maadi eats

 

A few days ago, I was on the phone with mom (hi mom!) and we were talking about Egyptian food and restaurants and stuff.  I was whining about how difficult it was going to be to find a steak dinner for around 8.00CDN when I get home.  Then she asked how often I eat out with Luther….

MAADI FOOD:

When you come home at 5-6:00pm after being at school all day since 6:30am, and being on a bus for 2 hours; you are in NO mood to cook. (Well, sometimes. But not often!)  Also, the veg here does not keep well (even in supermarkets), and normally you will spend a good amount of time just looking for something not-so-wilted/mushy/spoiled

It is MUCH easier to eat out, or ‘otlob’ (order online, www.otlob.com- its like a huge search engine of Egyptian food where you order and they deliver it)

Naturally, Luther and I have our ‘haunts’.  Here are some:

Egyptian McDonalds:  The taste is familiar and although there is no pork/sausage anything, there are tons of weird chicken/falafel stuff.  We eat here when our stomachs are sick from too much foreign foods. It is a ‘thing’ for expats that when we are ill from food here we know our tummys will enjoy the chemicals it was so used to in Winnipeg.  It works! No more pain! (This also goes for egypto-KFC and Egypto-pizza hut)

Starbucks on the corniche – have a latte and sit in the starbucks/Japanese embassy on the Nile corniche and watch the traffic go by with the Nile in the background. (p.s. no tea-infusions here. Weird…)

Gaya – Small locally-owned Korean restaurant 5 minutes from our house.  AWESOME food and the owners know and love us.  Luther also loves that they serve pork here. 



 

 

 

Luthers order: Miso soup, rice, spicy pork…but not too spicy

Me: Miso soup, beef kimbab (thank you folklorama for introducing me to this amazing dish)

 

Crave- one of my favorite restaurants.  It was introduced to us by some teachers and we went there like, 10 times in a row after we discovered it.  The food is cooked really well and just freaking delicious.

 

Dishes – Luther came here when he noticed that the screens outside showed UEFA football.  It was a ‘thing’ to come here and watch games.  I ALWAYS get the ‘shish tawook’ sandwich…ie: grilled chicken shish kabab on Kaiser buns with tomeya. One of the most amazing things I have discovered in Egypt is that I am able to eat outside without so much as a scarf.  No bugs, no wind, no cold breeze, A lot of fruity smelling shisha. :)

55 – Go-to place for shisha and music and a good atmosphere. A bit more expensive but it’s one of the best places to go for a younger, more local ‘hipper’ atmosphere.

 

Lucilles -  It was actually in TIME magazine as ‘best hamburger in the world’.  It’s a local place that capitalizes on expats and Egyptian-americans yearning for chunk of American cuisine.  They also serve chicken burgers J (yay for me)  Luther actually despises this place for its 'American-ness' but me- when i'm craving a good 'ol American chicken burger.... :D

Cairo Kitchen- This gem recently opened up in maadi on the corner near the supermarket.  It makes grocery shopping very difficult because for 10 bux you can get a whole chicken, soup, bread and 3 salads.  Luther gets chicken ‘mologheya’ (??) (mohl-oh-hey-yah) which is this green slimey soupy stuff that you eat with bread and chicken.  I get the random egyptian salads (eggplant, couscous, honeyed carrots, baba ganoush etc..)

So besides some random sushi dates, subway and Luthers favorite/maadis only mexican ‘gringos grill’- this is the extent of our ‘eating habits’.

DAAAAADDDDDDD!

BEACHBEACHBEACHBEACH

 

back-gammon'n'beers (n'toastiesn'savouries)

This was the last ‘regular’ weekend of school.  Although there are two weeks left of school, this is the last ‘children’ week.  So, to celebrate, 15 of us piled into a bus and went to the beach for the PE teachers (danielles) birthday/kitesurfing bonanza.

It was an awesome way to see everyone off in ‘non-teacher’ style.  There are a bunch of other things going on too but they are next week and I will post them later.

