We went to Athens and Santorini for the Eid holiday

Dave and I just spend three days each in Athens and Santorini, Greece. It was wonderful. Every October expats commonly go on mini-vacations during the Muslim holiday called Eid. I don't know the details but Eid marks the end of Ramadan and is called the meat fest because meat is the focus of the holiday. The meat comes from the slaughtering of cows, goats, and sheep and it commonly occurs on streets and doorways. It's different.

We took a two hour flight to Athens and couldn't believe we were in historical Greece. We love historical places and we love exploring. We visited all the usual places and explored the Placa neighborhood next to the Acropolis. My FAVORITE part was looking at the Acropolis at night with the spotlights. The whole hill top is bathed in light and you can see the Parthenon and other structures. It almost floated in the dark night sky. We visited the terrific Acropolis Museum and a private museum called the Benaki museum that had an amazing collection of things. (I bought a beautiful scarf there.)We learned and re-learned so much history. The weather was perfect, the people were so nice, and the food was great.

We loved Santorini also and stayed at a great little bed and breakfast place. We rented a Smart car and explored the island which started out non-volcanic but is now considered a volcanic island. A final eruption in 1627-1600 BC destroyed the Minoan civilization and we toured a large archaeological site that uncovered buildings and artifacts from this period. It was so interesting. We drove from one end of the island to the other, stopping here and there. One of my favorite exploration sites was the ancient city of Thera that sits on a hill 360 meters high. It's amazing how high up they built their cities. Ancient Thera dates from the 9th century BC until 726 AD. Pottery shards everywhere. I could hardly get over the fact that these shards in the dirt were 2000+ years old.

I will post more photos later. I'm having trouble with the Internet and my blog photos.

A new haircut

I have a lovely friend named Maria and her hair is similar to mine in texture. I love her color and cut and asked who did her hair. A guy named Charlie at Les Elites. Great! I went there about three weeks ago and said that I loved Maria's hair and would he use similar colors for my hair. By the way, Egyptians are very expressive. I would say that is an Arab trait and I enjoy watching Arab people communicate. I don't understand a word they say to each other but it is said with a lot of enthusiasm.

So Charlie looks at me and tells me that I need a new style. Yes, I said, I have been thinking of doing something different with my hair. He tells me to stand up and so I do because he is very expressive. I stand behind the chair and he starts cutting my hair. No explanation or anything, just starts cutting long pieces of my hair. It was almost like Edward Scissorhands. I thought, well I love Maria's hair and it's only hair so if I don't like it then it will grow back. Plus I was in Egypt and starting a new adventure. So I let him do what he wanted. He then told me to sit down and I did, because he is very expressive. He finished cutting my hair while I was sitting and while I was telling him that I don't want anything that is fussy and take a lot of time. No, this will be easy. He's finished in less than 10 minutes. All I see is lots of hair on the floor and short hair on my head. It's wet so you can't really tell what went on. He dried it and I love it. Dave really loves it. It's lighter and younger looking.

I thought this was the way Egyptians get their hair cut but later I learned that it's just Charlie. It was fun!

I hate taking selfies...but here's my new look and I am happy with it. Charlie also did a good job with the color.

We moved to a nicer apartment

We are still looking for a place to live but were lucky enough to move into a different Apache temporary apartment this past weekend. My spirits have lifted beyond words. We can stay here indefinitely and will be a nice place for the kids to stay when they visit over Christmas. It's across the street from the Cairo American College (CAC) which is the American school, K-12. Our address is 4A Road 253, flat 5, Degla, Egypt.

The apartment has three bedrooms and a study in addition to the living area shown below. Nice tile, nice bathrooms, lots of light. The building is particularly secure because of the school. We are on the 2nd floor which is great because I won't use the elevator unless I absolutely have to (as they resemble little metal coffins). I am now using the air purifier in the bedroom 24/7 and our bedroom smells great. It smells great because it actually doesn't smell like anything at all and by that I mean we smell less of the wood smoke that starts up at night. I believe it's people burning things to heat their homes although the smell was there in the summer so I don't think this is the complete reason. The smell usually lingers into the morning and then disappears.

Cairo is starting to feel like home now. I know where and how to shop for the basics; Mr. Fouad picks ups and delivers Dave's shirts and dry cleaning items; I go to exercise class (occasionally) and have made tentative plans to work with a personal trainer; have found a great hairdresser named Charlie; have discovered a lovely young lady named Nadia for pedicures and such; have a great part-time Filipino maid named Gemma; and play canasta every Tuesday and Mahjong every Thursday with a nice bunch of ladies. I especially love canasta and am determined to become a really good mahjong player. This week I went to a LOVELY welcome back luncheon and wore one of my new dresses that I bought just for such occasions. My days are as busy as I want them to be. I am now looking into several charities to see which one(s) I want to spend my time with. There is so much need in Egypt.


Great kitchen, eh? I love it. So much light. When this apartment was renovated they knocked out the kitchen wall and opened it up. We have a refrigerator and freezer on the left side. Lots of cabinets as well.

Our living area as shown from the terrace. It's a large room with a nice square dining table--perfect for canasta! The stairs lead to a long hallway where the bedrooms are located. The master is at the end of the hallway. 

Another view of the kitchen. It's just wonderful.

 

Our terrace and my beloved giraffe.

Our master bathroom. It is so light and spacious, with a real shower. Although there is a half-inch gap between the shower door and the ledge and water pours onto the floor. I'm going to see if I can fix that.