Living here often reminds me of growing up in the Gulf South. No, you don't see guys walking around wearing Costas and Seersucker pants. And no, you don't see kids playing wearing themed smocked outfits.
Aside from the lack of some of my favorite things about the South (cause I do love me a smocked theme outfit and Seth in Seersucker) there are plenty of times where I'm reminded of growing up in Hurricane Country. Obviously there aren't any actual hurricanes here. Rain here lasts for maybe 10 seconds, and is easily confused with someone just watering their grass.
So how is living in the desert in the Middle East like living in the sub-tropical Gulf South? Grab your hurricane lamps and your bags of ice, pull up a chair, and I'll tell you.
Rolling Blackouts
There is no joy like the process of trying your best to get to sleep without power, in the middle of summer, while mosquitoes feast on your blood. The air is think and you're going crazy. You really can't react the way you'd like to, which is throwing a tantrum and air punching in the darkness, because if you did you would get even more hot.
With a hurricane the power is out for week(s), depending on how badly you were hit. In Cairo the power can be out for hours, depending on...well, I have no idea how they regulate who gets blacked out and for how long. In the midst of my tantrum I always picture a guy in a big control room with blinking lights. Fully fanned and in the A/C with feet propped up and reading a magazine. He has forgotten our section in Maadi, was supposed to have restored power hours ago, but he's reading and chewing gum. Maybe add a head phone to the image.
The feeling our stagnant air makes my skin crawl. Memories of laying in bed post hurricane, no power, come flooding back into my mind. And here those memories are pretty much a nightly occurrence because rolling blackouts are frequent. We have two fans pointed directly at us in our room. Benjamin has one too. Fans are just something we gotta have. Fans and my $100 to the shop owner on Road 9 who still has my money...and the two fans we're supposed to own. I digress.
Election Maddness
I can't wrap my mind around the election (I'm talking Egypt here, not the US). I fully admit to not being as up to date as I should be in the process. It changes constantly, and I don't know that it's my place to have an opinion about the election one way or another. It is interesting to get perspectives from different people. Most Coptics want Ahmed Shafik, obviously people who are in the Muslim Brotherhood want Mohamed Morsi. Overall, the masses don't want either one. Shafik comes from Mubarak's regime, and people do not trust the Muslim Brotherhood.
First they have elections for a new Parliament. Huzzah! Elections that count in Egypt. Not so fast...SCAF dissolved Parliament last week.
Now we're waiting out the results of the runoff between Shafik and Morsi. Both parties claim a victory. I saw a funny tweet saying "Egypt hasn't had a President for 16 months and now we have 2!". Whatever side wins can lead to another revolution. Most feel that another large scale revolution, which is likely to turn violent, is certain if Shafik wins. I can her my mom gasping right now (Hi, Mommy!). We are safe.
So, how is this like a hurricane? The wait. The buildup. The uncertainty.
Like when a hurricane is coming, and you sit in front of the tv for hours watching all news channels for any up to date information. Aaaah! Maybe CNN has just received breaking news...No, change it to Fox! Maybe they know...Local news? They're local and stuff! All the while you're watching that huge cloud thingy on the tv approaching your home. Doom is coming! Dooooommm!
But, maybe not. Like the hurricane that was supposed to kill us all (Ike?), and we didn't get a drop of rain. I was all suited up in my hurricane gear of a rain slicker and baseball cap. I looked just like the weather men on every news station.I then ran to my parent's house (Seth and our dog Brew in tow) just like a good baby of the family should do. After an hour I took off the rain coat. 100 degree weather and my ensemble just didn't mesh well. After 3 hours we stopped watching the news and turned it to a movie. After 6 hours I was over it. When we woke up we saw that nothing had happened. We were all safe and sound, dry as a bone.
So far every supposed to be big event here has been very Ike-like. There were large protests in November that got violent, but nothing that directly affected us at all. We all stayed glued to Al Jazeera's Egypt Blog, all the tweets from people in the protests and the news. We didn't know if we were going to be evacuated or what. What happened? We were not evacuated, the protests didn't head our way, and things in Maadi didn't change one bit. It was business as usual the entire time. Same thing with Mubarak's trial. What would happen when the verdict was read?! And, just as an aside, could the guy reading his sentence have taken any longer?! Like 45 minutes of talk before giving the verdict. After the verdict came I left a friend's house to bring Benjamin home for his nap. I didn't hear any radio's playing from the trial, nobody was talking about it, it was just a normal day.
We don't know what's going to happen after the election results are announced. They were supposed to announce them today. But, sigh, they're going to announce them on Saturday or Sunday. Which, as I understand, is illegal. We have a suitcase packed just in case we're evacuated. All precautions have been taken. Also, Seth's company (along with pretty much every other company/USAID/Embassy) just don't sit on their hands when bad things are going down. If it becomes necessary for us to leave we will be out of here. And quick-like.
So if any of this blog has made you worried for our safety (Hi Mom- buy ham before we come home) please do not be worried. I just feel that it's necessary to document all of our experiences here, good or bad.
