Utter Chaos

The other night I was in a situation that could only be described as insane. It was complete and utter chaos.

So Thursday nights are the most crowded at the promenade and the kids and I went for a walk that night and stopped at the supermarket there. It's a small market and it was really crowded. Filled with people buying drinks and snacks sold cheaper than at the cafe's that line the promenade. The kids chose a few candy treats and we got some drinks and got in the really long line. They only have 2 registers at this store and the lines were all the way down the aisles. There were some people who stood in a line but many others who just shoved their way to the front and stuck their items in the cashier's face, totally ignoring the line.

I've made a diagram to illustrate the situation.

At first I just mumbled under my breath how crazy this was. Then people in line started getting impatient and frustrated with the line cutters, voicing their objections in whatever language they spoke.

At one point some dude a few people behind me just shoved his basket on the register table, somehow thinking he was someone special. He must have thought the rules didn't apply to him for some reason and at that point I had just had it. I turned around and yelled "Mayenfa3sh kida!, Fee taboor hina" (You can't do that there is a line here!) to which he replied that he was in line and I said "Ana hina ableek" (I was here first!) He claimed he didn't see anyone in front of him. What? This huge crowd of people, you didn't see them? Why would I yell at this guy if I wasn't in fact, in line. I am not confrontational especially in public with strangers but I really reached my boiling point. The cashier guy was already scanning his stuff by now. Astaghfirullah, (God, forgive me) I was so angry.

I don't understand why he kept ringing up people who were just getting in the front of the line without waiting. One girl tried to cut in front of me and I told her, sweetie, you can't go in front, there's a line. She had one bottle of Coke so I told her I'd get it with my stuff since it was almost my turn. She gave me the money and waited outside. It was totally unfair and completely crazy. I really felt like I got a glimpse of how a mob of angry looters could form. It was that bad. I had the kids wait outside, holding hands. I wanted to leave the stupid basket and get out of there but I hadn't waited in line for nothing. I finally checked out and got out of there but what a nightmare.

I have questions. WHY do they think it's ok to do this. WHY didn't they learn about getting in a line in Kindergarten like we did. Will Egyptians ever be able to adhere to order and follow rules??

I know one thing. This would NEVER happen in America.

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Hey

Salams everyone. I've barely been online this past week. it's been a tough one for our family. My husband's brother passed away. Ina Lillah Wa Elahe Raje3oon (To Allah we belong and to him we shall return) InshaAllah May he be granted Paradise, he was a truly selfless man and always kind.

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Motherhood

Motherhood is a new film out staring a frumped up Uma Thurman. Who are they kidding? She's still more gorgeous than most. Even with a pacifier. As soon as I heard the title, I was interested. Then when I heard that she's a blogger, I knew it was my kinda movie. I don't know how popular a movie about a mommy blogger will be but I want to see it. You can even read a page of the character, Eliza's blog here.

I love movies about parenting. There's Mr. Mom, Parenthood, Step Mom, and a recent fave, Baby Mama, to name a few. Isn't that funny?Movies should be an escape from everyday life. But it really helps to know it's normal to be frazzled and be doing 10 things at once while looking, well...not like Uma but less than your best. Anyway the trailer is kinda cute.

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Yea, I Just ate...And??

Last night we had to run a few errands and the kids were studying all day for exams (already) so I didn't cook and we went out to dinner. The restaurant has a TV on all the time which isn't a problem usually. Most of the time it's some obscure movie and no one's paying attention. Yesterday Eye for an Eye was on. I felt really uneasy because I know this is a violent film and before I knew it, there was Kiefer Sutherland attacking a woman. I had to tell the kids not to look. We wanted to tell the guy to change the channel but there were other people there and I didn't know if we had the right. The kids didn't watch and were fine but it was awkward for a while. The have the best pizza there and I just had the left over for lunch.

