When is it enough?

So here is the thing about living in a different country that doesn't have your same religion, culture and language, can you adapt or when do we say enough? After been here for eight months they are still things that just plain irritate me!

I wish I could just speak the language right away! LOL. I understand some words and can speak a few too but is not enough. I can't read anything in Arabic is totally messed up and starting with the fact that they write from right to left... confusing enough?

The eating habits of Egyptians entitled every body part available in animals, kidneys, livers, cow legs anything you name it they eat it! So that been said I have to say that I only eat chicken and beef and of course not any weird parts! Please don't judge me but I really can't eat it and I don't eat fish either so I guess I fall into the picky eater category. The only thing is you can eat in front of me no problem just don't think I am going to try it!! Lol.

The clothes is something am pretty much adapted too already but really some day's I wake up and I wish I could just wear whatever I want! No sleeves, shorts ... maybe the rebel part of me or something! All this I took into account before moving here but we have a saying back home that says You can't be sure of things until you try them. So here I am musing and complaining to you guys because sometimes is hard.

I miss home and of course the way I lived my life for the past twenty six years and guess what is normal! No one can make such a big difference in their life and expect to adapt in eight months, doing something totally different than what you have been doing your whole life. This is post is for those of you who are afraid of changes, is not going to be easy but hey maybe you do not need to make such a drastic move as I did.

There are country's who speak English or any other language that still will make things challenging for you. Life is never easy and if it is for you, you are either living in the clouds or something is wrong with you! LOL The only thing that will change the outcome is our attitude and I have to say that I have been letting my frustration get the best of me so don't let it happen and if it does, as it happen to me just cry a little maybe get mad and get over it.

Thank you for reading and following me!  

Missing...

When you become an expat they are things that you definitely miss from home. So I decided to share with you mine. First of all I miss my Island!!! the beach, the mountains and of course the rain! One thing I love about the drive to work in the morning is when we pass by the Nile river it might not be the same as the beach but water all the same and it sooth's my "sea desires" LOL.

I surely miss driving! There is nothing more relaxing for me, but only back home! Here in Egypt is a little scary to drive still I thank my habibi for letting me drive a few times.  :)

I miss a really good cereal! The other day I bought "original" Fruit Loops on Carrefour and I was so disappointed because it was not the same as back home! they taste awful. The thing is that it was the same box and everything! But between you and me, they have a Kellogg's here in Egypt so they make everything to look the same but tastes different. That goes for any cereal. On that same note I miss fresh milk. You can find some in Egypt but you have to boil it and everything so we just stick to buying full cream milk.

For those of you living here in Egypt and miss fresh milk too, I share with you a good discovery that tastes almost as good as fresh milk. Dina Farms has a variety of products and one of my favorites is their fresh milk. Here is an ad for it. If you buy it be aware it goes bad quickly. You have like a week before it goes bad, but trust me this stuff is good.

You can find pretty much any fruits in or vegetables in Egypt but to my dismay they don't have plantains! I love plantains in any form and I miss them like crazy so when I get home I am planning on eating so much plantains that they come out of my ears!! LOL 

There you have it people the things I miss the must! There are many other but the life and the country are different and am sure when I go home for a visit I will bring a suitcase just for this type of things! Please don't tell anyone I don't want any problems at the airport! Lol 

Thank you for reading and following me! 

A little bit crazy!!

So I think is safe to say that it made world news the recent incidents on Cairo and other Arab countries... going on that I have to say that believe or not is been safe for me so far. Here is the thing about conflicts here in Egypt, they all concentrate on Tahrir Square and to be honest I live and work far from there so in any case your not going to get hurt if you stay away from it.

Many people may be confused as to what is a happening and because you guys read me you will get the "inside story"! The whole thing blew out because there is a movie trailer that was released on September 11, coincidence? I think not. This video is about a movie that was made of Prophet Muhammad and insulting Islam and their beliefs. Basically the video is very crude a blasphemy in itself and even the actors on the movie didn't know they were doing a film about Islam.

The producers shot the low budget video in 2 weeks and told the actors that it was a movie about warriors in the dessert. The Arab world went crazy and furiously mad at this video and started protesting in Us embassy's and burning the American flag and well you have probably seen and heard what has been going on in the past few days. 

Some people may see this as exaggeration but to be honest everyone has a right to protest especially about something that was so offensive. I surely do not celebrate the violent acts, I think we all have a right to protest and let our voices be heard but always with civility. Since yesterday afternoon their has been no more protests.

Now the real deal is, this is all POLITICS! This video is a diversion and an example of what is to come in the future if politicians make the wrong move. Anyways please don't hold it against me is my humble opinion and well I hope at least you get the idea of what is happening. For my family and friends believe me I am doing great.

