Enjoying the Fresh Air

Happy Sham El Nessim!

I am sitting on my newly cleaned balcony drinking a cuppa and enjoying a lazy start to the day. Caleb spent the night at Bonnie's so I could actually sleep in of course I couldn't get past 8 but it was fun to have the opportunity! I just learned via FB that my Jr. High/High School crush (who never knew I existed) died last year. I don't think I ever actually spoke to the guy and yet it really saddens me. From the tributes and photos it seems as if he was a happy family guy, stayed married, loving kids and lots of friends, and he was good looking as ever.

So with my Caleb free evening what exciting thing did I do? Well, I impressed myself by putting together my new grill with rather obscure instructions. When I all was said and done I had about 3 bolts left over (yet every hole was filled) not sure if I did it right but it is standing! Hopefully will put to use tonight.

Caleb and I spent 5 hours yesterday doing yard work, felt kinda like a Saturday of my childhood except now strangely enough I enjoy it. My house and yard was demolished over the course of the last year while they added two floors to my building. There is no real work standards here nor regulations so they just pitch bricks and rebar off the roof, let cement drip and paint splatter. When they packed up their scaffolding they loaded my grill and patio furniture as well but left ALL the garbage and mess of 10 months of work. The garden is dead but hopefully I can bring some color and life back into to it. We did make some interesting discoveries, Caleb found (and screamed upon finding) a cool caterpillar. It really blended into the dirt but when I touched it, it had a section that flared up (note photos) and we caught a cute lizard both were later released back into the wild.

Just heard today that it looks like the American Embassy will be lifting the evacuation orders and that embassy staff can return. This will affect a number of other companies as well who have been waiting on the embassy for the lead to return. Of course school is out in a month so not sure if people will really return at this point or not but it will create some interesting end of the year issues. We have reduced church to one service and we are quite full, do we add the other back in fr a few weeks? I am kind of in wind down mode planning for summer and VBS'. Interesting as always!

Maybe some of you have noticed I have blogged a bit more as of late (last 3 days :) ) Well I found this gadget that lets you see if people actually read your blog, which is helpful since blogging is a bit of a lonely device if no one ever comments or lets you know that they read it, of course since I rarely posted then people stop coming to visit and it is a vicious cycle, so I am testing it out that if I write more, people will visit more and keep up with me by this method verses FB which I am trying to use minimally.

Anyhow on with the day, blessings to all!

Easter Weekend

Easter 2011

Just returned home from my annual favorite service of the year the Easter Resurrection Service. As always a great energy and air of celebration, a crowd of people who really are so thankful that Christ popped up out of that tomb 2000 years ago.

Enjoyed an awesome weekend of good food, and great friends!

I spent Friday night after church finishing filling 1500 plastic eggs with candy for our 3rd Annual Eggstraordinary Egg Hunt. For the past 2 years my mom has been here to help with that thrilling task but this year I was all on my own. The hunt was early Saturday morning and we had a great turnout considering that most of Maadi is gone either for the holiday or still not back from the evacuation yet. The kids didn't mind as it meant more eggs for all of them!
Later that afternoon off to the Turlan's roof for a pre Easter BBQ where Ben and Sarah won the "Freakin Huge Steak" award. It was a bit of a tight fit on the roof but none the less the kids didn't mind watching their head as the swam carefully next to a giant satellite dish.

Happenings as of late

Caleb earning his first belt in Tae Kwando!

His KG photo

Revolution Celebration

Celebration Maadi style!

Revolution Part 3

Passionate Prayers

No king is saved by the size of his army;no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Ps 33:16-20

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Times of struggle have always been opportunities for great spiritual growth and revival. I have never read the Psalms with such interest, and have never prayed with such passion not just for myself but on behalf of a whole people. Our church has been reduced to a fraction of what we once were but I feel that we have potential to be kingdom greater than we have ever been! Looking forward to God revealing things to us. He has certainly shaken me at a level that I have not experienced before, but He has also filled me with a deep sense of hope and an anticipation of the future...not just Amy and Caleb future but Egypt's future!

If you can compare the 2 pics on the road, you can see a before revoltion picture and a after, note the missing Mubarak posters!







The picture with the car in the foyer would be how I found my apartment when I got home :) My front door is on the left. The landlord parked their cars in the foyer and then at night would close the glass doors and pull the 2 cars closer to block anyones ability to break in and steal. As it turned out my neighborhood was virtually quiet, no excitement, no gunfire. Even tho my neighborhood was totally peaceful, I still opted to stay in a more communal setting in Maadi Degla which is teh main expat area. A family with a large home was evacuated and offered to let a few of us stay there and enjoy their lovely accommodations, wine stash and hot tub, as suffering goes it wasn't too bad.

Community Living

We had a 3pm curfew most days so friends would come over and spend the night. We had an awesome time of community, and it certainly made all the stress and uncertainty more bearable.

Revolution Part 1

Revolution 2011!

Well it all began on a holiday called Police Day to honor the police forces and something great they did back in the early 50's. Needless to say that in the last 2 decades the police are not nearly so well thought of as to deserve a holiday.

A protest was planned and organized to speak out against police brutality (which has been a long simmering issue) as well as the general corruption of the political system in this country. The protest was well organized and well attended and was held down in Tahrir Square the main city center. It made for an interesting read the next day in the paper and that was all that I really thought would come of it. The next day a great deal of discussion was made concerning ongoing protest in the wake of Tunisia's successful revolt. My staff and I in a light- hearted moment went out on the street to do a little demonstrating of our own. Boy! Looking back I realize how clueless we were as to what was boiling below the surface.

Ein Suhkna Fri Jan 28- Mon 31

On Thursday the 27 there was an inkling of bigger problems as threats were made to turn off Facebook and Twitter to try and cut down on protest organizer's ability to communicate with the masses. I wasn't too worried as I had no plans of protesting. The next day, Friday I had already scheduled a weekend away with some friends. We left early Fri morning to head about 2 hours away (picture), knowing that big protests were planned that afternoon back in Tahrir. By the time I left not only was Facebook blocked but the entire internet AND cell phone system were shut down. Luckily for us our cell phones worked at the beach and so we could at least call and check in on peoples home phones, and family from outside Egypt could call and reach us as well. We had planned on staying just thru Sunday afternoon but as news that teh protests were growing and growing out of control we began to rethink our plans. The more we talked on the phone the more nervous we grew. There were reports of angry mobs of looters sweeping into Maadi banging on peoples doors, looting the major shopping center etc... Although we ourselves were very safe and physically secure, it was horrible to hear people's frantic calls and not be able to see with our own eyes what was going on. Gun shot fire was heard all around Maadi, and reports that the prisoners in a nearby prison had broken loose filled my ears and heart with panic. My friend who was on the 12th floor looking over the Nile said the afternoon sky was filled with smoke and a burnt orange haze from all the fires in the downtown region. It seemed on Saturday that things were quiet and somewhat normal, but around mid day the police literally disappeared from the streets and serious looting began, along with gun battles between looters and vigilante groups that were guarding the streets. Saturday seemed to be the worst and evacuation plans for many businesses were set into motion. Rumor mill says that vans were robbed enroute to the airport but thus far I have not actually met anyone who could verify that story.
We stayed at the beach for the worst of it until we were told that the Army had taken control of the situation and that tanks and troops were in position through out Maadi. As we drove back into town we snapped a few photo's that showed us a bit of what we missed. In some ways it wasn't as bad as some had reported to us.






























Hopefully these pixs will post the way I have set them so that they match what I am writing. The burned building and trucks are all in Maadi, and the toll station with the tanks was coming back into town from the beach.