Happy Ethiopian New Year Y'all

Sara invited us to her apartement to celebrate Ethiopian New Year.  We were very grateful and glady accepted the invitation. 

The day started early with Seth and I taking a trip down to good ol' Tahir Square (yea, that Tahir Square) to visit American soil.  We had to go to the US Embassy in Cairo to get some forms notarized for the sale of our house.  Closing on September 30th inshallah.  A friend of ours works there, so he met us outside our apartment and we walked there together.  By walk I mean we walked to the Metro, got on it, got off it and walked to the Embassy.  The Metro wasn't that bad, wasn't the whole adventure I was expecting.  It was pretty normal apart from being all kinds of hot and cramped.  They have women's only cars, but women are not expected to ride in them.  They're free to ride in all the cars, but men can't ride in the women only ones.  I didn't get in the women only car because I didn't know where we were going and didn't want to get seperated from Seth.

I didn't bring my camera on this trip because I knew I couldn't take any pictures of or in the Embassy, so you'll have to make due with the images I found on Google. 

Cairo Metro

Tahir Square was calm and quiet.  Nobody was protesting.  Well, some people were protesting in front of the Embassy.  By protesting I mean they were quietly sitting or sleeping in front of it. I don't know why- could be the whole Isreal vs Egypt thing, could be that they want one of the 9/11 terrorists released because he's old.  Whatever their reason they were not a threat.

Here is another image from Google.  I promise (just to clarify in case any government guys are reading this)...

The Embassy was kinda cool.  We had to wait in line outside for awhile, but it wasn't nearly as bad as non-US Citizens whose line was about 100 deep at 7am.  Once we went inside we were checked twice and sat in the most American waiting room I've seen since March.  It even had central air!  Central air!  Not to mention an actual water fountain!  Water fountain!....but yea, I wasn't going to drink that water even if someone told me it was tapped directly from The Rockies and had nothing to fear. 


We got home, rested and then went to Sara's for dinner.  And oh man was it good.

We took a Taxi so Seth didn't have to fool with driving there. 

Sara's apartment actually made me miss home.  She has a lot of stuff that you'll find at my parent's house or my dad's office.  Ethiopian baskets, paintings and crosses are all over her walls.  I really enjoyed being there and visiting with her and her family.  Sara and her sisters were dressed in traditional Ethiopian linen dresses and they looked beautiful.

Benjamin and Sara, or "Ser"

Sara knew that Seth loves Ethiopian coffee, so she had her sister Gannet prepare a traditional coffee ceremony.  What's a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony you say?  It's the most awesome thing ever, and if you're into coffee it's super awesome.

Ethiopia's coffee ceremony is an integral part of their social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality. Performing the ceremony is almost obligatory in the presence of a visitor, whatever the time of day. Don't be in a hurry though - this special ceremony can take a few hours. So sit back and enjoy because it is most definitely not instant.- link

Benjamin loved the smoke from the incense.  Everyone was careful to make sure he didn't get too close to the burning coals.

Just like we have our traditional dishes in America (turkey on Thanksgiving, Lamb for Easter) Ethiopians have their traditional dishes. Chicken Doro Wat is a stew that consists of onions, a ton of pepper and chicken. That's about it- oh, and boiled eggs go to the guest of honor. It's served over ingera which is a sour tasting spongy bread. It's delicious. Sara made us yogurt in case we found the Doro too spicy.

Table full of Ethiopian dishes for us to try

Getting ready to dig in

Benjamin rocked out to Ethiopian music while we ate

Sara also made Tella which Seth enjoyed

We got home, gave Benjamin a bath, and crashed in bed around 8:30pm.  It was a long, but very interesting day.  We had an amazing time at Sara's house, and were also so grateful she invited us to her home to celebrate her holiday with us.  Thank you Sara and Happy New Year!

Skoo

Benjamin's first day at Nursery (or as he says it "skoo")was September 4th.  He is going part time (3 days/week) to The Irish School here in Maadi.

Big boy backpack and lunch box needed for school

So far so good.  I went with him on his first day and stayed with him the whole time.  He started playing in the garden (outside on the swings and playground for my American peeps) and then at 9 am the classes seperated and he went inside.  He was very excited to be in his classroom.  They have books, puzzles and all kinds of things for him to play with.  We left around 11am and headed back home.  He was asleep in his stroller within 5 minutes of the ride home.

Today was a new phase in the introduction to nursery.  Sara came with me so that the staff would know her in case she needed to drop him off or pick him up.  We only stayed until it looked as though he was comfortable without us.  Benjamin was on the swings.  He couldn't of been more comfortable.  My man loves a swing.

awwww yea, they have cars to play with

On the swing with his teacher.  The girl to his left with the blonde hair has the cutest Irish accent.

