Finally saw it!

Hey guys,

I saw something today that I'd heard about since I got here, but hadn't actually seen before. Apparently whenever someone opens a new store or buys a new car, they slaughter a sheep and smear the blood on the front of the shop or car. I came down from my flat today and was walking down the street. I saw a guy mopping up what I thought was a huge puddle on the sidewalk. Then I got a little closer and realized that it was a puddle of blood. Then I saw the dead sheep on the sidewalk and the bloody handprints on the front of a new shoe store.

We had some friends from Cairo down for a visit this weekend. It was a great time. A bunch of guys staying in our flat. But I think one of them took my phone charger when they went home. I was trying to charge my phone today and couldn't find my charger. So, I went and bought another one. I went into a phone store and asked for a charger. They guy told me it was 45 pounds (about 8 dollars). I asked him if there was another kind, because I didn't want to pay that much for it. He said no, so I told him no thanks and started walking out of the store. He called me back as I was leaving and told me that he had another one for 15 pounds (about 2 1/2 dollars). I bought it, and it works just fine. It's funny, it seems like the only way to get a good deal here is to walk away.

I think I might be moving soon. I met a friend tonight who told me that one of his relatives has a flat in another part of town. It would be about 75 dollars a month cheaper, and much closer to where all of our friends live. I'm planning to go look at the place tomorrow. So who knows, the nomad may be moving again soon. Lets see, this would make six homes in the last twelve months (Salem, Norfolk, Maadi, Hadayek El Maadi, Siqala, and maybe the next one). Strange, huh?

Okay, I'm going to sleep. It's getting late and I've got to wake up way too soon. Nite nite . . .

Thoughts on Ramadan

Hey everyone. This is the first week of Ramadan, which is the Muslim holy month. During this month muslims fast from all food and water during the day. They're allowed to eat and drink before the sun comes up and after the sun goes down, but not during the day. Everything feels a little different during Ramadan. If you want to eat during the day, you need to buy food the night before and keep it at your house during the day. Also, everyone's tired all the time. It's made visiting friends and practicing language a lot harder. During the day people are tired. Then at sunset they eat and are really tired because they just had a huge meal. I still haven't discovered when is a really good time to visit people during Ramadan.

Culture shock seems to be an ebb and flow sort of thing. Some times I think I've got it down, and other times it knocks me off my feet and sends me reeling. During the last week or so I've had a bout of culture shock that was a surprise. It was a reminder that I really am a foreigner. I find myself fighting the temptation to just say "well the people here are just like this ______________." The temptation to feel superior is an easy trap to fall into, but not a particularly fruitful one. I had a couple of American guests here last week, and they told me how great my arabic sounded and how nice it was to have a fellow American who understands the culture here. Maybe this past week is just putting me back in my place. Who knows?!?!

Having guests was fun, but I definitely spent more of my day speaking English than I would like. I'm looking forward to getting back to mostly Arabic in the days to come.

Okay, that's it for now. I hope you're all doing well . . .

Umm, merry christmas??

Hey everyone!

Okay, I was talking to my family on skype yesterday and my mom told me that I hadn't updated my blog in way too long. And when your mom tells you that you haven't blogged in a while, you know it's been a LONG TIME!! Sorry mom!

So, the news . . . Well, I'm 32 years old as of yesterday. (Does that sound as old to you as it does to me?) I'm back in Egypt and enjoying being back home. I hadn't realized how accustomed I had gotten to life in Egypt until I was in the western world for a while. Simple things like traffic signals and being places on time seemed foreign. It's nice to be back in the land where nothing happens on time and everything else makes sense! :)

So, you get random gifts when you live here. I just got back from a friend's house. He gave me an old film camera that he found floating in the ocean last month. Why? That's a really good question. I don't know either.

But, on the up-side of the news. I think I may have found a new language helper in the town that I live in. I met a guy who said he knows someone who would be willing to teach me the local dialect. He's supposed to be getting into town tomorrow. So with any luck, I'll be learning the local dialect within a couple of days. No more sounding like a foreigner! Well, besides the fact that I'm obviously a foreigner! :)

Okay, that's it for now. Oh, one more thing. I was swimming in the ocean this morning and a clown-fish bit me. You know Nemo from the movie "Finding Nemo?" Yeah, him. He bit me! Must've been really hungry. But, no blood no foul. Hope you're all doing well . . .

Freezing in the summer

Hey Everyone!

I got into the Netherlands safe and sound about eight thirty this morning. It's a little funny to me. I've got some friends who are here from the north coast of Scotland, and I'm here from Egypt. My friends from Scotland think that the weather here is unbearably hot. But I think it's freezing! I had to go borrow a sweater from someone this morning when I got here. Kind of funny how much perspective can change your perception of things.

