First Day of Fall

So a little over a week ago I got on a train with some people from my university and we headed north to a village in between Cairo and Alexandria. There was a week long festival celebrating the harvesting of the cotton and so we all headed up there at around 4. It is so weird being in other parts of Egypt that is not Cairo. There is a different aroma places outside of Cairo put off. Like a soothing and peaceful ambiance that you can almost taste. This village was not like a village that most of you are picturing right now. There were buildings and little restaurants and things like this. This particular town specialized in sweets and were known for their desserts and their agriculture. In fact, this is were Cairo gets most of its produce from which was awesome because I got to stalk up on pomegranates and bananas while I was there and get it super fresh and cheap. Just in case you were wondering, I think I basically eat a pomegranate everyday here...and I have no regrets :)We looked around for a little bit and took pictures and stuff and then gtom some food to eat that was one EGP aka 18 cents for almost any kind of Egyptian of sandwich you can think of. Things were going well, like the people were super nice and smiley and everyone wanted their picture taken. But after a while I realized that I was not the only one taking the pictures, I noticed that the men, women and even the kids had out their cell phones and were taking videos and pictures of us. It was a little odd but I do not think foreigners ever visit this place so I guess I understood. But as night approached we started making a little bit of a ruckus and were drawing way too much attention to ourselves. People started following us and reaching out and touching our hair before long we decided that it would be safest if we headed back to the train station and so we wrapped up trip hectically and headed back to the train station a little early. There was no cotton but you could definitely see the festival part lol
This last week has been relatively uneventful actually yet incredibly busy. You know? Like you are running around all week but at the end of the day you cannot recount what you have done lol One think that was pretty cool happened a few days ago. I was having lunch with my friend James and we are basically in the same situations where we are both struggling with whether or not we are going to stay in Cairo for another semester. We are totally on the same page of trying to seek God first but how we sometimes get slapped in the face with how we are actually seeking answers first- or going into prayer with alternative motives. I told him how lately I feel like I have been getting the silent treatment from God and how I know he has not forgotten me but I just wish he would talk with me. Right then and there James started praying for me. I totally forgot what that was like lol Having people pray over me. At UNF I have tons of Christian friends who I pray with and over and everything anytime and place, but here in Egypt at AUC this is not a daily event. In fact i think this was the first time since I have moved here that someone has prayed over me, and the familiarity was comforting. I feel really blessed that God keeps putting solid Christians in my life.
Today feels like the first day of fall! The weather had to be in at least the 70's today :) You have no idea how good it feels to be even the slightest bit chilly! I love it, but at the same time it makes me miss home and my babies. Last year at this time I took Connor and Meeky to a Fall Festival and we picked out pumpkins rode a little train together and made caramel apples and hot cocoa. Then we laid out blankets out in the front yard and laid down to look at the stars. This is the first time of me not being there for Halloween or Thanksgiving and I miss them terribly. If you read this and you pray- please keep my niece Meeky in your prayers. Her mother moved out of the state and decided to take Meeky with her, so just remember to keep her in your prayers.
This last weekend was good though and full of rest. I have been sick for the last 6 days now and have had a migraine since Monday. Last night after booking my tickets to Beirut,Lebanon I went to bed at like 8:45 lol. Today I have been ok for the most part but I have weird little bursts of dizziness and headaches-how cool would it be to be on that show "Monsters Inside Me" because I have a parasite!!! Any way I have to so now because typing on a bus makes me car sick but please keep me in your prayers, especially when it comes to my future here in Egypt. I love you all.

The Scent of Knowing Him

2 Corinthians 2:14 "But thanks be to God who always pus us on display in Christ and spreads us in everyplace the scent of knowing Him."
I think I have mentioned this a few times before, but I have been struggling with feeling a little bit useless here in Cairo. For some reason back in America I was constantly being presented with opportunities to speak about Christ and the complete transformation he has done in my heart. There were divine appointments everyday and I could see the fruit of ministry often. Here is different obviously and I being taught to rely on God moving even if i do not see it, or do not physically proclaim him. This morning I almost felt guilty, like I was not doing enough and trying to figure out ways that I could try to "show" Christ more lol- ohhhh silly Meg, good thing we serve a patient God because the lessons he teaches me are quite redundant. Here is what it comes down to HE DOES NOT NEED ME. God does not need Meghan McCardel to attempt to cogitate maneuver and plot certain ways to reveal him- He is a little bit smarter than me and reminded me today in this scripture that "HE spreads through us in EVERY PLACE the scent of knowing him"!!!!!! Dude- like I have it made! HE is going to be doing the spreading in EVERY PLACE not me, and GOD puts on the display of Christ not me. The Bible says that we are the "fragrance of Christ" So basically I am Jesus Potpourri!!! I love how gently he reveals things to me sometimes.

