Better Late Than Never

I know it seems like forever since my last posting, so it’s always better to follow me on Twitter because I don’t always have the time to update my blog, and it’s not going to get any easier for me to post anytime soon.   Since my last post, Christmas, my 27th birthday, and, now, Easter has come and gone.   Also, I got TWO jobs since Christmas, and am almost done with training in my most recent job, which I’m oh so excited about!

The first job was working for a kitchenware company that tries to get people to attend, or host in their home, an event where they can sell their cookware and stuff.  My job was calling (a lot of times cold calling) people and “pitching” the event to them.  The problem was the pitch seemed all too good to be true.  And this is how they and all their competitors did things too (which I never would’ve thought there’d be that many companies doing the same type of thing).  And, of course, we are giving them a 3 day/2 night all inclusive accommodation package, of which we tell them there are no strings really, but, if I were called, I’d hang up on me too!  Nothing is for free anymore, and, really, we wanted you to spend the big bucks on their UBER expensive stuff.  For instance, I happened to see a 2007 price chart, and a cookie sheet was $85!!!!!  Who knows what it is now, but that better be gold-plated…and self-cleaning!  The hardest part of the job, for me, was trying to pitch to people, and getting shot down constantly.  I’ve never been much of a sales person, so I’m not good and overcoming objections.  I needed to make the appointments, AND for the people to show up to receive a bonus (which wasn’t all that much to begin with, on top of my minimum wage base pay), so I was quite often discouraged, which I’m sure didn’t help the situation.  I had to drive 30 miles each way to Smyrna, so the drive was just another reason I hated the job.  I originally took the job because I was told most agents make 4 appointments an hour, and about half of them show up, so it could be quite profitable.  I was also told the people we’d be calling had already shown interest in the company, but I quickly learned that’s not the case, either!  A lot of people we called just attended a bridal show, and had signed up for something at the door, and we bought the list.  I made some appointments this way, but I wonder, on average, how many of the people off the lists we buy actually show up to the events…not many, I’m guessing.  I met some cool girls that I worked with, but other than that, it just wasn’t the job for me.

Then, I went and interviewed for a company as a Reservationist, and I was offered the job on the spot!  I was ecstatic!  The only cons of the job are that it’s all the way in Hendersonville, and it’s not the pay range I’d like, but they do offer overtime quite a bit, so I definitely plan on taking advantage of it when I can.  This job is definitely more up my alley, I love hotels and resorts, and people, so I’m excited for training to finish up and hit the floor taking calls.  this company appears to have low turnover, which is a great sign of a good company culture.  The break room is really nice as well, and it’s the nicest call center I’ve been in.  They give incentives for punctuality, which means I’ll be on time EVERY day!

My birthday was a lot of fun, we went to a Thai restaurant, the food was WONDERFUL!  Love me some Thai food!  Some of my bunco babes came, as well as some chicas from small group, and another friend.  Everyone, I think, had a great time.  We were going to go see “Dear John”, but we would’ve been too rushed.  Instead, we just went and hung out at Starbucks for a little while, and had great conversation.  It was a great birthday, but man, 27 sure seems a whole heck of a lot closer to 30 than 26!

In other great news, my dad has moved back to this side of the Atlantic, which means I will hopefully get to see him more often.  He’s living in Canada, not far from Niagara, and I’m happy he’s closer to home.

My mind has gone blank being so late at night, but I’ll try to write again soon!

Backtracking

I’ve been incredibly neglectful of my blog lately, and quite a bit has happened.  If you’ve followed me on twitter, you probably know the majority of my past few months. If you haven’t followed me on Twitter, here’s the gist:

• A kiitten fell into my lap!  No, really, it did.  A friend of mine had a litter of kittens, and needed a home, so Mike, the stray roommate we took in, said he’d take one.  When I moved, he came with, because Mike wasn’t around the apartment with Utt and Futt all that much to care for him.  Originally, his name was Gabriel (not my choice, and he isn’t that much of an angel), but I’ve since changed his name to Bolt.  He tries to bolt out doors, and is VERY quick.  Isn’t he precious?  He LOVES this laundry basket!

