Flat Shaquel comes to visit

My cousin's daughter (or in Arabic, simply the daughter of the daughter of the sister of my mother - bint bint khalti) had to send herself (or a flat version thereof) to another country for a school project. We were therefore chosen to be the Egyptian hosts of "Flat Shaquel." We took her to monasteries, friends' houses, for a boat ride on the Nile, and to the Luxor Temple (pictured). She had a good time, but I think she's ready to go home. It's hard to tell, because she's pretty quiet. But I think she's starting to get lonely in her envelope at night…

Do I love Twinkies that much??

I got real mail (a big treat) from Sawyer, one of my former WMES students. After reading my article about Twinkies in the Canadian Mennonite, he picked out the perfect gift for us.

The Borg

I got an email from my good friend, Nathan, from home. You know how they say some people change at home when you travel to a foreign country. Well, apparently, some people also don't change that much (unless you count turning into a borg). Incidentally, I've seen more of these borg headpieces in Egypt than I did in Canada.

BTW, I got a blue tooth wireless ear piece for my work phone the other day, I can walk around like a borg now!

Marvin of the sea

Our Egyptian friend, Amany, is choosing her sister Rasha's son's name. Right now (seriously), she is choosing between "Marvin" and "Ronny" (we did not suggest these names to her; it is purely coincidence that these are our father's names). She's been leaning towards Marvin, but …

Rasha is afraid that Marvin is a girl name. Is there any girl called Marvin? I know that it means "sea." Is that right?
Sorry dad! ;)

They went with Marvin. His dad's name is Moondy, so his name is Marvin Moondy. Hopefully, no one will ask him to "Please go now…"

Real life

We got a couple of very thoughtful emails after our posting about Maryan's death. Here is a very thoughtful insightful comment from a member of our small group at Bethel Church.

I just looked at your website again and found it poignant that you are learning there “how to feel, share, hurt and live graciously”. I don't know if it's Canadians in general or just me, but I know that it seems easier to be anesthetized and not feel much, just go through the motions of day to day routine. How much richer life really is when you live through hurt and joy. What privilege (and responsibility) to be involved with people who open up like that. We definitely have a lot to learn in order to fully experience life in all its facets. Indeed.

I'd like to come to Egypt, but how much will it cost?

Glad to hear from you. I have looked at both dates you mentioned and found the following 'ballpark' prices. December travel starts at about $1540 plus tax and February travel starts at about $1365 plus tax. At this point the British Airways contract has the best prices, however the taxes are quite steep at around $455 each. The new contracts for the lower priced tickets may not come out for another month or two for winter travel, so I would recommend having people contact me later in summer with their specifics. Hopefully this gives them something to start with

With the possibilty of having visitors from Canada becoming closer to a reality, we checked into some initial prices; we got this email from Holiday Travel in Steinbach, which is the agency that MCC Canada used for our tickets. - Barrette

Barrette & Sandy, mariners?

You two are very brave taking on this assignment. Most people keep their boats very close to the shore, yet you two have ventured into unknown waters.

At this risk of tooting our own (fog)horn, I wanted to share these words with you. In general, we don't feel that our decision to come to Egypt was exceedingly bold, but this week was a hot, tiring, discouraging week, and these words of encouragment certainly emboldened our spirits; I include them here not to highlight our bravery, but to share a nice methaphor, and to acknowledge the power of positive words to encourage. - Barrette

Sports plea answered!

In response to my earlier plea for hockey, we've received many emails; you can see some of these on the original page. (PS - The first CDs arrived June 8; I was glad.)

We've got mail! Finally…

Merry Christmas! It's been good to hear from you and read about your experiences on your webpage. We thought as an extension of your church body, we would try to put together a little package of greetings for you to receive sometime during the holiday season (this is all very dependent on how fast the mail gets there!).

Your "real" mail is truly appreciated; some has arrived in as little as a few weeks. Other -- not so fast. Thanks for the letter!- Barrette

Advice please?

Hey - any advice for a new MCCer? Really, anything? I am, naturally, extremely nervous and scared out of my pants.

You came to the right place, Debby! Find out how to do all sorts of useful things on our website…

A few new friends

Well, "Gallagher" isn't technically our friend, but he drew a picture that made me smile today; you may infer from it what you will, but let's just say that great friends and challenging work are not the only things that Upper Egypt has to offer.

A rose by any other name...

Lets see, what else is going on... Did I tell you that Daryl and I are getting a dog? Yep, we are getting a little Yorkshire Terrier from my mom-in-law. We are likely going to name it Bear, and were hoping to register it as Bear-ette seeing as its a girl, but I wasn't sure if your hubby would be insulted or find it as amusing as we do.

I'm all for it. I just hope the puppy's as cute as I am! - Barrette

...the picture of you in the cat costume... - Rachel Plett

now that is one ugly dog! (no offense!) - Janet Sawatzky

Sorry everyone! They decided to go with the name "Astro." - Barrette

Manitoba Birders unite

We saw this interesting blue bird on a trip to a village in the Nile Delta, and Sandy's dad put out a request to birders for its identification; they responded here.

Elvis, ah'm a slave to you!

Blessings on the demanding task of studying a language with no parallels to ours. I filled a whole book with menmonic devices to remember the Hebrew I took in M. Div. studies. I remember one that went something like "Elvis, ah'm a slave to you!" I completely forget what Hebrew word that referred to!

Mystery Bus

Here's a fun idea from Glenn Kachmar, a former MCC Egypt voluntary service worker! Don't worry, moms and dads! We haven't tried it (yet)...

From the sounds of it you and Barrette are adventurous enough for one of my favourite games. Once you know a little more Arabic and know a little more of the city, I think you should try to play 'MYSTERY BUS' I would get on any bus that had a route I didn't recognize and just go wherever it went. Then I would get off and try it again. The wonders you see cannot even be kept track of. When I was ready to stop playing I would ask around for a bus to Ramses Station. Since I lived near Ramses, I could always find a bus that would get me near to home. I think you live next to Roxy and Roxy is a well known place too. So that would work. If you two were completely at a loss to find your way home, you could just get in a taxi. I don't think I ever had to do that playing the game, but you could as a plan B.

100% on the Map Exercises

Daryl and Becky Sawatzky actually did the exercises I suggested on my map page! They got a bonus monastery picture! Daryl's answers are available for all to see.