Karl-Abraham has discovered the stairs!

Abraham has discovered the stairs. As soon as he started crawling a couple of months ago, we had the university put gates up at the bottom and top of the stairs – our viscous marble steps – knowing it would be an issue. This is our experience, that it’s when you’re not expecting something, that it happens. So we knew that Abraham eventually would start trying to climb the stairs - hence the gate. Last night while I was at choir, however, when Courtney turned around and saw Abraham on the 6th or 7th step (he wouldn’t tell me exactly HOW close Abraham was to his death), the gate was open, because, frankly, Abraham has shown no stair climbing skills at all. Until then, at least. He didn’t fall down, but as far as I understand, Abraham had made the climb during just the one minute Courtney turned his back on him. It’s like with the milk. My grandmother used to say that water boils at 100 degrees, and milk boils when you turn your back on it. Well, babies seem to make most of their developmental leaps when you’re not watching them. Like when August “learned” to get off our high bed after a nap in Belgium, and got his first light concussion. Or when William, three months, reached over and grabbed, with perfect skill, a ham bone and sucked it dry, in no time at all, without dropping it, while we were cleaning off the table. We’ve missed several moments like that, and we’re around our kids 24/7, pretty much. The ones that you do catch however, are always great, and if you can catch your child in the act, like Courtney did yesterday, that’s fine too. I completely missed it since I was at choir practice, however today, I get to watch Abraham climb the few steps up to the gate over, and over, and over, and over again, shrieking with joy to have made a new discovery.

Abraham has discovered the stairs - Thank God for the gate!

Busy days applying for a new job

Every time I sit down to write, something happens: Abraham needs me (most often the case), a boy needs help with something, everyone’s hungry, the kitchen needs cleaned up, it’s time to go somewhere, the phone rings, I have a deadline – or four, or [fill out other time consuming things here]. Now, I just finished a job a couple of days ago, and I probably won’t receive any new material for another week or so, hence here’s my chance to share a few thoughts! In between sending out job applications, that is. Courtney’s contract will expire next summer, and we’re looking for a new job, a new home town, and a new life somewhere else in the world. Since the academic world is what it is, the application process is already well under way. It’s a lot of work; keeping track of deadlines, materials to send, labeling, writing letters, submitting online information, and searching through databases. It’s time consuming.

It’s scary, for sure. What if he doesn’t get any interviews or offers? What if nobody wants him and we don’t have any work (read: ability to feed our kids)? Or what if he only gets one offer, and it’s some dinky little college in Far Away, Nowhere?

It’s also very exciting. Very! Looking at the universities we are sending our applications to, they all seem great. The towns seem great. There are Walmarts, Targets, Taco Bells, large bookstores, cocoa powder in the stores, fresh air, and all those other things they don’t even post on their websites but they should, because those things are making me want to go there. I dream of our new house with a yard – our new normal life in a nice university town somewhere. I even took my friend Joan’s advice on how to look for jobs:

1/ Go to the Chronicle of Higher Education and find a job that you want.
2/ Look up the town in a directory and find several real estate agents in the area.
3/ Spend the rest of the afternoon looking at houses around the university, make remodeling plans, study floor plans, and imagine where your Egyptian chest would fit, or how you would decorate the kitchen.
4/ If you’re feeling particularly inspired, go to ikea.com and pick out new furniture for the house you’ve chosen.

You see where this is going. Luckily, I don’t have a lot of time to do the latter. I’m mainly sending out applications and worrying that we won’t have anywhere to go next summer.

Halloween, 2009

Homemade Halloween cupcakes!

It's amazing what children can do with the right tools. I gave the boys cupcakes, frosting, food coloring, sprinkles, candy, and a website printout with pictures of cupcakes, and here's their result! Amazing! They are so proud they don't want to eat them. I'm so excited I WANT to eat them.

How many children? Does it matter? One quiet moment.

