Pancit
>> Monday, April 27, 2009
Recipe (of course I omit the pork, just use chicken, add shrimp if you like)
Dinner last night...Yum!
Awkward
So most Thursday nights we go out, usually to the promenade or something, a group of us, women and kids. One of the moms almost always doesn't leave enough money to cover her bill/tip and we get stuck paying the difference. I don't know if we should say something or what. I mean it's obvious that she's always either leaving just enough for what she ordered or less and never tips. It's really rude. Maybe we should just have separate bills, but she's always the first to go home all in a rush and just leaves money with someone. Awkward.
It Never Ends
>> Wednesday, April 22, 2009
BLAH. I'm so tired of how quickly this place gets dirty over and over and over on a never ending cycle. The floor, oh the floor. It never stays clean.I like the living room to at least be neat. I'll straighten up, but it never lasts. Newspapers, toys, pieces of paper, always everywhere. I seem to be the only one who can see this stuff because no one bothers to pick any of it up. No matter what we have, both sinks get filled up with dishes every day. There is so much dust here, dusting is futile. Don't even get me started on the bathroom. I put a Post-it that said FLUSH! above the toilet because most people around here don't seem to know about that function. The Post-it has mysteriously disappeared. I just wish the thankless jobs I have to do to clean up around here were appreciated enough that it wouldn't get ruined again so carelessly.
I've thought of having someone come in and do the big jobs every once in a while but I always feel like having someone else do it almost more of a hassle than it's worth. I mean, I'm not a control freak or anything but I also am not used to having a stranger doing my shiz.
My kids do have to clean their rooms and they help set and clear the table,but honestly they don't have time for much else. They do help out when asked, but I wish everyone would just automatically clean up after themselves and try not to make my job harder than it already is. Most of the time, it's someone makes crumbs on the table and I'm like, screw it, I'm going to have to clean it later anyway. /rant
The only solution is a cleaning fairy. A cleaning fairy will swoop in any room you're not in and *ting* magically all is tidy and fresh! Aaah. A girl can dream.
Fulla, NOT the Arab Barbie
>> Tuesday, April 21, 2009
This is Fulla. She was a gift from my sister to Zayneb and she is her favorite doll. I like that she has black hair (with a auburn streak) and brown eyes. She looks more like the average Arab girl. She has natural looking make up and doesn't have the huge cone like rack Barbie has. Under her clothes she has perma underwear in the form of a nude colored undershirt and below the knee bloomers too!
When I was a kid I always wondered why Ken got the perma underwear but Barbie was naked. Anyway, her hair is nice and hasn't gone frizzball like the other dolls the girls have, mashaAllah. She comes with regular clothes or abaya or both.
Check out her stylish outfit. She even has a cute bag.
The original Fulla has black hair and brown eyes. They have since made ones with brown hair and green or light brown eyes since there are many Arab girls with those features too. Now I just wish they would do different colored skin Fullas.
I'm glad that there is Fulla, in a sea of blond Barbie wannabe dolls, she stands out. Made by Arabs, doll Arab and Muslim girls can relate to. She's a great doll in her own right. Not just a copy or wannabe and not just Barbie with a scarf on.
Shopping Was Not Fun
>> Monday, April 20, 2009
I went on another fruitless abaya search, this time walking till I had blisters. The few shops I went into all have more of the same. Black. Polyester. BLAH.
I first took the girls to get sandals and after passing several closed shops it dawned on me that it's Coptic Easter yesterday! Duh, so I decided to go check out that flea market/ open air bazaar thing and 2 outta 3 girls dropped out on the shopping trip and I dropped them off at home, noting their shoe sizes. Safiyah stuck around and she and I took a rather long walk to the market thingy and it was ridiculously crowded. LOUD annoying Egyptian music and people grabbing and shoving. Ugh it was the worst at the shoe table/area. I finally found some sandals for Salwa & Safiyah and it was like fighting just trying to pay for them. These were the LEAST decorated ones, OK?
I'm glad I just had Safy with me cause I was holding her hand and my bag and didn't want to let go, it would have been so much more hectic with a couple more kids. Alhamdulillah. So Zayneb's shoe size is now in the women's sizes and it's hard to find something suitable for a 9 year old in women's styles.
