Cairo Chronicle, Issue #3, Sept. 19, 1999
Aheloo wa assheb (Family and Friends):
In a few days we will officially have been here for a month. It doesn't
seem like it at all! When we're just in our apartment, resting and
doing household things, it seems like the U.S. Except the vacuum doesn't
work, the washing machine has a mind of its own, and appliances brought
from home seem to stop working inexplicably (like the printer). It's
when we step outside that we remember.
We tried our first restaurant without an English menu the other day.
The shop luckily had pictures of food on the wall, and so Barbara pointed
and said "Ayza da!" (I want that!) The employees thought
that was funny - but we got our point across, and that's what mattered.
Barbara did make the goofy mistake of thinking that the price of the meal
was 13 pounds instead of 18 (OOPS!) -- but one has to admit that TEL-eh-TAH-sher
and TAH-man-TAH-sher kinda sound the same.
Barbara recently went on a funny diet, recommended by her doctor this summer.
(Some of you who know can skim this part). She found out she has hyper-insulinism,
which in short, means she cannot handle carbohydrates very well. It's
related to diabetes, but we won't go into specifics unless you're curious.
Anyway, she's eating a very low-carbohydrate diet now. No sugar (the
worst!), bread, fruit, pasta, beans. Basically, only non-starchy vegetables,
meat, cheese and eggs. So, she feared for the worst when she got here,
that there would be nothing to eat. Actually, it hasn't been so bad!
Almost every place serves at least a few dishes, and meat is not that expensive
or hard to find. Pork is the only tricky one. Haven't had any
since arriving. Even the Chinese restaurants here don't have it on
the menu. But sugar-free is HARD to find. If anyone is thinking
of sending a care package one day, lots of sugar-free candy and Jello would
be mightily appreciated. Look at the package, though, and only send
if it has less than 15 carbs per serving. Quite frankly, the diet hasn't
stopped her from eating an occasional sweet (we will stress occasional)
when the temptations get too great, but she is fast learning the down side
(fatigue, dizziness, etc.) that accompany such binges.
Last week, we started taking Arabic classes. We are taking Egyptian
Colloquial Arabic. It turns out that the Arabic spoken here is quite
different from the formal Arabic. Probably in the same way people
in Mexico don't speak Castillian Spanish. We did know that ahead of
time, but we didn't have a way to study it. We have Egyptian phrase
books, and a few months of the formal Arabic under our belts. The
class is great, because the teacher spends the first hour speaking entirely
in Arabic, and trying to explain by context. We are not allowed to
write anything down during that hour. The second hour, she explains
it, and we can write down all the info. We've learned greetings (and
that is extremely complicated), directions, days of the week and numbers.
Todd had the numbers down pat, as did Barbara. Days of the week were relatively
easy - (first day, second day third day, etc.) We also work little by little
on writing the Arabic alphabet.
We've found a church we like. Heliopolis Community Church is a small congregation
that numbers about 200 members (max) on Friday morning, with more coming
on the Saturday and Sunday worship days. Friday in Egypt is the holy day,
so many churches have Friday services instead or in addition to Sunday services.
It utilizes the building of another Arabic speaking congregation, has about
22 different countries represented, and has three different worship styles
to suit all tastes. The more traditional, liturgical if you will, service
is on Sunday night. Radicals that we are, we attend the more contemporary
worship setting on Friday morning.
In a mostly Arabic country, one can get self conscious about carrying a
Bible around town. This was especially true last Friday when we HAD to carry
our Bibles around Heliopolis. We had little choice. Let me explain:
Todd is convinced that small gnomes live in the Taxis here in Cairo. Two
weeks ago, he lost his debit card in a taxi -- our only obtainable source
of US income. Then on Friday, he found out (too late, I'm afraid) that the
gnomes had struck again. This time, his keys -- school keys and house keys,
and his duty whistle -- had been snatched by those tricky Taxi gnomes. Barbara
was no help at all, because she thought that Todd was "the carrier
of the keys" and had left hers in the house. Now that we were locked
out of the apartment, the only thing to do was call someone to help solve
the problem. And THAT was a problem in itself. Contacting the school was
futile, as no one is there on Friday. It's the weekend. Calling our principal,
or anyone at all, was similarly futile as all our contact sheets and directories
were, you guessed it, inside the apartment. We had only committed the school's
number to memory. Our Bawaab, try as he might, was unable to help -- and
suggested that Todd get himself a chain on which to keep his keys. He has
since taken the Bawaab's advice.
After frustration's attack and sobbing at the loss, he and Barbara decided
to spend the night at a hotel. So, off to Le Baron Hotel we TAXIED! Luckily,
Todd checked for gnomes before getting in! At the Baron, we found no rooms
available, but did find a helpful clerk who informed us that Koko could
change the lock on our door. Koko was yet another taxi ride away. Barbara
was hungry, so Todd treated her to a brunch buffet at the hotel. After a
sumptuous feast of beef, chicken and salads, off we rode in hopes of finding
Koko the Keymaster. Find him we did, in a small basement shop a mile or
so from the hotel. Koko was a kindly middle-aged man, short and a bit elf-like.
Handy, too. He spoke excellent English and was able (after a bit of explanation)
to send his two assistants to help us get into our apartment. To make a
longer story short, it took about an hour in all to get into the apartment
after lunch. The assistants drilled a tiny hole in the lock and in we went.
The lesson of life has been learned: Check for gnomes before entering (or
leaving!) a taxi in Cairo.
Well, we love and miss you all! Write us if you have a chance; we're settling
into life here.
Love,
Todd and Barbara
Pictures:
People have been asking to see the school, so here it is!
Barbara took Todd on a dinner cruise down the Nile for his birthday present. He was completely in the dark about it until we got there.
