Time is flying

We are already well into November. How did that happen? If we're not careful, two years will have flown by and we won't have done half the things we wanted to do here!

My Arabic classes have finally started. It seemed so much easier to learn Spanish and Italian. Fortunately, Egyptians are very happy to see Americans trying to learn their language so they will practice with you. (In fact, yesterday I practiced with one of the Embassy drivers, and he fed me lunch.) In my class there are three other students: one from Italy, one from Japan, and one from Korea. Interestingly enough, I have spent a year in Italy, 10 days in Japan, and some very long hours in the airport in Seoul. It is funny to hear the Italian throw in a few words from her native language under her breath and I understand, even though it was been 20 years since I heard Italian regularly. (As a side note, she didn't think some of the hand gestures I remembered were appropriate for a grown woman to make. Go figure. Seems that the teenager in me still lives!)

Anywho, classes are started and I have learned "my name is ...", "what is your name?" (both masculine and feminine versions, my address, my telephone number (and numbers 0-10), "where are you from?", "what country/city are you from?", "what is your nationality?" An interesting array of questions to start a conversation. But honestly, it is not easy. There are all these sounds that we aren't use to making, like "ah" but pronounced from the throat. Do it over and over and you might find yourself lightheaded. And the "kh" which is pronounced without the "k" (or if it is there, I can't hear it) and is a very hard "H" sound. I have another class today.

The husband and I also started our scuba classes. This course comes with a big study book. So there is plenty of homework to go around. Last week we did our first confined water dive, which means we geared up and got into the pool and breathed under water! Many of you know that I grew up in a pool, not a house, so it should be no surprise that I love the idea of breathing underwater. And even as scary as it might seem to rely on equipment to breathe, it hardly required any faith to actually test it out; we were in 4 feet of water. When I put the regulator in my mouth and went under for the first time, it was almost underwhelming. Not sure what I was expecting -- perhaps the world was going to turn over and the sky was going to become pink -- but I could still breathe just fine, go figure. The gear does require much thinking and if you aren't used to thinking about breathing or how you breathe, learning scuba will probably change that for you. (You might also want to try mediation for a dry land experience on breath awareness.)

We moved about the pool with all our gear on and were underwater for about a total of 30 minutes, in just a few minute increments. It is pretty amazing. There are a total of 5 in our class, another couple and a single man. The other woman was told to relax. A lot. And I thought I could get tense about things like breathing. Anyway, our second class is tonight!

Let's see what else has been going on. I went to the general's house last night with a bunch of spouses (including a husband) from the husband's unit. Met some new people. Heard what the general views as the issues that might be concerning the spouses and listened to the issues the spouses had. Not many complaints at all. There is a pregnant woman who is getting the run around from the insurance people about where she needs to go to give birth. Apparently someone thinks she should go to Germany to give birth because it is closer than going to the US. (Uhhh, where is she going to live Germany? What kind of support system would she have there while she waits to get her child a passport so she can bring him/her back to Egypt? I don't think someone thought that through all the way.) At least the general is now aware that this is an issue and hopefully she can get what she needs.

Our neighbors at the Coptic Church continue to have lots of celebrations. This past Tuesday the music was blaring and then the traditional wedding recessional music came on so I peeked out the window. Then traditional Egyptian music, think fiddle, started up and we saw the bride and groom going into the church. She was all in white and the groom was in a black suit. When the car horns started to call out into the evening, the wedding was over. But each night since there has been some sort of celebration next door at the church community center. Ululating. Music (at a reasonable volume). Car horns. It is already beginning to blend into the background noise of the neighborhood.

Well, that's it for now. Gotta go to a bazaar at the local expat community center and then Arabic. And I need to instruct the maid on cleaning the bathroom mirror.

Filling the Days, Filling the Calendar

When you have a full-time job, a good chunk of your day is scheduled for you. You get up, you go to work, you come home, spend time with family, go to bed. Repeat. Your time at the office probably is filled with various tasks to be accomplished in a timely manner. And you usually see and talk to other people during the day. So when you don't have that day-filling, time-filling, social-functioning job, but you are a person who has those needs, you must look elsewhere to be fulfilled as a human being. Right? Well, I am one of those people who needs places to go and people to see. Go figure.

