Bad attitude

I've been in a bad mood about Egypt recently. I have had little tolerance for the annoying little things that happen that are a part of living in another culture. I know this is a form of culture shock that ebbs and flows. But right now I am in the middle of it.

First, we had an annoying experience on our otherwise fantastic beach trip to Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea coast with our friends. The hotel staff on three separate occasions made annoying little "behind our back but right in front of us" comments about the composition of our family. First it was the ubiquitous and exaggerated "Izzay??" (meaning How?!?!) by the front desk staff while gawking and pointing at Maya. Then later a gardener shouted: "Where'd they get that black girl from?" And at dinner a member of the waitstaff said: "It's not natural" while pointing at Maya.

We are used to the comments by Egyptians. We get them all the time. And I am used to being in that bizarre world where people think they can talk in Arabic in front of me because I look western and I won't understand, but then I do understand. But to have it come from staff at a very nice 4-star hotel when I was trying to take a vacation. Well, it was too much.

When we checked out of the hotel, we asked to speak to the manager to make a complaint. But they refused to get the manager, claiming the manager was on vacation. When we complained to the assistant deputy front desk manager, he just didn't seem to see the problem. Didn't apologise. Nothing. Well, some of the other front desk clerks were smirking under their breath, and the guy did offer to let us write a formal complaint which he assured us he would give to the manager. Yeah right! We didn't bother.

It makes me sad because, other than the generally rude and intolerant staff at the hotel, we had such a nice time at the beach, which is only a 90ish minute drive from Cairo. Clearly we will not be staying at this particular hotel again. There is another hotel in the same compound, although I think the two are somehow connected. Maybe we will try the other hotel next time, and hope it is better. Although I may warn them in advance that I expect their staff to keep the comments about our family to themselves.

OK, but this is not the only annoyance we have had recently. Another is that Maya got an easel for her birthday. It is a nice wood easel that is made in Egypt. The same day we gave it to her, Maya tipped it over and one of the two top hinges fell off. When I looked at it I saw that the side of the hinge that fell off had been glued on, but not secured by screw like the other hinge. It seemed that during assembly, the workers had run out of screws, so just decided to glue the other hinge. Why?!?!?! That is just so frustrating.

And when we ordered the bouncy castle for Maya's birthday, we carefully selected it out of a catalogue. We wanted a bouncy with a slide and a tunnel, and the one we picked looked really bright and cheery. What came was a totally different, and pretty grungy, bouncy castle. Not the end of the world. But just, well, annoying. And then there was this crazy party the other night that I called the police on.

The thing is, these things happen in Egypt. And normally I just go with the flow and don't get bothered by it. But recently this kind of stuff has been really getting to me, and little things have been bothering me (like the stupid bouncy castle thing which is really just silly to complain about). I guess I know I could be affected by culture shock just like anyone else. But we've been in the region for 8 consecutive years, plus more years as students before that. I had thought that I should really be over this kind of stuff. But somehow, it is bothering me now. I think it is time for a vacation!!

At last, Birthday party pictures

Maya had a terrific birthday party that I'm a bit late in posting about. She had a fabulous Dora the Explorer cake. And a bouncy castle. And she got her face painted as batman. After the party, while we were cuddling in bed, I asked her how she liked the party. She said: It was giant! I tink that means she liked it. Honestly, I think we overdid it. But she had a great time.

And she also loves her new easel and trike!! Here is one easel picture as well.

Unbelievable...

So this evening, our (bad) neighbors decided to blare music at about 50 million decibals for a huge dance party they were having. The source of the music is about four blocks away and across the railroad tracks. And it is so loud it is shaking our windows and I can't hear the TV in my living room, and I am worried it will wake up Maya (actually amazed she has not woken up yet).

So like any normal American, I called the police. They seemed kind of surprised and didn't seem to understand why I was complaining. They called me back three times to get me to explain the problem. I told them I wanted them to get the neighbors to turn down the music because it is obviously above the legal noise limit and was a public nuisance. Fine.

Twenty minutes later I get a knock at the door, and it is a detective come to investigate my complaint. Of course he immediately realises what the problem is. His solution? To say that the police will intervene if they are still at it by 11:30 p.m. What?? This is not a negotiation. I repeated that I was sure they were over the legal noise limit, and that I was sure other neigbors were also annoyed. He reluctantly said he would go to talk to them. Then, he asked ME for MY ID, for his report. Then he left.

Now it is 45 minutes later. And, I swear, the music is actually louder!! AAAAhhhhhhh!

Edit: OK, the police just called me on the phone to find out if I was satisfied. I told them the music was louder now. They said they had gone there, and the people had turned down the volume, but that they must have resumed the noise after they left. Wow! I was surprised that they followed through. They said they will go back. But it doesn't seem like the partygoers are inclined to listen to them...

Obama can come to my house

Here is a conversation after watching some Obama videos on daddy's laptop:

Maya: I like Obama.

Mommy: Me too.

Maya: I don't like McCain. Obama can come to my house. McCain can't come to my house.

Mommy: Yes. It would be nice it Obama came to visit us.

Maya: Obama can come to my house but he can't take my vitamin.

Mommy: Umm hmmm.

Maya: Well, maybe he can have one vitamin. Or he can have a peach. Or yoghurt.

Swiper, no swiping!

My Obama water bottle got swiped, probably at work. I'm so sad. It is the BPA-free Obama bottle I ordered online and then lugged back to Egypt from the U.S. this summer. I was really proud of that bottle, and a little attached to it. I am kinda mad someone would snatch it. Grrr. As Maya would say: Swiper, no swiping!

At the beach

We went with some friends a week ago for a weekend at the beach at Ain Sokhna, and had a great time (apart from some issues I'll hopefully blog about later).

Maya played with her friends. She buried Mike in sand and got buried in sand herself. She swam in the Red Sea, made some sand castles, destroyed some sand castles, played in the pool, ran around on the grass and generally had a terrific time.

Maya turns 3

Today is Maya's third birthday. She is growing up so fast. I have to say that my main emotion today was one of sadness, for Maya's birth mother. I wonder what she is thinking today, if she remembers that today is Maya's birthday. If she is thinking about her. I know in my heart that she must be. And I am sad that we have not been allowed by our adoption agency to maintain contact with her because of what I believe is a horribly misguided policy. I wonder if Maya's birth mother has been able to see any of the pictures or the letter that we sent long ago before contact was stopped. I am sad for Maya that it has been so long without contact. It is a tragedy for us, really, but mainly a tragedy for Maya.

We didn't do anything to mark Maya's birthday today because she is having a big party at the club on Friday with a bouncy castle and face painting and a Dora the Explorer cake. I am not sure how exactly we wound up giving her such a big party, as I always vowed to follow the one-child-per-age-of-birthday-girl routine. But, alas, Maya is a social being and there was just no way we could limit her to three friends...

Maya is also much more conscious this year of her birthday and has very clear ideas of what she wants. As in: "I want a bouncy castle and face painting and party hats and goody bags and a happy birthday cake and my dance teacher to teach dancing." Well, she is not getting her dance teacher but the rest are all there... She was very specific.

She also has ideas on what she wants for her birthday. She hasn't gotten any significant new toys since last December, so we will be stocking up a bit as she has outgrown a lot of her old toys. She is getting (actually already has gotten) a trike. And she will get an easel. We were also planning to get her a couple puzzles because the ones she has are too young for her. But she has other ideas. She says she wants a computer. "A yellow one!" Yikes!! How did she go from being a little toddler to knowing exactly what she wants.