• June 27th – Went to see Legally Blonde, the musical, with my friend, Jennifer, who had 2 tickets, and her hubby isn’t so much of a fan of musicals, she thought to invite me.  It was hilarious, I really enjoyed it!  I had no idea musicals could be so good, or funny even.
• June 28th – Jeremy and I got into an argument, over the ratio of dirty dishes to clean dishes in the kitchen…the kitchen was ALWAYS a mess, and hardly had any clean dishes, and were lucky if we could even use the faucet, they’d be piled so high.  If they were mine, they’d been cleaned, but I didn’t cook in that kitchen much because it was always in a disarray.  Basically, I asked if the kitchen was ever going to be clean, and he said he was “fixin’ to do it”….he’s ALWAYS “fixin'” to do something, but never gets done.  He then told me he wanted me out by the end of the month, and I calmly said “no” which ticked him off, and so he called the cops telling them I was trespassing!  At this point, I’d already lived there over 2 months, and it’s not like I just snuck in the house and have lived there undetected.  I went in my room, waiting for the county sherrif to show up, and prove that I’d established residency.  He then comes in my room, yelling at me, telling me that if I’d asked nicely, maybe he’d do the dishes.  I asked him if he, at the age of 23, really needed to be told to clean up after himself.  He then proceded to grab my duffel bag of dirty clothes, and throw them out the front door.  I, of course, went running after it.  As I was picking up my clothes, I made the comment to Chris, Jeremy’s boyfriend about how he’s got a real winner, which set Jeremy off, and he then began shoving me out the door.  My buddy, James, was outside the door as well, and he and Chris told him to stop, as I’m yelling.  Jeremy stopped, then ran back to my room, and smashed my floor lamp in his rage.  I, then, feeling unsafe, called the cops, myself.  Cops came, and asked me if I wanted them to arrest him.  I felt, ONLY because he didn’t actually hit me, that it wasn’t necessary, but the officers advised I leave for the night, which I did.  Jeremy, being the liar he is, told the cops my lamp was broken from the door swinging open, which was never the case.  Jeremy tried changing the locks previously, and I asked the officers tell him not to change them on me, and they warned him.  The officers stayed until I left, which I was grateful for.  I stayed the night at my good friend, Jennifer’s house, and was grateful she took me in.
• June 29th – As if I hadn’t already had a rough weekend, it only got worst when i was pulled over by a cop, for expired tags…I passed him only because he was on his cell phone, and figured a man can’t multi-task, and pay attention to my tags at the same time!  He’s an exception, I suppose.  He got me, and decided to mark me down for 2 infractions, instead of just expired tags, which cost me an additional $12.
• June 30th – found me a new place to move, thought it would be great, living with a couple of girls, back in Bellevue, and pretty cheap.  Put down first months rent that day, needing to get away from the messy living situation I was in.  I was grateful for her taking me in.  The downside was it was only 3 months, because the one girl was getting married, and her and her husband were going to live there.  I didn’t care, just needed to feel safe.
• July 2nd – MOVING DAY!  Was SO glad to be done with the drama.  Didn’t unpack half of my stuff, knowing it was only a short term lease.  The first weekend there, I thought I was in heaven…the sink was void of any dirty dishes, AND I could hear the vacuum being used!  NEVER would’ve happened at the old place!

And So The Search Continues…

We are now 5 months into the job search, and I’ve been in panic mode for the last 3 of them!  Now, I’m in the freak out stage, where my dad is telling me he can’t keep supporting me, and I still haven’t had any nibbles!  My bank account overdrew, he was supposed to put money in, yet it never made its way in.  Last week, I was dealing with the whole moving fiasco, and as soon as I was back online, I must have sent out 20 resumes and cover letters, and not one phone call!  I’m just so irritated and ready to throw in the towel, with nowhere to turn.  The ony thing is I don’t have anywhere to go.  Michigan isn’t an option, they’ve got higher unemployment rates than Tennesee, and as for living with my mother, NO THANKS!  With the whole country having issues, I feel stuck.  And what kills me is my little brother, 20, who is going to school and working full time, is making more money than I’ve ever made!  He had to drop out of college because of his “depression” and has screwed up way more than me, yet things are going well for him!  I just don’t get it, why am I still going around this mountain??????  I haven’t had an interview in over a week, and I’m assumming I didn’t get that one since I never heard back.  The one the week before that, they said they’d certainly let me know EITHER WAY, and NOTHING!!!!!!  If anyone hears of anybody hiring, where it wouldn’t require me to be on my feet all day, let me know, I have a Bachelor’s Degree and can do anything administrative, and have fantastic customer service skills!