This morning I met a woman for coffee. We wound up talking for quite a length of time, and she asked if I wanted to hang out while she had her tennis lesson so we could have lunch together. It was a beautiful day so I hanged. Lunch was lovely and the company was great.

But what I realized the most is that I really do not only need to be out and about, but out and about and interacting with people. And not just a "hello" "how much?" "only looking" kind of interaction. But that getting-to-know-you thing or potential friend-building kind of socializing. I don't really think of myself as an easy socializer, but I do need it so I make myself do it. It's like taking a pill: it doesn't actually hurt, just need to remember to do it, and it is in fact good for you. If I forget? There are long-term consequences, like anxiety and depression and that's not good.

So as we were winding up our lunch time today, I decided to see what I could learn about Scuba classes. The Red Sea is supposed to be great!fantasticals!bestest! for Scuba. And I have always wanted to learn. (On a side note, when we honeymooned in Saint Lucia, I would have loved to learn but I wore thick glasses at the time and was concerned that I wouldn't be able to see much without my glasses and I didn't invest in a prescription mask just for the one time. We went snorkeling instead and LOVED it. They practically had to drag me out of the water. Since then I've had LASIK so the eye balls are functioning in HD now.) And now we have a wonderful opportunity to learn and a great chance to go diving multiple times while here in Egypt. The first part of the class starts .... TOMORROW! Good timing, eh? Tomorrow we'll get fitted (I'm assuming that's for masks, etc.) and then into the pool on Wednesday. Sweet! Something to do and it will be with other people who are interested in the same thing. Time-filling and social-functioning!

Also tomorrow, we are having a maid start coming. Labor is cheap in Egypt and everyone, EVERYONE, has a maid. We wound up hiring a Filipina. It is well known, "apparently," that Filipina maids are of a much higher standard than Egyptian maids, and will work much harder and pay more attention to details. The word is that they also cost more. Well, turns out that the Egyptian maid we interviewed wants about the same amount as the Filipina we interviewed. Once we took into account references and the language level, it was a no-brainer. So tomorrow morning I am supervising someone cleaning my apartment. (And I'm going to need to figure out what to get for cleaning since I don't have much yet.)

And I am scheduled to start Arabic classes soon. And I am meeting people and doing social-functioning time-filling fun-filled activities. And apparently that is what I need to do.

Establishing a routine

Having been in country for a week now, and seemingly cured of jetlag, it is time to settle into a routine. So I decided to actually get up when I set the alarm. At 6 A trill of the guitar strum alarm of my iPhone -- well, it is not functioning as an iPhone for now; let's just pretend it is now an iPod Touch -- went off and I hit snooze. Not a good start to the new routine. The husband was already up and getting busy with his day, shower, dress, breakfast, email. After me hitting snooze for the third time and still splayed out on the bed, the husband comes in and reminds me that I will need to moving the following morning to catch the ride to his work with him. Sneer.

After pulling myself out of bed and showering and breakfasting (which seems to be an actual word), I decided to see where I live. I'll write about my meandering adventures afoot another time. But for now, I will tell you that I came home soaking wet. Isn't this supposed to be a desert? What's with all this humidity? It was drier in southern Arizona with all the greenery and a whole lot less dust.

While I was out, I gathered info on exercise classes in the area. Again, more info another time. But for now, I will tell you that apparently all the ex-pat wives work out. I was, by far, the heaviest woman I encountered (did I encounter myself?) while out. Anywho, I will be adding working out to my daily routine. Just need to wait for a few other details to work themselves out. The idea is to get up, walk to the exercise place, workout, walk home. Sounds like a good morning routine. Once I get used to this, I'll try adding in some local photo scouting in the early morning when the light is nice and the sky is actually blue.

Afternoons will be filled with stuff, like blogging, uploading photos, learning to be a better photographer, straightening up, etc. Evening will be dinner, talking, and a little Netflix (we are currently watching Season 3 of Burn Notice on the computer).

Nothing riveting to the routine. Just need to establish one.