Any who yesterday I met up with a rad girl named Laura. We meet up for "coffee" and just God gushed for over an hour and even forgot about the coffee lol. We just got to swap amazing Jesus stories and just listen and encourage each other. I am actually am getting ready to meet her and some other people Downtown to ride a train to a village north of Cairo for the annual Cotton Harvest Festival! I am totally stoked!! And I am going to be brave and venture out with my new camera and try to take pictures. Then tomorrow we are going to rent a "micro bus" and go to an "oasis" somewhere in Egypt...?? i really actually never know where I am going or what the names are lol I just agree to go and then I follow. But I am pretty excited to do a little traveling. Oh and I just signed up for a camping trip to the Black and White dessert!!!! And I kind of bought a plane ticket to Greece for Thanksgiving!!! I have heard really goo things about Greece and really crappy things about Greece so I am kind of a little nervous- as most of you know I am pretty clueless and it either goes exceptionally well and things turn out adventurous and amazing- or...things turn out to be exceptionally disastrous. So we will see. As for the "eid" break we have coming up some friends and I are going to ride a Ferry to Jordan and stay there for a few days, then fly too Lebanon and stay in Beirut for a few days! I know of some people who are going to Jerusalem and Bethlehem when school lets out in December so I hope I will have enough money to be able to jump on that trip as well.

Ok enough about that, this week was kind of eventful. Last night I went to an Egyptians friends engagement party.OHHHH MYYYY GOODNESS!!!! It is AMAZING! I ahve never seen anything like this!!! I wish I had more picture to post, but just take my word for it- Egyptians know how to celebrate. Like fo realz this party was amazing. People from all over came to this celebration-other parts of Egypt, Africa, Canada. They had it catered and the food was to die for, they had a DJ, a dance floor (we'll get to that later) a COTTON CANDY MACHINE, gorgeous lights, I mean they really went all out. I did bring a dress but other ladies had on gorgeous gowns and garabayahs. It was held in the back yard for a place in cairo called "6th of October" but I felt like I was in a movie it was so nice. The bride and groom to be come out and all the women do this loud high noise with their tongue (i cannot really explain it but i have a video to show with this)and the bride to be and groom sit on this white linen couch in front of the dance floor and everyone take pictures with them and kiss them and everything. Then we danced for hourssssss. I am an AWFUL Egyptian dancer lol but it was so much fun, especially dancing with the older Egytians people. There was a little old lady there who I fell in LOVE with!!!! She kept calling me Barbie and kept bringing me to the men there who were not yet married and trying to hook me up and kept making me dance with them lol. I really love watching them dance, they all looked so free and joyful. I know this sounds pretty ignorant of me but I had no idea Muslims danced! But man was I wrong and I am so glad I got to experience it!
On Tuesday I helping out "Children of Hope" which works with the "Street Kids" of Cairo. I feel like I am not much help because I can barely communicate with them, but I hope just loving with them and playing with them will be enough, that is all I can offer at this point. Rolf leads this and sacrifices SO much for these kids. I think he helps over 200 children just in Cairo. A really solid servant of God. But he desperately needs transportation to get these kids from where the live and get them to the center that we work at. "Children of Hope" JUST became legal a couple of weeks ago and so it is not tax deduct able. I am really praying about trying to raise enough money to buy Children of Hope a microbus. I do not know how to do this and I am totally under qualified but that gives God SO much more room to work and get ALL of the credit!! ok well I am off to Metro to celebrate some cotton!!!! I love you guys and miss you all so much!!!

Too Good to be True??