Human Tootsie Pop

I want to take a moment and brag a little…about my father!  See, if you ever met my dad, unless you came to know him REALLY well, you would think he’s a hard ass, for lack of a better term, but I think he resembles a tootsie pop.  The reason he had such a hard exterior is because he’s full of such sweet goodness in the center!  I bring this up because I was curious to see if he was ever in the media over in the UK, which is where he lives and works.  He is a plant manager for Vauxhall (GM), and from what he tells me on the phone, he rubs elbows with some of the big names in his neck of the woods.  There wasn’t much on him, but I did find an article that melted my heart, and thought it was worth sharing.  He’s not one to brag, so I’ll do it for him, and like I’ve said before, I couldn’t be prouder of him!  I am one of the luckiest girls on the planet to have such a wonderful father!  If not for him, I’d be homeless, so he really is my biggest hero.  No matter how much I’ve disappointed him, and there have been many times, he’s ALWAYS there for me!

ไทยแลนด์ (Thailand)

I’ve written about my experiences in Egypt, now, on to Thailand, the Land of Smiles! While we were still in Egypt, my parents went over on a look-see to find out where we’d be living and even if we really wanted to move there. My mom brought me back Bubble Yum bubble gum, and that was all I needed to know I’d love it over there! My dad’s company also sent them to Sao Paulo, Brazil, after this trip, and after being told of the crimes (usually aimed at ex-pats) and living behind bars on windows and doors, my parents quickly made up their minds!

In August of 1997, we arrived at the Bangkok International Airport, it was around midnight, and we were exhausted after 20 hours of travel! When you get off the plane, one of the first things you see is a banner that displays “Welcome to the Land of Smiles” and you see all the cute little Thais. We still had a two hour drive still ahead of us, just to get to the hotel where we’d be staying, what a LONG day that was!

We drove to Pattaya, which is south of Bangkok, the nearest city to where we’d be living. The hotel we stayed at was called the Royal Garden, and it had a MALL attached to it! I had never seen such a thing, and thought it was SO cool! As a 14 year-old girl, I was in heaven! The hotel was GORGEOUS, and the next day, I went to check out the mall, with no money of course, I forgot to ask for some Baht (Thai currency). I found this one store that, apparently, is big over in the UK, Boots, an odd name for a drugstore type of store, but they had a lot of American and British beauty products (although you’d pay the price for ’em), which was great! The mall also had a Benihana’s, so it was a MAJOR improvement from Cairo.

When we went to see our new home, we were in disbelief that it was as beautiful as it was. We lived ON a golf course, so my parents and brother were ecstatic, HOWEVER, I tried taking golf lessons in Egypt, and decided I could care less. The 2nd mode of transportation was a golf cart, everyone had at least one.

I can’t tell you how SPOILED ROTTEN we were over there, it’s so cheap to live there, we are fortunate enough to afford a maid and a driver!!! Our maid and driver were married, and the lived with us, in the outside quarters. They really became part of our family, they had a beautiful little girl whose nickname was Ploy, which means pearl in Thai, isn’t that sweet? To give you an idea of how cheap it is, we paid the maid the equivalent to $200, and she was one of the highest paid maids in the area! She felt so blessed we were able to give her a job, she gave up beef in return, completely on her own, and stuck to it!!! The Thais are willing to bend over backwards to please, and they really LOVE to smile, which makes me miss Thailand.

