Christmas Shopping

We left wet Somerset 7 weeks ago and we're gradually settling into dry and dusty Cairo.  Even though we were here for 5 months at the beginning of the year, we have still taken a while to adjust - especially Peter's stomach.  We are grateful to the staff at the language school and the Cathedral congregation who have made us feel very welcome.  Last night we got into the Christmas spirit by going to a candlelit service at a small local church, and next week we'll be going to the Christmas Eve & Christmas Day services at the Cathedral.  Our most recent 'Christmas' shopping trip has been for urgent supplies from a local western style supermarket.  The supplies of certain goods can be sporadic, which means that if you find a desired item it is advisable to grab as many as possible because you may never see them there again.  We have a shelf full of Jordan's muesli which has now disappeared from the supermarket shelves.  So on our last trip when jars of Coleman's mustard, Weetabix and Kellogg's All Bran (for Peter's stomach) were on sale we snapped them up - the jar of Coleman's mustard will fit into Peter's Christmas stocking but a box of All Bran may be a squeeze.  We also managed to find a copy of the Christmas edition of the BBC Music magazine which had a free copy of a collection of Christmas choral music  - now we're really getting into the Christmas spirit.

The Full Crate

Since booking our flight to Egypt we have had the pleasure to share a number of meals with family and friends.  Where possible we have chosen the tradition option such as roast venison, cottage pie, pigeon casserole, Marmite sandwiches and grilled gammon.  We will also keep up the tradition of our last fish 'n' chip meal at Heathrow before we fly away. 
As well as the pleasant task of sharing meals we have been repacking some of our belongings.  BA have kindly increased their charity flight allowance which means that Peter's guitar has been rescued from the dark recesses of our storage crate (no. 322) to be replaced with some of the things we have collected from our recent travels. As you can see all our belongings fill our crate so it's only possible to put something in when something comes out.

Not News

Our blog has recently been living up to its name of 'NOTT News' as there has been no news.  We have been waiting for the opportunity to share some exciting news but things have been very quiet on the visa front.  We have completed our church visits/home leave and we are now awaiting news from Is/Pal about our visa applications.  We have previously been able to enter Israel on a tourist visa and then change it in the country but this procedure has now stopped and long term visas have to be obtained before entering.  Amending a visa from within the country was hard enough but at least you could visit the government offices in person. 
During our home leave we have been able to spend some quality time with family and friends including a 'farm-sit' for Peter's sister and brother-in-law.  It was a time when Peter could be a real cowboy.

Sir Francis Drake

Three conferences at All Nations Christian College (Refresh for Mission; CMS Partners in Mission; Communications) have left us with many reflections and new ideas for our future. As we come away from our 'home' for two weeks (in the old servants quarters on the top floor) a prayer of a fellow Devonian, Sir Francis Drake, has travelled with us from the conferences:

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

The Giving House

We splash landed here in the UK just over a week ago after 6 months living and working in Egypt. We have spent our first week house sitting, resting, relaxing acclimatising back into the English life style. We have been by the sea in sleepy St.Mawes.   All this week the weather and sea has been raging and tempestuous. Its been really exhilarating sitting on a bench with our scalloped edged Cornish pasty (www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7776/cornish-pasties) watching the waves crashing against the sea wall.  One of the best things about being here is the house we have stayed in.  The house seems to exude a quiet generosity. Our part has been to simply feed, water and talk to the cat and also do similar things with the plant life and vegetation of the house. K and L our friends and usual residents exalted us to completely 'Make ourselves at home.' Initially we had English reserve and hesitation, but the house seemed to determined to be benevolent. It started off with the homemade scones homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream. There it was in the fridge, begging to be eaten, after all our hosts had insisted! Then we had the torrential downpours, coming from hot climes we had no rain wear. Again the house came up trumps; the wet weather gear consists of a whole array of flowered/stripped wellington boots, cagoules, hats, scarves, gloves of every shape and size . Of course we then needed something to read, we had our Amazon Kindle but here there are real books that you can touch, feel, live the story. The house has an eclectic range from the classics to airport novellas. Then there was the garden produce which we had been invited to hull. So home grown organic lettuce, rhubarb, chives and spinach have joined our homemade fare. Soon we depart for the real world, but we have appreciated being loved and nurtured by the house and by extension our hosts. A good break indeed! J

On the move again ...

'On the move again.' or so the song goes.  Yet again we are moving house and countries - back to the UK for a while. Packing up a life can be hard work especially when you travel light.  One suitcase, a piece of hand luggage and a computer bag, what do I throw out and what do I keep?  Each time I do this it makes me reassess what is important in my life; what can I squash in and what simply has to go - shoes out, alabaster pyramids in!

