The title says it all. Maya has been having a little shoe crisis recently.
The background of this is that last summer, when we were in the U.S., we bought Maya two pairs of crocs. One in her size and one to grow into. She quickly outgrew the first pair, and then toward the end of last summer starting wearing the bigger pair. As our luck would have it, one of the crocs fell off her foot somewhere in Zamalek as she was riding in her stroller (although Maya is convinced she lost it in a taxi). Anyway, since summer was nearing an end and because the stores in Cairo were not stocking crocs because the weather was starting to get a little chilly, we never replaced the pair of crocs.
Meanwhile, Maya saw that all the kids at the club in Little Amreeka (our new neighbourhood that we will move to soon) have crocs. And they would take them off and leave them at the edge of the playground to play in the sand pit. And, you guessed it, Maya started trying to reappropriate those crocs. Of course, we couldn't let her steal other people's shoes, so we had to intervene. Maya was very upset and let it be known. Curses to that silly U.S. government employee lady who suggested I just order a pair of cheap shoes for her from Target! As IF! Clearly, if I could have done that, I would have!
Anyway, fast forward to today, Maya dug out the single pairless croc and has been insisting on wearing it every day. She wears a purple croc on one foot and a pink sneaker without socks on the other. She will not even let us BRING the matching pink sneaker from the pair to the park for fear we could secretly take away the croc and make her wear two pink sneakers. And now she tells us "Maya want two crocs"!
But a friend has shown us some pity (thank God!). Maya's friend S's mom is going on a trip to Britain next week and offered to deliver us some crocs! So Maya is going to get a pair of fire-engine red crocs in a couple weeks, just in time for the start of summer! Yeah!! Maya will be so happy!
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Saturday, 15 March 2008
Easter Egg Hunt
We went on an Easter Egg hunt today, or as Maya would call it, a "bunny hunt". Maya got to look for some eggs, or more like point to the eggs and tell her mommy to "get it". She also got to decorate a chocolate cupcake, throw a water balloon to mommy (who dropped it so it broke on the first throw). But best of all, she got to bounce in a bouncy castle with the egypt4 kids and her pal S. from Zamalek, plus another little girl K. who recently moved to Cairo and who belongs to a cool family. It was kind of cool to have our friends all together in one place, since we normally see them separately.
Maya also went swimming in the pool, and she held her breath and dunked her head underwater for the first time. She loved it, and did it over and over again to show off her new skill. She is in love with the water, and we have nicknamed her sharky because she has a big sharky swim cap, although she wasn't wearing it today because I was lazy, and we need to take her braids out and wash her hair tonight anyway.
Friday, 14 March 2008
Vote in my poll!
So I have made a poll. I am trying to decide what color to paint Maya's new bedroom. It is kind of a smallish bedroom, with some light but by no means bright.
Maya has a comforter that is green, yellow, and light purple, and there are peach accents in the room. She has a pale purple area rug and a yellow dresser. So answer my poll to let me know what color we should paint her room. And feel free to make color comments and suggestions here.
Maya has a comforter that is green, yellow, and light purple, and there are peach accents in the room. She has a pale purple area rug and a yellow dresser. So answer my poll to let me know what color we should paint her room. And feel free to make color comments and suggestions here.
We are moving (within Cairo)!
We are moving out of our apartment next month and out of Zamalek. The apartment that we are currently in is the third I have lived in on this little island, and I have also lived in the AUC dorms here. But it has come time for us to leave this place.
The reason we are leaving our apartment is because the owner of the apartment died, and her sons decided to sell it. We technically could have stayed until July, but rents in Egypt tend to go up in the summer months. And also the sons were constantly asking us to let potential buyers see the apartment, which was really causing us a lot of stress, as we were afraid we could get evicted at any moment if the place was sold. So we bit the bullet and decided to leave on our own terms.
We considered staying in Zamalek, and almost decided to stay. I can't beat my current 15-20 minute morning commute, although the trip home can take 40+ minutes due to traffic. But there were many factors in pushing us to leave, including the racism and bullying by the guards at the Gezira club, and the lack of good preschool options for Maya.
So we are moving across town to a big Cairo expat haven (forgive me!!) that is a bit more family friendly. Many of our friends live there, and we have joined a nice club that has many interracial families and where Maya's nanny will not have to wear a stupid "nanny jacket". It also has a nice pool. And in September Maya can take "pre-ballet" classes. And Mike can play softball at a league near our house -- if we can find him a mitt that is.
We went on our first day of househunting today. We saw it as just an exploratory day to see what was out there. But we found a place we couldn't pass up whose asking price was lower than our max. So this evening we put down a deposit and signed the rental contract. The landlord is making some improvements. He is replacing some old windows, and we asked him to have the wood floors waxed and the walls painted. Then we can move in. We will probably move in mid-April.
