Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Merry Christmas, everyone! I can't remember what we usually do the day after Christmas, but for me, it usually involves eating cold turkey sandwiches with mayonnaise. That may sound repulsive to some, but I'm pretty sure it's near heavenly. At any rate, I hope you're all having a great day.

We are hanging out in our hotel in Cairo, and just returned from a visit to the Pyramids of Giza. We probably spent a good six hours there, checking out the various angles, the panorama, and the Sphinx. Afterward, we decided we were tired of eating falafel and shwarma, so we went to the Pizza Hut for lunch; I've never been at a Pizza Hut that has such a nice view.

Last night, I had the amazing opportunity to witness part of an Egyptian wedding in the hotel. It was extravagant to say the least, and a really unique experience. Once we're home, I'll post some of the pictures and video, although I was too busy watching what was going on to concentrate on what I was doing. You might get dizzy after watching it.

We will leave for Luxor on Sunday, and then fly out of Egypt on Wednesday morning. Until then, Happy New Year.

To Egypt for Christmas

Well, we're off again, but this time a little less smoothly. Thus far, our flight has been delayed for about 2.5 hours, so we're just relaxing in the airport. At this point, we have an hour until we board, so I have resorted to blogging.

There are a lot of places and activities that I could highlight from our most recent trip, but I want to take time to honor my hubby. Chris and I celebrated our third anniversary on Thursday of this week, and I couldn't be more delighted. Also, I think this is the first time that just the two of us have vacationed together abroad, so we'll get to see how we travel as a pair. I'm grateful that he would be willing to treat us to an Anniversary/Christmas vacation.

Even before we were dating, Chris was setting an example of what a godly person should look like. He's often looking to others' interests first, and is passionate about caring for people from different cultures. Throughout college and in these first years of our marriage, he's wanted to reach out to international students and help them feel some sense of comfort as they were away from their homes. This guy puts his given social skills to good use!

He's also cared for me and put my needs above his own. I remember a week that I was horribly sick after we had been married for only a month or so; even though he was substitute teaching and beginning his Master's degree, Chris dropped everything in the evenings so that he could stay by my side and tend to my every whim. He often still defers to me for our leisure activities and plans. It's so easy to serve a husband this caring.

Happy Anniversary, Chris. I love you, and hope we get to celebrate many more.

We're back!

December WHAT?

I officially have no new pictures, because I didn't use my camera at all during the month of November. Sure, there were lots of occasions when I should have used it, but of course, forgot it. I do have a good number of updates though, and some exciting ones to boot.

First, I am finally a resident of Kuwait! After four months of pushing paperwork and a few less than desirable medical tests, I have three pages of my passport taken up by Kuwaiti stamps and stickers. This will expedite the process of entering/leaving the country, getting my Civil ID card, obtaining a Kuwaiti driver's license, and lets me go to any government hospital for next to nothing in case of an emergency. Chris' residency is also complete.

In order to obtain this piece of gold, I had to go to the Ministry of Something-or-Other last week and have chest x-rays and blood work done. I am apparently free of communicable diseases, so they let me be part of the country. In perfect ESL style, the person that drew my blood could not exactly communicate with me well (sort of laughable now), and left a huge bruise on my inner elbow. The following day, I had to go to the Ministry of Something-Else and have my fingerprints taken. I guess that's in case I ever decide to rob a bank here or something, so I'll have to remember not to do that...

Last weekend, we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice. On Friday, we had a luncheon after our church service at the embassy, and on Saturday, we had a potluck Thanksgiving at a friend's house with a number of the Middle and High School teachers from our school. This week, the Social committee (of which I am a part) planned a potluck lunch at the school for in between conferences. I can honestly say that I have never seen so much prepared food in one place in my entire life.

On the same note, Chris and I finished this week with two days of parent/teacher conferences. I found that just like the Americas, Kuwait has a broad spectrum of parent involvement in education. I did end up seeing parents of about 40 students out of the 96 that I teach. Overall, these were extremely pleasant.

Finally, we are going on vacation! Next week, the Muslim world celebrates an Eid holiday and we have the entire week off of school. We'll be making a trip to Jordan (and another nearby place) on Sunday with our friends Kyle and Noah, and then we return to school for December 14th-18th. After that week of school, Chris and I will leave on the 20th to go to Egypt, staying in Sharm el-Sheikh to celebrate our anniversary for a few days, then heading to Cairo and Luxor for about a week. Although it's starting to get a bit too chilly for diving and seaside weather, the views and relaxation time should be beautiful!

We'll, I'm off to the corner store for some ice cream and to buy some minutes for my mobile. Maybe I should get some batteries for my camera, too.