I started this blog one week ago but kept getting interrupted so I just kept adding but here it is. I just totally need to give God some glory right now!!!!! I have amazing roommates who love the Lord and I am so thankful for them. Jenna has spoken so much truth in my life and consistently encourages me. Today she texted me to let me know how she loved me and how close God is to me. It made me happy but at the same time it reminded me about how much i wish I had friends on my campus. Not living at the dorms has created a HUGE barrier between me and my university. It is almost unheard of to be a study abroad student and not live on campus. So today I had a mini break down and spent some much needed time with God- partly because I have no other choice lol He is my only friend at my school! hahaha It is a good thing though because in my weakness I was humbled enough to beg God for just ONE Christian friend at my school. As I was praying a girl from my class entered and we started to talk a little bit. She asked me where I lived and I told her I lived with some girls from my church in Maadi. She was like “oh my gosh you go to a church?!" and before I knew it we were gushing about how hard it is to not have fellowship here and how she has been praying for fellowship and a church, then another girl walked in and heard us and was like “there is a church here?!” and I told her about it too and she wants to come now also! When I was walking out of the class I bumped into a girl who looked familiar and I thought I saw her at church so I asked her if she went to MCC and she said no, but the guy she was standing with jumped in our conversations and said that he has been going there. He introduced himself and the other girl he was standing with. Her name is Steph and she leads a worship night at AUC!!!! I was baffled. She let me know that something was going on the normal day they worship so instead they were going to worship in a couple hours! Needless to say- worship was amazing. About 15 people came out to the “garden” area and we praised our Father together and then broke into group and prayed for Egypt and our fellow students. I met like 7 really solid Christian girls and many other people there. So basically once I let my pride tear me down to nothing and I humbled myself before God and asked him for one friend he gives me a herd. You know at first I was like “oh my goodness I cannot believe this!!” But then I thought about it and remembered I should be exceedingly thankful for what God has done for me, but not exceedingly shocked. This is my God! A God who loves me beyond natural bounds, who holds me in the palm of his hand, who loves me more then I could try to love him, and who cares when I am hurting- (even if it is only hurt because I do not have a lunch buddy). I am learning that God is not a pusher, he is a waiter- he knocks on our doors not kicks them in- and thank goodness he is a patient God huh?? This week has also been really good because I had a few days off and was able to rest a lot and recover from last week’s craziness. I was also able to skype with my family for the first time since I have been in Cairo. It was right before my Grandpa’s funeral so the entire family was there, even my little Bubby Connor! He is so dang smart!!! I have 3 words- Harvard. Get. Ready. He is sounding out words now all by himself! My roommate Jenna and I finally had one of the same days off together so we went to a shopping center (which is a new thing to Egypt) and went shopping for a dress and go grocery shopping at a real grocery store called “Carrfour”. It was nice because even though we are both so far away from out home and friends and family it was still a little bit of familiarity  I am used to buying clothes for little to nothing in the states because I mainly shop at thrift stores or 75% off racks in Target but I did find a few dresses for about 35 gineeh (6 bucks) and a nice dress for our adventure the next night. After shopping we went to the grocery store which was equally exciting! I stocked up on my tuna fish and bought a few Egyptian groceries for nights when I am feeling oriental (not asian oriental but Egyptian oriental). The thing is- I am ALL about trying new things and ALL about experiencing Egypt and all of its foods and stuff, and I honestly love the food here- but I will not be able to fit on the dang airplane if I continue to eat Egyptian food! To conclude our day we watched Muppet Treasure Island at our church with the Middle School and ate cupcakes and popcorn. The next day we went with a large group of people to the Opera House in Downtown and watched “Step Afrika”! It was so much fun to get all dressed up and to go out and everyone had a good time. It may or may not be because shirtless chocolate men were onstage dancing…just being honest…As of right now I am pretty excited about my future here in Cairo. My school here is going really well, Arabic is starting to click, I’m making some friends who are inviting me to travel with them, I found a secret place in the back of campus that has a few trees and some green grass that I can escape to and spend some time with God, I am starting to learn my way around this city, becoming a pro at the metro, communicating with taxi drivers, knowing what is appropriate to say, what is ok to wear and where it is ok to go. I constantly have to rely on God to get me through my tough monuments and constantly thank God for blessing me with the amazing ones. He is too good to be true- but he is true indeed. El Hamdulallah