After dinner we went to buy some navy blue school pants for D, he only had 1 so we got a pair and I stopped by the book man. I was quickly browsing titles and the summaries on the back, when I hear the guy go "didn't you just eat?" I turned around like ummm yea. So? Ha, he was talking to a big white and gray cat. She was so sweet, she let me pet her. Someone cut her whiskers short, poor thing. Anyway I picked out a couple of paperbacks and he gave me 10LE credit for giving him a book I didn't want. Which one should I read first?



Then we had to have a couple of shoes repaired. Zayneb's school shoe ripped when she tripped and the thong part of my flip flop broke so this guy fixed both on the spot for just 2LE. That's a good thing about Egypt. They will fix anything. They don't throw stuff out so easily.



While he did that, I stopped in little store to see if they had lunch bags. No luck but I got some socks for the kids, stickers and this cute little ring.



It's the little things, really. I know it's materialistic, but small purchases like these make me happy.

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Yummy Dinner!

Today I was looking at recipes for this veal that I had and found this recipe and decided it was simple enough. It turned out great. Tender and delicious. I didn't have capers and I used apple juice instead of white wine. It's not everyday that I feel inspired about cooking, you know.


We had it with some salad, sauteed carrots and cheesy orzo.

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Casual Cool

I recently found out that IslamicDesignHouse.com is now in Egypt. I was exited for about 2 minutes till I found out their delivery is in Cairo only and their sizes are up to Large. Anyway, anyone in Egypt looking for nice casual abayas should check them out.

MyUmmah is coming out with new items next month, and they ship world wide! So look out for that, inshaAllah.

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Tonight

Tonight we went out to meet with my girl, J and her family. We've become really good friends now, talking on msn each day and stuff. She's awesome, we totally get each other. Anyway we thought we'd introduce the Misters to each and let the kids play together. They've been asking to see them ever since last time. Our sons have a little bit of a blooming bromance going on. The The kids were stalking a cute little kitten, but she kept hiding in the bushes. J and co. were gonna take her home, but no luck with her coming out. I'll totally use her to get to her cat.

On the way home we stopped so Safiyah could spend her b-daymoney (She's 5 today!). She chose these:



After she bought them, I had enough stamps on my card at that shop to get a free 50LE so I picked these nice make up brushes. I asked if I could feel them and they are SO soft and the bristles stay put.



The engrish on the package is hilarious and completely nonsensical!


Hahahahhahahahahahah! But the brushes are really nice!

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School Daze

Oh my God. I took Safiyah to her first day of KG1 today and it was utter chaos. There was no semblance of order or organization at all. It was one huge mass of parents and kids in baby-class, KG1 and KG2, crammed together. The Headmistress spoke into a mic no one could hear calling off names of which kids were in which class and people tried to squeeze by to get through, I'm telling you it was insane. I kept looking around me for anyone else who thought this was crazy but it seemed like everyone was used to this.

Why couldn't they just let each of us take the kids to their class and be done? The names were printed outside the classes so I don't see why we had to stand in the heat and make the kids stand there with their backpacks and... ugh it was truly a nightmare. I finally got Safiyah in her class and met her teacher, then double checked the bus driver knew she was going with him. Everyone brought the bag of items they asked for, Dettol, tissues, etc and when we asked they said..Monday. Why could the kids have to carry a bag to school Monday when we have it here now? I asked the Headmistress so she said I could write Safiyah's name on the bag and then leave it in her office. So I had to go to the office to get Safy's bus name tag thingy anyway so I went and was spoken to rudely by the woman there. I just stood by the door waiting to be ackknowledged and she was rude, telling me what to write on the tag. I was almost gonna cry so I just took my sad little self out of there and left.

On the bright side I went to breakfast with E. It was really nice!

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It's Funny, Now.

So the weather has been nice lately, cool breeze and we haven't turned the AC on in a week, so we have the windows open all the time. We should get screens put in! I think the entire building got an earful yesterday. Let me paint the scene.