I picked him up at 11 am and got the report.  His teacher told me that he cried a lot when he saw that we were gone.  Then he slept- slept!  This is the child that will not sleep if there are a lot of things going on around him.  He woke up, realized he was still at school, and started having a great time.  He was on the swings when I picked him up.  I asked him if he wanted to go, and of course I got a "no".

Playground at Benjamin's school, perfect size too

He stayed all day (9am-2pm) on the third day of his first week.  He did great, had a great time and suprise!  we went to play at Bennett's house because they were back from going to the US. 

Benjamin was sick for the past week, so today (Sept 18) was his first day back.  He did great and had a good day.

My two sick guys taking naps.  Mom took this picture while running a 101 fever...fun weekend for all!

Invention is the mother of necessity

So, Culinary School didn't send me in the depths of the restaurant industry like I thought it would. My parent's hard earned money didn't go to waste though. I'm actually pretty good with looking at what we have and making something edible out of it. It's difficult to do because Benjamin eats what we eat, so I have to make sure what I'm serving is something he will also enjoy.

Here are two things I've made on the fly that have turned into some of our favorites.

Pan Seared Chicken Breast with Spicy Tomato Sauce

4 Chicken Breasts (seasoned with Best Stop Seasoning)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes

1 Onion, diced

3 Garlic pods, diced

1/2 Cup Whole Kalamata Olives, pitted

1/2 Cup Whole Green Olives, pitted

1/4 tsp Crushed Peppers

Add olive oil to sauté pan, heat. Pan sear chicken breast on both sides set aside.

Sauté onion and garlic in pan. Add can of tomatoes, mix in crushed peppers, salt and pepper. Add both kinds of olives.

Place Chicken in an oven safe dish (I have a Pyrex dish that has its own lid), pour tomato sauce over the chicken. Cover the dish

Bake for 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (your oven may be totally rad and you won't need to cook as long.  Here in half-ass assembly land I have to cook it forever)

Serve over Polenta or any kind of Pasta you'd like to make. Penne works really well with this.

So delicious! This 21 month old sends his approval

Beef Stew with Rosemary and Green Beans

Pack of Beef Chunks (seasoned with Best Stop Seasoning)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Flour- never measured it; it's to make a roux with the oil

1/2 cup Onion, diced

3 cloves Garlic, diced

1 cup Water (Chicken Stock would be the best option, but I can't find hit here)

1-2 springs Rosemary (no chopping needed)

1/3 cup Whole Milk or Cream

Brown beef in oil, remove from pan. You may have to add more olive oil at this point. Add flour to make roux. Stir a lot to remove starchy flavor. Add Onion and Garlic. Add Water or Chicken stock. Stir. Add Cream. Add Rosemary.  Add Beef back to sauce once all the ingredients have incorporated.  Cook for 15 minutes.

Serve over, you guessed it, Polenta

To add a little awesome to the Polenta check out this recipe from Pioneer Woman Cooks.

The Green Beans are done the typical way.  Blanch, saute with chopped garlic and serve.  I cut them up and mix it together with Benny's meal.  He's a fan.

Seth commented on how it's great that I'm making everything from scratch now, and I'm honestly loving being able to do that.  There was no way that I'd cook an entire meal from scratch when we were in the US.  That's a heap of dirty pans not to mention getting Benny from daycare, trying to spend some quality time with him before crying,dinner for him, crying, bath, play time, crying then bed time.  We were eating a good number of hot dogs a couple of months ago.

"I'd like to discuss a wonderful opportunity that I'm sharing with only my closest friends..."

Seth showed me this t shirt the other day.  We thought it was pretty funny.

Allison and JO will appreciate it as well.  "It's a Pyramid Scheme.  Yea, that sounds like a Pyramid Scheme.  Pyramid Scheme!"

Lunch is fun

I'm saying so many words now!

Our first visitors!

Jeremy and Allison came to visit us this past weekend, so needless to say we had an amazing time touring places around Cairo.  It was awesome to be with our good friends and show them around the city.  Plus Seth and I got to tour places we haven't been as well.  Egypt is very quiet right now because tourism is at a low.  For one it's July and it's super hot and the other is because of the revolution.  We would say "nice for us, bad for them" because we didn't go anywhere that was too crowded.

I toured the Giza Pyramids with them because the last time I went we had Benny with us, and I couldn't pay much attention to the tour. It was a great treat to be able to take it all in and really enjoy the tour.

