I can't sleep so it seems like a good time to do a blog entry. I've been having some random bouts of insomnia lately. I think my weird yoga schedule may have something to do with it. I think the fact that somedays I teach in the mornings and sometimes I teach at night is kind of screwing with my energy levels and my sleeping and eating patterns. Which, by the way, were not exactly firmed up before I started this whole yoga adventure! I think I had finally moved past the jet lag and the upset stomachs and now I'm all messed up again. Sigh. Hopefully I'm going to start teaching more in the evenings and maybe that will help...
I've made a decision to join the Maadi House. I've talked about it a little bit on here. It's a sort of country club that's somehow affiliated with the U.S. Embassy (although no one seems to know how or why exactly) It's open to U.S. citizens and you have to join for a year. It's quite lovely there. There are lots of trees and grass and although it's in the middle of Maadi, the air seems a little different and it's more quiet for sure. They have a pool, bar, resturant, playground, and lots of other activities. A lot of people go there when Cairo becomes a little overwhelming, as it can be from time to time. So far my experiences there have been at night for parties or BBQs, but today I went to the pool for the first time. That's right, the first day of Fall and I was sweating poolside. Actually, it was cute, there was a lifeguard who was Egyptian and probably about 19 who came over to Amanda and me and said in broken English "The seasons, Spring, Summer, Winter, and one more?" Amanda and I looked at each other, trying to figure out where he was going with this, and said "Fall?" He kind of looked at us funny. So we said it again "Fall?" And he said "A-U-T..." and we finished "U-M-N" he smiled and said "Right! First day!" and walked away. We laughed, it was very sweet. I am normally SO excited for the first day of Fall. I guess it kind of slips your mind here since the seasons don't change, at least not for a while. I did see some clouds today for the first time since I've been here, that was exciting!
Other than that, we're getting ready for our trip to Turkey on Monday. Which means everyone should be getting ready for another slide show!

Guess who slept through the night like a big girl?!

Woo hoo! Finally! I had a theory that maybe I should stay up really late so I was good and tired, and it worked! I went to bed at 2 and got up at 8! Yay! Now of course, we have to wake up at 3am tonight to catch our plane to the Red Sea but I'm happy with one night of normal sleep...at least for now. So, we are leaving tomorrow for Dahab, a Bedouin beach town on the Red Sea. We'll be staying at the Blue Beach Club, a resort that has scuba diving AND a yoga shala! I'm very excited to relax and swim and read, etc. So, due to this little getaway I probably won't have any new posts for at least a week. But you will have lots of great photos and stories to check out when we return! Have a great week everyone!
The pictures above are just some silly neighborhood and apartment shots. Ira doing the dishes, a dessert plate that I put together last night. Those are "Hit" cookies (our version of Oreos, only way better), grapes, dried apricots, dried figs, sesame candy, and pistachios. Quite a feast! Then there is a cool house in the neighborhood, the outside of our building, and our staircase/hallway. Oh, and I put a link below to a map of Egypt so you can see where Dahab is located (or Cairo for that matter!) http://hereticdhammasangha.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/egypt-map-adj-fix-copy-net.jpg

Early morning laptop sessions

When people use the term "jetlag" you think that if you haven't been on a jet for a week or so, it shouldn't be an issue. I beg to differ. My friend Kathleen here in Cairo said something like "oh you'll be waking up in the middle of the night" I thought "that doesn't sound right". Usually when you have jetlag, or at least when I have in the past, you either can't sleep or you wake up early, right? Not here! Apparently, traveling here from the states causes major sleep issues for most people. Not my husband, which is kind of annoying...could he BE more adaptable??? Anyway, this heinous breed of jetlag involves going to bed a normal time, sleeping for anywhere from 2 to 5 hours and then waking up. Then, feeling tired again a few hours later and sleeping most of the day. Awesome. Let me tell you it does wonderful things for eating, interacting with other people, exploring foriegn lands, and just generally feeling like a productive human being. There is one saving grace in all of this. My laptop.

