One Month Ago Today...

One month ago today I said farewell to my amazing family and wonderful friends and kissed my beautiful dogs goodbye. I climbed into the car, bawling, knowing that it would be so long before I could see them again. Before long I was here - in Egypt - navigating my way through the fascinating culture and seeking to understand what makes it different and the same and trying to find a way to fit into it.

Here are a few things I have learned so far:

1) Do not even attempt to buy band-aids or nail files here. You can find them no problem but neither do the one thing that they are made to do.

2) Egyptians love bread. If I am shopping and have not picked up bread people will tell me to get some. Recently I mentioned this to someone and was told interestingly, that the word for bread “aish” means “to live"...fitting.

3)Egyptians also seem to love sugar. For example, if you tell them you don’t want sugar in tea they say “one” and then when you say no they say "one" again, then if you agree to that they keep increasing the number. This interaction never ceases to make me laugh.

4) Don’t expect anything to be done when it is supposed to be done. Things happen when they happen. Insha’allah. We are still waiting for books (among other things) that were supposed to arrive weeks ago. This does not seem odd to anyone. Just go with it.

5) You get paid in cash. In an envelope. I feel like a mobster.

6) Sheesha really is everywhere. If you walk through the souk at night you are surrounded by puffs of smoke and the smell fills the air. What is surprising to me is that it smells delicious!

7) Missing your dogs doesn't get better as time goes on.

8)If you are a 12 year old Egyptian boy you better get these little firework things. They light them on fire and throw the flaming whatever it is onto the grass, then it makes this obnoxiously loud bang. There are burn marks all over the grass and the lovely sound of gunshots can be heard every 5 minutes or so.

10) This is a great place to be a vegetarian (mmm fuul and falafel and hummus) BUT don't try to explain this to someone. Even the words "no meat" (which I can say in Arabic) are met with "ok chicken" or complete confusion. Then the rice comes out with beef in it....hmmm.

11)You can get absolutely everything delivered here. Everything. Anything. My personal favourite: a single sheet of aspirin can be purchased and delivered for under 40 cents. Yousee the delivery guys for the various stores sitting on their bikes all over the city. It seems that I could live without ever leaving the house.

12) Interesting questions that are asked frequently: Are you married? What is your religion? How much do you make? These things seem to play an important role in the makeup of one's identity here.

12) Drink mango juice from the stands on the street whenever you can. It is served with a spoon and has chunks of mango in it. The. most. amazing. thing. It is like a drive through/sit down restuarant. You drive up and they come take your order, bring you your drink in a glass then you drink it in the car and they come take the glass back and you pay.

13) There are stray dogs and cats everywhere in Egypt (dogs are limited in the city I live in because it is gated so they don't let them in). I have as of yet not had any luck with trying to get these little creatures to follow me home. I have been feeding two tiny kittens that hang out near my building. Still hopeful that I can train them to be dogs - I have the clicker all ready, Courtney so not to worry!

14) Emails/blog comments/messages of any sort from home make my day...so thanks to all of you. Also, I am very lucky to have such fantastic family and friends.

15)Bills are paid here by handing cash to the man who knocks on your door and yells an amount to you along with a lot of Arabic words that of course I don’t understand.

16)Getting around in Egypt without Arabic is not working.

Happy One Month in Egypt to Me!