of how everyone gives you different instructions on what to do and not to do).  The officer told her he knew where I needed to get, but it was to far to walk, so he would put me in a taxi.  We walked to the end of the street one direction, then turned around and walked down the same street the other direction. I stopped a taxi, the officer waved him on to leave us. Needless to say I was confused and not happy with the situation as the officer didn't speak english and wasn't explaining anything. So I walked off leaving him. I phoned another friend who helped me arrive at my destination 1.5 hours after I started my journey and 40 minutes late for my appointment. But I am thankful for my friend who helped me arrive safely and for the cooler weather today since I was walking a lot. (Yesterday it was 104 degrees F, today it is suppose to be closer to mid-90s! Yipee!) 

Okay so that is it for a quick post. There have been other good things recently, like meeting some new friends that are staying long term and not leaving in 2 weeks to return to the states! And I am looking into a language school to learn arabic! Oh and I move sometime next week to my new place! So lots of fun and busyness! Hope you are all doing well! 

the rest of the mosh pit...

Okay so the quick run home to finish the last blog didn't quite work out, as is typical here in Egypt! My boss was just telling me the other day, "Lauren, we are not going to make any plans from now on, they never happen".  Well, unfortunately this is true! (Although I am slowly adapting to this way of life, it is so different than in the states, and I am sure when I return to the states even for a visit I will frustrate those around me with my disregard for time, appointments, etc.) 

The mindset I find here is that if something doesn't happen, it is because God didn't will it to happen, and if it isn't God's will than there must be a reason for this. (Now I know there is a big theological debate about this in the US, I am simply stating what I observe to be the belief that is apparent here.) I think my landlord said it best last night when she said in her broken English, "We leave what happen to God, he do a better job of it". 

Time has such a different feel here. Even when I am in a hurry, I feel as though I am in a time warp moving at slow motion.  I live in a city of 20+million people, and it has all the hustle, bustle, noise, pollution, etc that one would expect from a city that large (St. Louis is 3.5 million, and Wichita 350 thousand roughly? to give some comparison) and yet the busyness of it feels so unfamiliar.  People walk faster here than anywhere I have been in the world, partly because so many people walk at least 5+ miles a day here (and I climb over 300+ stairs a day here), but even with the fast pace of walking, there is a lack of urgency in the steps. There is an attitude of I will get there when I get there, no hurry. (Maybe this is one reason my nickname for Cairo is the city of contradictions.) 

On the other hand, once you leave the city limits of Cairo and cross the threshold onto the Sinai Peninsula, time evaporates and ceases to exist. You arrive in Sharm, Dahab, Basata, etc and you forget there is such a thing as a clock or watch. Even when you have an appointment (like boarding a yacht or getting your diving gear from the diving center) a watch is not a governor demanding your obedience, but simply a device that gives the slightest hint of what exists outside of your current world; time. 

so to finish up the mosh pit, here are a few random facts, or funny instances that I wanted to share....

1) I was riding a bus with 12 Egyptians and 1 Sudanese guy on my way to Dahab for a weekend. When a cell phone began "ringing" with a unique ringtone...it was President Obama's voice and a clip from his inaguration speech "America, it is time for change. Answer this call" LOL! I died laughing the first time I heard it. The owner of the phone (an Egyptian) would look at me and say, one sec I need to take this call to change America...LOL! 

2) I have been interviewing a Dr. who works with an NGO here in Cairo.  He was born and raised here in Egypt, spent some time studying in England and married a British woman. He has been living here in Egypt again for the last 50 years.  His English astounds me, and I learn new English vocab every time I meet with him. I was going to post one of the words, but I can't remember them right now.

3) Another thing I have learned is hope much of an impression JFK made on the world.  One person here said "He gave hope to the world, not just the US." That is definitely not a viewpoint I was taught in school. Regardless of political party affiliation, I can never get over how active Egyptian people are in seeking out information and being involved in American politics.  (I think more of my friends here have memorized President Obama's inaguration speech than friends in the US.) 

4) okay and last little tidbit of mosh pit for today...a quote from a recent interview that I am still pondering..."Dictators are established out of love.  People are so captivated and dependent on them as leaders that they force the person to higher and higher levels of power. Saying "we can't do this without you. You can't quite we need you. There is no one who can do this as you can." It is this dependency/love that gives them the power to dictate." Not sure what I think about this yet, but it is an interesting perspective to think about. 

