Here I am!

Yes, yes, I know. Almost a month, I know. Well, I'm back and with a darn good explanation of why I've been a blog slacker. There has been something else VERY important taking up my brain space (Among other things) Something teeny tiny and enormous at the same time. Something that is making me sleepy, hungry, grumpy, queasy, panicked, happy, scared, delighted, and a little...chubby. Ok, if you haven't figured it out by now you either need a good nights sleep or an anvil to drop on your head Bugs Bunny style. I'M PREGNANT! About 8 weeks. I've been pretty preoccupied and to be honest writing about anything else would have made me feel like a faker. This is the most important thing to happen, probably since we've moved here and I couldn't very well act like nothing was going on. I'm just not built that way. Yes, I feel ok. Like I said tired and queasy from time to time but I know a lot of women have it way worse than I do so I don't feel right about complaining, not yet anyway. We went to the doctor this week for a 2nd ultrasound (first one showed the sac but no baby) this one was far more exciting! We saw the baby (Ira already says it looks like him) and we saw the heartbeat. Just a little teeny flashlight but it was still pretty awesome. I know inquiring minds want to know things so here it goes
I am due Ocotber 13th, my birthday
I'm not showing yet, but my pants don't fit
Yes, I will be having the baby in Egypt
Yes, they have real doctors and hospitals here
Yes, I will still be coming home this summer (beginning of June through the beginning of August)
Those are all the pressing things I can think of right now. If there are other questions I will do my best to answer. As I've said before, this WILL NOT become a baby blog, however, I will be writing from time to time about the pregnancy here in Egypt because I know it is a different experience and I want everyone to know that I am safe and well looked after (especially by Ira) My doctor's name is Mai Hobrok. She is Egyptian and very proper. I like her a lot and she seems to be pretty attached to us already.
In other news...my friend Laurie is coming! In three weeks! She'll be here for a week at the end of March and I can't wait. We have lots of great things planned...stay tuned.
We're still planning the Greece trip. The plane tickets are purchased but we've hit a little snag with the apartment rental. The trip is scheduled for the 10th-20th of April.
We had dinner at the Dean's house on thursday night and went to our first Egyptian wedding yesterday. Although, we were told repeatedly by other (Egyptian) guests that it wasn't a "real" Egyptian wedding. I guess because it was during the day and it was (what I would consider) and nice sort of American wedding. It was lovely no matter what you called it!
Ira went on a palace tour downtown, I had to skip it because I made the mistake of taking my prenatal vitamin right before we had to go and I got sick. Ira said it was nice, I'm sure he'll blog about it eventually...Not much planned for this week, just teaching which is going well. My Sunday/Tuesday class is getting very big. It's a lot of fun. Well, I hope this super long update makes everyone happy for a little while. I'll do my best to be more consistent. Have a good week!

Back in the Saddle

We went to our first party since we've been back and now it really feels like we're back. It made me realize how the people we've chosen (and who have chosen us!) to surround oursleves with are pretty damn awesome. It was a lot of fun to catch up and find out what everyone did over break. After Mark and Gordana's, Amy, Jaimee, Amanda, Ira, and I made our way to the Maadi House for a little dance party...

Road 9

Road 9 is a street in Maadi that is as close to downtown as you can get out here in "the burbs" (I am laughing as I type that, I know there are people here who think that Maadi is the burbs but it's just not I'm sorry) It's a couple of miles from here, usually ok to walk there but if you make purchases it's a little too far to lug everything and it's only a 5 pound cab ride back. Anyway, I met Gordana there this morning. She and Mark are having a party tomorrow and she needed a few things. I haven't spent nearly enough time on Road 9 so I was happy to join her. We started out kind of wandering. I got another headband, I've been wearing my other two out as you may have noticed in all the pictures from the last 5 months! Especially Turkey, you can tell I just got them before we left and still had a crush on them. I found some hooks for the bathroom, a great find and something we've needed for a while. And a muffin pan. We took a break for a little lunch at Cilantro. I had a blue cheese, walnut, and cucumber sanwich on brown bread and a lime soda. Then we chatted over lattes for a while. The produce stand was super awesome, cherry tomatoes, concord grapes, red lettuce, bibb lettuce, and the sweetest fresh mint all for about 4 dollars. But the best find was the glasses. Ira found these great handblown glasses for like a dollar each while he was still here and I was in the states. They are this great colbalt blue color. So, cut to us being back for a week and we're down 2 glasses. Apparently the "dishwasher" didn't realize how "fragile" they are. Ahem. I set out to replace them. I asked him where the shop was and he said that "I wouldn't be able to find it unless I was looking for it" Wrong! While it did take us a few times up and down the street but we found it! I found 2 to replace them, they are a lighter blue but I love them. Another great day in Maadi!

Baby Rocco

Here is a picture of my new nephew, Rocco Valentino Wray. He was born on January 28th at 5:50 pm weighing 7lbs. 5oz. and measuring 21 inches long. Welcome to the family!

Oh Happy Day!

What a lovely morning! I have figured out the secret (after 6 months) to having a happy errand running experience in Maadi. The early bird gets the worm, and the nice weather! I left the house at 8 am, I normally wait until 10 to go anywhere since most things don't even open before then. But today I was craving an apple donut from Fino (the bakery) and I wanted to eat it for breakfast. So, I headed out with my Ipod playing Tristan Prettyman, it's warm enough that I was just wearing a hoodie and a light scarf. The weather right now feels a bit like April at home. Once I arrived at Fino and ordered my donut, I couldn't resist the mincemeat pastries. I forgot about them while we were gone and man they looked good! I couldn't decide between the oatmeal and the whole wheat bread so I got both. Eh, they're small loaves and one doesn't usually last more than a day in this house anyway. From there, I walked a few more blocks to Seoudi to pick up a few groceries. I had a good feeling before I even got in the door. There were moutians of produce outside waiting to be stocked. I navigated my way around the oranges, herbs, and leeks and found a cart. As I approached the produce section I saw a man stocking crates of strawberries, there must have been a dozen or so. I took a big package right from his hand and made my way through the store. I grabbed some ginger and by the time I got to the vegetables (only a few steps) I realized there was no one in the store! Well, a few people but not the usual insane mobs that I have to deal with in there. Typically, I can't even walk in that store let alone push the cart through! And then I noticed something even more glorious, Seoudi was completely stocked! The yogurt! The juice! Everything that I normally have to dig through to find the brands and flavors that we like were in neat rows. Neat rows! It was like, dare I say, an American grocery store! That's when I vowed to make my Seoudi trips at 8 am from now on!

Groundhog Day

It just dawned on me while I was lying in bed this morning that today is Groundhog Day! I just associate this day with cold and ice, but here it is 8am and it's already 60 degrees. Weird. So, to all of my Pennsylvania people who are tuned in to Punxatawney Phil, I hope that spring is close and you soon see daffodils. And watch the movie with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell! I'm downloading it as I type...along with all the Oscar movies, but I'll save that for the next post.