Alex Apartment Life

Here's a quick update on our apartment! Which by the way we love... I would like to be able to add some personal touches (which will come with time) but it already comes with a ton of charm :)

It is a two bedroom apartment with probably close to 1000 sq. feet and feels way bigger than our apartment in Tacoma. We are on the second/top floor of a complex of a 3 apartment complex. Most people live in the other 2 buildings. We have a nice/cute little kitchen, but I think our favorite spaces are the balcony and the pool (a stone's throw away).

Take a look:

This is our living room and as you walk through it leads you to our kitchen... Those toes belong to Kenedee :)

This is our kitchen. It has everything we need... We (I mean Ryan) haven't cooked much due to the convenience of having 3 meals a day provided by our school!

These are the awesome chandeliers we have throughout the apartment... When we leave I may try to sneak one in my bag (just kidding Randa, please don't fire me :) )

We have beautiful woodwork in all of the rooms! This is my closet :)

Look at this beauty. This is the closet that Jae and Kenedee share... Another piece I want to take ;)

When we got here we didn't know how we were going to keep Jae in a big girl bed, so we talked to the person who manages the facility and he had a few of his men build this. They take such good care of us!!!

Ryan's man balcony :) At night if we can't find him, this is probably where he is. I love this spot too and it gets used all the time. Now we just need a grill!

Next up our day at our operations manager's villa in King Mariut... To be continued

<3 Kasi

Tour of Alex

Hieroglyphs at Pompey's Pillar.   

More beautiful pieces we saw at Pompey's Pillar.

The bull, Serapis, one of the gods worshiped. We are in a tunnel located underground, which also housed spaces for scrolls that the Library of Alexandria couldn't hold due to lack of space, this was called "the little library" or the "daughter" library. 

Ryan trying to get just the right shot of the sphinxes who stand guard in front of the pillar. 

Pompey's Pillar!! One giant piece of solid granite about 90 feet high from 291 AD and still standing. It was named by travelers who thought it was for Pompey, but the base of the tower says it was for Diocletian. However, the name stuck... oops :) 

The Roman Theatre in Alexandria! Gorgeous!!

Ryan holding parliament and giving his crowd the thumbs up! If you stood in the middle you could hear yourself, this was so everyone in attendance could hear you. Our resident mathematician and wonderful colleague informed us it was called a "fosi"

A few of the many beautiful pieces that were pulled out of the Mediterranean Sea by French divers in the 1990's housed at the Roman Theatre. There was a deep basin they would fill with fresh water where the pieces needed to be until all of the salt water had been removed that way the pieces wouldn't crack while drying. 

One of our amazing bosses and historians, explaining about the piece between his fingers. When a piece is created you can tell who it was created for by the "cartouche" meaning "name" in the hieroglyph. These cartouches helped to create the Rosetta Stone!! 

An obelisk found in the Mediterranean. 

This is where most of the pieces were found.  Our boss is pointing to the site where the Alexandria lighthouse was built sometime in 200 BC and stood 450 ft high. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria) Eventually they built a causeway to get to and from which caused a land formation to form. To the right of where he is pointing is all of the pieces that have been found in the sea (if they are colored they have been pulled out and placed on land, if it is still white it is still in the sea). 

This is the kitten standing guard at the Roman Theatre. I tried to convince him to go home with me, but he only spoke Arabic. 

After a long day of touring and sweating (mostly sweating) we ended up here at "La Veranda" a cafe with the most amazing looking pastries and cakes. I had a strawberry lemonade because I didn't want to spoil dinner at the Greek fish house. Ryan had a  turkish coffee, from what I could tell it was ground coffee and water and you are supposed to wait until the grounds go to the bottom. 

The terrible view from our dinner table... this is Alexandria! I love it!! In front of us is the Mediterranean and this is one of the beaches you can pay to go to.  

Jae looking out at the city. Right by her forehead you can sea a gray upside down u, that is the Alexandria Library (the next picture shows it better). 

I can't wait to visit the LIBRARY!! I hear it is 7 floors and is working on having museum aspects... more to come, don't you worry! 