Alrighty, I am off to grab some Cinnabun and coffee for breakfast :-)! Enjoy your day! (Oh and I have more pics for the slide show, but I have to upload them. They are on Facebook already if you want to see them now.) 

Reason for hope and a mosh pit of other thoughts...

usually by the time I sit down for a few minutes to write on this blog, time has flown by as usual, and there are so many thoughts, experiences, memories, feelings that have passed that I feel as though if I open the tap just a little, they will all pour out without much order, and will probably not even make much sense. So is the case today...so I apologize in advance for the lack of continuity in themes, and for the horrible grammar that I am sure will follow. I am going to attempt to get all my thoughts out in the next 20 minutes before the bus leaves....which will only add to the beautiful mess this may be. :-)

okay where to start...first...I celebrated Easter Sunday on a yacht! Sailing south from Dahab to Gobry Bent.  There we went for a few dives about 20-25 meters deep to see God's beautiful handiwork in the coral and fish! It was so amazing! 

But honestly Easter weekend was one of my hardest weekends here so far.  Not just being away from family, and what is familiar, but being surrounded almost 24/7 by Arabic only speaking. Many of the people I traveled with could speak English, but without realizing it after only a few words in English, the whole group would transition back to Arabic (their native tongue of which I know very little-fruits and colors I joke). I was looking for a weekend of relaxing, but instead I incurred a weekend where even what should have been the easiest of conversations were difficult. I wanted a chance to build relationships, instead I found myself feeling very alone on a boat of thirty people. Even when I could understand the conversation occuring, I couldn't contribute to the conversation because of the language barrier. It is very hard for me in these occasions not to just pull away and not try to interact. It is not that these people didn't want me apart of the group, quite the contrary, a number of them would come to have conversations with me one on one to make me feel welcome. But still it was hard. By the end of the weekend I was in tears with frustration at the situation.  I sat down to have a conversation with Sam about it, and he gently reminded me I have only been here a few months and to stop giving myself a hard time about it. He is good at putting things back into perspective for me. I was able to let go of the frustration and enjoy the long bus ride home. I even sang a song in Arabic for the group with the help of one of my new friends. :-)

The day after arriving home I had a long day scheduled at work. Two interviews in different areas of the city and a meeting on campus. It was during the first interview, that the interviewee mentioned one of the greatest struggles of working in development is reminding the staff and yourself that there is a reason for hope. Not to become overwhelmed by the work to be done, or the lack of progress being made, but to remember why you started and celebrate even the small victories.  This coming the day after Easter (the day many people celebrate the greatest reason for hope), and after my long struggle of disappointment with my Arabic, was so encouraging. It is so easy to lose sight of a reason for hope, whether it is in your daily job, development work, homework, life, relationships, etc. 

Okay time to catch the bus, so I will finish this post later tonight :-). 

Picture update

The new slideshow on the sidebar is of my office and the new AUC campus! Hope you enjoy! More photos to follow soon!

The third car

I can't believe it has been 10 days since my last post! I am headed out tonight for a trip to the Red Sea for some R&R over the Easter holiday (Eastern Orthodox celebrates this weekend, and since that is the root of most churches here this is when it is recognized here)! 

These past few weeks I have spent a lot of time on the metro (subway as it is known in some areas of the world, the one here alternates between above ground and underground).  This is because I have been doing more and more interviews.  Instead of taking the bus out to campus, I travel downtown or across town to meet various NGO leaders. 

My time on the metro is hard, inspiring, and always eye opening.  The metro is very cheap, about 18 cents to anywhere on the line.  Because of the cheap cost, this is a popular way to travel for many of the lower income citizens. My ride to Doqqi takes about an hour.  At times the metro becomes so crowded that my feet don't touch the ground.  I stand suspended by bodies around me.  Segregation of sexes is a strong value here.  Especially if a woman is traveling alone (or not accompanied by a man).  So the third and fourth cars of the metro trains are dedicated to women only.  (If a man happens to jump in one at the last second as the doors are closing, they tend to blush and stare out the window, hoping for the next stop to come as quickly as possible so they can move cars). 