Sand Storm

So there are have been a few stand storms in my life the last couple of days. Painful and tiring but at the same time- although the sand blinded me temporarily it forced me to once again surrender control and hold onto someone’s hand who was big enough to see over the sand. Man I am so glad God loves me enough to blind me sometimes- kind of like a story my dad used to tell me-"A life guard was on duty one day and there was not an obvious storm above the water but underneath there were dangerous rip currents. Someone decided against warning to go out in the ocean and though if he stayed in the shallow waters he could handle it. Before he knew it he was sucked out and sinking fast. The life guard had been trained for this so he knew what to do. He swam all the way out to the drowning man but was unable to help because the man was in panic mode and was trying too hard to stay afloat. He was grabbing at the life guard and trying to pull himself up. Flailing around and making more of a mess the more he tried. In fact he was almost drowning the life guard as he was pulling at him- the Life Guard disparately told the man "you need to calm down and let me grab you- you need to stop trying and just let me take you in" But the man either could not hear him due to the splashing, or did not trust the Life Guards experience in the ocean. So as painful as it was the Life Guard has to back off of the man and let himself wear himself out. Finally the splashing stopped and the man started to sink. The second the man started to fall the Life Guard rushed in and pulled up the man’s limb body, safely bringing him back to shore." This is a lesson I have learned on multiple occasions but especially with some battles I have gone though the last few weeks. But man am I grateful that my Saviors arms were created to hold my weight.