In the meantime, I go home on the 29^th and arrive in Winnipeg at 4pm

Also,

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Cool things my dad has done:

*sang ‘I’m flying’ from ‘peter pan’ (the 1950’s mary martin version!) while pushing me on the swings

*made magic toast and read Robert muncsh mini-books before dropping me off at daycare

*introduced me to Indiana jones, star trek, star wars and alien. At the mature age of like, 6.  Don’t mess with this girl.

*let me flood the sandbox in the summer and make a giant mess in the house

*Let me build life-threateningly deep snow forts in the winter...And coming inside and making a giant mess in the house.

*Let me have massive Halloween bashes…and making a giant mess in the house.

*Helping me with cleaning UP the messes. (all kinds.  Snow. Mud. Sand. Beer cans. Broken Glass. Fake spider web.)

*Helping with cleaning up the emotional messes. (no skeletons hiding in the closet in this family.  We prefer to proudly display them in our front yard on Halloween.) J

*taught me how to survive a vampire attack (but of course, we all know that they will not attack you- for you have to INVITE them inside before they can come near you)

*Given me the passion to teach, and teach with creativity and humor (with doses of sarcasm thrown here and there). 

*I will never stop doing this: say a line from a movie or book and then smirk and say ‘whats that from??’ ‘what movie is that from??’

*I would not play piano without my dad. Or be able to swim.  Or skate.

*Given me the gift of art.  From painting to doodling, I have never had to rely on someone else to ‘draw this for me’

*Given me the ability to participate in conversations that go along the lines of ‘The book was better than the movie because…’ – my dad read us the book, and THEN took us to the movies. (Pagemaster..hobbit..)

*My dad managed to have best jack-o-lanterns on the street. HANDS DOWN.

So, dad if you are reading this… (and I do mean ‘if’ because I find it miraculous that he even knew what a ‘blog’ was)- Thank you for all your hard work- and I REALLY hope you take this day to relax and do whatever it is you love to do.

 

dad is in the left-hand corner :)

 

 

 

ally-1...cockroach....0

How apt. 3 on road 221 deals with an unexpected visit from a cockroach..

So...its about 11pm...just about to fall asleep....and there it was.  A big DISGUSTING roach scuttling across the bedroom floor.

I start screaming and wailing like a manic banshee.

Luther tries to act brave (brave face! I totally saw the fear in his eyes)

I am utterly useless and stand on the bed screaming and pointing at it.

Luther grabs a mop and starts beating it senselessly. 

I am still screaming and pointing.

Luther takes the battered corpse and throws it in the mop bucket

I am still screaming

Luther pours bleach in the bucket.

Me...you guessed it.

Luther manages to put it in the trash and takes it outside.

Me...beginning to calm down.

I went to sleep feeling creepy crawlies up my legs all night.

EWWWWWWWW.

 

so...apparently egypt gets quite hot in june...

COUNTDOWN TO COMPLETION OF TERM 4: 11 DAYS!

COUNTDOWN TO LAST DAY OF SCHOOL(IE: LAST TEACHER DAY): 16 DAYS!!

COUNTDOWN TO CANADA!:  18 DAYS!!

OMIGOD! Is that for real? the last 2-3 months literally blew past.

I guess with all the travelling and spring break(s) school has been so busy you don't really notice the time fly.

That being said, i'm tryna get my last minute stuff done.  Most of the teachers have kinda packed it in for the year.  We're all busy trying to get our marks in and the stress level is high.

So is the temperature  In the past few weeks, due to extreme temperatures, an excessive amount of power in Egypt is being over-used and causing major long annoying power outages. (like, 2-4 hours)  Everytime we get home from work its like a gamble whether or not we will be making dinner in the dark.  This makes it incredible difficult to shop, cook, eat, watch tv, mark, input report cards, call family, turn on AC.. etc....

At school,  the AC(ta'keef) has blown and its +47 out.  The school is an open courtyard so even our attempt at 'indoor recess and lunch' is taking in blistering desert heat. By 10:45am it had already hit 36.  Our VP comes in at 1 and says 'pack it in, we're closing the school. Its too hot.'

