Christmas in May!!

Having family come visit for two weeks is fun for many reasons, one of which was the three suitcases of gifts and goodies that I am trying to find cabinet space for! I had so much fun opening up suitcases and unwrapping presents the day my family got here. A few of the fun presents:

Thanks to Dave, Debbie, and the Boys for parting with their lovely daughter for two weeks and sending her to Cairo, AND thanks for the goodies!! Two canisters of Ginger Peach Tea (YUM!), two super precious mugs based off of a favorite children's book (one says "Guess how much I love you? The other answers "I love you to the moon - and back!), a sweet smelling, prettily wrapped bar of Ocean Pur Botanic Shea Butter Soap, and four special cards with verses and encouraging messages written by Josiah, Jeremiah, and Jedidiah. I love you guys!!

Thanks to Tonya and crew for more special things to make my home cozy: Yankee Candle Sage and Citrus votives and tea lights to go with a pretty home fragrance oil burner, an olive oil mister, two bars of french-milled soap, some Bath and Body Works White Citrus hand soap, two picture frames with sepia toned photographs of Lilly, Kathryn, and Levi, three hand-painted masterpieces waiting to be matted and framed and hung in my spare room, and a singing card. Love you much and will think of you every time I use these things!

From Samantha and Abby: My favorite snack food for a fun treat: Two boxes of Cheez-its and a four bottles of Dt Mt Dew - I'm not very good at saving things, and I must confess that the Diet Mountain Dew is gone, but it was thoroughly enjoyed!! I shared the first box of Cheez-its with the rest of the fam, so of course its gone, but I'm rationing the second. Thanks guys for a special treat!!! Love you much!!

From Paul and Carol: Four beautiful hand towels that are color coordinated with my bathroom, 2 packages of my favorite blueberry coffee, and a Mary Magdalene DVD. I'm savoring a mug of that blueberry coffee as I type this. What a cozy treat!! And the towels look lovely in the bathroom (and now my guests can actually dry their hands :) Thanks for the thoughtful gift! Love you guys!

A few cards rounded out the Christmas in May celebration: A hilarious and entirely appropriate card from Joanna brought smiles and laughter. Thanks querida. Love you and miss you more than you know. And a letter from Sam Condon was a special surprise. Thanks Sam!! It was a particularly special to get that letter because it was a surprise! Love you so much, and we'll skype soon so I can see your lovely face!

Besides the Christmas presents, I am enjoying a newly stocked pantry. With 10 bags of regular, decaf, and flavored coffee, 8 jars of flavored creamers, 4 bottles of flavored syrups, and a couple new coffee mugs, my coffee bar is open for business. Come visit and I'll make you an iced latte or a mug of coffee with frothed milk :) I like to keep chocolate chip cookie dough in my freezer so that I can bake fresh cookies for anyone who drops by. With 186 oz of chocolate chips in the baking drawer, I will be sure to have cookies for visitors for the next year! Lemonade powder, soaps, clothes, fun new sandals, lots of candles, and some books complete the new stash of stuff. I love using my home for hospitality, and its so fun to have new candles, hand towels, pretty soaps, and coffee supplies to help create a cozy and welcoming atmosphere. Yay for Christmas in May!!

Sunday, Day Five

Today has been full and fun. A few highlights:

A great time of worship, remembering our Savior, followed by brunch and fellowship.

More working out. Gotta stay fit, even on vacation! Thankfully we managed to get out without breaking machines this time :)

A crazy trip to Khan el Khalili, the massive bazaar where you can purchase ANY weird thing. Among the purchased items: beautiful blue and green glassware, lovely scarves, a couple of dangerous looking but dull knives, a load of t-shirts with embroidered pyramids on them, a series of small pyramid sculptures, a djimbe (exactly how does one spell that??), copper thimbles, and mother-of-pearl jewelry boxes.

An authentic Egyptian dinner from GAD: Falafel, Baba Ghanoug, Tahina, Hummus, rotisserie chicken, Mashi (peppers, eggplants, and zucchini stuffed with a rice mixture)

A tragic haircut: Wilby learned the hard way that asking Meredith and Thomas to cut one's hair will not necessarily increase one's attractiveness.

Tomorrow: Pyramids!

