Egyptian Craftmanship...The Finest Around

It has definitely been awhile since I've ventured to update my blog- There's so much to tell about since the last post, so here goes nothing...

Since June, my friend (now roommate) Amy and I moved into our own flat (apartment). It has been great to have a place of my own- granted, being that this is Egypt, we've had several technical issues with our "new" place... all 4 air conditioners have at some point broken-down, and then our "built-in Water filter" in the kitchen (that's probably older than me) started spewing water- and continued for about 5 days before we could get someone to "fix" it- and by "fix" it, I mean they shoved a stick and a rag down in the pipe to slow the flow of water. Needless to say, it's a constant adventure- but the good news is that I'm getting to develop my practical 'repair-man' skills, like changing fuses, unclogging drains, fixing faucets... I feel like these skills will for sure come in handy one day.
Speaking of Egyptian craftsmanship (or lack-thereof), after returning to Egypt from my trip to the States, Amy and I were invited to dinner at our friends Nathan and Jeremy's apartment. We showed up and they were busy making spaghetti with homemade sauce. As we arrived, Jeremy was attempting to light the oven so that he could make garlic-bread. He was holding the match up to the oven and Nathan was turning on the gas (you have to hand-light ovens over here). They had made several attempts with no success- and then, Jeremy reached in for one last attempt, at which point all of the gas that had built-up from their previous attempts formed a huge explosion, which set in motion a series of events that all occurred within about 5 seconds- Jeremy went flying across the kitchen, slamming into the cabinets opposite the oven (leaving the entire box of matches sitting in the bottom of the oven); the force of the blast knocked the oven off of its base, making it fall over forward, at which point the boiling water and sauce spilled all over the floor where Jeremy was sitting- giving him some pretty bad burns up his leg. The blast also was so extreme as to blow out 3 of the windows on the other side of the room (about 10 yards away). Needless to say, it was an intense few minutes leaving us all completely stunned. Looking at the aftermath, God was completely looking out for us! Jeremy had mild burns on his legs, but that was it. Here are the post-blast pictures:



On a completely different note... Work has for sure been good- we did a lot of planning and re-structuring this summer, preparing for the rest of our team to get here this fall- in September we had 3 new teammates arrive from the states. It has been a time of transition, but so rich and full of blessing- to see God's hand working in the midst of us. We had the Grand Opening of the Art Center last week (pictures to come). Around 15 kids showed up, and some of our international high school students from the American school taught them how to make these precious little origami people. The supplies that were donated from MBCC have been a total blessing! Because of those supplies, we are able to teach these kids how to do new and fun things that they've never been able to do before. I'll be sure to update more about work later this week!

It's Already June?!

The countdown has officially begun... In T-minus 1 day, I will be finished with my internship (although we're heading to Sharm el Sheikh on Sunday for a few days of rest and relaxation on the Red Sea). It is hard to believe that the year is already over- but what a life-changing year it has been. Like the Israelites long ago, I believe that the Lord brought me to Egypt in order to free me. In a place heavy with spiritual oppression, it didn't take long for me to come face-to-face with my sin and weaknesses; thus, forcing me to recognize my insatiable need for Christ and to cry out for deliverance. God had to break me; refine me with hardships, in order to mold me into the person He created me to be. Through it all, the Lord was right there with me, pouring out His love and mercy and grace on me. It has been such an incredible year, and I feel beyond blessed to have had the opportunity to serve at MCC- and as it turns out, though I will be taking on a new job in a couple of weeks, I will thankfully be able to continue to volunteer with the youth in the coming years.

One of the highlights of my year is definitely when my parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago- It was so refreshing to have them here and show them my life in Cairo- to see them experience a third-world country was just a bonus :) Here are a few of the highlights from their time here:

Sunset in Ain el Sokhna- a little resort on the Red Sea!

On a completely different note... I have had the privilege of being the assistant track and field coach for JV and Varsity at the american school here (Cairo American College). Last week, we packed up and hopped on a plane with 24 of our athletes to go to Paris to compete in an International Schools track meet (ISST conference). There were schools from all over Europe- Paris, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Brussels, Vienna, etc... And believe it or not, WE WON!!!! I was SO proud of our team- they competed so hard and I was blown away by their strength and determination. Here are a few pictures from our time in Paris:

CAC Screaming Eagles Track & Field Team- 2009 ISST CHAMPIONS!

