Allison Brown comes to town!

This week was the official end of Ramadan and in celebration we got a full week off from school! My friend from my early years here in Cairo, Allison, came back to visit me and another friend. We enjoyed a great week sight seeing, hanging ou,t eating and having great conversation. She also had to endure the lengthy process of my purchasing and taking ownership of my new car. (How long can it take to pick up a car you ask??? Hours!) It was awesome to have my own car to toodle around in and she was there to encourage me thru my first scratch which took all of 20 hours. I am going apartment hunting this morning as I have a great lead on a villa in old Maadi. I was hesitant to move back in town as I love being out in the country but the price is great on this place and it has a garden which is my main prerequisite. Pray that it can work out in reality as well as it does in my head.

Caleb is shooting up in more ways than one. He has really grown taller which leads me to believe he has the Widener height factor which is great he will fit right in! He is really picking up words as each day goes by adding to both his Arabic and English vocabulary. He is going totally two with the fun playful angle and the fall on the ground throw a temnper tantrum angle...I could do without the last one.

Yeah!!! My New Car...finally

Dolphin wrestling is the newest sport

Singing into his mic

Together Again

(Left) Michelle and Janelle

(front) Phil Rizk

(back l-r)

Jeanette Rizk, Jared Lebel, Janelle, Michelle,Tim,Leo,

Travis (interim youth pastor) Miles, Mitch Derksen

(Petrescue cousins)

I am still alive! Sorry about the stale news that has lingered on my site but I must admit I have not been highly motivated as of late. Sadness has lingered and sort of a heavy laziness. A month has passed and people are starting to move on to other topics and at church a sense of normalcy has started but the hole is still quite evident.

On the home front not much to report. It does look likely that I will be moving yet again in November but just around the corner (well not literally b/c we don't have such orderly concepts as blocks and corners but not far) this time. I will continue my community living with the Keevy clan which is great. We are renting a 4 floor apartment type building on a mango grove. They will take the upper 2 floors and I will take the middle one and then the bottom apartment will be a guest flat and school rooms for their alternative school that they run. My place will be much snugger than my current home but in reality I don't live in most of the space I have right now so it shouldn't be too noticeable. The place has not been finished off yet and that is a good thing because it allows me to give my input on things such as light fixtures and cabinet work. Too late to give a fashionable opinion on paint color so I will be repainting here in a few weeks...Unless I can come to grips with pastel blue. I probably won't go for the bold orange of my previous apartment but something that says "Amy!" with flair.

The place at this point is pool less and actually that is fine with me, less to worry about as far as Caleb is concerned. Right now he is in a phase where he wants to be up high, so he is on table tops, and pulling over chairs to get on the cupboards, he seeks high ground at all opportunity, a fall is imminent I am sure! He is definitely lacking healthy fears.

We are well into Ramadan season which is the holy month of the year but in reality ignites new levels of ridiculousness, and selfishness! Traffic is unbelievable and people just switch off any sense of being part of a world bigger than themselves and their own car. If you thought traffic was wild before you gotta see Ramadan driving! I won't even get into the fasting aspect!!!! But don't get me wrong I love this place!

Ok on that happy note I am going to get out and mix it up a bit on the streets at the height of rush hour traffic.

Ramadan Kareem!