Shortly after splash down in the UK we take a speedy train down Cornwall for a two week house sit in St. Mawes.  I am looking forward to the crashing waves and green velvet cliffs of the coastline and having  time to reacclimatise to the British life again including the obligatory seaside soggy fish and chips! How ever I am feeling more than a little sad to leave Cairo our temporary home, just as Egypt is experiencing the birth pangs of democracy.  I was encouraged by my students last night who had voted for the first time ever and are so hopeful for the future.  It has been such an amazing time to be here with 'history in the making'. J

Tickets

I have never been a great collector of tickets, programmes or memorabilia but this could be set to change after keeping the tickets from the famous tourist attractions in Egypt.  The authorities have produced some elaborate designs for their tickets that include holograms, this is to prevent forgeries.
I have found out that my English students are also non-collectors.  During one vocabulary lesson I had to explain the word 'scrapbook', not the easiest word to define.  Why would anyone want to keep scrap, especially old ticket stubs and plane tickets?  The Egyptian tickets helped me to explain that they would be a memento from my time in Cairo.  What's a 'memento'?  It's something you put in a scrapbook!  P

A 'Stranger' Photo ...

It was moving towards the end of a perfect day. We had been to the temples and tombs of ancient Egypt. We were in the city of Luxor. The sun was gently setting behind the mountains. A kind stranger offered to take a photograph. She was from the States and had an expensive Nikon camera with a rather large lens. She looked professional, eminently capable; she was to capture a romantic moment, a celebration of a 30 year romance and marriage. She caught the magic of the feluccas gliding along the shimmering Nile, their sails twisting and turning; zigzagging their familiar path. The timing was a little out - another 2 seconds and it would have been picture perfect. For us however it didn't mar the moment.

We are celebrating our actual anniversary on the 24th at the start of the new term, lots of time for more photos. J.

El Alamein

We are nearing the end of our second six-week term of TESOL teaching and then it will be just one more after Easter before we are once again on the move. The Egyptian climate has been kind to us so far with warm spring weather. We are getting good value for money from our blankets and hot-water bottles.

Before the temperature rises too much we decided to take a trip into the desert to visit El Alamein. We have never visited a war cemetery before; it was a very moving occasion. There are few tourists in Egypt at the moment and we found ourselves alone in a cemetery with thousands of graves. The saddest things were the young ages of the soldiers, that about 5% of the gravestones were engraved to unknown soldiers, and that they were so far from home in a totally alien environment.

Egypt is rich with historic sights and we hope to visit some of the more ancient ones before we leave. P

A quiet day !

In amongst the hustle and bustle, dirt and dust of Cairo we are able to find quiet spaces! One day last week we travelled to our nearest tourist spot - the pyramids of Giza. From our home in Ma'adi this is just a 40 minute cheap taxi ride. On our arrival we had to 'fight off' at least 2o extremely enthusistic 'fake' tour guides who all approached us alone or accompanied by a camel or donkey, once we had got past the first large King pypramid then we were all by ourselves in the still of the desert and amongst these amazing ancient structures. Just for a moment time stood still - and then a coach party arrived and broke our reverie!

In our working lives we have just completed our first unit of teaching- with most of our students passing their English exams. We have both enjoyed getting to know them all and the reward of teaching a valuable, much wanted skill. Now we have a few days break and we are off to the North to Alexandria, the weather forecast is cold, wet and sandy, we look forward to an interesting few days. J

Another Bed

We've started teaching English at the Anglican Training Centre and we are now in the process of moving to a flat which is very near to where we are teaching. We are moving from the Anglican Guest House which is in the centre of Cairo. We hope to stay in our flat for a while because we have once again found ourselves changing beds on a regular basis: since Christmas we've moved from Devon to Yatton and then to a hotel at Heathrow; from the Anglican Guest House to a flat above the Guest House because the guest house was full; and finally to our new flat later today - we just need to buy some bed linen and we will have ourselves a new home. P

Packed

We've finished packing our one suitcase each and we're heading to a windy Heathrow. This time we are not taking so many books with us as we are now the proud owners of a 'kindle'. This e-book can store about 400 books. We have downloaded about 25 books over the Christmas period. Many are free because they are out of copyright, such as
Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle and Victor Hugo.
We have enjoyed our 'home-leave' but we are looking forward to putting into practise what we learnt on our TESOL course, and we are excited about experiencing another new culture in the Middle East - Egypt. P