Because the primary religion is Buddhism, they have a different new year, their version is known as Songkran, which is celebrated April 13th – 15th, and it’s just a big HUMONGOUS water fight! They do have a white powder they mix with water, and that is supposed to ward off evil, and they will nail you with that, as well, and can sting your eyes. If you think you can go out, and still stay dry, FORGET IT!!!!! Watch the clip below and see it’s all in good fun:

School was different, we had uniforms, and I was not happy with that in the beginning. I’d never been to a school with uniforms, and the thought of wearing the same thing day in and day out was appalling! The school, the International School of the Eastern Seaboard (ISE) was SO small, even compared to my old school, CAC, there were less than 20 kids in the WHOLE 9th grade! We all had the same classes together, and there weren’t choices in what you could take, except you had the option of learning French of Spanish. I couldn’t even learn Thai in school, because there supposedly wasn’t enough interest to have a class, the majority of the students were Thai. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to learn it, besides the basic 1-10 and hello, good-bye, thank you, etc… In the 10th grade, we went on a Biology trip, we called the “Barge Trip” where we were on a boat, and went around to different sights, and had a good time. I remember feeling tired throughout that trip, just the fresh air and the heat got to me, and maybe just gross from the fact we literally had timed showers, you had 3 minutes once you got in the bathroom area, to jump in and out, and get dressed again…that was rough! I do remember everyone taking turns in groups cooking, and that was fun! That was my first experience with okra, turned out I kinda liked it.

Here’s a picture of the high school, that was newly built when I was there. If you can see the stairs have a covering, it’s because there’s no roof over the center of the building. One teeny tiny tidbit they may have overlooked, during the design process, was that there’s monsoon season!

the inside of the high school

The good thing I learned is, when it’s a small school, you get a chance to get to know everyone there, and I appreciated that, we had people from all corners of the world, and I can’t tell you how NEAT it is to interact with people from such different backgrounds! I feel so blessed to have met EVERYONE there, the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s interesting how you look back, and you realize the ways people shaped your life.

My good friend, Guillermo & I

In Thailand, drinking was legal, so long as you paid, and the same went with prostitution. The typical stereotype if you saw a foreigner with a Thai girl, usually much younger, is she was getting paid for her company, and that was something you saw EVERYDAY! Even the next door neighbor would have parties with a few Thai women when his wife left. Everyone knew everyone else’s business, MUCH more so than should’ve. I guess that’s what happens when wives (of ex-pats) can’t work (weren’t allowed work permits), and have nothing better to do.  Anytime one of the their kids screwed up, and we ALL did, EVERYONE knew about it, and that was really annoying. My bad experience was with our golf cart. One day, I was screwing around on the golf cart paths, going up and down the hills for cheap thrills, and missed a turn,  I tried to compensate by turning sharply, which resulted in me falling out, and the cart kept going…right into the pond!!!!!! I was so upset, one of the neighbors happened to be driving by, and they gave me a lift back home. All I remember was I was grounded after that, and told I could NEVER drive it again! I was able to drive it again, they trusted me, and that was the last time I went up and down hills for excitement! I think it was about $100 or so just to dry it out. My mom jokingly told me to tell people I went looking for my dad’s old golf balls, sadly, that excuse didn’t fly!

My golf cart fared a little better than this one, but not by much

Thailand has some Amazing beaches, in Pattaya, Phuket, and the small islands. Our family traveled to Phuket a few times, and stayed at Le Meridian Resort, which was recked in the tsunami, but has since been restored. We LOVED that place, there was always something to do, and everyday, they had this fantastic mongolian barbecue (I’m such a foodie), definitely one of the things I looked forward to. The only thing i hated was the pain from my “pasty-white-girl-tan”, otherwise known as a sunburn, from being in the sun all day. Another place we visited was Chiang Mai, and on that trip, this Aussie boyband, Human Nature, performed in the lobby lounge of the hotel, and I remember thinking they were some FINE lookin’ men LOL, but my tastes have changed since then, but a couple of them are still cute LOL. They ended up having some songs on the Asian and Aussie music charts, but nothing too big. What can I say, I was a sucker for any cute boy!!!!

Earlier, I mentioned how I’m kind of a foodie, and I love Thai food. I’m not one for a lot of spice, like most of their dishes, but it’s worth the sacrifice, and if you think you’re eating Thai food, but your nose isn’t running, and eyes aren’t watering, then it may not be authentic. I did learn how to make Thai fried rice, from our maid, sesame beef. I do have a recipe for chicken cashew, just have never made it myself, but it’s awesome! Chicken satay and pad thai are my favorites!