It’s one of those rare moments: the boys are out of the house for a play date, and Abraham just went down for his afternoon nap. I have – give or take – 45 minutes just all to myself! It’s so rare, and so sudden, that of course I don’t know what to do with myself. I have Courtney’s work to edit, I have a couple of articles to write for the Oasis, the carpet needs swept, there’s laundry, a complete mess in the hall way, and I could start dinner early, but I feel like I should be doing something special. I also need a shower, but what if Abraham wakes up early for some odd reason? No, that wouldn’t work. It’s all quiet, and just me, but what can I do?

Along with choosing to spend my time in the world of creative writing, I decide to call my friends and have a Baraka Sparkling Water. As it turns out though, my friend in Massachusetts who’s 15 weeks pregnant with her 4th child is busy celebrating her 2nd child’s birthday. My friend in Edmonton is not online, and probably still busy repairing the damage after discovering her 2nd-grader came home from school with lice on Friday night!

Two friends here in Cairo just had their second child. It’s a funny thing when that happens, because it really changes your life: you have kidS. (Plural!) A lot of people think having a baby is life-changing, but I say having your second child is the biggest step of them all. You can bring one child with you, and with 2-1 favor parents, you’re always going to stay on top of it, but once there’s more than one child in the equation, you’re going to come out on the loosing – or winning, depending on how you feel about it – side. After the two, I don’t think it really matters. You might have to consider your economic standings – a bigger car, but other than that, two children, four children, six; your life does not change as dramatically as it did when you surrendered to being a family of more than three. You might want to ask me again after number four or more, who knows, but as far as my experience goes, this is it: it was a much bigger step to have a second one than a third one. This is not to say that my friend in Massachusetts doesn’t have something to look forward to – oh, she does, I’m sure! – but the point is, rather, that once your family count goes past the three mark, there’s a lot more action! Lice, play dates, more laundry & dishes, more birthdays, etc. etc.; it all adds up!

Babies galore!

This weekend, two friends of ours here in Cairo had babies. They both gave birth at Al Nada, which is where I had Karl-Abraham, and they both had girls. I’ve only heard about the one birth, the birth of baby Miriam al-Noor, which was awful as far as I understand (but with a happy outcome), and I’m still waiting to hear about the second birth, the birth of baby Ramona.

When I had Abraham, and my friend Rachel had Noah a little over a month ago, someone said there would be some kind of equaling out later this year, and I guess they were right. I’m glad; now I get to go out and buy cute girls’ outfits! Congratulations to all you baby people! It’s a wonderful thing.

A rainy fall morning in Cairo

August came to find me this morning as I was getting dressed and doing my morning toilette. “Mama, the air conditioner sounds really funny. In fact, ALL the air conditioners sound funny!” I listened. He was right; there was a kind of tapping coming from all of them, and it sounded almost as if it was… “Oh my goodness, it’s raining!” I had to run to the bathroom real quick, but hurried so that I could get a look out the window of this rare occasion. By the time I was done in the bathroom however, the ‘rain’ if you really can call it that – technically, can you still say it was raining, when it just sprinkled for less than a minute? – had already stopped. I had missed it. Our once-a-year fall weather, perhaps even winter weather, my one-minute window to cuddle up with hot cocoa under a blanket on the couch, candles lit, to listen to the tapping rain against the window, and I missed it. Not that I really would have done all this at 7:30 am this Monday morning, but you get the picture: I missed fall! Or actually, looking out the window, it’s still cloudy, so maybe it will rain again today. Maybe. Insha Allah.

Learning history with the boys

In an attempt to Swedenize my patriotically and linguistically detached children, I’m integrating a special deliverance of Swedish history into our otherwise fairly standard curriculum. The amount of books I’ve managed to find on the history of Sweden for children in English is very limited – so limited in fact, that I’m thinking about writing one myself, as I go about with the boys – and the ones I did find were very expensive. Luckily, 12 years in a Swedish school with old-fashioned teachers, left me with more than enough memorized material to fill out the who’s and what’s. Along with Herman Lindquist’s The history of Sweden in Swedish, I’m putting together the puzzle for the boys to enjoy quite well.