Weekend Getaway: Aswan

Recently our youth team had the privilege to fly down to Aswan and Luxor for a short little getaway. I have to say, it was a much needed break from the 2 P's of Cairo- Pollution and Population- which can be more overwhelming than I thought. So we hopped on a plane and took a short hour and a half flight from Cairo to Aswan. Once there, we took a motor-boat across the Nile to this little Nubian restaurant that served traditional bedouin-Egyptian food. The next day we went to the Aswan High Dam (slightly over-rated) It looks pretty much like every other bridge/dam in the world:


After the dam, we got on another motor boat that took us to this little Island in the middle of the Nile where the Temple of Isis is located. It was pretty amazing-
Naturally if there's a statue of a lion that's thousands of years old, you have to ride it...
I was constantly amazed at their art work... the engravings and Higroglyphics everywhere...
After the temple, we had lunch on a big sail boat and then went to the Nubian village... the Nubian people are natives to Aswan- their ancestors come from Sudan. Their village was immaculately clean- this is their farm land in the middle of the village- they grow their own food:

It's Not About Me

It seems that the more comfortable I become with my life in Egypt, the more I find myself becoming overwhelmingly busy. Sometimes a good kind of busy, and sometimes not... I've realized that it is all about perspective- there are going to be ups and downs and busy times and slow times throughout my life, but the one constant is always God. I think I tend to 'forget' that sometimes. So when I get stressed out or utterly exhausted or just plain grumpy, I always need to be reminded that IT'S NOT ABOUT ME! It is so easy for me to become selfish with my time- getting annoyed when people 'inconvenience' me. And then stressed when I have too many demands on my time- basically when I spread myself too thin by over-committing. I find myself 'running to stand still' with all of the hats that I wear: I am a daughter, a sister, and a friend, a mentor, an intern, and a nurse, a coach, a coordinator, and a house-guest... Trying to fill all these roles in my life can become a daunting task. It is all too often exhausting to think about all that I need to get done in a day.
Yet! When I stop for a minute and look beyond myself to what God has called me to, it is no longer daunting or exhausting, but exciting and joyful! I'm reminded of Paul when he says "I will most gladly spend and be spent for your sake" (2 Cor. 12:15). When I change my perspective away from being self-centered, I realize what a privilege it is to be spent for the sake of the gospel- to come to the end of my day utterly exhausted because I am "about my Father's business" (Luke 2:49). But there are still so many days where I do not make the most of the opportunities given me, because I'm "just too tired", and it is then that I must cry out "Lord, I do believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). I want to know what it means to suffer for the sake of the gospel- to say with Paul that "I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). Because, at the end of the day, I know that this world is not my home and that His grace is sufficient for me wherever He calls me to go and whatever He calls me to do.
And so that is where the Lord has brought me over the past few months- learning more and more every day what it means to be a follower of Christ. During that time, I've had some really neat opportunities to minister to the girls here- we had a Middle School in-town retreat in February, called Impact, where we talked about the need to reach out to people in our own community. We also recently had a "Princess Night" with the Middle School girls, and the high school girls came and served them, and just spent time with them. It was absolutely amazing! Here are a few pictures from those events-

This is my group on our scavenger hunt for the Middle School Retreat:

Brenna, Kelly, and Me at Princess Night at the Stewarts:

All of the little Princesses in their amazing tiaras!

Me and Micaela getting ready for the "Beauty Pageant"

Patricia (who's in my small group), Courtney, and Marissa

A Busy Start to the Year

Like all of my past New Year's resolutions, my ambition to update my blog weekly has crashed and burned. I don't even have a good excuse :( So I will try and give as good of a recap as possible on the last couple of months... January was spent planning for our High School Retreat. We took around 35 students out to this little resort place on the Red Sea- It was one of the most relaxing and encouraging retreats ever. We talked about being disciples of Christ, and what Scripture says about it all.
The only part that was not fun about the retreat is that the week before I came down with Bronchitis...again...and had to go on an antibiotic (the Z-pak, aka zithromax)- which you can conveniently buy over-the-counter here for about $1- crazy, I know. So after taking that, I was feeling better, but then while on the retreat, I caught some sort of cold/flu virus on top of having the bronchitis. I was out of commission for a good 2 weeks when all was said and done. But now I am feeling back to normal. Here are a few of the pictures from the retreat:

Me and my sister Courtney :)

Of course no youth retreat would be complete without an 80's dance party!
Me and Abby getting ready to go to the party
A group photo after the dance party on the last night
Marie and Petra- two of the girls in my High School small group (Marie is from the Philippines and Petra is from Holland/Germany)

So after the retreat, things died down a bit. And this past weekend, I was invited to go with one of the families and a few friends to Dahab- a little resort town on the Red Sea!!! It was absolutely beautiful; the perfect getaway! All we did was lay out, do a little snorkeling, and play scrabble :) Although the others who were certified also did some scuba diving.