One thing that was hard to face was going back to school again. I had to miss an entire week of school. When I decided to man up and go to school this Thursday it took every bit of energy and I looked like death and sounded like it too. I feel bad for my class mates because I am sure all of them were trying to scoot away from me and my obvious infestation of germs lol. After Class my teacher very kindly told me that I should go home because I do not look well….and then went on to inform me that her and the Arabic director talked and they are going to drop me from the course because missing a week in an accelerated Arabic class is detrimental and I would not be able to recover from the gap. I kept telling her that I will study hard and get a tutor or anything and then she told me that I would bring down the rest of the class and I needed to think about that. I felt pretty crappy about that so I told her that I would wait until she would talk and speak with her in her office. I sat outside and prayed for a little bit when I realized that if she dropped me from her class I would lose 6 credit hours… and would therefore not me considered a full time student and I would lose my scholarship, financial aid, and my Egypt scholarship- over 12,000 dollars! So when I went back to her I explained the situation and she told me that she would give me 2 weeks and if she did not feel like I was caught up with the rest of the class she would drop me. I am so thankful for that grace but nevertheless that was draining.
That days storm was not over though. When I rode the bus home from school I made a stop at a market to get some thing I needed and walked back to my flat. I was totally exhausted from my day and from being sick so naturally when I arrived at my flat to realize the the elevator was broken I was a little let down- Did I mention that I live on the 9th floor? But the "Boab" or "doorman" of the building was out there and he quickly took my groceries from me and started walking up the stairs with me. The stair case was PITCH black in areas and I kept tripping so he started to hold onto me arm. At fisrt I though it is kind of him- but then I remembered that I was in Egypt and it is strange for a man to touch a women- even if it was only my arm. But I I talk to him almost everyday and I am always buying little treats for his kids and stuff so I thought he just was treating me like a daughter. When we got up to my floor I brought my bags in and thanked him. He shook my hand and just kind of stood there looking at me so I thought "oh he is waiting for a tip" not knowing that we actually pay him every month so he is not supposed to be tipped. Anyway I gave him a few pounds and then he smiled and said something in Arabic and kissed both of my cheeks. I was a little shocked but I brushed it off. The Boab then asked for my trash. I went inside and got the trash and brought it out to him and thanked him again- but this time he tried to kiss me again. Then it became pretty obvious that he and I were not on the same wave length...I pulled away but not soon enough to escape the kiss he planted on my neck/chest. I just shut the door as fast as I could and dropped my stuff everywhere. My room mate asked me what happened and when I told her the story she was shocked. She told me that this was NOT common at all and was highly highly inappropriate. She seemed more upset than me. She said that men DO NOT touch women here and how she could not believe he would do that. My friend Mohamed called me a few minutes later and when I told him what happened I thought he was going to lose his mind. He was so incredibly upset. He kept saying "this does not happen ever Meghan. This can never happen. How did this happen?" He told me he would call me right back and with in 25 minutes was outside of my flat. When I got into his car I thought he was taking me to get some tea but when I asked him where he was going he told me that he was taking me to the police station! I was like "no no no it is not that big of a deal" but He insisted. He told me that I could send this man to jail for three years! I adamantly refused and Mohamed was very frustrated. He dropped me off at my flat but with in the next hour I was already getting phone calls from our other friends asking me if i was ok and telling me I really should go to the police. I did not go but now I have to act like the Boab does not exist. I do not make eye contact with him - i do not respond to his good mornings or how are you's and whenever he is in the elevator I take the stairs....with 9 flight of stairs my calf muscles are going to look killer by January lol
The next day was a different type of sand storm. It was a real one! I never really thought that sandstorms were real lol I know that sounds really ignorant of me but when I think of sand storms I think of Aladdin or something. But I decided to go out anyway not really understanding the severity of sandstorms. I walked down to the Metro at like 7:30 at night and the 20 minute walk took like 35 minutes. The wind was relentless and the sand is almost like dust here. It is not like beach sand with big distinct grains, it is like a powder. So my lungs were not happy to say the least and my eyes are killing me. When I finally got to a mirror it looked like I had done a really weird make-up job lol. My face had a strange powdery tint to it and my hair felt...I don’t know- strange. It was just weird. I felt like I was walking though a giant blow-dryer. Then when I rode the metro into Downtown most of the people did not make it because it is impossible to drive during a sand storm because cars cannot see anything.
The next day, aka yesterday- I found out that my Gramps Graziotti died. I would type everything out but I just spent the last hour writing an email to my accountability partner Grace Nichols so I will just copy and paste certian portions of the email I sent her
"Grace I loved my grandpa so much. He just such a joy to me- even if we could only talk on the phone he brought so much laughter to me. And When I broke up with Marcus he was so sweet and would pass the phone around to his men’s Bible study so they could all tell me that it was ok and I how they were praying for me. I got to say bye to him when I was leaving for Egypt and we were both very sad because we were going to miss each other but I never thought that would be my last goodbye. As I am sitting here I realize that even if I would have been there in the hospital to say goodbye to him it would still not be a final goodbye because I will see him again one day but my heart is still really heavy. I know everyone thinks this way when a family member dies but I just wish I would have given him a bigger hug, and just held onto him a little bit longer this time- and maybe let him know how much I loved him. Logically I know he knew how much I loved him. I mean you know this first hand- when I love someone I am embarrassingly open about it. Some people get kind of freaked out by this but my grandpa loved it lol. On Saturday nights there was Celebrate Recovery at my church and when I would come in Gramps would be with all of his friends and I would run in and plant a huge kiss on him in front of everyone and he would crack up every single time and say “Meggy Lou loves her Grandpa”  and then when we were alone he would say- you should have seen the look on everyone’s face when you kissed me Megga Lou- they were all so jealous that a beautiful young lady just smooched me lol. It is weird to think about coming home and him not being there. It is also weird to grieve about something like this without my family. I wish I could be there for my little sisters, especially for the funeral. It is weird being heart broken by myself. When something like this happens you know even if you are not crying or talking about the loss everyone else knows at least a little bit of what you are feeling and everyone is missing the same person that we all loved. No one here knows my Gramps, lol in fact many friends over here do not even know me very well so it is very different.I am a mixture being physically exhausted, emotionally drained, mentally foggy and spiritually dry. And I am very aware that this is my fault but I don’t know. Sometimes I forget that God is not like us humans. Here if you wrong someone you have to give them some time to cool down, or a few weeks to build up trust again, or give them time to remember why they love you ect- but With God, the second I say sorry and say I want to be with you he is right there and scoops me up. There is no grudge that needs dissipation, he is right there regardless. And in Daniel today I was reading about his pleading to God to have mercy and stuff and He said it perfectly -Daniel 9:18 “Listen my God and hear. Open your eyes to see our desolations and the city called by your name. FOR WE ARE NOT PRESENTING OUR PETITION BEFORE YOU BASED ON OUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS, BUT BASED ON YOUR ABUNDANT COMPASSION.”    I am seriously spoiled. You know I was thinking- people always say “don’t worry He is up there right now looking down at you and blahh blah blah” But you know what, I know better- He is not up there looking down at me and my family- HE IS FREAKING FACE TO FACE WITH THE LORD ALMIGHTY, he is in front of Jesus Christ Grace!!! He is worshiping out Savior King,  our Father- the God who created the sky and the water- in a way that does not even exist on earth!- he is face down in front of  God. How cool is that? Why in the world would I even want him to be looking down here! I need him to save a front row spot for me to kneel with him in front of God lol. Another thing I remembered is in the Bible it says  to “rejoice in the Lord always” so me not rejoicing is not just a mood swing, or a bad day- it is direct disobedience against the Bible!- Don’t let me wrong- I am not thinking that God is sitting up there with a basket of lightning rods just waiting for us to mess up so he can strike us, but I recognized this as a sin in my life. The thing is- In Psalms 56:8 it says that God keeps track of all of our sorrow and has collected all of my tears in a bottle. God says he hears our crying and hears our sighs. I mean sighing is not even weeping, of even crying, it just a sign of fatigue and he even hears and cares about these things. I just need to remember that in these times of grief that I am still rejoicing in God- not in a fake way, but rejoicing in God that He loves me enough to care about my crying, to bottle up my tears and take note of my exhaustion. It is crazy to think about God fully 100% grieving with me and fully 100% rejoicing with my Grandpa at the fact that he is going to fully be able to reveal himself to Gramps. God is so much bigger then what my logic says. Grace like God CREATED the emotions he gave us?!?!? Like of course he fully understands the tears and the frustrations and is not annoyed at all and is not thinking about what a selfish baby I am about being upset. Like God is the one who forms my tear ducts- he made me with a spirit that can be broken!  And we are made in God’s image- like God has this emotion that I have but he has a pure and concentrated form of this emotion. So while he is crying and breaking with me and my family about our hurt he is also experiencing the purest form of Joy with my Gramps and partying with the Angels!