I ended up getting her these, Can you tell metallics are a big trend here now? But they were a little to big, so now they're mine. I do not want to go back there and try to return/exchange, and I like them anyway. I will however go find some for Zayneb at a shop soon, inshaAllah.
I got these flip flops for me and went way out of my comfort zone of brown and black bags and got this one to match! It wasn't an expensive, last forever type bag, and I like how much I can fit in it so it'll be my summer bag.
I went to several tables that had abayas and not one was decent and suitable for summer. I then stopped at this little shopping center on the way back. MORE of the same crap. It's maddening really how women just live with what's available here. I don't know, it was all just so fugly. Gawdy. Bedazzled to death. I went home finally, exauhsted and my feet still hurt today. Safiyah was such a trooper really, didn't complain till the very end. I guess I really have to look into a tailor, inshaAllah.
Family Dinner
>> Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Do you and your family have dinner together? How often?
We eat dinner together most days, I'd say 5 or 6 days a week. We eat dinner around 5. Breakfast, maybe once a week we'll sit down and have a real breakfast, like eggs or pancakes. Most days I cook real food, some times we just have tuna salad sandwiches or anything quick. Whatever we're eating, I love dinner time because the kids talk about their day and we joke around. I know it's such a cliche but it's true. If we didn't eat all together we'd probably end up eating less nutritional food more often too. I try to make foods that they will like but I am not one of those short order cooks who makes something to suit each picky eater's whim.
Growing up we always had dinner as a family, even when my dad came home at 9 pm. Looking back, I'm glad we did. I don't remember any specific conversations or anything but I'm glad we all gathered at the end of the day and shared a meal.
Rambling...
>> Tuesday, April 14, 2009
I've hardly been online these past few days. Just been busy and went to bed early like a good girl. Hmmmm. What's new. Well, we aren't going away for the Easter/Sham el Naseem break...Yea that's right, Naseem has her own holiday here! It's the start of spring! I'm cool with staying local for the week off. It will be nice to just chill.
Oh yea, you know the abaya I showed you guys a few posts down? Well when I told my neighbor about it and the cost (LE 200) she admonished me for not taking her with me to bargain and she was right. I'm still pretty shy to bargain well and it was kind of an impulse buy in desperation after not finding anything I remotely liked. SOOO anyway E and I went today to return it and the matching hijab and we successfully got a full refund (LE220!) Which isn't easy here. There's no 30 day thing, they guy started to get annoyed cause it was FOUR days ago...My husband, thankfully knows how to deal with people a lot better than I ever can. Being 6'4" probably helps too. SO inshaAllah I'll take more time to find something better and at a better price with my handy dandy bargaining neighbor.
I went with her today to a sorta outdoor bazaar/flea market type thing but all I got were some nailpolishes and some hair clips for the girls. I saw a shop called Mama Nona...I had to do a double take!
Oh yea and at the supermarket today I heard a woman speaking with a decidedly American accent and I pounced on her. Turns out she's from New Jersey too! She lives here now and likes it a lot. She's an older lady and she talked and talked but I had to get finished before Safiyah came home from school. She has to be one of the only Americans living here. Most Americans do the Cairo/Luxor thing. Hurghada's mainly Europeans. Anyway, we had a nice chat and it was nice to see how small the world is.
Spinach & Feta Triangles.
>> Saturday, April 11, 2009
These are lighter than sambosaks cause they're baked and they were pretty easy to make.
RECIPE here.
Here's the rest of dinner. Couscous, baked chicken & salad.
Abaya Shopping
Yesterday I went to go find a new abaya, something for spring/summer. It was like Mission Impossible. Rows and rows of black in the most uncomfortable, hot fabrics. It makes no sense. This is Egypt. It's hot people. Why can't anyone here think about making something more reasonable? I am really considering buying some fabric and having a abaya made. Something in a cotton like what khaki's are made of. With pockets. I have one abaya that I like the size and shape of that can be cloned. I just hope the tailor doesn't take it upon them self to add some Egyptian embellishments.
Anyway I ended up finding one decent abaya and a couple of scarfs.