This Academic year ranges from Gustav Vasa to about the time Sweden instituted democratic elections at the end of the 19th century. Of course, there’s tons of stuff I didn’t know of before, or things that I’ve completely forgotten about, like, I know how Gustav III was murdered, but I had forgotten his important role in promoting culture, art, and academics. I just learned that Sweden was the first country in the world to recognize America as a free nation (after the British admitted their defeat, that is), and I really never could tell Queen Ulrika Eleonora from Queen Lovisa Ulrika until now.

In all, it’s exciting to study history with my boys, and the one thing that is more evident than anything is that there’s SO MUCH to learn, we couldn’t ever cover everything, even if history was our only subject; not even if we dedicated all twelve years solely to the study of history. So I get to choose what I want the boys to know, by prioritizing, and this is really the beauty of homeschooling: my aim is to give the boys as wide and deep of an education as possible, but in this case, where it’s impossible to cover everything, I’m glad that I’m the one who gets to choose what’s important.

Babyproofing our apartment

Over the past four weeks, Karl-Abraham has perfected his crawling and pulling himself up standing. Because of this, we’ve had a stream of AUC housing craftsmen come and go, to get our apartment somewhat baby proof. The electrician came one day to count the number of electrical outlets that needed covers (yes, they were ALL uncovered!), and today he came back to finish the job. After all that careful counting, did he have enough covers with him? No. So after several hours of hours of work and two visits to our house, he still needs to come back, “mumkin bokra” (maybe tomorrow), "insha Allah" (if God wills, of course). Last week the carpenter was here to measure our stairs, and the university housing engineer came back specifically to see what else he could do to baby proof our stairs (our marble blocks, held in place by sharp metal poles). Earlier this week, someone came back and covered our bottom four steps with carpet, and then today, the carpenter came by and put up two gates, a few railings, and some kind of padding on the sharpest part of the metal bars. There’s still A LOT to be done, but I have faith that he will come back, “mumkin bokra, insha Allah,” to finish the job. In the meantime, we still have to watch Abraham every minute. The boys have found a way to barricade their door, and when he’s in their room playing, I feel safe. It’s a start.

Karl-Abraham loves noodles!

Happy Birthday August, 8.

Today is August’s 8th birthday. Last week, on 6 October, which is a holiday here in Egypt, we threw a party for August at the Maadi House. Keeping it simple but fun, he invited a few friends (including his special friend, our friend Brandon, who’s a chemistry professor at AUC), had pizza, cake, and jumped on a huge trampoline for two hours. He had a great time! And he got some very nice presents: a spy kit, a puzzle, a cosmic jet robot, two Bionicles, Lego, a remote control car, and a couple of other toys.

Today, since the Professor had to teach, we had a low-key, stay-at-home day. August enjoyed his presents (a couple of PS2 games, Bionicles, Bakugan cards, and a real camera), and I made his favorite food – sweet & sour chicken, a nice Swedish princess cake (I brought the marzipan cover from Sweden this summer), and we hung out. The university housing service was here earlier today to paint the boys’ bedroom, and measure the stairs. (We’ve asked them to install baby gates and baby proof the bottom of the stairs.)

As every year, I remember August’s birth. A planned homebirth in water turned into a really long labor at the hospital, followed by a Friday night cesarean birth. Courtney was there of course, Ann, and Dr. Schreuyens, our favorite OBGyn. It was his 15th wedding anniversary, and his wife was patiently waiting for him at home. All went well, and August was born, 9 Lbs, with a cone shaped head (he was stuck in the birth canal – hence the c-section) and healthy. We were so happy, and called my mom who got on a plane from Sweden. I called my grandmother, my deceased father’s mother, whom I was really close to. Five days later, the day we got home from the hospital, she died, and August got to go on a trip, 10 days old, on a plane to attend his great grandmother’s funeral. Tumultuous times.

