In Sha Allah

Sphinx

The pyramids

Our beautiful Ramadan Lamp- The next morning we went to a market to find Ramadan lamps. Ramadan lamps are lamps used during Ramadan to signal that everyone can eat after the sun has set. We got confused on the instructions from the groups and got lost but we did find our way eventually. It was a very interesting experience for everyone. There were donkeys everywhere and once Bekah got trapped between a donkey cart and a car. It was a good Egypt experience. We ended up getting 2 beautiful lamps for us and a smaller one for guests that had us over to dinner that night. By the end of the trip everyone was worn out and ready to go home.

Bekah and her friend Nika at the Pyramid

All of us right before the sound and light show

Jonah doing the Egyptian

During the show-On Friday the 22 we all went to the Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the Pharaohs and the history of the Pyramids. The Pyramids are the only ancient wonder of the world still standing and they have been standing for 4600 years. The show was very dramatic. Bekah thought it was a little too dramatic and also that they included a little too much of the history. It started to get a little boring in the end but besides that it was good.

In Sha Allah is a famous line here in Egypt. It mean if Gods wills it and thats really how things work here. We thought we would get our air shipment 2 weeks after we got here but SURPRISE I guess that God did not want that to happen because we ended up getting it 2 days ago, on the 28th. Things here in Egypt happen a lot slower than in the States and this is a lesson we have all had to learn throughout this adventure. Many Egyptians use this line including our new maid. She is really nice but does not speak a lot of English. She is a very good cook and has already made our family many Egyptian dishes including a dish we all love called Babagonug, which is like Humous but made from eggplant.


We had quite a big shock on Sunday the 24 at 2:30 in the morning. Dad was outside talking with a friend, Mom was inside reading her book, and the three kids were asleep. Mom heard a pop and thought it was dad coming in but then about 15 minutes later she saw smoke coming from the kitchen. She ran and woke up the kids and got them out of the house. The kids were totally discombobulated because they had just been woken up and Bekah and Nick didn't even get shoes on. Mom rushed them down the stairs and yelled for dad. Dad and his friend, whose job is to handle problems, came running up. Other apartments also had smoke in them and then at about 3 in the morning our whole complex was outside waiting for the embassy. They ended up coming at 4 30 in the morning and everyone went back up to bed but our apartment still smelled so we stayed with the neighbors for the night.

Coming back from church on Friday the 29 something happened that proved to dad that we are becoming Egyptian. We were walking back from church talking when a car comes up behind us. (For those who don't know this is a normal event in Egypt and most people walk on the road because the sidewalks are so bad.) The car honked and Bekah, without looking back, took a few steps to the side to let the car pass. Dad told everyone one that that was what everyone does in Egypt and was happy that we were getting the hang of life here.

It was Back to School night for Mom this week. She worked hard in her classroom and with her students to get everything ready. Everything went really well. She had her students’ right biographies about Olympic Athletes and the parents were able to open the files and read the students biographies.

After school on Thursday, the school had an annual "Beat the Heat" golf tournament for teachers. Mom decided to participate in that and had a great time. She only golfs about once a year now, so she was ecstatic when she got a birdie on one hole. The golf course was 100 yards from the Great Pyramids. It was so surreal for her when she was teeing off, looking at the pyramids and the beautiful prayer call started. It if difficult to describe what an amazing feeling it was.

We have Arrived

Felucca ride

Our family on the Felucca

Me and Nick in front of the Nile

In front of the sphinx- the boys

the sphinx- the girls

Me and mom on a camel

Camels again

again

pyramids in the background

us compared to one stone

the pyramids

jonah holding up the pyramid

nick pushing them apart haha

as u can see its very tall

The kids on one of the stones

Us at The Great Pyramid

We arrived in EGYPT
After a long 14-hour journey with one layover in Frankfort we arrived in Egypt on Tuesday July 22. We were worried that Pepper, our dog, would not be able to come with us because it was hot on the day we left but luckily the airlines took her. She arrived safely with us as planned but some our baggage was not so fortunate. Only 6 out of 11 bags made it on time. Fortunately the others arrived the next morning ☺.
The dad of our host family was there at the airport to greet and welcome us to Egypt. We arrived at our house with Pepper 30 min. later. The house looked great but soon we realized that one of the rooms, soon to be Bekah’s room, was furnished as an office, so Bekah had to spend a few nights sleeping in the same room with Nick. Our first official day in Egypt was an Egyptian holiday! (National Day) Our host family took us to the commissary, the American military grocery store. And we stocked up on our favorite items. We were happy to find frozen pizza, Bagel Bites, and Cocoa Puffs along with many other good foods. After the commissary we discovered the Maadi House. The Maadi house is a community center where they not only have a swimming pool and restaurant but they also teach sports and have wireless internet!!! Because of the Internet Bekah spends a lot of her time there.