ITS. TOO. HOT- so we are going home. (I never thought i'd say THAT) :)

I came home, stripped down, blasted the AC and lay like a starfish on the bed.  I called mom, and told her its so damn hot that school was cancelled and thank god the power hasn't gone out in maadi because I would absolutely die. BOOM. power out.

I just kinda lay there and went crazy and dillusional in the heat.

this was taken at 5-6. it was cooling down by this time...

So i'm pretty sure I experienced my personal hell.  +47. at work. no AC. hundreds of cranky children crammed inside the school to 'protect' them from the heat.

On that note, lotsa cool things going on at school. Flash dance mobs, speech contests, field trips, graduations and summer fun stuff :)

the DEAD sea.

DEAD SEA:

We woke up super early, had some shrak ( I will never get tired of saying that word) and headed off to the resort area of Jordan.  We twisted and turned around the Jordanian mountains and I freaked out while driving.  Matt (being from BC) took the wheel and us ‘prairie drivers’ opted for NOT driving but having small heart attacks from the backseat.  (we prefer our highways flat and with no high edges thank you very much)

Once we arrived, we settled in to a day pass at the holiday Inn Dead Sea resort.  First, we got really excited cause it was SUPER nice. THEN we got excited cause we could see Jerusalem from across the sea, THEN we got really excited cause there was a swim-up bar.

We ran down to the water where two large pails of ‘dead sea’ muck were placed.  The idea is to immerse yourself with these ‘minerals’ and then when its dry you go and wash it off into MORE stuff that’s good for your skin. 

So, of course, we did.

 

Let me tell you, the dead sea was AWESOME.  Its like floating on an invisible pool mat.  It’s impossible to sink. COMPLETELY impossible.  So impossible that I found myself floating up when I was only halfway in the water.  You can’t even swim in it. It actually takes a great amount of effort just to be upright.  You just kinda bob there.

(fyi: its due to the high sodium content in the water)

We barrel-rolled and ‘skydived’ and ‘starfished’ and then realized that any sort of blemish on your skin is going to begin to burn and we promptly booked it outta there and used the pool for the rest of the day.


Jordan:

Best bit: bobbing along in the sea
Worst part: stairs+ 45 degree heat = my personal hell
 Souvenirs: Bedouin jewellery for luther & 'landmark' for my skyline. Also, starbucks 'jordan' collectable mug




 

Jordan: PETRA AND THE DEAD SEA (OR...'INDIANNA JONES AND THE SEA OF UNSINKABLES!)

 

So, Kerry, Melanie and Matt (fellow teachers) and I decided to trek to the middle east (Jordan) and see what its like to visit these two places:

1.)    Petra: the site that always has a large prominent picture in travel-themed wall calendars entitled things like ‘things you must see before you die’ or ‘marvels around the world’  but is often overshadowed by  its popular Greek and Mayan ancient ruin counterparts…

 

2.)    The DEAD Sea: The sea with so much sodium its impossible to sink. ( I have to add- this was NOT a gimmick. I could NOT believe this until I realized I could ‘barrel-roll’ from one end of the swimming area to the other. Floating. On the water.

 

I went out for dinner for chicken shawerma with luther before leaving at a restaurant in maadi called ‘dishes’.  This restaurant knows us by now because luther always asks to watch UEFA on their tv.  We bid eachother adieu as he was writing his final exams the next day (he is officially DONE) and I had to catch a flight to ammon, Jordan at 11:15pm.

 

PETRA!

After we got there, we rented a car and Matt, Mel and I drove to Petra.  For those who do not know, petra is an ancient city that was used by Egyptians, Greeks, Asians etc. for trading.  It was built/carved into the red stone and although much of it is destroyed by water (once submerged by channels) its ruins are a large (expensive…75.00 cdn for a day pass!) and mysterious site to see.

(For more information: please consult your local dvd cabinet/torrent site/favorite 80’s youtube channel to check out petra. Its where they shot Indiana jones!)

transformers II too :)

epic.

