My TV habit

Before we moved I would say I watched about 8 hours of TV a week. I know it sounds crazy, but I was a purposeful TV watcher. I would only turn it on to watch something specific. I didn't have cable, so I wasn't a mindless channel flipper. TV was also a social event for me, Lauren and I would watch our favorite shows together whenever we could. I've also done my best to get Ira into the shows the I like, because let's face it, TV is more fun when you can say "I can't believe she just died!" or "Man, I love her lip gloss" When we first got here, I wasn't so sure about Egyptian TV, which isn't really Egyptian since most of it comes from somewhere else, like Dubai. I would say that 80% of the shows are American, they are reruns from at least a year ago. So what has ended up happening is I've gotten into shows that I never watched in the states, including Desperate Housewives. Ugh. it's like eating old Halloween candy. It seems like a good idea but the afterwards, you're like "did I just do that?!" Anyway, so far I've only talked about the actual TV set, I haven't talked about the TV that lives in my laptop.
As I mentioned in a previous post or two, Ira installed something in my computer that makes it think it's in the U.S. This is great because up until then, we would get some annoying message that said "Only viewers in the U.S. can watch full episodes" blah, blah. But now, we can! So how does this work? Well, I can't watch the shows live because they aren't broadcasted live and even if they were, the time difference would make it the middle of the night here. So I end up watching them the day after. It's great! I don't have to worry about missing shows because I have a life! Now some shows are up right away and other ones I have to wait for, and it's usually the ones that I'm most excited to see that take forever to stream. So what do I watch? Now before I tell you, I would like to say that we shouldn't judge people based on their pop culture addictions and I'm sure you all have some weird TV tastes (I know for a FACT some of you do!) So on Tuesday, I watch Monday night's "Dancing with the Stars"Although sometimes it's not up until Wednesday but that's ok, because then I have the instant gratification of watching it and then checking online to see who got kicked off! On Thursday I watch Wednesday night's "Private Practice". Friday, and or, Saturday is the mother load. I watch Grey's Anatomy, The Office, and ER (a classic example of a show I stopped watching years ago in the states, but now I can't miss). I guess this is what it's like for people with DVR or TiVo, being able to watch things whenever you want. I have to say that it makes me feel connected, like I haven't completely lost touch with all things American. Now if only I could get cupcakes through the computer...

Domestic Diva-wannabe

Before I tell you about my domestic divaness, I'll give you a recap of the past few days...We had a meeting for The Breathing Room to talk about the October schedule and also about what we are going to charge the students now that the "introductory" month is over. As I mentioned before, my schedule was really wiping me out. So I was hoping to get an all evening schedule and I did! I will now be teaching sun-wed night. I think it's going to be so much better for me as well as my students who are trying to learn Primary Series and need to do it as much as they can. Amanda and I had our usual "Knitting Knight", but it took a downward spiral and we ended up drinking beer and watching SNL videos on the NBC site. Oh! That's the other big news! Ira, in his infinite wisdom, spent an entire afternoon setting up some thing that makes our computer think that it's in the U.S. and lets us watch all our shows!! Yay!! Up until now, we would get a message saying that "this is only available to viewers in the U.S." or something dumb like that. So this morning I watched the season premiere of the Office and Grey's Anatomy! Which also means I'll be able to watch the debate. Well, that is, unless SOMEONE chickens out! haha So, anyway, after Amanda and I hung out, Ira and I went upstairs for a Sohour. This is the meal that is typically eaten before dawn during Ramadan, but most people now eat it before bed because it's less disruptive. So we went upstairs at 10:30 and probably didn't eat until about 11:30. It was so much fun! And there was SO much food! Everything was delicious and we got to chat with a lot of nice people. We didn't get to bed til about 2:30. So yesterday I slept in knowing that I had a busy day of domesticity ahead of me. I shopped, cleaned, and cooked my way to our first dinner party and happy hour here in Cairo. Actually, I think it was the first dinner party and happy hour we've ever hosted as a couple! Anyway, Ira was on campus all day yesterday so I went to Seoudi and picked up some last minute ingredients and then came home to sweep the patio. This may sound like a quick and easy task, but it took me an hour and the dust pan was FULL of a lovely black silt, which I can only assume is not only coating our patio but also our lungs and nasal passages. Sigh. It looks great out there now though! Anyway, I made these awesome lentil burgers http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/vegetarian-lentil-burgers-recipe.html topped with feta cheese and some orzo with tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives. Ira also made his soon to be famous rice pudding with coconut, pistachios, and raisins. We had Amy and Aras over to tell us what to do in Turkey (Aras is Turkish) we got enough info to stay for at least a month! They brought a good Turkish wine (who knew such a thing existed?!) And now I'm excited to bring some back to Cairo, and home if I can wait to drink it til then. : ) After dinner, we had the Maadi crew come over for happy hour. We decided that we would all take turns hosting happy hour on Thursday nights and Ira and I volunteered to host first. It was so much fun! We had lots of good snacks and everyone brought beer and wine. It was great. I slept in late today and I've been doing laundry ever since, with our new washing machine! (See Ira's blog for a picture and more gushing) Ira is going to a concert tonight, but I'm going to pass because I'm wiped out from yesterday and we have a walking tour of Islamic Cairo in the morning. I'm also trying to get things in order before we leave for Turkey on Monday. I'll try to get another entry in before we leave because it'll be another week before I'm on again!