Pad Thai

Durians are a fruit that is native to southeast Asia, and you would KNOW if you were ever within a half a mile of one, the smell is unforgettable, to say the least! Remember how I said the high school was all open-aired??? Well, one day, someone brought 2 durians to school, and left them at the bottom of the stairs, and the smell was just AWFUL!!! One writer describes it as “overripe cheese. Rotting fish. Unwashed socks. A city dump on a hot summer’s day”, and I couldn’t agree more!! Apparently, the public buses, which are all open-aired as well, wouldn’t allow anyone with one of these supposedly tasty fruits on board due to the pungent odor. I never tried it, the smell was enough to turn me off. Pomelo was another fruit that is native to SE Asia, and it is SO good! It tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit.

Pomelo

Durian

See this picture…

Gorgeous, huh??? Well, these are what the Thais refer to as Katoys, which means “ladyboys”, and they have Mr. Miss beauty pageants!! So, if you go there, you may not always get what you see, As you can see, many of them are more beautiful than real women! My parents took us to a cabaret show when we were on vacation, and later, we met some of the stars of the show, and my mother broke it to us that they were men, I just couldn’t believe it, they were SO beautiful, but then I noticed the adam’s apple!

While I was in Thailand, I had the opportunity to travel Vietnam, Bali and Australia. I think we loved Phuket so much, we didn’t do as much traveling to other places, but I really don’t have any places on my must see list, that I haven’t already seen. I really loved the people, the culture, and the land, I would move back there in a heartbeat, if given the opportunity! There is a woman’s blog I’ve been reading, who just moved there, and it brings back memories to read about her daily life, although, she lives in a different part of the country. I’m sure I missed things, but this gives you an insight into my life, as well as the things the average tourist might not experience.

حياتي في مصر (My Life In Egypt)

Some of you may, or may not, know that I used to live in Egypt. I may not have appreciated it as much as I should have, but I do now, it was a WONDERFUL learning experience! Before I moved there, I really, truly, was under the impression that we would be living in pyramids and riding camels everywhere…never hit me that my dad worked for a CAR COMPANY!!!! I think I told everyone I knew I’d be living in a pyramid and I’m pretty sure I practiced walking like an Egyptian in the mirror!!!

Well, after 13 hours of flying, we landed in Cairo. The smells are what hit you first. A combination of sweat, body odor, and must, with a hint of the worst cologne you ever could smell! It’s kind of crazy it’s been 14 years and I still remember, but it was so different, how could I not? I really felt like I took a step back in time, it just seemed like the men were dressed in 80’s attire, and everything just looked so old. When you step foot outside of the airport, most of the cars were old and clunky, cabs included. I’d never been around people who had to cover their heads or faces, so it was all very new to me, and at that time, I wasn’t very familiar with the Muslim religion, but it was clearly evident we weren’t in Grand Blanc, Michigan anymore!

It was around midnight local time when we arrived, but our first stop was to take a look at where we’d be living, which was NOT a pyramid! We had a lovely apartment, just different from what I was used to, I’d never lived in an apartment building, and again, there was a funky stench in the building. Also, living on the 5th floor is not a great floor to live on, should the electricity go out, and it went out often. We later learned one of the bathrooms stunk, permanently, of whatever it was our landlord, right above us, was cooking (and they loved their garlic)! What was even stranger was we had 2.5 bathrooms, and they were all next to each other, the stinky bathroom was maroon, and my parents’ bathroom was a hideous pickle green! Luckily, the half bath guests would use was attractive, which was all my mother worried about. I thought it was the coolest thing that I had a balcony off of my room, it was small, but it had a view of the school. We then went to the hotel, and stayed there for a few days while we got situated.

My first mini-expedition was right after I moved in, my mother asked me to go get some milk from the market, Kimo Market (which you’ll see briefly in the video clip @ the end), and all I had to do was go straight, but somehow, I ended up over on one of the busiest streets in the area, referred to as Road 9, and I started on 210, and a nun, or that’s what I remember she was, was nice enough to help me get home. I didn’t know a phone number, or even where home was, all I knew was I lived near CAC, but hours later, I got home in one piece. And my mother swears my sense of direction hasn’t improved much since!!!!