Scratch That-When I told my neighbor about it and the cost (LE 200) she admonished me for not taking her with me to bargain and she was right. I'm still pretty shy to bargain well and it was kind of an impulse buy in desperation after not finding anything I remotely liked. SOOO anyway E and I went today to return it and the matching hijab and we successfully got a full refund (LE220!) Which isn't easy here. There's no 30 day thing, they guy started to get annoyed cause it was FOUR days ago...My husband, thankfully knows how to deal with people a lot better than I ever can. Being 6'4" probably helps too. SO inshaAllah I'll take more time to find something better and at a better price with my handy dandy bargaining neighbor.
The colors look off in the pictures. The green is actually the same green as the abaya and the blue is more blue in real life. Like?
Motherhood and I
>> Wednesday, April 8, 2009
I was tagged by Jessy at Chocolate Mints in a Jar for this post on Motherhood.
Here’s how it’s going to work: this post that you’re reading? Is the departure lounge. I’m going to link to a couple of other mom bloggers here in Canada, and to a couple of mom bloggers from other countries around the world, and they’ll write their posts, sharing 5 things that they love (or maybe what they don’t so much love - this playground doesn’t force conformity) about being a mom, and then they’ll tag a few more bloggers from their own country and from other countries, and so on. And you’re more than welcome to join: just write a post of your own (5 things that you love about being a mom) and find someone to link to and tag - someone from your own country, if you like, but definitely someone from another country (Google is a good resource if you don’t know any; google any country name and ‘mom’ in their blog search function) (be sure to let them know that you’ve tagged them!) - and link back here and leave a comment and we’ll add you to the ‘itinerary,’ which David will compile and post and update as the tour proceeds.
Five things about being a mom
- Before having my first, I had never even held a baby, let alone, fed one or changed a diaper. He survived.
- Sometimes I look at them and can't believe they are really my kids. How did that happen? When did they get so big? When did they become who they are so far?
- It's hard sometimes. It's hard a lot. It's always worth it though. Seeing them doing something you taught them or seeing good behavior you've instilled in them is amazing.
- I wish I could have a day off once in a while. Totally OFF.
- I don't only love my kids, because they're my kids, I like them. I like who they are, their personalities and how each one is different and interesting in their own ways.
Oops!
>> Monday, April 6, 2009
So the other day I had a dish that belonged to my neighbors and I wanted to return it to her before it got broke in my crowded little kitchen, so when my kids came home from school, I was busy in the kitchen, that time is pretty hectic, I asked Salwa to take the plate that was on the dinner table to auntie downstairs and that was that. About 10 minutes later my neighbor called and was like..You don't have to send food over every time I send you something... I was like....Uh What food? She said the potatoes. I was confused. What potatoes? She said Salwa brought me a plate of fries. I laughed for about a minute then figured out what happened. Salwa had taken a plate of yesterday's left over fries I had put on the table for the kids after school till I got dinner ready! A greasy plate of yesterday's fries is what she thought I'd send over! We had a good laugh about it while Salwa made a sad face. I explained to her it was an honest mistake since we don't usually send empty dishes and that we were laughing with her not at her.
Read more...SAFARI!
>> Saturday, April 4, 2009
Yesterday we went on this day safari and it was lots of fun. The pictures pretty much say it all.
The sand and dust is flying everywhere out in the desert, that's why you have to cover your face, or else you'll get dirt in your mouth/nose and a sandblast microdermabration or something. It was a great day and the kids are still talking about it. Salwa freaked out a little over riding the camel but in the end she was glad she did it. Safiyah wanted off right after she got on, the camel hadn't even stood up yet, she said she'll ride next time 'cause she'd be older. The pic with me, we're in this off road thingy, it was cool. My cute flip flops got torn by the end of the day but it's ok, glad it happened at night and not in the middle of the day. My hands still feel really dry after many lotion aplications today, it's crazy. I'm really glad the kids liked it and we all had a fun day.
What The...What?
>> Thursday, April 2, 2009
Computer Socks? Are they worn while using a computer? Are they a computer?
We were in desperate need for white school socks and the only ones I could find that didn't have some other color or a weird decoration were coated in dust and apparently can compute.
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