Andrews Adventures in Cairo: Saturday

Friday's craziness resulted in my losing my key ring, with my house keys, art centre keys, and office keys. Thankfully, my landlord lives across the street and has a key to my flat, and thankfully I keep a spare in a dish next to the door. So we weren't in too much trouble. But losing the art centre key necessitated an early morning meeting to borrow another one. As the crew slept peacefully on, I made my way to Cafe Greco to recover a key and then to MetroMarket to buy groceries to feed the hungry crowd. Mama and Daddy met me at the grocery store, and we planned menus, mentally converted LE to USD, and finally made it home with food. The crew was still asleep - staying up til 4 am caused them all to sleep til noon :) After breakfast/lunch, we headed to Cairo American College, where we met one of the high school girls who comes with me to the art centre on Saturdays. All nine of us piled in cars and then spent the next two hours coloring artwork and playing with 20+ adorable kids.

One of the girls, Injy, loved Brooke and insisted that she stay in Cairo with me when the rest of the fam headed back to the States. In efforts to not explain the odd relationship that our family shares with Wilby and Rachel, I introduced them all as my family. The children stared in amazement upon discovering that Will was my brother, and were positively shocked that Rachel was the youngest. They were sure that she must be older than Meredith as she is taller (by a whole inch!). We had lots of fun singing "Father Abraham" in Arabic. The kids insisted upon Mama and Daddy getting in on the action, and were DELIGHTED to watch them shake their arms and legs during "Abuna Ibrahim." After a full afternoon, we came back home to a Spaghetti dinner, which was enjoyed by all until Wilby decided to breathe and eat and the same time, which resulted in a serious choking incident followed by hysterical laughter. (laughter was the theme of the day!) Next came a crazy game of Catch Phrase, Andrews style. If you've never been a part of an Andrews family game night, you're missing out. It's pretty incredible. I'll leave you with a few choice gems from the game that had us all stretched out on the floor laughing hysterically....

Dad (describing a word): It's something that makes everything go smoothly (that's ALL he said, I promise)

Rachel, before anyone else could say a word: BALL BEARINGS!!!!

Dad, pumping his fist: YES! (while we all laughed and looked on in astonishment)

Rachel: I LOVED those when I was a kid!!!

Yep, she's the daughter of an engineer! Who else gives ball-bearings to their kids as toys??

An astonishing moment of mental connection between Meredith and I:

Me: You know, when water comes out of the ground...

Meredith: DEW POINT!

A correct guess followed by more astonishment.

A demonstration of Rachel's articulate descriptions:

Rachel: The one who made the invention!!! He did it! He made it! He made the invention! You know the one who made the invention!!!! He came up with the invention!!

Everyone else: Albert Einstein! Umm, WHAT invention?

Dad, finally: Inventor?

Rachel, after the time was up: The INVENTOR! DUH!

Thank you Rachel. You are a true wordsmith.

No, those words are not synonyms:

Brooke: You know, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise...

Wilby: COMMODITIES!

Everyone else: more hysterical laughter, and Dad suggesting that we all begin investing in Condiments....

Day Three: GC, more workouts, church, and a sunset felucca!

Friday was full and fun. We headed to Garbage City in the morning. We went to the art centre, where we did a bit of cleaning and organizing and just played with kids. Brooke has some video of Thomas, Meredith, Wilby and Rachel teaching the kids to play clapping games - I'll try to post those soon. Its so fun to have my family see this place that I work and these kids who have captured my heart.

After GC, we of course needed to work out again, so it was off to CSA for a second time. Since Mom had just eaten and I had run with Abi in the morning, we took a trip to a little foreign market to buy Rachel's birthday dinner. Shopping in Cairo is not quite the same as the local Reidsville Food Lion!

After retrieving the rest of the sweaty family, we headed back to mine for showers before church. Unfortunately for the fam, my hot water heater just broke, and its only cold showers! I suppose the positive is that 8 people get through one shower MUCH faster when the water is cold...After church, we celebrated Rachel's 15th birthday with a sunset picnic on a sailboat on the Nile. Two friends joined us, and we had a lovely time laughing, talking, and wondering exactly where Moses sailed down the Nile.