The following week, I started school at Cairo American College, it was Kindergarten through grade 12. It was much smaller than what i was used to, only about 100 students per grade. It was early November, so I remember feeling so overwhelmed on the first day, and later realized it was MUCH more difficult than I expected. The school was great though, there were people from all over the world, places I’d never even heard of, and I was able to learn so much about the world, namely geography and cultures. In the US, they focus on government, civics and usually the history of your state, I did however, learn so much about Egypt, their culture and the Muslim Religion, and when you understand why people are different, and do the things they do, you’re a whole lot more accepting. The Middle East gets such a bad rap, the only time you hear about it on the new is when something horrible happens, or because of the war, and it’s not all bad, the WHOLE region is not comprised of terrorists, if it was, they would’ve all killed each other by now! Only one terrorist attack occurred while we were there, and it wasn’t even aimed at Americans. Sadly, it was a BAD case of mistaken identity. I really take offense when people make those generalizations, they’re people too, just from a different background! Sorry, I tend to stray. The school I went to was a private American school, very advanced, and pretty up with the rest of the world, technologically speaking. I took Arabic classes the 2nd and 3rd years I was there, and learned how to read and write it. I tested it out a lot on our Boab (doorman) and our driver, both named Ahmed. When living there, it seemed as if there were only a handful of men’s names to choose from, It was as if every man were named either Ahmed, Mohammed, Abdul, Mahmoud, and Sharif. Seemed like there were even fewer female names, so we often would get people’s names mixed up, or we’d get lucky when picking one of the few we could think of LOL. My dad learned a few words in Arabic and he took a fondness to “habib” and “habibi”, which means love, or my love, and he called EVERYONE it, very amusing, if not embarrassing! We’re really lucky we never had any need for medical care while we were there, the hospital was called salaam something or another, and “ma’asalaam” means good-bye, so we deemed it the ma’asalaam hospital and joked if you went in, you wouldn’t be coming back out! For all we knew, it could’ve been just fine, but then again, Egypt was still a developing nation (developing nations don’t like the term “3rd world”). This was back in 1994-1997 that I was there, so I’m sure a lot has changed since then.

The really cool thing from CAC was that we started a rehabilitation program for Egyptian Tortoises, which are endangered. We took responsibility for feeding and caring for them, and that was a lot of fun. I believe they’re still doing the project to this day, and we weren’t even sure it’d continue after the first year. Another interesting thing we did was went and spent 4 nights in the desert, living with Bedouins. It was our 8th grade trip (we went on an overnight trip every year), but this one was my least favorite. Living in the desert means no plumbing…of any kind! We dug holes, did our business (behind a giant rock), and burned the toilet paper. Not my idea of a vacation! We snorkled, and on my first day, I managed to lose all my gear except a fin, due to waves. Snorkling was the only thing that got me through 4 days without showering, but salt water isn’t the greatest either! And I must say, snorkeling in the Red Sea is nothing but spectacular! It’s so beautiful! There was supposed to be something educational about the trip, however, I was probably too annoyed with the fact that one of the teachers (a gym teacher at that, so it was weird she came) washed her hair EVERYDAY, and I couldn’t even get a shower, that I just don’t remember!!! Oh well, I survived. I do remember having several bloody noses on that trip, due to the dry air, that was not fun (although one was caused by another girl over something stupid, but I still remember LOL, wonder where Kristin Schaffer is today). I also remember wishing I’d brought a warmer sleeping bag, it was COLD at night! It wasn’t a good trip for me, I won’t lie, but it’s one to remember! The 6th grade trip for students was to Luxor, which is where the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens are, where King Tut’s tomb is, and a whole lot of history. In the 7th grade, we were supposed to go to Amman, Jordon, but due to current events at the time, we ended up going to Al Arish, and it was an alright trip…first time I ever played Truth or Dare LOL, and that’s about all I remember! I did take a class, Egypt in Greek and Roman Times, and that was a really interesting class, more notably, I got to travel to Rome during my spring break in 7th grade! I LOVED Rome, it was gorgeous, and we did a ton of sight seeing, and the food was to die for! I digressed again!

The pyramids and sphinx were only about a 30 minute drive from where we lived, and we went there a few times, my mom even did a Christmas card of us in front of the pyramids. There was also the City of the Dead, which was miles of tombs, but a lot of poor people lived there as well, which is kind of creepy when you think about it. Another sight is the Citadel, i went there, but couldn’t tell you anything about it.