When Connor was taken from the family I had to use heart muscles that I have never used before, I was broken in a way that I have never been broken- I was in a position where I could not do a SINGLE thing about Connor but wait, trust, and pray. I never got comfortable to the point where I was fine though- I have to give that burden to God every single day. But as I am here in Egypt- a place that seems so impossible in my mind, talking with friends that are so far away from the truth, I am using those muscles again. That familiar pain is revealing itself again, the pain of being totally helpless and totally powerless and just looking at God and knowing that all I can do is wait, trust, pray and give this burden to God every day. Remembering all the while that God’s heart is breaking for Connor even more then my heart, remembering that God’s wants to reveal himself to my friends even more than I want to reveal him. This realization may be frustrating at points but freeing in other areas. I cannot possible do anything about this God- so it is all up to you- this is how God designed us isn’t it? He did not design me to carry burdens, but he did however design someone who takes my burdens..."

Adjusting to Egypt

This may seem a little late to be starting a written blog 5 weeks into my stay in Egypt but I figure it is better late then never.



a ride on the Metro

So far I have done a few video blogs on facebook about my stay here thus far. The main points in these videos were mainly about the differences in Egypt and America (food, driving, and community) and about some trips I went on like visiting the Coptic churches, riding on a indignant camel to see the pyramids, and a lovely trip to the North Coast with some new fond friends. As of right now I am on my way home from my college, American university of Cairo. This school is really nice, the facilities are new and clean and there are very many things to get involved with. One of them is
called STAR- students teaching African Refuges. I have not gotten involved with them quite yet, but I am just getting settled into my new flat with my two roommates Amber and Jenna. I lived with my host parents for almost a month and they were lovely.



