Catching Up

School is back in session so I thought I would write the classic essay: What I did for Christmas this year. The Christmas holiday was not what I expected it to be this year. I did not know what Christmas in Cairo would be like, but I supposed it would be similar to Christmases spent in Venezuela and Colombia with lots of parties and get togethers. First of all, though there are signs of Christmas here and there, Christmas is just a regular day to the Moslem community. Sure, the flower shops at the traffic circle have some evergreens and poinsettias for sale, and I saw Santa coming out of a day nursery in the building next door to us, but the absence of the Nativity is profound.

Secondly, there were no candy canes to be found anywhere here. In a world where Nestle, and Hershey are global, it seems the little Brach candy maker could have figured out a way to piggyback those canes on over here~and it would have been wonderful if Nestle and Hershey had exported a chocolate santa or two....

And third, Maadi became like a ghost town with expats leaving the country in a modern-day exodus. At one point, and for two weeks...EVERYONE I knew in Maadi was out of the country. Sam says to be honest here. So I will be. It was a lonely time here! Even the Community Services Association was closed for three weeks!

Now I will talk about the good things we experienced here. We met a couple of young men (early twenties) who were alone for Christmas. Matt and Keith are both here studying Arab culture and language. We had them over for dinner Christmas Eve before the candlelight service at the church. Both of them are searching for something that only Christ can give them. Both are intelligent, conversational and delightful to be around. It was wonderful having young guys in the house! The candlelight service was packed out and the music played to my heart's song: What Child is This?

Christmas day was delightful. We were invited to the rooftop flat of a fellow youth worker who happens to be British. He gathered in all the strays (people like Sam and I) in Maadi. There were people from 9 countries-singles, marrieds, students, engineers, professionals, tourists, teachers, pastors, and other international workers. It was amazing to me that we went there knowing only John, our host, and the two young men we'd befriended the night before, yet we immediately felt right at home. John is a great host! made everyone feel comfortable, and we left that evening having made some new friends! We spent all afternoon and into the evening visiting and eating traditional British, American, and Sudanese Christmas foods! I would love to tell you about each person we met, but that would make this blog too long.

Between Christmas and Jan. 10th or so, I spent most of my time at home. I hired a housekeeper because things get so dirty here from the soot and dust-everything needs to be cleaned every day! She and I got to know each other really well so this lonely time was well spent. I got some quilting done on the machine and some hand quilting accomplished. I made a lot of headway on David's long overdue quilt too!

New Year's Eve Sam and I went to our favorite Italian place for dinner then came home and watched a little tv, read and went to bed well before midnight! New Years Day the internet was out so the football we planned to watch didn't happen. That was disappointing! We went to church because Friday is our day of worship here. What a great way to start the new year! Afterwards, Keith and Julie and Dave came over for Black-eyed Peas. Dave is one of our ministers at Maadi Community Church.

Now it is the 14th of January-Elvis' birthday has come and gone. My friends are trickling back into Maadi. School is back in session so our street gets really busy twice more often than before. We started a "Life Group" Tuesday night that has me very excited. I went to the Baby Wash this week and my quilt group starts back up tomorrow.

This post may be a little on the boring side, but I had to write through this to get caught up. Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!