Our new apartment is very nice. It has three bedrooms and a very large living area. It also has an open kitchen, a serious rarity for Cairo apartments, at least in our price range. And a breakfast nook. And a nice balcony where we can put our grill and our outdoor table. But the real cool thing is that we have part of the rooftop just for us. So we can put out a kiddie pool for Maya, or she can ride a trike around the roof. And we can put up our plastic swing from our roof in Jerusalem that has been attracting dust here in Zamalek because our balcony was not big enough for it. So we are pretty happy with our new place -- or at least we hope we will be.
The reason we are leaving our apartment is because the owner of the apartment died, and her sons decided to sell it. We technically could have stayed until July, but rents in Egypt tend to go up in the summer months. And also the sons were constantly asking us to let potential buyers see the apartment, which was really causing us a lot of stress, as we were afraid we could get evicted at any moment if the place was sold. So we bit the bullet and decided to leave on our own terms.
We considered staying in Zamalek, and almost decided to stay. I can't beat my current 15-20 minute morning commute, although the trip home can take 40+ minutes due to traffic. But there were many factors in pushing us to leave, including the racism and bullying by the guards at the Gezira club, and the lack of good preschool options for Maya.
So we are moving across town to a big Cairo expat haven (forgive me!!) that is a bit more family friendly. Many of our friends live there, and we have joined a nice club that has many interracial families and where Maya's nanny will not have to wear a stupid "nanny jacket". It also has a nice pool. And in September Maya can take "pre-ballet" classes. And Mike can play softball at a league near our house -- if we can find him a mitt that is.
We went on our first day of househunting today. We saw it as just an exploratory day to see what was out there. But we found a place we couldn't pass up whose asking price was lower than our max. So this evening we put down a deposit and signed the rental contract. The landlord is making some improvements. He is replacing some old windows, and we asked him to have the wood floors waxed and the walls painted. Then we can move in. We will probably move in mid-April.
Our new apartment is very nice. It has three bedrooms and a very large living area. It also has an open kitchen, a serious rarity for Cairo apartments, at least in our price range. And a breakfast nook. And a nice balcony where we can put our grill and our outdoor table. But the real cool thing is that we have part of the rooftop just for us. So we can put out a kiddie pool for Maya, or she can ride a trike around the roof. And we can put up our plastic swing from our roof in Jerusalem that has been attracting dust here in Zamalek because our balcony was not big enough for it. So we are pretty happy with our new place -- or at least we hope we will be.
Aaargh!! I've been tagged
OK, so I have been tagged by Nancy, whose babe M. was a roomie of Maya's in Ethiopia...Now I have to tell 10 things about myself.
Rules of play:
*Post 10 random things about yourself
*Choose 5 people to tag and a reason you chose each person (can be totally nonsensical)
*Leave them each a comment directing them to your blog so they know they are it (wait a minute...shouldn't everyone be reading my blog???? You mean they're not????)
*You can't tag the person who tagged you (you'll have to make new friends)
*As a courtesy to the person who tagged you, please let them know when you have posted so they can have the sheer delight and extra work load of reading your answers
Play!!
So here goes:
1) One of my first real, paid jobs in my life (other than teenage babysitting) was to dress up as a Planters Peanut and hand out free samples at various grocery stores. I learned a lot in that job. Mainly that if you are dressed up as a peanut, and people can't see your face, people will either a) make really screwed up sexual comments to you, or b) will think that people dressed up as peanuts should be like mimes and should not speak as they are handing out samples but should instead gesture with their hands. Bizarre!
2) When I applied to college as a high school senior, I only applied to one. I did not have a plan B in case I did not get in to my 'only choice' school, and even put a bumper sticker on my car before I was admitted.
3) I have spent almost exactly a third of my life in the Middle East.
4) I used to be a competitive swimmer, and I was actually pretty good.
5) I wore braces on my legs as a child for an orthopedic problem. I once raised a LOT of money in a school jogathon after going house to house asking for pledges wearing my braces, and people massively underestimated how much I could run. Serves them right!
6) I really want my daughter to speak Amharic so she can have access to her birth culture without needing a mediator. It is even more important to me because I have struggled so much with Arabic. I don't want her to struggle with a language that by all rights should be hers.
7) I always thought I would focus on being gender-neutral as a parent. But I am not as good at that as I thought I would be. My daughter is a pretty girly girl who loves dolls and her play kitchen, although she is very athletic and does play with legos so she is not ONLY girly. But I wonder if I have made her a girly girl, or if it is just part of her nature.
8) I despise the taste of coffee (although somehow Ethiopian buna is drinkable). I do concede that coffee smells very nice. I just hate the taste.
9) I like to read non-fiction books of almost any genre, but I am bored by fiction.
10) I met my husband in my first week of college at an orientation where we were seated next to each other because our last names are close in the alphabet. We didn't realize we lived in the same dorm just down the hall from each other until a bit later.
OK, who do I tag. I have no idea, and I apologize in advance.
1) Egypt4. Why? Because I know you. I always tag you. And I think you could have some interesting stuff out there to say.
2) Chris R. in Texas. Yes, I know you stop by my blog even though I am so lame about e-mail.... I am sure you have some interesting stuff to say.