Being surrounded for an hour by people who live on such a small amount of money (probably 50 cents a day), always reminds me of how blessed I am to have a job, and the ability/health to work the job.  But I never leave the metro just feeling sorry for those around me, they inspire me.  I see women taking small children with them as they fight the crowds that I find difficult to get myself through.  Or the sensitivity of the women for each other, giving up the few seats for women who are elderly, pregnant, or physically challenged.  Or holding each others children so a mother can get a break, or entertaining a crying child to relieve a stressed mom. 

The hard part comes from being the foreigner.  When I step on the train, it doesn't matter what I am wearing, my appearance screams foreigner. Then there seems to be some unspoken rule when a person gets up from their seat, they choose the person to take their seat by motioning to someone standing.  I get the impression that because I am a foreigner it is assumed I am rich, therefore I shouldn't be riding the metro.  So why should I get a seat. (I know this isn't what all the ladies are thinking, and some even smile at me during the ride.  But since I am trying to be sensitive to culture, I don't want to step on toes if I can help it). So rarely do I get a seat.  The other day however, I was chosen. An elderly lady picked me, out of the 10 young girls standing in my area, to have her seat as she got up to leave the train.  I almost broke into tears. There is such an honor in being chosen when you least expect it. 

This post is a little messy.  Maybe because the metro ride is always so emotionally stretching for me that I am not sure how to put it all in words. But it has become such a routine part of my life, I wanted to capture at least a piece of it. 

The other side...

I am sitting here at my desk looking out the window to the desert, (it is a beautiful cool sunny day outside), enjoying the view and trying my best to remember what has filled the hours of my last week. Apparently this has become a once a week blog :-), well at least I am doing that much! I have some photos on my camera that I need to download as well. I was waiting until I got around to taking some more, but I have a feeling that I should go ahead and post some :-). So hopefully I can do that in the next few days.
What inspired this post was a statement made yesterday by a man I was interviewing about an NGO he started with a group of friends. He said something along the lines of when public speaking or speaking in front of a group there is a pressure to present your personal experiences in such a way that the audience will relate, or in an orderly process, but the truth of it is, the process is usually not orderly whether you are developing an NGO, or living day to day. So while the previous posts have been filled with stories of adventures and experiences, I feel the need to add a disclaimer that not all of my life here is portrayed in these posts. It is difficult to remember the tough moments once they have passed, or the fleeting thoughts of homesickness or lack of patience with cultural differences and miscommunications. So while this blog may make the grass here appear greener, this may not always be the case. The last few years I have been trying to learn that happiness/contentness is a state of mind you choose, not something you happen to fall into, and it is by God's grace we can choose this. And I am happy here :-).
Spring break begins this weekend. I will be working the first part of the week, but I think I will run away to the Red Sea for a few days to see if I can squeeze a dive or two in and relax on the sunny beach (my apologies to all of you who are still up to your eyeballs in snow ;-).
Since this post has been more my thoughts, than experiences I will leave you with this short story...the other day, after returning to Maadi (the area of town I live in) from a meeting downtown I stopped by RadioShak to pick up a powerstrip for my computer. After an interesting Arabic lesson with the salesman in which I learned the difference between mooza (banana) and moozah (pretty girl) (much to the anger and dismay of Sam), I was walking home and passed two boys 11-12 years old on the street. As they walked by me they grabbed ahold of the jacket in my hand and pulled it. I held onto it, but it made me so mad that I turned to run after them, yelling AYB ALEEK (where is your shame) at the top of my lungs, for those of you who have heard me yell, yes I am sure the entire 10 block radius heard me. People stopped to watch as I am sure it was a funny show to see a foreign girl running after two young boys. A man down the street stopped the boys, but at this point I had given up running in dress shoes and returned towards home. Another man stopped in his car to apologize to me for what the boys had done. I laughed at this experience as I retold it to Sam later, but he was horrified that this had happened in such a nice neighborhood. With a puzzled look on his face he asked, "how do all these things happen to you?". I guess I should have put a warning label on myself, "prone to unusual trying experiences and adventures". LOL! Please no worries...I am safe(not that I ever really felt in danger)! I made it home without any other adventures for the day.
I guess that is all for today! Thanks to you who are my faithful readers. I hope this blog is a glimpse of life outside the US.