Quick trip

The kids and I just got back tonight from a fun weekend trip to Cairo. Todd was there for meetings and the company had an Iftar dinner for all the employees and their families. We didn't do any sightseeing since we were there only a short time but I did get a few pics. If I get motivated I'll post them in a few days. Todd has the camera with him because he flew from Cairo to Kenya and he wanted to take the camera. He'll be back in Jordan in a few days.

We did attend the branch meetings on Friday in Cairo. We were 15 minutes late because the taxi driver didn't know the address we gave him. Of course he didn't tell us that when we got into the taxi. Anything to get a fare. There were lots of Americans in the branch. I miss that although we have a few here in Jordan so I should be grateful for that.

At the dinner there were over 100 people I would estimate. Arabs are very social so everyone was introducing their families to us and Todd was introducing the kids and me to everyone. I'm horrible at remembering names til I've used them several times but I will definitely remember one lady. She didn't speak a lot of English but she came over to us and introduced herself by saying, "I am the mother of Ahmed." Those of you who know anything about the Middle East will know that pretty much any female with children in the Middle East can make that claim. And all the Ahmeds have a brother named Mohammed. If there are more than the two boys you can get into more name variations. I don't remember her name or even if she said her name but I will remember that she "is the mother of Ahmed."

I had my first experience with a man refusing to shake my hand because I was female. Like I said, it was a night of socializing and meeting people and I'll bet I shook hands with all but a handful of people in the room. So after so many people you just automatically assume you will shake hands with all you meet. When introduced to him I put my hand out and he clenched his fists and started to say something like "No, I can't" but I interrupted and apologized that I forget that custom. Todd had told me that this particular man and his wife are very devout. She is completely veiled (you only see her eyes) and she even wears the gloves so you don't even see her hands. I never did get to meet her but I did meet lots of other interesting people. It was fun.

I flew back with the kids to Jordan and I'd never come into this country without Todd so I was a bit nervous about making sure I went through all the right steps and places to get our visas and such. I got the kids settled into some chairs to wait while I went to the visa line. There's no such thing as efficiency in the ME so sometimes the lines will be short but the wait will be long. I did get quickly up to the desk though and I plopped our 8 passports up onto the desk to get the stamp. He picked up the passports and asked me who they were all for. I told him it was for me and my children and I pointed them out sitting over on the chairs. Then he called over to the guy at another desk, "Abdullah!" Abdullah didn't hear the first time so he called again, "Abdullah!" Abdullah turned to look and my guy held up the passports to show Abdullah the stack then pointed over to the kids. They said some words in Arabic that I didn't understand but it was obvious they were surprised to see so many children--especially with an American woman. After the exchange with Abdullah my guy says to me "You are like an Arabian woman with so many children." He asked if my husband was Middle Eastern. People here are really surprised to see Americans with so many children.

Before we'd left Cairo as the kids and I were making our way through the Cairo airport through the visa checks and security screenings and stuff, I was also asked by two different people if my husband was from the Middle East because I guess they just don't see Americans with larger families. Many ME are educated in the States but in places like Chicago and Boston. More of them need to start attending places like BYU so they can see we're really not that odd.