Busy with work and  my new apartment! Well thank you for reading and following me!!

Galabeya!

Galabeya!

This next topic is actually a very famous one, the Arab world is known for this form of dress and to be honest I am dying to buy one Galabeya myself. 

Egyptian galabeya (also called jilbab) is a loose, full-length gown with wide sleeves, often decorated with embroidery along it's hems, collar, sleeves and skirt.
Islamic Stores offer the Egyptian cotton galabeyas (jilbab) in various designs and in all sizes from small size to plus size.

When I was working in a nursery here in Cairo, I was surprised when one day they did a Galabeya party! To be honest the kids look so darn cute! I just started taking pictures of them like a crazy person. I wish I could share them with you but I can't. 

Now if you are like me and enjoy to embrace in the costumes and traditions of a country I suggest you go and buy a Galabeya. Depending on the style you can use it for weddings or for a normal day. 

One thing is for certain, not much thinking about fashion! You just put this on add some shoes and you are out the door. There is no need to see if the pants match the shirt and the shoes or  thinking does this look good with this? LOL Instead you just put the Galabeya on and you are ready to go. By the way men also were the Galabeya,  so is normal to see a guy wearing what we in the western consider a dress. 

Here are some pictures so you get the idea. 

Thank you for following me and reading me! 

Desserts!

Well one thing I enjoyed during Ramadan were the amount of yummy desserts they had. One of my favorites is Katayef. One thing me and habibi did while fasting was making this dessert, it was quite a little disconcerting because we were hungry and thirsty and we were making this heavenly dessert I swear I was tempted to just eat it and break the fasting!

So the Katayef is like little pancakes I do not know how to make it but I do know how to do the rest of the stuff which of course am going to walk you thru it. First of all here is a picture of what the Katayef is, you can eat it like that but to be honest is not that good.

The little pancake as I call it is sticky in the edges and the more sticky it is the better, it means is fresh. You can fill these with raisins, coconut, peanuts, prunes, dates and any other thing you can think of. We made a special  blend with shredded coconut, peanuts, prunes and raisings. (picture below) My mother in law made some Saudi Katayef and basically she cooked some dates with butter and cinnamon and then filled the Katayef with it. It was super delicious but a little bit heavy, dates are quit heavy for me. 

After you fill them you stick the edges together making little "empanadas" be careful not to fill them too much because they will break. It will look like this. 

After that you will fry them in very hot oil until golden brown. 

After that you immediately  pour some glaze which is made of 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water to that you squeeze 2 lemons (small ones) and for a yummier taste add cinnamon. Is important that you put them in the glaze after taking them out of the oil. Do not put them in paper to get the excess oil out they will get soggy and the important thing about eating katayef is that they are crunchy. 

Here is the final product! Very yummy and crunchy on the outside and so sweet on the inside this little things will make you addicted!! It sure make me crazy to eat them! So if you are in Egypt during Ramadan go ask in any bakery for Katayef and go home and make them they are the best!

Thank you for reading and following me! 

Feast!

Well now that Ramadan is over here in Egypt we three days of holiday! They called them Eid vacation. On this three days Egyptians eat what they called Kha and Biscuits which are very yummy cookies!! Also on this days parents buy their kids new clothes and new presents.

On these three days the most important thing to Egyptians is to visit the family. The first day of the vacation they have a prayer at 5am in the morning usually everyone goes to a specific location and you can see the amount of people praying and dressed in their galabeyas. After that everyone goes to visit family and of course enjoy eating food now that the fasting is over.

At first my habibi told me oh we are going to order some Kha and biscuits for us you will like it. Inside I was so happy to know I was going to have delicious cookies in my house!! Then my mother in law comes in my house carrying buckets of Kha and a huge bag of biscuits!!! LOL  Needless to say i still have a LOT! To my horror they are so good I just want them gone before I start getting bigger by my terrible need to just eat the delicious things! :)

My favorite is the biscuits!! You can eat them like in the picture plain and they are super delicious! Or you can put some white powder sugar on them, my trick I eat them with everything! I even made an ice cream sandwich with two of them ha! it was super yummy! and of course one of my favorites way to eat them is with strawberry jam.

Now here is the Kha, the taste is different they are not as crunchy as the biscuits and they are very soft inside. Egyptians love this little cookie and of course is my habibi's favorite. You can eat it plain like in the picture and some people coated with white powder sugar. 

Here is a picture of a box we bought too with some heart shaped cookies with sprinkles!! 

Well thank you for reading and following me! Next is how to make a very yummy dessert!!