Happy birthday, August!

Haircut day (long overdue!)

Garbage bags brand

You wonder what someone thought when they labeled this roll of garbage bags. Are they trying to mislead foreigners? Not buying it. Even more, you wonder what someone thought when they decided to make garbage bags, and were trying think of a clever brand name. “We want people to associate good quality garbage bags with our brand, so let’s make it… Cactus!?”

On the foil, representing all the hardships about living in Egypt

Shopping here in Cairo can be quite a challenge, especially when you don’t have a driver, a car, or a lot of money. Once a month or so, we go to Carrefour and buy there what we haven’t been able to find at our local grocery stores. Sometimes we also go to Alpha market. Running around like this will help us get some things we can’t find in other stores, however it is no guarantee that we’ll always find what we’re looking for. For a couple of weeks I’ve been out of coarse sea salt, and every store I’ve managed to get it at before, is out.

The other day I did a big shopping at our local grocery store, Seoudi, and one of the things I managed to remember to get was foil. You can usually get foil, it’s not a problem, although you have to pay attention, or you might end up with imported foil, which is very expensive. I bought the locally made foil, and picked out a package that looked neat. When I got home and opened it however, the foil roll was completely dented in the middle, almost bent, practically rendering it useless (because the foil will rip and get stuck to the roll every time I try to use it). I held the roll up to Courtney and exclaimed “And THIS is why I can’t spend the rest of my life in Egypt!” That roll of foil represented several things I just can’t stand about living here: 1) it was there in the store, for sale, and yet, it has been so maltreated that it’s practically ruined. 2) If I were to take it back, nobody would understand what I thought was wrong with it. They would pull of a [ripped] piece and say “Look, still fine.” And in their eyes, there really is nothing wrong with the state of this foil roll. 3) All I wanted was a simple roll of freakin’ foil. Really. If you’ve never lived here, you might think the heat is starting to get to me, but if you have, you probably know what I mean: WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO HARD???!

Note: My groceries, after purchase, were brought to my house, no extra charge. I bought the most amazing sun-ripened fruit for close to nothing. The sun was shining the whole time, and after my trip to the grocery store, I spent the afternoon by the pool. Living here is really nice. Really. It’s just that sometimes, the foil gets to me.

Karl-Abraham is independently mobile! (Oh, no!)

He has been attempting to crawl for a while now, and yesterday it almost happened, but today, finally, when we were visiting friends and their newborn baby, Karl-Abraham made his first real elaborate dash forward. When we came home, after a nice nap, he continued to perfect his commando-like tummy crawling. He reminds me of a WWII soldier in the trenches. I’ve been joking about it for a while now, but after the Eid, it really is time for me to call AUC housing. Our house is certainly not fit for a crawling baby, and the university will need to make several adjustments. For one, our electrical outlets are not covered. We have big, hard, marble stairs. And these are only the most obvious baby-unsafeities.

I know very well what a mobile baby entails. Good-bye peaceful plane rides, hello confining a screaming crawler! (Only to mention one of the joys.) Despite this marking the end of Karl-Abraham’s cute-baby-in-arms stage, we are very proud of him, and happy to be here for his next step. He is only seven months, but already ready to start exploring the world on his own. We’re (almost) as excited as he is!

Good Bye Ramadan, Hello Back to Normal?

Ramadan is over. We should be getting all our channels back. Thank God. I'm not sure I would have survived another day without the Fashion Channel. (I'm being ironic here...) Drinkies will open again. People will start smoking everywhere, eat while they shop, and drink water from the public fountains during the day. Thing are going back to normal again. Except the pigs are gone, of course, and there’s no school. Read this excellent New York Times article on all that.

More on the swineflu in Egypt

More on the postponement of education in Egypt here.

