'Cuz you had a bad day...

We (at least Ellie and I) really had a bad day yesterday. First, I dropped our laptop, so half of the screen doesn't work. There is a big crack in it. Anyone know if that is fixable? Secondly, Ellie found a water dispenser at the hotel which unfortunately dispenses hot water as well as cold. I was a split second too late and she burned her hand. I knew something was really wrong when she wouldn't stop crying, even to nurse. It was getting redder and redder, so I told Jason to find us a doctor, which he did. We went to the hospital, Ellie screaming the whole way, where we found out it was pretty much like a really bad sunburn. Water blisters formed, and it looks really bad (red and peeling), but it should be fine. She hasn't complained at all today about it. We have a cream to put on it twice a day. The last catastophe was at night, when Ellie pulled on a decorative scarf on our fridge, pulling down everything on there. Including two heavy drinking glasses that exploded upon impact. Luckily she only got a couple of very small cuts on her feet. How embarrassing to show up at the hospital again! (not to mention, of course, that we were happy that she was safe.)

Today has been much better.

Sweets for the sweet

I am still amazed at how Ellie is treated here. I thought she was a little spoiled back home, but she is treated like a celebrity here. She runs around with full rein and when I try to stop her, people say, "no, it's okay." Everywhere we go, people give her sweets, like candy bars, cookies, etc. She has mastered the word "cookie." I have even come to expect this, so much so that yesterday when a man randomly asked me if she liked orange juice and if I wanted some, I said sure. So, he goes and gets some, brings it back, and then asks me for money. Oops.

One of the Arabic teachers from U of A, the one that Jason and I had together, is here in Cairo and her son is taking the same classes as Jason. Her husband is Egyptian, so she has a membership at a "club" here in Zamalek (that's the neighborhood we are in). It is somewhat like a country club, but it is huge, more like a college campus. It has everything, swimming, tennis, squash, basketball, restaurants, and even a gigantic children's area. She has given me and Jason guest passes so we can come to it as well. What a relief, to have somewhere fun to take Ellie to.

Home Sweet Home

We finally found a place to stay. It is nothing like we originally wanted, but at least it is somewhere to settle down. After days of fruitless searching (everything is extremely expensive this time of year), we settled on a long-term hotel. So, it is only one room, but it has a bathroom, three beds, and a safe balcony for Ellie to play on. The nice thing about a hotel is we don't have to wash our sheets or towels, they have a small breakfast available each morning, we don't have to pay for utilities, and most importantly, the man at the front desk is a wealth of information. Oh yeah, and since we don't have a kitchen, I'm not expected to cook!

Jason was able to give a huge sigh of relief once we decided to stay here, because he spent countless hours on foot searching. Now we can settle in and relax. Ellie is still getting used to sleeping in the same room as us (Mimi, Papi, and Aunt Nichole know what that means), but she is getting better.

We're here!

After two long days, we are finally in Cairo. Ellie was amazingly good during the traveling, maybe because she was the only one out of the three of us that was able to sleep at all. Jason and I are still exhausted, since we arrived at our hotel around 2:30am last night after not sleeping for many hours. Hopefully tonight we can get a full night's sleep.

The hotel we are staying at until we find an apartment is great. I found a review of it on a traveler's website, and it is perfect for us. It is much cheaper than the American chains here, but very English-friendly. There was a wonderful breakfast buffet this morning with eggs, sausages, breads, yogurt, cereal, and pastries. The manager of the hotel is helping us to find an apartment and is an excellent resource for finding things around the neighborhood.

I am amazed at how all the men here act much differently toward me than last time I was here. Since I have had Ellie strapped to my hip, they don't really pay any attention to me. Almost every single one has cooed and made faces at her, trying to get her to laugh. She is handling the different culture very well, and has not been afraid yet.

Jason begins classes on Sunday, so until then we will just be getting used to the city. I'll keep you all updated!

Ellie's beach portrait
from our trip to LA

One week to go!

It is hard to believe that there is less than one week until we leave for Egypt. We have a nonstop flight from Phoenix to London that is 11 hours long. Eleven hours! The only saving grace is that is begins at 7:30 pm, Ellie's approximate bedtime. We are hoping really hard that she will sleep through most of it. She couldn't last 10 minutes through Jason's sister's graduation; I doubt she would be much fun for that long in such closed quarters. The second flight from London to Cairo seems short in comparison, but it is still five hours. I'm thinking that would be a good naptime. Let's see if Ellie agrees.

So, we found out that we have to be at an in-country orientation for the Fulbright that is September 3-7th. We'll have a little less than a month in between Egypt and Jordan to visit friends and family. The only thing is that Jason's classes in Jordan don't start until the middle of October, so we will have over a month there with no plans. Travel, maybe? I'm not sure what countries we can get into, but there are some really interesting ones around that area.

Jason's Gram is going to be visiting us in Cairo the end of June. We are SO EXCITED about that, so I wanted to open up the invitation to all. If anyone has ever wanted to visit Cairo or Amman, Jordan, now would be a good time to come. You'd have a place to stay and an Arabic-speaking tour guide!

Hello friends and family!

Once again, I am beginning a new blog. Myspace was okay, but some people had problems with it. So, this seems to be the easiest way to post our updates.

Right now we are traveling between all the grandparents, until we take off for Egypt June 12th. Ellie is loving it, as she loves being the center of attention. The only downside for her is she misses her Aunt Nichole and friend Kyle (well, mostly Mindy). She even invented her own sign for Nichole. For those of you who don't know, she uses sign language to communicate, and she knows about 20 signs. We were showing her a family picture and every time we pointed to Nichole she would cross her arms in front of her. We can't figure out yet if she is saying "I Love you", or if it is because Nichole often crosses her arms, or if it is something completely different. Either way, she is one smart cookie.

We have some big news (no, no new baby). Jason was offered the Fulbright award, and after much deliberation, we have accepted it. This means that we will be going to Jordan (the country in the Middle East) this year, from September to June of next year. We'll post more about that later, but we are still planning to go to Wisconsin for Jason's Ph.D., it will just be delayed a year.