JO and Allison getting the rundown from our go-to tour guide Michael.  Want to hear Egyptian history from 2050 BC-2011 AD in 15 minutes?  Call Mike.  We need to get him an LSU hat...

Camel in the distance.  I'd say it's an ancient Bedouin tribe, but nah.  It's prolly a tourist.

I have no idea how to correct the alignment from this point on, dang you captions messing this up!!

We left the Pyramids and headed to the Egyptian Museum.  You're not allowed to take any pictures inside the museum, so we left our cameras in the van.  Michael, our tour guide, pointed to the left and said "Oh, there is Tahrir Square."  All casual like too!  It was nuts to look to my left to see the epicenter of the Egyptian Revolution of January 2011.  You could see the white tents, but it was not very packed.  If it would of been we wouldnt of been able to go to the museum. 

The museum is a site to see.  It doesn't have any AC, so it's all kinds of hot, it's pretty random in the placement of things and you really feel like you could steal something at any time.  These ancient, priceless artifacts are just behind thin glass with a lock and key.  Even King Tut's stuff doesn't appear well protected.

We came home and relaxed for a bit.  Took the O-bergs around Maadi for a bit and then got supplies for our felucca ride.  We had been on once before, so we knew how to haggle and what to bring.

Our last trip on a felucca.  I literally wore the exact outfit, so I figured we could recycle pics.

Now the alignment is fixed?!! 

Jeremy and Allison enjoying the Nile and some beers

Liz and Allen were able to join us!  Sara, or St Sara as she's not called, watched Bennet and Benjamin.  Bless her

The next day was jam packed with tours.  We went to the Citadel, The Muhammad (no not the boxer) Ali Mosque, the Essential Essence/Oil shop, Coptic Cairo and the Khan el-Khalili Souk. 

Michael, our tour guide, is a Coptic Christian so touring Coptic Cairo with him was great. Very interesting to get different perspectives on the subjects like Muslim/Coptic relationships in Egypt, The Revolution and different cultures in general.

We couldn't take pictures inside of  Saint Sargius Church in Coptic Cairo.  It's a beautiful church where the Holy Family stayed in a crypt when they flead to Egypt.  Seth and I lit two candles at the church for Benjamin.  We did that when I was pregnant and we went to a church in Nicaragua.  It's a tradition that I look forward to doing in every country we visit.

The group outside the mosque

Going inside the mosque.  That's all Alabaster- beautiful to say the least

365 lights for each day of the year. 

Trying on different scents.  JO and Seth picked out one called Ramses.  Supposed to be the scent he wore...he also had like 100 kids, so the only emulating that will take place is smelling like the dude.

Outside Ben Ezra Temple

Great pic of our amazing friends!  You just have to wonder who walked these streets...it's a lot to wrap your mind around

The Hanging Church, the only church we were allowe to take pics of inside.

Baptism Font inside the Hanging Church

Each Coptic Church is going to have an interior that resembles Noah's Ark.  The tops are all wood

The Virgin Mary appeared twice over the church.  Once in the 60's and another time in the 2000's.

We had a great trip with Jeremy and Allison.  Benjamin missed his Parrain O!  Thank y'all so so much for visiting us.  

Around Maadi

Just some pictures from walking around Maadi the past couple of weeks.


Ramadan starts next month and people are starting to put out their lamps. I'll take more pictures and do more explaining next month because I've never experienced it before. So far it reminds me of Christmas because the stores have Ramadan themed foods on display. We went to Carrefour the other day and it was (not unlike any other time, but this one deserves mention) a mad house. People were buying up the entire store. 

Men with these types of carts come by our street selling juice at least twice a day. It must be a Summer thing here because they didn't come by in the Spring.  He's actually right outside my window as I'm typing this! 

The juice is made from tamarinds.  It's very refreshing and really helps cool you off on a hot day.

I've already written about the Egyptians love of children. This little girl lives across the street. She was very proud to show us her new bike. She also kept offering Benny a bite of her sandwich (egg as far as I could tell)

This is common to see right now as well. I haven't tried one yet, but have heard they're similar to a guava.

We usually go to the gelatto shop every weekend (salted caramel gelatto is amazing) and took a turn down a street to explore. You never know what you're going to find. This place reminded me of my Uncle Frank and his love of going junking...

I quickly breezed through this shop.  It was really cool and had a lot of hand made puppets and things for kids.  I'll have to come back when I don't have a toddler who is apt to grab and destory all in his path.

We really need to talk to our neighbor about parking his donkey in our driveway...