"Mama, can we suspend OUR classes too?" the boys ask me with hope in their eyes

You’ve all probably heard, but just in case it has escaped any of you: the Egyptian government has forced all schools here to close for a certain period of time. Or not close entirely. All AUC classes have been suspended until 3 October. Professors have been encouraged to continue instruction using technological means, such as Blackboard or other web-based applications. Should this not be possible, then the university administration has created a catch-up schedule, which means classes on days that there normally wouldn’t be any classes. So far, Prof. Husband has managed to set up his students with assignments etc. online, and if they manage to do it, then they will not have to make up for lost time. The Cairo American College has closed its doors to students until after the 6th of October holiday, and will open again on 7 October. The Canadian school, as far as I understand, is closed until January. A couple of families with children in the Canadian school have already contacted me, asking about homeschooling. A lot of families I know have at least one parent at home, or a full-time nanny/housekeeper, but I can’t imagine what the families that don’t have any of these available will do. It’s not just that they need someone to take care of their children while they work, but the children are also missing out on important learning.

When the boys first heard about the class suspension, they didn’t say anything. It’s not uncommon that the CAC has days off when we don’t, or vice versa. Today though, a couple of days later, something clicked, and they carefully asked me if we were going to suspend OUR classes. Explaining to them that this was out of the question was not hard, but they had trouble understanding the logic – which I will have to say in their defense, I do too – and kept insisting that if their friends weren’t going to go to school for no reason, "but mama, NOBODY is actually sick!" then neither should they.

You can read about the reason behind the suspension here. It’s true that you might prevent the swineflu from spreading by keeping your children home, but we live in a country where pretty much everyone goes to the mosque several times/week. It doesn't seem like the closing the schools would make any difference then.

From a personal point of view, the suspension does not impact our family all that much, except that Prof. Husband is home, which creates more chaos during the day than if he weren’t. He still works a lot, but there are more dishes, more of a mess, and more hanging out (which is nice, but it prevents us from doing the things we normally would have done at that time). Also, although it’s great to have someone else do the science lessons with the boys, and as much as they enjoy elaborate chemistry experiment, when they’re done, my kitchen & living room look like, well, as if someone had been conducting elaborate chemistry experiments in them!

I suck at Photoshop; thank you Donnie Hoyle

Courtesy of Donnie Hoyle, who has made Photoshop tutorials (available on YouTube "You Suck At Photoshop"), I’ve been able to start using Photoshop. I’m not all that good at it, mainly I think because I don’t have all that much time on my hands to fiddle around with it, but I’m happy I’m now able to remove the occasional annoyance in a picture, or change backgrounds of portraits. Here’s one of my favorite Donnie Hoyle videos.

And here’s a picture of the boys.

Eid shopping in Maadi

Today is Friday, usually the most calm day of the week here in Maadi. People don’t really go out before mid-day prayer, and some shops are closed. I thought today though, the day before the day before Eid El Fitr, that things would be crazy. I remember last year, calling & running around all the stores in Maadi just to find a chicken breast. There was no fresh produce, and even getting to the meat counter at Seoudi was impossible. When I walked to Seoudi this morning though, the streets were practically empty, and when I got there, the store was fairly well stocked and not crowded at all. Thinking the worst though, I still got a couple of kilograms of chicken to put in the freezer, just in case. I stocked up on milk, water, soda, toilet paper, yogurt, etc.; things they could run out of (and that they’ll run out of now and then anyways, Eid or no Eid). I spent almost 700LE – well over $100 – which is a lot for us, but now I shouldn’t have to go back to the store for anything but more fruit and vegetables for a week. Maybe Eid won’t be as crazy here this year, maybe most people left town, but whatever, I’m ready; ready for the holiday, and SO, SO ready for Ramadan to be over (and I’m sure a lot of my Muslim friends are inclined to agree with me on that one!).