Okay, that's it for now. Just letting you all know that I'm still alive (though cold!!) I'll write more in a bit . . .

Worst hair-do ever!

Okay, I saw something tonight that I want to share with all of you. I saw the WORST hair-do I have ever seen. I've made a decision about my future and hair. I'm praying for a full head of white hair like Bob Barker when I get older. But, if that doesn't happen, I've decided to go bald as gracefully as possible. Just accept it and move on. But I saw a guy tonight with a different philosophy on hair loss. He had the cool little ring of hair. (you know, where everything's gone on top and there's just a little bit of hair left on the sides) Anyway, this guy had grown the ring out REALLY long. Part of it was pulled back in a pony-tail, and the rest was brushed forward to cover the dome. If it had been convincing, it would have been cool. Alas, not so convincing.

I just got back into town two nights ago. I was up in Cairo for a few days this last week. A friend invited me to his brother's wedding. So, I packed a little bag and took the bus up there. It was a nice time. I stayed with an Egyptian friend and slept on his roof. It was cooler on the roof than it was inside with the fan on. I should be used to it by now, but I still find it odd to be sweating outside at midnight. Kind of a strange feeling.

I'm here until the end of the week. On the 19th I'll be heading to the Netherlands for about two weeks of training. After that, I'll be heading back here. It'll be nice to get out of the country for a little while. When you're surrounded by the same thing all the time, it's easy to forget that anything else exists. So, it'll be cool to get out of the country for a bit and get some more perspective on life and culture here. I'm also looking forward to not being in 45 degree (115 for you Fahrenheit people) weather for a couple of weeks. Who knows, I might even have to wear a sweatshirt in the middle of summer! :)

Okay, that's all the news I can think of for the moment. I hope everyone's doing well! Peace . . .

Deep water

Okay, random story from the last few days. I was having my quiet time a couple of days ago, and felt like God was speaking to me from Luke 5. It's the passage where Jesus tells Peter to "put out into deep water." I spent some time asking him if deep water symbolized anything. I'm not sure what it would have symbolized, but it just seemed like the kind of thing that might be symbolic of something else. After asking for a while, I felt like he was saying no. Basically, "deep water just means deep water."

So, I came home confused to say the least. Why would he tell me something that didn't really seem to mean anything? Anyway, I opened my email when I got home and had an email from a friend in Cairo. He and a friend were coming to the town where I live in order to go scuba diving this weekend. He asked if I wanted to go. I talked to my roommate about it, and we both decided that the best application of the word was to go diving.

So, long story short, I went scuba diving this weekend. I had a really fun time, and got to meet some local guys when I was on the boat and got a few of their phone numbers. It was a great time, but somehow I was expecting more. You know, maybe to meet some incredible person on the boat or something like that. It was a great time, but I was just hoping for something a little more . . . significant . . .

But it was a lot of fun! Who knows, something may come of it in the long run too.

Hunting for friends . . .

Hey guys,

A little over two weeks in a new place. It might be close to three weeks now. I'm not quite sure. Somewhere in that range.

CS Lewis writes in one of his essays that any friendship requires some kind of bond. He paints a picture of two friends standing side by side, both engaged in the same thing. Either the same activity, same interest, same passion, same job, same hobby . . . you get the idea. Here's a quote from his essay, Friendship:

"That is why those pathetic people who simply 'want friends' can never make any. The very condition of having Friends is that we should want something else besides Friends. Where the truthful answer to the question Do you see the same truth? would be 'I see nothing and I don't care about the truth; I only want a Friend,' no Friendship can arise - though Affection of course may. There would be nothing for the Friendship to be about; and Friendship must be about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travellers."

That's been a challenging thought lately. I came to this town a few weeks ago, and am trying to meet people right now. Honestly, it's been a bit lonely here. Meeting folks in Cairo was so easy. Here, not so easy. Not sure what the difference is. In Cairo people were happy to hang out and talk. But here, it seems like everyone that I talk to wants something from me. It's been a frustrating experience. I'll hang out with someone for an hour and feel like we're getting to know each other. But then they'll ask me to buy them a computer or get them a visa to the USA or something like that. I feel like I'm always waiting for the bomb to drop. But yesterday a thought occurred to me. If I'm just "looking for friends," I'm doing the same thing to them that they're doing to me. I'm trying to use them to fill my loneliness in the same way that they're trying to get something from me.

Yikes! Not a particularly pleasant realization. Looks like I've got some soul-searching to do in the near future.

On a positive note . . . some friends from Cairo are going to be in town this weekend. They're coming down to go diving, and I should get to hang out with them while they're in town. It'll be nice to see some familiar faces!

Okay, that's it for now . . .