Salwa was in the bathroom washing her hands, and about to go out when I hear a high pitch, blood curdling scream. She's freaking out and jumping and pointing at something and I can't understand what she's saying because she's cry-screaming. OK, so I figure out that there's a spider by the bathroom door and she wont run past it so she's backed up against the back wall of the bathroom standing on the edge of the shower, still screaming and pointing. I try to get her to stop screaming and tell me where it is because I can't see it and well, to be honest I was scared too. I am a huge arachnophobe. So I go and get the bug spray, I find some mosquito stuff but it's empty. By now, the other two girls are standing on chairs in the living room. I find a roach and ant spray and I spray it in the direction of the bathroom door. The spider moves and all three girls scream like banshees. A fly goes by Salwa and she jumps and screams even louder. Dawood is laughing his butt off. I'm like "everybody QUIET!!" I try to spray it again and the spider runs behind the laundry basket. So I gather my courage and run past it and get Salwa out of the bathroom and to safety. She's all tears and snot saying "IT WAS RIGHT NEXT TO MEEEE!!!"

We lost him by then and they all said they were never going in the bathroom again. Salwa suggested we close the bathroom door to trap him, haha, I asked her, "should we lock it?" When E came home he found the spider curled up and dead by the bathroom. He picked it up with a tissue and showed it to them so they would know it was really gone. They stood 5 feet away going, "OK OK"! It was no bigger than a nickle but it was a fat one. UGH ::::shudder:::

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The School Could Be Bathed In Dettol

Zayneb, Dawood & Salwa on their first day. (the girls had gym that day) Dawood looks just thrilled.

This whole thing is such a headache. Tonight we went to buy the stuff the school asked for in a list each student has to bring to prevent the spread of H1N1. The only thing we couldn't find was Dettol "air freshener" which I guess is like Lysol spray. Some of the stuff on the list has nothing to do with swine flu, it's just the parents buying supplies for the school. Like toilet paper. Most likely these items have been requested because the school has to have them when they get the government inspection. So more of our money goes to the school, but whatever. It's just typical.



The school administration also included in the list that we are not "allowed" to go to the promenade. Can you believe that? She thinks she can tell us what to do outside of school. It's an open walk way. I roll my eyes at that. No one's gonna adhere to that. There's nothing else to do here!


Grade school have to bring it in a bag, Just cheapo ones I got at the 3.50 store. Safiyah's is just sent in plastic bag. OH YEA! I now heard that the 11 am dismissal for KG is just the first week so, let's hope that's true. I need that time! Safiyah starts Saturday so she's just home with me these days, hanging out, watching Dora. You know, Dora here, is in Arabic and instead of teaching a few Spanish words she teaches a few English words instead. It's cute but can get on your nerves, the repetition! Also, a kid's show question...what the HELL is DOMO? What is he? Why does he have lockjaw? The other day 2 DOMOs were having a farting contest! haha.

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Random Ramblings

I was informed today by a certain someone that I've been slacking on my blog. This is true. There just hasn't been anything going on lately. So I thought I'd just write a rambling post.

Tonight we went to dinner at a seafood place, and it was pretty good. That's saying a lot cause I'm not a big seafood person but they have this amazing soup. The place is called Star Fish if anyone's curious. Then we went to get some groceries and after we loaded up the car and we were driving back, I happened to look at the receipt and noticed that instead of charging us for 2 Danette pudding cups, they charged us for 23! So we turned around and went back to get a refund of nearly 40LE. I usually just throw the receipt out, so, subhanAllah I'm glad I looked at it when I did.

The kids start school tomorrow and it's a relief. Not because I want to be rid of them really, just because this summer was so long what with Ramadan and the delays. It will be good to get back into a routine. Safiyah who's in KG1 starts on Saturday. I heard a rumor that KG was going to be half day this year. ALL YEAR. 3 hours at school instead of 5. I used to be able to go out to coffee with a friend or breakfast with E and have till 1:30 before Safy gets home but if this is true, it will cut that time short. I was planning on starting a gym membership while they are at school so I hope they have early classes at the gym, inshaAllah.

The school has asked for everyone to bring their own antibacterial gel and wipes and paper towels etc. They'll get the full list tomorrow so we'll need to get all that x 4. The kids are excited to go back to school, it reminds me of the new school year and how exiting it was. The prospect of a fresh, new year.

I have to go iron their uniforms and get to bed. Later!

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