Just me and my little bird! This is before she went all crazy at diner :)

So far so great, the one thing (of a few) I have been having to get used to is the work week runs Sunday through Thursday.  Though that doesn't seem like a big deal when you tell your nanny "see you Monday" and she asks "you don't need me Sunday?" you have to rethink what day it actually is... "oh yes, I will see you Sunday" :)

In the second oldest country in the world I feel like I am just barely scratching the surface of all our world has in store for surprises! Hopefully you feel more enlightened as well...

Most importantly... Happy Anniversary Ry!  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH :)

Back in 2009 at a wonderful wedding in Mazatlan for our friends Brandon and Chelsey... who knew then we would be where we are today! Love you!

Kasi <3

Reflections of a 1st week

Reflections of a 1st week:

Our trip to Egypt has been nothing short of exciting/crazy/tiring among a ton of other emotions. The Seatac airport was the first stop and the most difficult in a sense we were saying goodbye to our loved ones and comfort. The first plane ride to San Francisco was a good way to get our feet wet and the girls did great. I was really hoping Jae would take a nap, but she refused in true Jae fashion. So when we got to the San Fran airport she was exhausted and while we were searching for the International terminal she fell asleep in Ry's arms :) and we got her into the Lille backpack and she got in a good nap. We proceeded to find food (fried rice and wonton soup) and get to our next gate which would be the 13 hour flight to Turkey!

On our way to Turkey, Kenedee fell asleep on the plane right away and slept for close to 8 hours!!! Jae, being Jae, was determined to stay up and go from Ryan to me and back again for at least a few hours (we were lucky enough to have 2 separate rows across from one another, I think people wanted their space...). Finally I got her to sleep by my legs on the row of seats, however I was unable to sleep because she is a roller and attempted to roll over my legs several times... In hindsight I should have just put her on the ground, oh well. The rest of the flight was filled with movies, many suckers and fruit snacks, and a bit of crying (me ;) not really).

When we get to Turkey we do our best to find out where our gate will be but it is not posted! So we stay put in what we think is the international gate... we do our best to keep the girls engaged in art projects and snacks, but it is very hot and super crowded and our seats are continuously taken when we get up to get something or go to the bathroom even though our stuff is there. Finally Ry and I cave and get the girls Popsicles and us some adult beverages. On our way back to our crowded bench the bar tender calls the girls and I over to sit at the counter of the bar so she can take pictures and hang out with our girls. Everyone in Turkey wanted to touch and love on the girls (they may have even received a few kisses). So, while we wait for our gate to appear we all hang out at the bar!! This is going on hour 5 or 6 by the time our gate appears and says 222. We are in the 300's so it is time to venture out.... Ugh, the airport is huge and every gate is an international gate and air conditioned and beautiful. So, lesson learned, go exploring!

We make it to our gate and it isn't much longer before we can get on the last leg of the trip. In total I have maybe slept an hour at this point, but just ready to be there. The girls haven't eaten much but are still in good spirits, but on the plane we finally get Kenedee to eat a tuna sandwich!! Jae wants to watch mwee's (movies) and likes to touch the touch screen and change them at least 20 times within the 1.5 hour trip to Alex on my lap while I try to catch a cat nap, unsuccessfully :/

Fast forward to the Alexandria airport... while waiting in line to go through customs we are greeted by a very tall smiling man who I can tell is looking for us. We are then ushered to the side of the line as he proceeds to get us through the 1st part of customs!! (by the way I know he is looking for us and his name because we were told he would meet us there, we did not just go with a stranger :). We go downstairs to get our bags and after about 39 minutes our guide talks to someone at the airport who informs him there is no more luggage from our plane :( at first I think he is joking, but then Ryan is taken over to a guy who writes down the description of our bags and all of our information and yes in fact our bags are still in Turkey. Then we go through customs and the man wants a picture of Jae... which I'm like anything to get us out of here and keep the peace. However, he wants a picture of just him and Jae, but there is no way she is letting go of me (nor would I let her) so we all get in the picture. Finally through we meet our wonderful boss (Tom), go to duty free and get in a van for an hour drive to our school!!! The girls at this point are delirious and everything Tom says and does is HILARIOUS!