In Garbage City, Cairo

Suzy (host mom) cooked very large and delicious meals almost every day and was constantly asking me I wanted more- it is very very common in Egypt to be force fed. Mafty(host dad) is an awesome man of God who is serving our Father on a daily basis and modeling what it means to take up the cross. We have had some awesome talks about how we found our faith.Unfortunately have moved out, not at all because of my host parents because they were great and really helped me with Arabic, but because living in New Cairo was very difficult to live in.
For starters, to get to school I would have to find a taxi- and taxis in New Cairo are a little hard to come by because this is a very new development for Egypt. So I would take a 10 pound taxi to school and on my way back I would  have the bus drop me off at a certain point on the highway- a 8 lane highway- and would then proceed to cross this 8 lane highway . You have no idea what a rush it is to step out in the middle of traffic and just pray that the cars will move. I know it is pretty common here but I am still a little scared- or petrified- and the cars can tell so they like to toy with me and act like they are going to hit me but swerve at the last second.Even though it is common to have to walk through traffic- it is also common to get hit by cars.  My walk home from the highway to my host families home is always a trial in itself because I am a women who does not cover or veil and I  am blond so i stick out hardcore. The harassment here is different than in the city because in the city there are more blonds and there are also much more people so harassment is faster and not as bothersome. In New Cairo it is common for cars to stop next to me and try to persuade me to get in- or slow down to my speed and try to talk to me or tell me they are a taxi- the worst are the high-school aged boys. They are much more aggressive and risky compared to the older men .  But even this would was not the reason I moved. The main reason is purely because it is very very difficult to get to the city from New Cairo- not many taxi’s are here and not many taxies from the city want to ride all the way to New Cairo and back. So I felt pretty stuck.


My roommate and precious friend Jenna

Also I am involved and a church here in Maadi called Maadi community church. It is an international church and many many many many nationalities are here- from Singapore to Finland, Sweden. Kenya, Sudan, Korea, Ireland, great Brittan, Japan, Germany…ect. And the sermons are in English too. I have recently signed up to be the prayer team and I think I might start working with the middle school tonight. Another thing I just recently got involved with is a group called Children of Hope. I will not go into full detail but it is for street children and basically a way to love on them and teach them about character and morals and give them some type of therapy and education. This organization was just legally started exactly one week ago today!! Praise God or elhamdulallah in Egypt. I know they do some basic art therapy so I will help with that but the main thing I would like to accomplish here is to help the leader of the organization Rolf raise enough money to buy a Micro bus for the Children. Transportation is a huge huge need for these kids and if they had their own bus I know it would help tremendously and would give them an opportunity to use the money used on renting for something else. I do not even know how to start on raising this money but I do know that I serve a powerful God who blows my expectations everyday and He is for me so who can be against me right?? I want to raise about 30,000 us dollars so if you are interested on how to help I will def give more details.Right now my main difficulties are just finding community at school. I have a few friends so far but by choosing not to live on campus I really have missed out on those close knit relationships. So if you could pray about that it would be lovely.

I really want to make Egyptian friends here but it is just talking some time. I also started feeling sick last week and within three days and a fever I was diagnosed with bronchitis and put on 4 medications. This would not be that big of a problem it is just that I am asthmatic and my lungs hold onto sickness for far too long. So missing a week of Arabic has put me very far behind. I also am being kind of a baby and just could really use my mother right now. I do not know how to use my calling cards whatsoever so I have no way of communicating with my family or friends unless they have skype or google chatt. My relationship with God is something I regret to say has slipped a little bit in priority. I have been busy and self absorbed and have put God on the back burner for almost two weeks. And then I wonder why I am feeling little spurts of loneliness and feeling homesick feeling. I think He is trying to get my attention. I am so thankful that he is a jealous God and wants to be near to me so bad that he physically rattles me in order to get my focus back on Him. Tonight I am think about either helping out with the middle-school (depending on my energy level from this sickness), or go ride the metro down town and attend a worship night at the House of Prayer Egypt (HOPE) this is in Arabic but man do Egyptians know how to worship. It is quite beautiful actually. Then spend some time with my friend Mohamed. He has become one of my best friends here and I really thank God that he has put Mo in my life. I would love to continue with this but my bus driver is making me immensely nauseous by his very choppy traffic driving and his intense stop and goes . I love you all and I am honored that you guys are reading this. Keep me in your prayers daily because I need them.