Happy New Year!

So this is why we are friends.  New Years Eve consisted of us making cupcakes...

While Senica worked on his creations,

And because the inventory in Egypt varies, you have to get what they have, so our cupcakes were chocolate cake with lemon icing. 

After finishing our interesting cupcakes and cheering in the New Year, we walked to the center of the city to see what people were doing to celebrate.  Did I mention my friend is a community psychologist?
Interestingly enough, it was just as it is at home.  Lovebirds cuddled up on mopeds, little kids setting off firecrackers, and.....

Most people at home, bringing in the New Year with friends and family.  Happy New Year from Cairo! 

Living in Cairo

Living in Cairo has been interesting.  Primarily because it wasnt anything like I expected.  I am living in the suburbs of Cairo, in a gated community, where children play outside on grass and women walk around in Western garb with their hair uncovered.  I have heat and hot water, I have a microwave and a stove.  And I have a souq.

The neighborhood marketplace.  Of course, across from the food market is the neighborhood hair salon,

Because I am "living" in Cairo, I am not in the tourist areas, so there is no English.  Except for the random words in English that are used to denote a cool place to be.  Like, the City Stars mall.  Or the Suncity gated community.  They did that in Spain when I was living there.  Everything young and fashionable was in English.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  But the reality of Al Rehab City is a mix of old and new culture colliding.  Some people are dressed as I expected, the women covered from head to toe and the men in traditional garb.  Some people are half dressed- their hair is covered but they are wearing western clothing.  And most are in western garb.  But we are in what is considered the upper class neighborhood, so being western is fashionable and they can afford the extra price.  So in addition to the souq, we also have the mall. 

The first time I went into town, leaving the shelter of the gated community, I made sure I was covered.  Sure, no one cared in gated community Cairo, but what would happen in the heart of downtown?  So I went prepared.

Of course, the ex-pats shake their head- at my head scarf and the fact that I am freezing in the 60 degree weather. 

We go head to church in Heliopolis, which is an older part of Cairo.

And then we head to the giant mall, Citystars  (think cruise ship center on land with stores) 

To go to the Egyptian version of Walmart.

Then we left the mall and headed to the bus stop to go home. 

Did I mention there are no traffic signals in Cairo?

As you can see from the picture of the apartment complex, we made it back safely.  And I am still alive. 

Welcome to Cairo!

For those who don't know, I am currently in Cairo, Egypt, visiting my friend, Amy, for 2 weeks.  A lot of friends and family were a little nervous about me going, so I've decided to use my blog to alleviate their concerns.  For the next week and half, get ready to share my life in Cairo. 

First off.  I am still alive. 

And YAYYYYYYYYY!   I'm visiting with my friend I haven't seen in 2 years and it is wonderful!  Skype doesn't compare, though I do appreciate it as the next best thing.

Amy lives in a gated community and works for the university. So she was able to send a driver, complete with my name on a sign, to help me through customs and to get me to the house.  Because I don't read Arabic, and surprisingly, English is hard to find even before you leave customs.    So I get through customs fine, complete with my tourist visa stamped, my money hidden in places I can't reveal to you online, and I see my name.  Thank goodness, because no one speaks English. 

Andddd that includes my driver. 

I see my name, relieved, and hurry over with a smile.  "Charlotte?"  he asks, and I nod and hold out my hand to shake.  "Yes!" Yes, I am.  Nice to meet you!" 
Awkward pause.  Oh yeah, I forgot this is a Muslim country, and isn't there a law about women touching men?   I knew I should have read Sue and Sue before I got here. 

But I didn't and after the pause he shook my hand lightly.   I am so busy castigating myself for being so culturally insensitive that we are almost to the door when I realize- I don't know this man's name.

"Whats your name"  I ask.

He nods, and says, ".......... Welcome to Cairo."

Stumped, I ponder this as we walk outside.  What did he say?  Its in the bright sunlight that my suspicions flare.   How hard is it to steal a sign?  What do I know about this guy?  And where is Amy?

So I try to communicate again.  "Sooooooo, where are we meeting Amy?"  I ask casually.

He smiles and bobs his head.  "Sorry, no English." 

Sorry no English!?!?!?  Now my sensors are going off.  I can't get into the car with this man, cause if something happens to me, I'll never hear the end of it.   All I could hear was my mother saying, "Let me get this straight.  The man spoke no English.

Right.

Had no idea who Amy was.

Right.

And couldn't tell you where you were going.

Right.   (Did I mention when I gave him the address Amy had given me he looked confused?)

And you got in the car with him anyway?

Right.

Wrong.  I was not gonna not have that conversation with my momma. 

Obviously since I am still alive and at my computer in Amy's house I made it safely.  How, you ask?  Well, palms sweaty, I mimed a phone and asked if I could call Amy.   He took out his phone questioningly and I shook my head yes, and he showed me the sign with some Arabic on it.  It was just my luck that Arabic numbers are different as well.  But I said yes anyway.   All that mattered was that whatever he called the number better be Amy, or me and my bags were going back into the airport.  To my relief, the Arabic scribble on the page changed into Amy's number on the phone, and to my extra relief she answered immediately. 

"Is this Amy?"  I asked when a woman answered the phone.  She said yes.
"You sent me a driver that doesn't speak English!"  I yelled in relief on the phone, as I released my death grip on my bags and finally allowed the driver to put them in the trunk. 

