We are all here!

Ok, we all flew over and arrived on April 5th. We flew through Easter and my birthday, but we made it and the trip was relatively uneventful. We had 5 suitcases 9 boxes and two car seats. Whew! Taissir did a great job organizing everything once we arrived at Cairo airport. We had to buy visas at the airport from one of the several banks located inside. Then we collected our bags....let me rephrase that....Taissir paid a guy to grab our bags and he was climbing on the belt to pull ours out. Once we had them stacked we took them out to the mini bus and they would not all fit. After six guys deliberated for about 20 minutes, it was decided to get another station wagon taxi for the boxes. I wish I took a picture of that small station wagon strapped down with 9 boxes. It looked like a Benny Hill show. One box was sooo smooshed that it was jelly bean shaped! The girls were so tired that they both just started crying in the airport, so I sat with them in the van and just let them rest. Needless to say, we went to bed at 4:30am that night.

The apratment is great 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. It has two large living rooms, a dining room and two balconies (one small and one large).

We set Ryanna up with school she will start Sunday (the start of the work week here). We are going to try out some street dance classes on Sunday for the girls and we have an Arabic tutor lined up for the girls and me on Monday. I have already been to the CSA (the local community center) to get info for Zayna and me about tours for field trips. We are homeschooling for two months. I also contacted the local Pilates studio here and I will be starting work April 18th. I will be teaching 2 nights/week for now.

In the summer everyone leaves and we will probably be gone for a large portion. We are planning to spend a month in Lebanon and a short trip for Taissir and me for the Tour de France. Our hopes are to go to Barcelona and try to catch a couple of stages.

The dust here is AMAZING! I tried to clean the apartment once, then took my realtor's advice and hired a cleaning lady. I have to say...it is nice. The desert here is rocks and dirt...that's it! There are no plants so you can imagine the dust flys! Where we live in Maadi had quite a lot of foliage. It is very well established and there are large, old trees. Walking is an adventure and we have to constantly be aware of the cars. We have to learn to jump out in front of cars to cross the street and if you don't, you will never make it across! The sidewalks are sporadic and bumpy, most people walk in the road. Even though there is dust everywhere, we find the culture VERY clean. Everyone keeps themself clean and the sidewalks and store fronts are constantly being swept and mopped down. Pollution is a challenge both noise and smog. However, I feel like my allergies are better here than they were in AZ. Taissir feels the same. I also don't feel the smog like I did when we were downtown or closer to the Nile.

We have tried several restaraunts. I think our favorite it Fino so far. It is an Italian bakery that sells sandwiches and great salads. The feta cheese here is delicious and nothing like our feta, except that it is white. It is much softer and a very mild flavor. The Egyptian bread is thicker than Lebanese pita bread. It is thin on one side and a little fluffy on one side. The olives are also fantastic. The green ones are really fantastic and are a little spicy. Egyptians like spicy food and I am loving the spiciness! So far the falafel(tameeya) made with fava beans is one of my favorites. I also like the spicy eggplant which can be made into a sandwich.

Everything is deliverable....the drugstore, fancy restaraunts, fast food, or anything you can imagine. We had groceries delivered already when it was very late and we were exhausted. Something I could get used to for sure!!

City living definitely appeals to me. I love that we don't have to do any landscaping and we can walk everywhere! Everything is less than a half a mile away...the school, the CSA, grocery stores and restaraunts. Zayna is not feeling well today so we are laying low...perhaps we will go to the beach if she is up for the ride! I will keep you posted! -Dawn