Here's a map, so you can have a better idea of where we were (Cairo is in the upper left corner), we drove there- it took us about 6 hours...Here are a few pictures:

A group photo at one of the scuba diving sites (The Blue Hole)
Tamara, Micaela, Nathan, Hans, and Brandy

This is the view from where we were laying out-- not everyday you get to see camel caravans going by as you're laying out on the beach :)

Another view from where we were laying out.

The week before we went to Dahab, Amy's parents came for a visit, so we went on private dinner boat one night with a bunch of families- one of my favorite nights in Cairo thus far. Here are some pictures from that:

Two of my favorite Cairo moms, Tamara and Sheryl

The ROCK group
(the AMAZING people I'll be working with next year!)
My two bestest friends: Brandy and Amy
(they are the reason I'm still somewhat sane :)

Brandy and Micaela (she's in my 8th grade small group, and pretty much the most amazing person ever!)

What an amazing blessing to be surrounded by such a wonderful community of believers! God has been so incredibly faithful to remind me daily of His provision for my life... and that He has called me here for such a time as this; and Lord willing, I will be spending many years to come serving Him in this place :) Thanks for all of your prayers and support! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the incredibly supportive community back home!

It's About Time!

Well, despite the craziness at the JFK airport, I did make it back to Cairo safe and sound, and just in time to ring in the New year! And, much to everyone's delight, I FINALLY made it out to the Pyramids!!! On Friday after church, Tony, Courtney, Justin, Clemente and I all piled in the car with Mustafa to drive out to the Camel Market (kind of like a 'Farmer's Market' except with Camels). On the way, it came up that Clemente and I had never been to the Pyramids, so Tony decided it was about time! First we stopped by the Camel Market, it was quite the adventure...

"You lookin at me?"

One of the Egyptian men working there...taking his picture with the American girl...

THE PYRAMIDS!
I have to say, they are pretty spectacular!

Oh the fun you can have with a Camera...

This is one of the Queen's pyramids with the city of Cairo in the background
(In my opinion, the Queen's got totally jipped!)

Me and Courtney sitting on the Pyramid...just to give you an idea of how incredibly HUMONGOUS they are!

The Sunset over the desert:

Clemente, Justin, Courtney and I:

And no trip to the Pyramids would be complete without seeing the amazing Sphinx!

And on the way home, we got stuck in a traffic jam...behind some Camels!

And Here's an example of "Curbside Camel Parking"

Needless to say, it's been a fun and adventurous few days back! But then again, pretty much every day in Cairo proves to hold some sort of adventure!

Adventures n Traveling

I'm now 2 hours into my 5 hour layover in New York, and it's been eventful to say the least... When I arrived from Atlanta, I thought it would be fun to check out the other terminals, you know, scope out the food options. So naturally I look for the little AirTrain that goes from terminal to terminal...little did I know that in order to get to the AirTrain, you have to actually leave the 'secured' area- I found out about 2 steps after going through 'the door of no return'- as I've no termed it, since I tried to talk to security person into letting me go back after I realized what I'd done. Apparently it wasn't gonna happen, so I just decided to check out the airtrain...which had no instructions or markings to tell you where it actually goes...so I flipped a coin to decide whether to take "Track 1" or "Track 2". Luckily I decided on Track 2, cause it turns out Track 1 ends up downtown somewhere. But then I got nervous about going to a different terminal, so I just rode the train in a circle around the airport...twice. I finally made it back to the right terminal, and LUCKY ME! I get to go through security AGAIN! As if it wasn't enough fun going through the first time in Atlanta. However, the good news is that while in line, I got to see an entire family wearing matching christmas turtlenecks and courdoroy pants, as well as a precious little Korean grandmother instructing her family on how to carry their bags.
Needless to say, it was an eventful 2 hours! And in about 3 more, I'll be on the plane headed back to Cairo! It was such a blessing to get to spend time at home and see everyone! It was overwhelming for me to hear of so many people who are praying for me. I definitely cherish those prayers and know that the Lord has been so faithful in bringing me to Cairo for a purpose, and being home definitely confirmed that longing in my heart to fulfill His purpose for my life. I cannot wait to get back and see what this new semester has in store! Thanks again for your prayers!