The Citadel

Driving in Egypt is something to be experienced…they try to make 5 lanes out of 3. Other things I found interesting in Egypt were that Arby’s delivered, McDonald’s had just opened it’s first restaurant in Cairo right before we moved there, and it was ALWAYS busy, even during Ramadan (when Muslims fast for a month), I think all ex-patriots had the same idea, to go there LOL. We had a Domino’s move into the bottom of the apartment building across the street, and that was convenient. Egyptian food, in my opinion, is bland, and the only think I liked was hummus and bread.

Here’s a video that kinda shows what Ma’adi, the ex-pat community we lived in, looks like, including CAC. It’s kinda long, but the last 2 minutes are the most interesting.

Next time…Thailand! Here’s a snippet from a previous post

I Don’t See the Problem!!

So, my dad called me today, which is (usually) a good thing, however, he called and the first thing he hit me with was why are you calling everyone asking who I’m with or what I’m doing??? I advised him I hadn’t called anyone but my brother, and he NEVER even picked up the phone, I did text him asking if my dad’s girlfriend (last I knew, that’s what she was) was up there with them, but my dad told me he wasn’t up north with him anymore, and I told him I didn’t know that, because he NEVER ANSWERED THE PHONE! It just makes me mad that my brother would tell him that I’m constantly calling him (of which I was doing so I could talk to my dad), and I’ve supposedly added more stress onto him, because he’s already so stressed out. It just bothers me that he gets after me about something I didn’t do!!! Well, I left a not-so-nice message for him, which wasn’t the best thing to do, but he had no business tattling to my dad, he’s not like that (usually)!!!!! And then, I told my dad I just wanted to know what was going on because I wanted to see him, but (I told him) last summer, he didn’t even seem to care whether or not he saw me, and doesn’t seem that interested this year either. I’ve only seen him for about 48 hours (max) in the last 2 years, and apparently, I’m not one of his priorities!!! Now, my brother, with his depression, which has led him to withdraw from college classes, is still the golden child, makes sense to me!!!!!!

Why Cant I?

…have the dream job???

…have the man of my dreams???

…be who I want to be???

I just don’t know what it is about me that I feel like such a failure! I’ve lived a charmed life, I’ll admit that, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have never had to go hungry growing up, and to have had the luxury of living overseas and traveling the world, and for that, I am soooo thankful, but why is it I feel like nothing in my life is working, or going the way I thought it was supposed to??? I went to college, I’m incredibly smart and am charming, why can’t I find a job, let alone that dream job, where I would ENJOY what I do???? I’m a pretty cool person (if you ask me, and I’m sure others would agree), why can’t I find a good guy??? Do I just repulse the whole male gender???? And he doesn’t even have to be a Keith Urban look-alike, I’ll take any guy who has a good heart and sense of humor! I just feel so out of touch with the real world, like I can’t really relate to people so much, no job, no husbands or significant others, and it’s really frustrating!!!!!! I haven’t even come clean with my father about my not having a job, and that’s killing me! He should be calling me tomorrow, so I’ll be telling him then, but I’m afraid what he’s going to think if I’ve held it from him for this long! I just don’t want to disappoint him…yet again! These last few months have really sucked, for lack of a better word, and I’m so fed up with it! I’ve tried praying, doesn’t seem to work, but as I’ve been told, things happen in God’s time, but can he move it along…puh-lease!!!!! My patience is wearing a little thin these days!

Couldn’t Be Prouder

My dad sent me this article awhile back, and just remembered I had it, thought I’d post it because he’s one awesome dad and I couldn’t be more proud to call him my father, and hero!!!!

Father’s Day

Well, I don’t live near my family, so the holidays aren’t like everyone else’s, and, especially, since my father lives in England, I hardly get to see him, as it is. I did call him, but I think he was at church, so I left him a nice message, but it’s his home phone, and he travels a lot, and I didn’t get a call from him yesterday, being that Saturday is when he’s supposed to call, and he does forget when he travels. Either way, he’ll get the message, but I just wish I could give nice gifts to them as a token for my appreciation. I love my parents dearly, and despite everything that’s gone on in the past few years, they still did a FANTASTIC job raising my brother and I. My dad doesn’t read my blog, I haven’t showed it to him, I still haven’t worked up the courage to tell him I don’t have a job anymore, but only because I love him, and don’t need him worrying, nor do I need the lectures!