It was so special to celebrate this birthday with Rach. I got to know her exactly 7 years ago, just before her 8th birthday. I spent four summers as a nanny to her and her brothers, and every summer was more special than the last. Rach has certainly outgrown needing a nanny, but I am so blessed to have her now as my youngest "sister." She's grown from a precocious, fun-loving, super-cute 2nd grader to a strong, beautiful, special young woman. I am so excited to see what HE has in store for you as you continue to pursue Jesus. Love you so much Rach!

Thursday, Day Two

Thursday was a delightfully lazy day. After 18 hours of airports, layovers and economy class seats, the travelers were a bit weary and happy to sleep in. Mom, Dad and I were up by 8:30 having coffee and quiet time, but the crew was happy to sleep til lunch time! Everyone here is passionate about their workouts, so we've purchased month memberships to a gym here. Our first outing in Cairo? A visit to the Community Services Association to work out, where Meredith worked out so hard that she managed to break an elliptical, Thomas lifted so much weight he caused the leg press to break, and Wilby made friends with all the staff and ate muffins. He needed them after his intenso workout. After our those tough workouts, we decided to enjoy a bit of rest and relaxation. Some friends who are out of town offered the use of their patio and pool, and we enjoyed a sunny picnic, a few fierce games of bananagrams, and a bit of swimming. There were a few intense battles to see who could push who into the pool. Somehow, poor Rach bore the brunt of the dunking. After another crazy cab ride back to my flat, everyone was happy to chill and play games for the evening. Next up on the schedule? Garbage City.

Andrews Adventures in Cairo: Day One!

Wednesday started out like any other day: after an early morning run along the Nile with Abi, I had a morning meeting, complete with lots of coffee, and then I hurried to finish the rest of the preparations for my family's visit. I called a couple of different companies to arrange transportation to and from the airport - getting 8 people and 20 bags from the airport is no small feat. Finally, SeeEgypt promised to send a van. I started to get a bit nervous when they still hadn't shown up 15 minutes after the scheduled time, but soon they arrived, in a 20-seat bus! No need to worry about lack of space. On the way to the airport we got stuck in serious traffic, thanks to crazy egyptian traffic practices. By the time I got to the airport, my fam was out of customs and waiting for me. I ran into the airport, threw my bag at Rachel, and flew to the bathroom without saying hi. Moral of the story? Don't drink 2 cups of coffee and 2 liters of water and then get stuck for an hour in Egyptian traffic. We got bags loaded up and my family got a bit of a taste of the life-and-death traffic situations that are a part of daily life here. By the time we got back to my flat, Brooke was white as a sheet and nearly ill, and Rachel proclaimed Egypt to be a "truly dangerous land!" To help with the culture shock, we had burgers, philly cheese steak sandwiches, and grilled chicken salads at Lucille's, a lovely American style restaurant complete with American music...we sang along to the Beach Boys "Kokomo" from our back-corner booth. After a quick trip to MetroMarket for groceries, it was home and bed. A fun first day! So glad to have the crew here :)

T-minus 60 minutes!

In half an hour, I'm leaving to go to the Cairo International Airport to pick up mi familia!! THRILLED that Mama, Daddy, Brooke, Wilby, Thomas, Meredith, and Rachel will be doing life with me for the next two weeks, and sad that Blaine couldn't make it this time. Stay tuned for daily reports of the Andrews' Adventures in Cairo!

Countdown: One Week!!!

In exactly one week, Daddy, Mama, Brooke, Wilby, Thomas, Meredith, and Rachel will be with me, in Cairo, hopefully eating dinner. YES to visitors!!!!!

goodbyes, hellos, and change.

The thing I love most about Cairo? Sorry, can't name just one...I LOVE my life here. Dave Ramsey, financial guru, says that one's ideal job blends one's skills and talents, passions and dreams, and experience into meaningful, fulfilling work. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian, says that the ideal job combines your skills and passions with work that helps bring more peace, love, and justice to our world. So true. I am blessed beyond measure to live the life I'm living, to do the work I'm doing, and I LOVE IT.

