Can you miss what you don't know is missing?

[wayfaringwordhack]

I'm back, but I bet you didn't even know I was gone. It has been a busy week, and I'd like to just crash into a puddle for a couple of days. The chances of that happening are slim, though, seeing as how I have a ton of stuff to keep me busy until we leave for France for the summer.

Last Saturday, we visited Abo Gilban, a tiny village in the Beni Suef governorate with Healing Grace, an outreach program that helps provide children with education and health care.

We first visited several homes where the children told us a bit about themselves, what subjects they liked, whether or not they are sponsored...

Then Sprout made a friend, who tried to help her pet the village goats, while Junebug got coddled by loving mamas. The kiddos all wanted a photo of Sprout and Junebug before we left. And one boy, our guide, asked to take a photo of J with our camera.  I love it:

A door, just because:

It was a three-hour drive there and back, but we did it and then rose at 4:30 the following morning to fly to Sharm el-Sheik, on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. There we took a cab to Dahab, an hour's drive up the coast. J kitesurfed while the kids and I played on the beach. The wind was good for J but made it rather cold for the rest of us to swim.  It wasn't until our last day that we actually paddled and splashed about the sea.  Still, it was lovely to get away from Cairo and breathe clean air!

We arrived home last night to death threats being yelled by a policeman at a screaming woman*. "Welcome to Egypt," said a man when I looked at him with eyebrows raised in question. The air, flooding in through our open windows, reeked with the smell of burning plastic and vomit.  Welcome home, indeed.

And now it is time for bed, but before I go:  At 11USD per HOUR(!!!) for an Internet connection at our hotel, I didn't connect at all while gone.  If you feel so inclined, please tell me what you have been up to.

________
* We didn't understand what was said at the time because it was in Arabic. Our Egyptian friend who picked us up at the airport translated after and told us that he is afraid another uprising is in Egypt's not-too-distant future. :(

Comments

[frigg.livejournal.com]

What a crappy home coming, but looks like a good time was had by all. Great pics! :)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it wasa real bubble burster even though it shouldn't have been, given that we know what coming back to Cairo is like.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

So glad you got away! I was thinking about you, actually, and wondering how you were getting on. You've been away having a little fresh air (and doing good at the same time ♥)

Love Junebug's sandcastles! And I love your just-because door, too

How many months before you're done with Egypt?

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

We have six weeks to go before the summer break. Like last year, the kids and I will stay longer, but J will have to come back for work. So he'll spend the first two weeks with us, come back for 7, and then spend 3 more in France so that we can all travel together both ways.

We come back Aug 13, and from that date, we'll have only 14 months.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I think we should get a countdown counter for you at that point, and as you get through each month, we should send you a congratulatory postcard.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

That would be cool. :D Anything to make the time pass faster. It will pass quickly, though; it always does when you have one thing after another happening, which we will.

The Great Destroyer

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

That's what Sprout calls Junebug, that or The Great Destructor, for lo, that is what the sandcastles--and basically anything else she builds--are for according to him. :P

I like to remind her that she was exactly the same at his age. ;)

Re: The Great Destroyer

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Toddlers are all Great Destroyers. They should all be issued T-shirts proclaiming this fact.

Re: The Great Destroyer

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

That would be a handy reminder for all who interact with them. :P

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you so much. I love those pictures.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

My pleasure.

I've been really out of touch of late, so please, tell me how you've been. :)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Great photos! I hope you had a good break. Stay safe!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Things seemed to have calmed down with a return to cooler weather. There are going to be a couple more hot days coming up, though, and that is what this Egyptian was blaming a lot of the antsy-ness on.

[dlandon.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you were able to get some time away to refresh. It's always hard to come back from that to a difficult situation, though :( I hope that the remainder of your time in Cairo flies by!
- D

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it is going to fly. It is nice when you have one "event" after another to look forward to.