We're just sitting back and waiting what's next. As CNN calls it it's a possible "developing story".
 |
| I don't know, man. We just like to theme out our kids in embroidered stuff. Just go with it... |
Aside from the lack of some of my favorite things about the South (cause I do love me a smocked theme outfit and Seth in Seersucker) there are plenty of times where I'm reminded of growing up in Hurricane Country. Obviously there aren't any actual hurricanes here. Rain here lasts for maybe 10 seconds, and is easily confused with someone just watering their grass.
So how is living in the desert in the Middle East like living in the sub-tropical Gulf South? Grab your hurricane lamps and your bags of ice, pull up a chair, and I'll tell you.
t6erlsBLDJW0N4s!~~_35.JPG) |
| A hurricane lamp- in case you needed a reference |
Rolling Blackouts
There is no joy like the process of trying your best to get to sleep without power, in the middle of summer, while mosquitoes feast on your blood. The air is think and you're going crazy. You really can't react the way you'd like to, which is throwing a tantrum and air punching in the darkness, because if you did you would get even more hot.
 |
| Why didn't we get the ultra powered generator? Why?! |
With a hurricane the power is out for week(s), depending on how badly you were hit. In Cairo the power can be out for hours, depending on...well, I have no idea how they regulate who gets blacked out and for how long. In the midst of my tantrum I always picture a guy in a big control room with blinking lights. Fully fanned and in the A/C with feet propped up and reading a magazine. He has forgotten our section in Maadi, was supposed to have restored power hours ago, but he's reading and chewing gum. Maybe add a head phone to the image.
 |
| Add blinking lights, maybe one of those light up maps of the world, and this is how I picture the guy. |
The feeling our stagnant air makes my skin crawl. Memories of laying in bed post hurricane, no power, come flooding back into my mind. And here those memories are pretty much a nightly occurrence because rolling blackouts are frequent. We have two fans pointed directly at us in our room. Benjamin has one too. Fans are just something we gotta have. Fans and my $100 to the shop owner on Road 9 who still has my money...and the two fans we're supposed to own. I digress.
Election Maddness
I can't wrap my mind around the election (I'm talking Egypt here, not the US). I fully admit to not being as up to date as I should be in the process. It changes constantly, and I don't know that it's my place to have an opinion about the election one way or another. It is interesting to get perspectives from different people. Most Coptics want Ahmed Shafik, obviously people who are in the Muslim Brotherhood want Mohamed Morsi. Overall, the masses don't want either one. Shafik comes from Mubarak's regime, and people do not trust the Muslim Brotherhood.
First they have elections for a new Parliament. Huzzah! Elections that count in Egypt. Not so fast...SCAF dissolved Parliament last week.
Now we're waiting out the results of the runoff between Shafik and Morsi. Both parties claim a victory. I saw a funny tweet saying "Egypt hasn't had a President for 16 months and now we have 2!". Whatever side wins can lead to another revolution. Most feel that another large scale revolution, which is likely to turn violent, is certain if Shafik wins. I can her my mom gasping right now (Hi, Mommy!). We are safe.
So, how is this like a hurricane? The wait. The buildup. The uncertainty.
Like when a hurricane is coming, and you sit in front of the tv for hours watching all news channels for any up to date information. Aaaah! Maybe CNN has just received breaking news...No, change it to Fox! Maybe they know...Local news? They're local and stuff! All the while you're watching that huge cloud thingy on the tv approaching your home. Doom is coming! Dooooommm!
But, maybe not. Like the hurricane that was supposed to kill us all (Ike?), and we didn't get a drop of rain. I was all suited up in my hurricane gear of a rain slicker and baseball cap. I looked just like the weather men on every news station.I then ran to my parent's house (Seth and our dog Brew in tow) just like a good baby of the family should do. After an hour I took off the rain coat. 100 degree weather and my ensemble just didn't mesh well. After 3 hours we stopped watching the news and turned it to a movie. After 6 hours I was over it. When we woke up we saw that nothing had happened. We were all safe and sound, dry as a bone.
 |
| This guy missed the memo regarding wearing a baseball cap. |
So far every supposed to be big event here has been very Ike-like. There were large protests in November that got violent, but nothing that directly affected us at all. We all stayed glued to Al Jazeera's Egypt Blog, all the tweets from people in the protests and the news. We didn't know if we were going to be evacuated or what. What happened? We were not evacuated, the protests didn't head our way, and things in Maadi didn't change one bit. It was business as usual the entire time. Same thing with Mubarak's trial. What would happen when the verdict was read?! And, just as an aside, could the guy reading his sentence have taken any longer?! Like 45 minutes of talk before giving the verdict. After the verdict came I left a friend's house to bring Benjamin home for his nap. I didn't hear any radio's playing from the trial, nobody was talking about it, it was just a normal day.
We don't know what's going to happen after the election results are announced. They were supposed to announce them today. But, sigh, they're going to announce them on Saturday or Sunday. Which, as I understand, is illegal. We have a suitcase packed just in case we're evacuated. All precautions have been taken. Also, Seth's company (along with pretty much every other company/USAID/Embassy) just don't sit on their hands when bad things are going down. If it becomes necessary for us to leave we will be out of here. And quick-like.
So if any of this blog has made you worried for our safety (Hi Mom- buy ham before we come home) please do not be worried. I just feel that it's necessary to document all of our experiences here, good or bad.
We're just sitting back and waiting what's next. As CNN calls it it's a possible "developing story".
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