3) Charlie Fekadu's mommy. Cuz your kiddo is so super cute (Hey, I don't need a really good reason to tag someone do I? And you might have been tagged already, but oh well.)
4) Josh and Avni. I think you should start a blog so we can keep in touch. And when you do, you're it! And Michelle too.
5) Anyone else lurking on my blog. Cuz I want to know who you are, and I'm too lazy to think of someone else to tag.
Rules of play:
*Post 10 random things about yourself
*Choose 5 people to tag and a reason you chose each person (can be totally nonsensical)
*Leave them each a comment directing them to your blog so they know they are it (wait a minute...shouldn't everyone be reading my blog???? You mean they're not????)
*You can't tag the person who tagged you (you'll have to make new friends)
*As a courtesy to the person who tagged you, please let them know when you have posted so they can have the sheer delight and extra work load of reading your answers
Play!!
So here goes:
1) One of my first real, paid jobs in my life (other than teenage babysitting) was to dress up as a Planters Peanut and hand out free samples at various grocery stores. I learned a lot in that job. Mainly that if you are dressed up as a peanut, and people can't see your face, people will either a) make really screwed up sexual comments to you, or b) will think that people dressed up as peanuts should be like mimes and should not speak as they are handing out samples but should instead gesture with their hands. Bizarre!
2) When I applied to college as a high school senior, I only applied to one. I did not have a plan B in case I did not get in to my 'only choice' school, and even put a bumper sticker on my car before I was admitted.
3) I have spent almost exactly a third of my life in the Middle East.
4) I used to be a competitive swimmer, and I was actually pretty good.
5) I wore braces on my legs as a child for an orthopedic problem. I once raised a LOT of money in a school jogathon after going house to house asking for pledges wearing my braces, and people massively underestimated how much I could run. Serves them right!
6) I really want my daughter to speak Amharic so she can have access to her birth culture without needing a mediator. It is even more important to me because I have struggled so much with Arabic. I don't want her to struggle with a language that by all rights should be hers.
7) I always thought I would focus on being gender-neutral as a parent. But I am not as good at that as I thought I would be. My daughter is a pretty girly girl who loves dolls and her play kitchen, although she is very athletic and does play with legos so she is not ONLY girly. But I wonder if I have made her a girly girl, or if it is just part of her nature.
8) I despise the taste of coffee (although somehow Ethiopian buna is drinkable). I do concede that coffee smells very nice. I just hate the taste.
9) I like to read non-fiction books of almost any genre, but I am bored by fiction.
10) I met my husband in my first week of college at an orientation where we were seated next to each other because our last names are close in the alphabet. We didn't realize we lived in the same dorm just down the hall from each other until a bit later.
OK, who do I tag. I have no idea, and I apologize in advance.
1) Egypt4. Why? Because I know you. I always tag you. And I think you could have some interesting stuff out there to say.
2) Chris R. in Texas. Yes, I know you stop by my blog even though I am so lame about e-mail.... I am sure you have some interesting stuff to say.
3) Charlie Fekadu's mommy. Cuz your kiddo is so super cute (Hey, I don't need a really good reason to tag someone do I? And you might have been tagged already, but oh well.)
4) Josh and Avni. I think you should start a blog so we can keep in touch. And when you do, you're it! And Michelle too.
5) Anyone else lurking on my blog. Cuz I want to know who you are, and I'm too lazy to think of someone else to tag.
Monday, 3 March 2008
Missing wedding ring
This morning when I woke up, I couldn't find my wedding ring. It was not on the bedside table where I had left it when I went to bed last night. I looked on the floor. It was not there either. I looked under the bed. Not there. I was getting late for work, so I went to work without my ring...
After I went to work, Mike continued looking for my ring. But he could not find it either. So he went to work.
When I came home from work, I tore our bedroom apart looking for my ring. I couldn't find it and Maya was getting restless. So I sat in the beanbag in her room to read her some stories before bed. While I was reading, Mike opened up one of Maya's "purses". A little pink one. Tucked inside, guess what he found? My missing wedding ring!
After I went to work, Mike continued looking for my ring. But he could not find it either. So he went to work.
When I came home from work, I tore our bedroom apart looking for my ring. I couldn't find it and Maya was getting restless. So I sat in the beanbag in her room to read her some stories before bed. While I was reading, Mike opened up one of Maya's "purses". A little pink one. Tucked inside, guess what he found? My missing wedding ring!
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Wadi Degla
We went on an organized bus trip out to a place called Wadi Degla in the desert today with some friends including the Egypt4 family and a bunch of other Cairo expats. It is basically a big valley in the desert with some nice rock formations, a little bit of wildlife, and unfortunately lots of trash, like plastic bags, all over the place.
We had a good time though, being outdoors and traipsing around and breathing fresh air. Maya had a blast. She latched on to a very nice 5th grade girl and followed her around everywhere, and basically got lots of "how to be a big girl" lessons from her new friend. Here are some pictures.
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