Back in Egypt: sun, heat, fresh juice, and other annoyances

Dear audience,

Please forgive me, for I have not been updating my blog. It has been almost a month since my last written blog entry.

Over this past month I’ve gone with my family to the United States and come back. I’ve lost a bag. I’ve got stuck in a broke-down car in the middle of an intersection. I’ve run out of gas three blocks from home. I’ve eaten more Taco Bell and Breyer’s ice cream than I care to remember. I’ve also had some really good times with great friends and family, and I’ve come to realize that Cairo, Egypt is a place that’s really, awfully far away to live.

I think I’m in a bit of a shock; a cultural shock. It’s the women’s issue – the male Islamic culture – that’s throwing me off, as well as the hardships (Why can’t they just fix the electrical problem in the kitchen once and for all?!) and although I know I’ll find my pace again, right now I’m annoyed – no, not annoyed, just a little bothered - when I go out, or when people I don’t know come to our house. It will pass, and I know basking in the sun by the pool later today with the boys and friends will help, because I know, that in the end it’s always possible to see the sunny, bright side of Egypt.

Karl-Abraham, six months old

Travels to America: the Fugates are on home leave

About two weeks ago, Courtney finished his summer courses, and we all got on a plane to the US. We spent our first week in the US visiting our good friends; went swimming, spent a day at the Old Sturbridge Village, saw a ball game, celebrated a birthday with lobster, had Thanksgiving dinner, hung out, and nursed babies. It was a really, really great week, and sadly, it went by all too quickly.

We had been looking forward to seeing our friends, and made plans with them for months, but suddenly that whole week was over, and we got on another plane to Indiana (or Chicago, actually). Here we are now, visiting family; hanging out, going to the library, the movies, shopping, swimming, and helping out with the house and the yard. The boys are enjoying their grandparents (as are we), and we’re all enjoying the American… everything; from cream soda and Taco Bell, to friendly librarians and Amazon book orders.

Codex Sinaiticus

Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldest Bibles in the world, is now online. I can't wait to go to St. Catherine's next year.

Playing catch-up with my writing (among other things)

I’m trying to get back into writing again. Since Abraham was born there has been a certain lack of time, and when I do sit down with my laptop for a few minutes, I don’t always know what to write. It’s not that I don’t have ideas, but it’s that when I get the ideas, I’m not always in a position to write them down, and then I forget.

You know one of those stories or notes that goes around “How it happened that I left the house naked,” that starts with “I got up this morning to go to the bathroom. When I looked out the window to see what the weather was like today, to determine what I was going to wear, I noticed the plants in the window sill needed watering, so I started towards the kitchen to get the watering can. On my way to the kitchen I stepped on a pair of dirty socks, which reminded me of the laundry in the dryer, and that I would need to empty it so that I could get dressed, so I stopped by in the bathroom and started opening the dryer, when my husband’s work ID fell out of the overfull lint-pocket. I knew my husband might not have got far, so I ran over to the phone to call him back, when one of the boys asked me…” and it goes on and on? Well, that’s pretty much what I feel my life is like right now. I’m constantly playing catch-up; as soon as I get to something that I’ve been needing to do, four other things have already gone due. In the middle of all this, I get ideas or notice things that would be fun to write about, but by the time I get to sit down, so many things have passed already, I’ve forgotten what that special thing was.

Maadi certainly is deserted during the summer

I went shopping at Seoudi this morning before Courtney had to leave for work, and it was so deserted. A lot of people simply don’t spend the summer here, and for the moment it seems like almost everyone’s gone. I feel bad for the grocery store workers – especially the deliverymen – because they’re not getting any of the tips they usually rely on. As I’m approaching the check-out, several of them literally leap at me to help with my final selections, and then one of them will unload my cart, another will do the register, and a third will pack the groceries. Today, a fourth guy ran around getting the boxes of soda I asked for as well. I was almost embarrassed. I gave the two guys that delivered my groceries an extra generous tip, and they looked really happy, even adding in their very best English as they left “You have good day! Maaselema!”

