1. I have to make my own coffee. Unlike the Big E, I never think to prepare the coffee pot the night before, so that a simple flick of the on-button in the morning will get the job done as fast as I need it.
2. A camp-like atmosphere prevails, in which […]
One of Anna’s homework assignments last week was to spread a light coating of vegetable oil over a plastic-coated sheet of paper, and to place the paper outside. The particulates that accumulated on the paper after just one night provided a sobering representation of the quality of air in our neighborhood, one of the […]
And now, we are back again. The Brownies headed to a very neatly run “center for sustainable development” two hours south of Cairo this weekend. Though the trip got off to a groggy start — our early departure hour was aggravated by the beginning of Daylight Savings Time here in Egypt (and some […]
Yesterday, Evie said, “Mom, I see a kitty.” Then she said, “No, I guess I was wrong.”
I saw the cat next. I was frightened. I went to the TV room, and there was a cat. It was an orange cat, and it ran under the couch. Me and mom went outside and […]
After Anna’s first day back to school a couple of days ago (following her more-than-perfect visit to the U.S.), she announced that April 23-27 is Turn Off the Television week. The rule is no TV, no DVDs, and no computer games, and she intends to comply. For her, the challenge is extra great, […]
Loved this, on the back of a minivan on River Road yesterday:
Is it 2008 yet?
Tonight, Anna and I leave on that damn middle-of-the-night Lufthansa flight for Washington, D.C. and its familiar environs. Me, for work — and a fairly intensive schedule at that. Anna, because she more or less threatened to hold her breath for the 10 days that I am away if I did not […]
I noticed that my regular taxi driver, Sayed, had been out of circulation for a while. Usually he spots me and yells loudly for my attention whenever I am within 50 meters of the school gate, where he regularly parks in hopes of grabbing those inflated expatriate fares. Four out of five times […]
The latest member of the extended family to revel in the humor of Calvin and Hobbes is Evie. During our recent trip, she asked to be read a compilation of cartoons, Something Under the Bed is Drooling, several times over.
So, now, our life has become one big Calvin and Hobbes skit. […]
To: Spain
From: Recent Visitors (American, based in Egypt)
Just back, Spain, from a week among a handful of your more and less traveled spots — Madrid, the western province of Extremadura, Toledo, and Segovia. In a world where children are more intrigued by the Magic Kingdom than by the actual castles that inspired Walt Disney, we managed to […]