Once we arrive at Schutz we are greeted with many helpful people and are shown our new apartment, which is so cute by the way. People are trying to show me around and how things work, but all I can think is I need a bed NOW! We get the girls down and finally I get to sleep and I have no idea what happens for the next 11 hours, besides the girls and I slept and Ry organized what little we had from our carry-ons (Thank you)!! We are told we can go down and get food anytime but we will be meeting with our potential nanny at 5pm, who has the kindest eyes and whispers to me "I love girls". She is not only beautiful on the outside but over the past few days has cared for and loved on our girls while we are working. We are so grateful the school connected us with such an amazing person and care-giver! After our meeting Tom and our nanny (from what I can tell her name is spelled Whafa) take us to get... yes more Popsicles, they must know the way to our girls hearts. However knowing our bags are lost we also go get the girls a few swimsuits (2 for $5)!!

The next day is spent at the pool and waiting in anticipation for our bags. Nope no bags, still in Turkey. By the following day I get a little antsy, so I suggest a family prayer time to just talk to God and ask him if we can have our bags please. Not 20 minutes later at lunch Tom asks if we have heard the good news... Our bags are on the next plane and coming in with another one of our co-workers and will be there that night!! Thank you God for your small and yet huge miracles! Spending the time without our "stuff" for a few days made me grateful for so many things I take for granted... Clean/multiple pairs of clothes, shampoo, soft cozy blankets and I realized during that time while it is great to have those things many people don't and to not be more than thankful in all situations. Big Lesson!

The following few days are spent around Schutz and going to Carrefour to get some supplies... It is in a mall, like a Target and kinda makes me giddy :) There is even a Starbucks... no sugar-free hazelnut though!

Then we head to the Meditteranean for a gorgeous day at our principal's villa in Montazah, about 1 mile away but probably 30 minutes (traffic is nuts)!! The girls get their first chance to touch the sea and Ryan even swims! It was the perfect first visit. One of our co-workers took us to a secret spot where President Sadat was planning on making his vacation house, but it didn't get completed. However, there is a natural "swimming pool" and he and Kenedee went through some of the tunnels to search for gold :)

We have now started training and the girls have been with Whafa during the day and every night we swim. 2 nights ago we headed to the San Stefano mall and last night we went on a "nut safari". The San Stefano was the most busy place I have ever been, ever! Plus, when entering a woman in front of me was falling down the stairs, so natural reaction is to help her, while holding Jae and the bag of groceries. As soon as she is done falling her and her group of friends turn around and walk back up the stairs and I think nothing of it, until later. While finding Ryan a belt I look down to see my grocery bag had been torn and my bag that had Jae's diapers and wipes was gone... It looked like a purse/wallet. Ugh, lesson learned! Oh well, just diapers, wipes and used sucker sticks, could have been a lot worse! My boss said it would have been karma had there been one of Jae's stinky diapers in it ;) Last night on the contrary was a blast. Tom took us out on the local streets to look for nuts, they have many shops, but we found the one we will frequent just down the road from our school! Warm, salty and rule #1 the girls liked them :)

Observations:

• It's loud, but not as loud as I was expecting. However, it is loud most of the day! Car horns are more of a way to say I'm coming get out of the way, rather than a reaction and are used all the time... 
• Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way! 
• Staring is normal (I've been told) and almost expected. 
• Touching and kissing babies also normal. Jae is getting used to it and it already doesn't phase her. People ask for her picture often. Kenedee is not as much of an anomaly ;)
• I was expecting more shocking smells, but I don't have a great sense of smell as it is. 
• Our bosses are amazing and have in many ways made our lives here so much easier and our new sense of normal. 
• It's hot! 
• In a city of 8 million I have found a great SPACE, which is a hot commodity. 
• Our co-workers are totally amazing and each have already given us tons of insight, can't wait to meet the rest of the staff next week. 

All in all, it's been a learning, growing and beautiful experience. Thank you for your prayers and love! 

Kasi <3