Life with three boys

Today was one of those days when the boys drove me bonkers.

We had a good morning, and then I took them to the Maadi House early where we were meeting up with some other pregnant moms and their young children. Usually the boys take off and have a great time, and the only time I see them is when they come to down their food and drinks. But not today. Granted, there were no other kids there their age to play with, but then they usually just play with each other. Today however, they stood around me, in my eyes bugging me, as I was trying to visit with the ladies. I could be mid-sentence, wrapped up in an argument, when William would start asking me “How many days until we go to the States, mama? How many days?” over and over again, until I interrupted my conversation and addressed him. A perfectly exciting playground, a big lawn, a gaming room – none of these energy-consuming pleasures did they take advantage of; they hung around me most of the time, preventing me from engaging in proper socialization.

“In the pool,” I thought, “it will be different; they usually swim around and have fun in the pool.” As I got in the pool with Abraham, they started circling me like sharks, and never stopped hanging on my back, asking me to throw them, asking to hold Abraham, as they constantly pulled on him or kissed him.

Since we got home, they’ve been around me, asking me to provide answers, food, services, anything you can imagine, all the while tearing up the living room, chasing each other over the couches, screaming. “Mama, you said we were going to change our sheets YESTERDAY, and we still haven’t done it!” I look over at the pile of laundry. “Mama, I’m hungry; when’s dinner done?” I’m stirring a pasta sauce with one hand, holding a hungry baby with the other, while glancing at the pepper grinder wondering how I’m going to get spices in my sauce with only one hand. “Mama, can we do a baking project? We haven’t done one for ages!” What?! “Mama, could you print some pictures that we can color?” Maybe that will distract them while I try to get dinner on the table. “Mama, Abraham just pooped all over himself and his chair! Here he is!” William is bringing me Abraham whose diaper is making a stream of mustard-colored leakage across the floor. “Mama, I’m hungry! How many days until we go to the States?”

Aaarrrgh!

Bug-spraying trucks in the streets of Maadi

Last night, as Courtney, Abraham, and I were in a taxi on our way to El Nasr Street to visit our computer shop, we suddenly ended up behind a truck with tanks in the back that were omitting a gas. I instinctively closed my eyes and mouth, and made a half-lame attempt to cover Abraham’s face, knowing I couldn’t really do that without choking him. Courtney cried out to our taxi-driver in panic to pull-over (the gas-leaking truck kept going down the street in front of us, spewing white clouds and stopping all traffic), and asked him what is was. “Nafouz! Nafouz!” our taxi driver informed us. “It smells like bug-spray,” I said, “and isn’t ‘nafouz’ mosquitoes or ants in Arabic?” Courtney added. Could they really be spraying an Egyptian version of Raid, most likely poison, all over the people, children, houses, and plants?

When we came home I gave Abraham a thorough bath, and Courtney & I both washed our hands and face. Then we called an Egyptian friend who confirmed that, indeed, bug-spraying could occur this time of the year “to prevent decease from spreading. Swine flu and all.” Of course. I’m not even going to start on that one.

Touch-down in Cairo in July

We’ve been home for less than a week, yet Sweden already seems so far away. The boys say they miss our family, but it’s obvious they’re also happy to be home. We spent the first couple of days catching up on sleep and spending time with Courtney. I did a lot of laundry, and tried to get the house straightened out. School-wise we’ve been finishing off loose ends; August has a few pages left here and there, and we still need to finish our history projects. We’ve gone to the pool in the late mornings, because even though we have the AC running in the house, it still feels too hot to work too hard. We’ve been catching up with the few friends that are left in Cairo, and been here for the new family that is trying to get settled in. There are also a lot of administrative things we've had to deal with, and other little things here and there. Courtney is still teaching every day; I don’t envy him having to go in every day, but the summer classes have gone well, and this is the last week. Next week we leave for Boston!