Our host family has been great and we have been over to their house for dinner several times in our first week. They are good cooks and we also love their Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.
On Friday, because the weekends in Egypt are Friday and Saturday, we went to church. Church is held in a converted two-story house and the branch is very small compared to the wards have been to before. It is a branch of about 60 people but because it was the summer there were only 40 that attended. There are 2 new families beside us both have over 4 kids. The next day, we went with our host family and another family on a Felucca ride on the Nile River. A felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailboat. The weather was beautiful, the food tasty, the company was marvelous, and the view was extraordinary. When you come to visit us we will be sure to take you on one.
On Sunday we walked to our new school, Cairo American College (CAC). It is a nice campus and Jonah and Bekah were excited to find out that they have a 20 break between each class, a hour and a half free period every other day, and Bekah can go off campus for lunch or use her cell phone to order food in. Jonah is excited to be able to play basketball in between each class. Mom starts school on Sunday August 3.
We had an orientation at the embassy, which was very boring. The building in nice and very big, in fact it’s the second largest embassy in the world, the first being Iraq.
On Monday July 28 we wished Jonah an official happy 13th birthday (we celebrated unofficially about 3 times before we left) we ate a delicious dinner at the Chili’s restaurant that is about 10 min. from our house. The food and prices were just like in the United States. For his birthday he chose, to our surprise, a carrot cake. We also had another birthday party for him with our host family but instead of a cake we had a mound of chocolate chip cookies.
Nick met some friends at that party and ended up spending the night at their house and then the next day their mom took them to a resort hotel with a water park. He came home a little sun burnt but had a great time with his new friends.
While he was at the water park Mom, Jonah, and Bekah met a new family from the branch and went to the GRAND Maadi Mall. The mall was 7 STORIES HIGH!!!! We had Egyptian food and walked around the entire mall.
Lately we have been watching a lot of movies because we do not have our stuff yet. We have not yet received any of our shipments but we hope to get out air shipment soon.
Mom’s notes: We are all adjusting fairly well to life in Cairo. We like our house and are enjoying our new friends we are meeting here. Bekah is starting to set her cell phone down sometimes now. She would look at it longingly for the first couple of days. Jonah’s basketball team in Fairfax won the regular season and we are proud of them playing in the finals for the tournament. Jonah looks forward to your emails so please keep writing to him. Nick misses Matt and his friends and also looks forward to Matt’s emails. Our thoughts and prayers are with Aunt Gayla and her family as she is dealing with her news of lung cancer. We appreciate being kept up to date on your progress. We miss you all and will be relieved to get our internet and phone setup so we can communicate easier. School starts on Aug 12th for the kids. Right now many people are visiting the states so life is quiet. We are glad to hear that Emily, Mike, Kort and Lindsay arrived safely in California and that Kort is recovering from his pneumonia. We are looking forward to the Olympics starting soon and hope our TV will be hooked up and running by then.
Few days later
Now that school has started we have made a lot of friends. Moms work invited us to 2 dinners one was catered and the other was at a nice restaurant. Then they invited us to a Friday brunch at the Four Seasons hotel. It was amazing!!!
We went to the pyramids on Friday Aug. 15 it was a lot of fun but it was hot. We saw a lot of cool things including the sphinx. Mom, Bekah, Jonah, and Nick all rode a camel it was a little scary when they got up and down but other than that it was so much fun.

SCHOOLS OUT

We are so excited school is finally over for all of us! Bekah is done with her freshman year and had a great year. She really excited to be a sophomore. Jonah is done with elementary school and is moving on to Junior high!! Nick is done with 3rd grade and is moving on to 4th! Mom is probably the most relieved for school to be over. She started out with a good 5th grade class, but then because the school needed 4th grade teachers she was moved to teaching 4th grade and had a bad class. She is now SOOO glad that it is all over. The kids last day was on friday and Moms was on tuesday so to celebrate we all went out to Dairy Queen and had a Blizard. The picture of Jonah is him receiving his diploma and the one of Nick is him on his culture day dressed up as a pharaoh on the last week of school.

End of Seminary!

Bekah has completed her 1st year of seminary! She worked very hard waking up at 5:00 in the morning every school day. She would like to thank her mom who diligently got up to take her from seminary to school every morning. Next year she is excited for school to start later so she wont have to wake up as early. All of us went to her seminary graduation and we are all very proud of her!

crazy hair day

jonah and nick had crazy hair day at there school

spring bball

jonahs spring basketball is just about to start their tournament they won the regular season again :)

Jonahs team r the champions they won in overtime 40 to 39

winter basketball

Jonah's basketball team went to the semi finals but lost but they were the regular season champions.