It turns out most drivers speak English from the university, it was just my luck that mine didn't. So to make a longer story shorter, I made it safely out of the airport to Amy's gated community, where she and Senica greeted me with open arms and warm heaters.

Did I mention it is cold in Egypt? 

They Got Me!

Remember those guys who were winking, and sending emails?  Don't forget the ones who were "interested" in me.  

All that excitement was for a 45 year old, a 58 year old, and a 42 year old.  The 58 year old was really serious, because he was interested, he winked, and he sent several emails. 
Soooo, they got me.  There are no hot guys waiting to talk to me.  However, I seem to be very attractive to the over 40 set.  And it was really sad, because for a moment I was doing the math in my head- is 42 still in my acceptable age range? 

The answer upset me, because it made me realize that yes, 40 is not beyond the realm of possibility.

.....

Nope, not there yet.  36 is still my limit, 37 if you look good and have a really good profile that makes me laugh.  That's not asking too much is it? 

Apparently it is.   Every day I get sent daily matches, where the website chooses guys they think I might like and they say, 'Are you interested in this one? Check yes, no, or maybe.   Its been 2 weeks, I've checked a couple of yeses, a lot of no's, and a few maybes. 
Not one guy is interested back. 

I continue, however, to receive emails from other men on the website.  I report that my reputation with the over 40's still remains strong, as I am daily saying no thanks to them.  I wonder if this is a sign from God that I am supposed to expand my horizons to an older set. 

But wait, I am also interesting to, wait for it, the camera in the mirror guys!   Apparently taking a picture of yourself in the mirror is not restricted to free sites, but sophisticated men who pay for internet dating also have no friends and no lives. 

Did I mention the guys who like to send emails with deep thoughts like, 'hey.' ?

My hope does not falter.   I am in Cairo with my best friend, and she has helped me revamp my profile.  And lo and behold, someone under 40 knows how to write a sentence. 

Happy New Year to me!  2012 is looking up already.

It starts.....signing up for match.com

If you've ever online dated, you've been there.  "Join free!" they say.   You get excited because you are a graduate student with no money and no time between sleeping and watching reality tv show reruns to actually go out and meet people in real life (or happy hour, an interesting term I've heard friends with real jobs bandy about).  So you log on, agonizing for a minute about what your screenname should be, only to find out someone has it already (I guess there are only so many screen names that toe that fine line between quircky and cooky, original and off the wall).  Anywho.  You finally find a name that hasnt been chosen and you're in, only to find that you can't just post a picture and run, 400 words are required before you can post your picture.   And dont forget the quiz!  "I have been depressed.  Never, Sometimes, All the time."  This would probably be an easy question for some- Never, right?  Even if you do, you know mental illness might be a deal breaker for some, so you lie.  But then, as a psychology major, you can never choose the absolutes, because there was that one time during quals.....  

I digress.  So after you've taken the quiz, you dont just get to post your picture and hope for the best,  you have to say 400 words your interests, what you want in a man, what you want your first date to be like, etc.  I was just in a wedding with full on makeup and hair, so I picking the picture was no problem.  At least, it shouldn't have been.  But I can't get rid of my psych brain.  "Maybe people will think I dont really look that way in real life, but only with professional help!" I agonize.

So I am back to square one. 

Thats when the friends come in, and psych rears its ugly head again (in case you havent figured it out, psych is psychology- the part of my brain that analyses the heck out of things most people dont even think about).  So I send out some surveys.

Some people got open ended questions: if you had to describe me what would you say?   Finish this sentence.  I am.....

Some people got head shots.   What do you think of this pic?

Some people got to see the final cut of the profile.  "Hi! I am awesome and the world's greatest"(jk, thats just a shout out- you know who you are!)

Right now you are probably saying, get to the profile of the sexy 31 year old who is 6'2 and has an awesome career, loves children and the Lord, and travels to Argentina to ride horses during the summer!

If you are frustrated with how long its taking to get to the good part, you feel my pain.

I finally finish my profile, plug in my wish list for my dream guy (see above), find his profile and......

"If you would like to communicate with this match, please subscribe for only 19.95 a month."

2 hours of my life I can't get back, to find out that the free membership was nothing but a way to get me pay money I dont have and am not really sure I should have to pay to get a date.

Forget that!  I say, and go on with my life, back to my truly free site with guys who take awesome pictures in front of their mirror with their cell phones and write me deep emails like, "hey".  Back to the realization that I spend hours agonizing over what to say and finding out that the men just look at the picture anyway, after writing in my profile "dont talk to me unless you have more to say than "Hey", and getting even more emails with that awesome conversation starter.

Ok.  So I'm almost 30.  And the mirror picks arent doing it for me, so  I'm ready to take the plunge.  My dissertation is almost done, I have a sponsor who wants grand nieces, and I really want to say hello to the guy who rides horses in Argentina.

Not to mention that guys have been winking at me and sending me emails since I posted my profile.  And "someone is interested in ME!"  And its killing me, because I can't see who!!!!  :(

Match.com, you got me.   Here is my money for 6 months (after I found a 20% off coupon of course), because you damn skippy I want the match guarantee.  And after the hook up/sponsorship, I owe her some babies!

And so it begins...