 

 

Anyway, petra is HUGE.  We first saw it at night where they have this event called ‘petra at night’.  You walk down the path to the ‘treasury’ (most well-known building) and they have all these candles lit up in front of it. Its very beautiful (and impossible to take pictures in front of because cameras just don’t capture its mystery and beauty of the building behind the flames.  If you have ever attempted taking a picture in front of an awesome Halloween display you get what I’m saying. )

 

We walked back and called it a night only to arrive there early the next morning at 7am (hotel breakfast = shrak bread ie: Arabic bread and different spreads and such) Its like greek pita bread really.  Anyway, Petra was A LOT A LOT A LOT larger and spread out than I realized.  In fact, by the time I hit ‘the hill of sacrifice’ I was ready to take a nap.  Petra is the kind of place where its a lot of climbing and stairs.  Since the stairs are eroded and ancient they are not very levelled- so it takes quite an effort to climb around this place (also…whoever built petra must have really liked stairs and heights.  There was a TON of them.)

camels

for further info: google, 'married to a bedouin' -amazing lady who gave everything to live in the caves with her husband.Still lives there and I bought luther a ring from her. :)

 

Mel and I made it from 7am-2pm.  By then, we heard it was another ‘hour long walk’ mel decided to take a donkey. THEN we heard it was another hour long climb up to the monastery.  Factor in an hour walk down and an 1.5 hour trek back through the city to the entrance gates and mel and I decided to pack it in.  The others went ahead and we began the endless walk in the blazing hot sun back to the front gates.  We were both excruciatingly hot and tired.  My favorite conversation went something like this:

Me: omigod. I’m going to die.  I think I’m going to cry. I m actually going to cry

Mel: Oh- Go ahead, s’okay.  I already cried twice now.

 We also decided that perhaps mel wasn’t shedding tears, her eyeballs may have been sweating.

Anyway, after a long cold shower and some beloved Middle Eastern gummy worms, we decided that returning home early was the BEST DECISION OF LIFE.

The other teachers crawled in a few hours later.  Needless to say, we all went to bed early and walked and complained like old people for the rest of the trip.
 

the 'egyptian' way

So, our water heater in our kitchen crapped out on us a few weeks back.  After numerous attempts at trying to get it fixed through what the school labels as 'proper protocol' Luther finally had it and called our egypto-mom from down the hall. (the one with the dogs :) ) She managed to get someone to schedule a meeting.  So, 2 weeks go by with excuses from this company such as:
- 'illness'
- 'holiday' (ok that one was legit- it WAS the holiday of 'Sham el Nassim)
- 'holiday number 2' (not sure what that one was...)
- 'forgetfulness'

and just straight up, 'not today'.  So finally he comes by and looks at our water heater and leaves.  Turns out he can't do anything until he orders a new one.

Flash forward 1 more week when the water heater is 'in stock'

3 days later, someone comes in to install it.

They open the box, bang on our broken one a few times and leave after an hour.

Where did they go? I haven't a clue, but there is a broken water heater on my wall and a brand new one in an opened box. 

Let me irritate:

water heater broken.  2 weeks to get someone in.  1 week to order new heater.  3 days to have someone install it and one hour of banging around leaves me with an opened box in the middle of mu kitchen.

So my Egyptian mom comes by and just gives the guy hell.  Turns out he ordered the wrong one and totally got busted for trying to keep our money.  So...after an hour of yelling on the phone and at the repair guy we should have a new water heater tomorrow...

yup...

We were told after all this; that it is just the 'Egyptian way' and unfortunately, you have to fight like hell to get equality.  Westerner or not, most businesses will do absolutely nothing for you unless you scream blue murder at them.

(I should have known this after our internet and phone problems.)

but there you have it. 

And I STILL have no hot water in my kitchen. :P

p.s. the repair guy totally tried to steal luthers 'Egypt Exploration Society' pen.  Our bowab caught him.

p.s.s. luther and I went for a walk in another expat area called 'zamalek' (more crowded and closer to downtown- however this also means there is more to do and see)

I bought the coolest shoes of life. 

they ARE red. and yes, they ARE sparkly. and do you REALLY have to ask if I click my heels 3x and say....????