Those who know me, know that this whole computer thing is pretty funny. And bless Ira for having the foresight to say "no" when I innocently asked him "but can't I just use your laptop in Cairo?" We would be killing each other if we had to share! I think that most of my friends are pretty amazed that I can turn this thing on let alone "blog" and "upload photos". But this damn thing has become my best friend. Mainly because it lets me "talk" to my best friends! Skype, or Gmail, whatever, I am addicted to staying in touch with everyone I love. If I wake up at 5 in the morning I am secretly excited because there is a chance that someone will still be awake over there for me to talk to! And if I wake up at 6 in the morning that means that I will keep clicking "Refresh" on the New York Times website to see if Michael Phelps won any more gold medals. And then on the flipside, when I finally wake up mid-afternoon my friends are bored at work and I am the welcome distraction! I know this can't go on forever, but until my body gets adjusted (which I've heard can take up to an astonishing THREE WEEKS!) I will be happy to stumble out of the bedroom, down the hall, to my shiny blue friend waiting for me on the couch.

Day 10...

We've been in Cairo for 10 days and so much has happened that it feels like at least 100. For those who know me, you know the last 3 have been the hardest. We found out the pregnancy wasn't viable any longer so I have to have an operation yesterday. No one likes to have surgery, and surgery in a foriegn country is even scarier. Nurses who don't speak English wanting you to strip down in front of them (at least that's what I think they wanted), everything is stored in glass bottles and rubber tubing like it's 1953, and there are people smoking. In the damn hospital. In the damn maternity wing. Which, by the way, is where they put me, quite literally adding insult to injury. Now the good news, I feel ok and I can already tell that I am going to have more energy and feel more like myself in no time. The even better news? Ira and I leave for a resort on the Red Sea in 3 days!

So what else goes on here in this city BESIDES half assed medical care, you might be asking??? Here are my initial impressions in "blunt" format...
1. It's freaking hot. If you're on the east coast (as I know many of you are) you are well versed in the god-awful humidity that we experience there. That's oppressive and all, but feeling like the sun might just make your skin bubble up and fall off of your body is a whole different experience.
2. Our immediate area called Maadi, or more specifically "Maadi Digla" is a little like a cross between a posh suburb and a third world city. And it's a little confusing to get around...some of my favorite quotes about Maadi...from our upstairs neighbor the doctor "...and just because you've found road 15, it doesn't mean that road 16 is anywhere near it!" and in very sweet broken English from an AUC driver "...someone was I think drinking wine when they made the plan" Someone was drinking something! In spite of all of that, we have great places to eat, markets that will deliver our groceries, nice shops and even nicer owners, and there are a lot of trees.
3. We have found the best taxi driver in Egypt. His name is Mema, he speaks great English, and he is really funny. He calls everything "crazy". "Crazy driver!" "Crazy traffic!" "Crazy house!" and my favorite, when we were driving past a movie set "Crazy cinema!" Now he does point out the same tourist attractions to us every time, but that's ok. We love him!
4. This is actually an observation of a friend of ours...but I'm going to steal it because he really put in to words what I had been feeling. There's a lot of down time in Egypt. First of all, I wasn't on a good sleep schedule until about yesterday and I'm still waking up after only 5 or 6 hours of sleep. So that meant that for the first week or so I was sleeping and eating at weird times and the rest of the time kind of just hanging around. I thought I was just being lazy, but I think it's like that for a lot of ex-pats. It's either too hot to go out, or it's sabbath, I can't even imagine what Ramadan is going to be like! Now having said that...my husband is of course the exception to this rule. He will go out at the hottest part of the afternoon and stay out for hours and love very minute of it. But we all know that he's like the poster child for living in a foriegn country. But it's nice to be getting settled into our new place and making it feel like home.
5. Everything is truly inexpensive. Now, I have travelled quite a bit. Mostly in the U.S. but I 've been to Europe and Mexico, etc. You think you know what "cheap" is, right? It's those pants at the Gap that used to be $58 and they are now on sale for $19.99. That's cheap! Or paying $5 for 2 pints of blueberries at Giant. Cheap! Ira and I have been here for 10 days and I don't think we've spent more than $150 on food including meals out and all of our groceries (and including me accidentially over tipping the delivery guy). That's cheap.
6. Pardon the schmultz, but I have fallen deeper in love with Ira on this adventure. I adore that man with every bone in my body. He is caring, attentive, loving, the truest, most honest human being I know. He loves it here, and even though I'm still on the fence, he doesn't push me or try and make me see the city the way he does. He's giving me the space and time to figure it all out for myself. That's some love right there. That's why I (over)use the "best husband in the world" phrase. And I know that's why he's going to be the best dad in world too...
7. Everyone does their own thing here. It feels like everyone has a purpose, or at least they do things purposefully. I need to find my thing and I'll be right there along with them.