What do I DISLIKE most about Cairo? EASY - saying goodbye. Life here is so transient. And that's good, I suppose. It helps me to remember that in this world, I am a stranger, a pilgrim, and this place is not my home. But the transient nature of Cairo life means saying goodbye - ALOT. Life here is constantly changing, and people are constantly coming and going. We are created to live in community with each other, NOT to be lone rangers. Living in community means reaching out, loving, serving, being vulnerable, sharing life, even in a place as transient as Cairo. Living in community here is as important as living in community anywhere else. But opening your heart to people here inevitably means that a difficult goodbye is coming. The past 8 months have brought several such goodbyes. Though I miss the friendships that will no longer be such a daily part of my life, I am thankful for every precious friend to whom I've said goodbye. Each of them has shaped my life in particular ways, and therefore have become a part of who I am today. So despite the sadness of saying goodbye, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am who I am thanks to each precious friend whom I've had the privilege of knowing, and I look forward to every new friend that He will bring into my life, no matter how brief our acquaintance may be.

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you..."

Summer in Cairo - NOT Pretty

I love hot weather. And I really don't like cold weather. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good snow - I just prefer to enjoy it wrapped up in many blankets, snuggled in a big chair, with a steaming cup of coffee, a book, and a roaring fire. I would MUCH rather be hot than cold. In fact, when I headed to the desert last weekend with some friends, Amy stared at me with a mystified look on her face when I walked out into the 80 degree weather wearing a long sleeve shirt under my t-shirt. I just didn't want to get cold, I told her. I mean, it was 5 pm, going to be dark soon, and I was a tad bit warm, but better to be a tad bit warm than too cool. I sleep with multiple blankets on my bed all year long. I like to be warm. All that to say, I am not some American chica who wimps out in warm weather and needs lots of air-conditioning. So when I say summers in Cairo aren't pretty, you better believe summers in Cairo aren't pretty. Despite the fact that its only mid-May, temps tomorrow will top 109 degrees. I'm not exactly eager for July to get here.

Operation Extermination

I have a problem. A roach problem to be specific. I love my flat, but I have one complaint: the kitchen is infested with roaches. Now, I realize that I live in Egypt, and a few bugs are par for the course, but I put my foot down when at any given time, you can spot 10-15 roaches crawling around the kitchen. I like to keep my home tidy, and I am NOT ok with having to rinse roach parts out of every dish before using it. I visited my landlord and politely requested that he send an exterminator. When he told me just to get some bug spray, I got a little more firm. "Dr. Galal, there are LOTS of roaches. Powder will not fix this. There are HUNDREDS. Dr. Galal, you MUST get an exterminator. They are going to take over your building and all your tenants will be very unhappy and they will destroy the apartments!!" Maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but he got the point, and promised to send an exterminator yesterday morning. In preparation for the decimation of the roach population, I took every dish out of the cabinets, washed them, and stacked them in the spare room on the coffee table and the bed. Then I emptied the contents of every cabinet and stashed it all on the dining room table, and waited for the exterminator to arrive. And waited. And waited and waited. And waited some more. And he never showed. Naturally. I decided to call again in the morning, and to spray a bit of Raid before going to bed, just to get a head start on the issue. And that was the beginning of the end...

When I do things, I tend to get carried away and give 110%. In this situation, that translated to removing every cabinet from underneath the countertops, putting them in the living room, moving the stove, moving the fridge, moving the washing machine, and using up an entire can of Raid killing the hundreds of roaches that were swarming the kitchen. At 1:30 am, with the kitchen turned inside out and the cabinets in the hallway, I started to wonder if I had lost my mind. I had country music playing while I was doing all this craziness, and had to laugh when Brad Paisley's "You Need a Man Around Here" played.

You've sure got a real nice place
So don't take this the wrong way
But I can tell by your decorating taste
You've been alone too long
You've got more candles than a midnight mass
That fancy mirror adds a touch of class
But do you know how good a mounted bass
Would look there on that wall

You need a man around here
You can't do it all by yourself
To me it's painfully clear
That you could use a little help
Someone to kill the spiders
Change the channel and drink the beer
Seems to me that you sure need
A man around here

I may have "more candles than a midnight mass," but I single-handedly wiped out the roaches, and then took a trip to Garbage City this afternoon to chase rats out of the art centre and clean 30+ spiders out of the corners. I feel pretty confident in my spider killing abilities. So long nasty rodents, arachnids, and insects!

Gotta run put my kitchen back together now....

countdown

THREE WEEKS! Three weeks from today, Dad, Mom, Brooke, Wilby, Thomas, Meredith, and Rachel will board a plane to Cairo, and three weeks from tomorrow, I will see them walking through customs into the arrival hall in Terminal 3. SO EXCITED!