Top 6 pickup lines (Gag me) by ally

From the Pyramids to the Khan El-Khaleeli

6. “You want to marry Egyptian? Here’s my brother.”

5. “Are you from the moon?” (I don’t get this one.)

4. “I’m a doctor! I’m a doctor!” (as if this is what I’m looking for only.)

3. “You have beautiful eyes.” (This was a strange one considering Katie was wearing very dark sunglasses and he couldn’t see her eyes.)

2. “You dropped something!” (I turn to look for what I dropped) “My Heart.”

1. This was said to my team leader(TL), who the Egyptian(E) man assumed was my father (BTW: offerings camels is a marriage proposal.):

E: “How many camels?”
TL: “10 thousand camels.”
E:”Oh, that is not enough.”
TL: “10 million camels?”
E: “10 million camels for 1 eye.”

Quite the lines…huh? I was sooooo glad my team leader played a long. (being extremely sarcastic here guys.)

Lyrics I'm Humming:
Relax, Take it Easy by Mika

Cultural Experience #39 and counting....

so i went to oscar's the other day to get some food. oscars is sorta like a grocery store about the size of one aisle of walmart. so there's maybe like 10 items to choose from that don't look shady. but unlike the others, it feels more "cultural" i.e. instead of hearing "what goes around comes back around" playing when we (americans) walk into our metro market (another grocery story maybe a  bit larger than oscar's), we hear blaring arabian music in which every song is about a "habibi" (girlfriend/lover/whatever). In any event, Oscar employees don't know any english. Not that it matters as I spoke to them in arabic. Anyways, here's the story:

I ask for 4 bananas. just 4. i said "I would like 4 bananas please" in arabic. but apparentely you have to clarify a little more than that which I had forgotten to do since I had been trying to use my arabic all day and everything was now flying out of my head so that I couldn't remember anything. In any event, the man cut me 4 Kilos. Which is a TON of bananas. Like a whole palm tree. He might have well just let me carry the tree back home. i think i would of been eating bananas for like a year. ew. in any event, i tried hard to explain that no i didn't want enough bananas to feed a family reunion in lower alabama, i just wanted 4 bananas for myself. Finally, he caught on and erupted in laughter and cut me 4 new bananas. Which he could of just taken 4 out of the supersized plastic bag he had for me. but whatever. When in Rome.....

or in egypt. 

whatever. 

Atleast i know how to get bananas now. 

-kt

Black and White Deserts-from kt

Mese' el KHeer from one of the many local coffee shops here in the big city. Right now ally and i are enjoying a mocha. it's so weird here, they always ask you what flavor you want in it. apparentely people here get more than just chocolate in their mocha. ew. but we stick to a mocha plain. we're boring i guess. ha. 

anyways, we just got back from our first ever desert safari. we coasted through the sahara at amazing speed (no speed limit signs in the desert) with our 4-wheel drive in gear. we actually put them to use for what they were made for. each car would swerve through sand and fly over dunes at a breakneck speed. at one point our driver forgot that when you fly over a dune there is usually a giant hill on the other side and this time is was more like a cliff so we got some sweet air only to land and sink 3 feet in deep soft arabian sand. we got out, dug out the tires and basically watched as the men pushed. it's almost like going on a rollar coaster for the first time except your not buckled and your car doesn't exactly have tracks so there is no traction which means you swirl around. we camped out under the stars and enjoyed the desert freezing air at night and hid our shoes from the desert foxes. apparently they like things that smell like dead animals. ew! the scenery was inspiring. landscape for miles that didn't help us miss the big city's smog and dust. we traded it for sand and hiking volcanoes. it was awesome. you should go. 

well, as they say often here, Ma Salaama!

Jezebel the Machine- by Sara

So i'm trying to wash my clothes in this weird washing machine. I couldn't even find the start button. Apparently, you have to put the soap in, plug a wire to the socket, put your clothes in, put it on a cycle( didn;t have a clue what cycle to put it on because i couldn't understand what it said) and then turn it on.  It won't start until those are done in order. (ally told me all this) Ally and i set out the door for some much needed food, and Katie stayed home. As we came back from our errnads and walking in the door, poor Katie had the worst look on her face and she said, "The machine is possessed!" There was 2 inches of water all over the floor and the machine had somehow moved FIVE feet way from the wall, so the plug was unhooked. Thus, causing water to come outonto the flor instead of the drain that the plug was used for. AND my clothes that were in it were all soapy.

There was no drain in that room and we didn't have enough towels for all the water, so just like my amazing roommates we thought, pondered and discussed and came up with an amazing idea! We had a mop and a shimee. Ally mopped and I shimmied, all the water down the hall through the door and into the drain that was in the batroonm on the opposite side of the house. It's a good thing the whole house has tile and not carpet! So our house is nice and clean thanks to the washing machine exploding :)

A few days later...

We had somemore laundry to do, so we decided this possessed machine would not win this battle. Katie thought of a wonderful idea of ducktaping the plug to the wall. (This way it couldn't leak) then once the machine started performing its rinse cycle we just took turns sitting on it. It only lasted for an hour! Plus, it was a great butt massage! No sireee that machine will not win. We are more then conquerors!!

Ahlan Wa Sahlan (Welcome!) by Ally

welcome to the middle east...

*there's a sign in the bathroom that says "please don't leave cigarette butts on soap dispenser" because everyone here smokes...you'd think we were in France, but welcome to the middle east.

*you walk through security before entering the mall including getting your bags scanned....welcome to the middle east

*when riding the train there are seperate cars for men and women...welcome to middle east

*being fully covered while working out at the gym...welcome to the middle east

*people don't go out of their houses for any reason if it rains...because they don't know what to do with it...welcome to the middle east

But there have been some great experiences you can't find anywhere else, like...

*the food is amazing! Fuul, Tomaya, Kosheri...it's never ending really and 6 people can eat for around $5! welcome to the middle east.

* you can win a ketchup packet as a prize in the bag of potato chips you bought (think cracker jacks but weirder)...welcome to the middle east

It's a great and interesting place that never seizes to surprise you...

WELCOME TO THE MIDDLE EAST!

Lyrics I'm Humming:
Dust in the Wind by the Eagles

Salaam

Salaam and good evening to you from the northern border of Africa! Currently, the three of us are sitting here in a coffee shop soaking up internet, loving life, and enjoying a strawberry shake that tastes a lot like pepto bismal. Ah yes. Life is grande. From now on, you can keep up with us and our stories throughout the middle east simply by logging on to your local internet supply (which is probably in your house...bless you) while we'll travel here to our coffee lounge to update you. :) We hope you'll enjoy! 

Below are blogs from Sara, Ally, and Katie (we're all roommates together)...