Author: Robin Chartier

I have a post that I was working on today, but after skyping with my family (yea!) my headache that I’ve had on and off since this morning came back and brought with it chills and aches. So I’m wearing my wool socks, Josh’s down jacket, and am wrapped in a blanket, teeth still chattering and feeling not so hot. So that post will have to wait until tomorrow. Inshalla. 😉

Random photos to fill space start now:

Carter, acting as a waiter/chef assistant for my birthday dinner.

Please pray that we could all get healthy. Everyone (except me) has had this nasty cough/cold all week and the locals says that it takes *forever* to get better here because of the air quality, etc. I can’t remember how long Camille has been sick, but it feels like forever +1 day.

I’m sure you’re all sick of hearing about our internet woes. Heck, I’m sick of hearing about them, but the tale keeps continuing. Let’s see — when we left off, Josh was going in person, with his passport to get the cancellation notice from TE Data so we could switch our service to Etisalat.

So he went to 2 different TED stores and after much discussion, this is the “story.” In order to get our phone number released we have to pay 2000 LE (about $350) because the account has been “suspended” since 2006 and has racked up all these fees. But, for the low, low price of 500 LE (about $85) we can clear all the fees and start service with them. Hello, scam. Not falling for you.

Oh, but we still need to provide information about the landlord and the previous tenants so even if we were going to pay the fees (we aren’t) we cant get that info: back to square one.

So DSL is out. We go back to the Etisalat store and get a refund for the DSL package we purchased. Since my little usb drive has been working well we decide to work out a package with another one of those gadgets. They tell Josh there is a high speed version that we can get. We won’t have wireless, but that’s ok. Oh wait — the high speed one won’t work on our street. Well, there’s a different package that creates a wireless hub — oh wait, they don’t have that in stock in any of their stores. Maybe in a week. Inshalla.

Maybe I should go down there and rough somebody up. I totally could now. See the bruises?
(on my hand — don’t worry, I didn’t beat up the baby.)

On the bright side, while I’m waiting for all that to come together, I can watch this on TV:

is Madiha. Now Madiha is not a hidden oasis in the middle of the desert, or the name of one of the pyramids. Madiha is my house cleaner (pronounced Mah-day-ha). She’s this silent cleaning fairy that comes in and makes our house look like no one has ever lived in it. Like this:

 

Of course the fact that we don’t have our household goods yet probably helps with the “not lived in” feeling, but even without our stuff, these boys can destroy a room in under 60 seconds. Like coming in from outside and leaving a track of black footprints all across the tile floor. 

Yes, these innocent faces. They’re really Masters of Destruction in disguise.
But instead of getting mad, I think, “I’m so glad Madiha is coming tomorrow.”

And our kitchen stays sparkly clean. Last night we made hamburgers and today Madiha took steel wool and cleaned every inch of the stove top. It looks like a brand new stove. I wouldn’t have gotten around to cleaning it for . . . (lets just say a very long time). And there was this burned up pan and I didn’t feel like scrubbing it and I thought, “hmm, I think I’ll just let it soak and Madiha will clean it in the morning.”

And laundry. I toss dirty clothes into a basket and they magically return to my drawers and closet. Having Madiha is like having a mom. A mom who only cleans up after you and never tells you what to do.  

So what do we do during the day? We play. Take naps. I cook dinner. It’s amazing how my culinary inspiration has returned now that endless cleaning isn’t sucking the life out of me. I don’t have to do anything except feed myself and the kids. And she’d probably do that if I asked her to.

I’m never going to want to leave.

are pretty much the same as birthdays in America. Babies still need changing and noses still need wiping, but the boys wanted to make me our traditional birthday breakfast for dinner (with bacon!) so they enlisted the help of Chef Joshy Flay and made me French Toast, an omelet, and bacon and it was very, very good.

I got some great birthday wishes from friends, some great cards in the mail, and I even got to Skype with my sister Carrie, Patrick, and Jack. So even with a fussy baby, it was a very good day. Thanks everyone!