Back In Egypt

Yay! I'm here again and boy is it hot! I had a great trip, flying through Amsterdam where I had a 9 hour layover. I took advantage of such a chunk of time and got out of the airport to tour the city a little. I got to see Anne, Frank's hiding place, see how wooden clogs are made and even clunk around in a pair among other things. It was a very beautiful city and the tour made me want to go back for a real visit. I arrived in Cairo at 4am where my poor brother was waiting for me. We have been going going going since I got here and my jet lag is worsening over time. Hopefully I will get some sleep tomorrow. Today Matt(my brothers friend and now my friend) and I went downtown to get re-entry visa's and then hit the Cairo museum. I could not believe the amount of ancient artifacts that were in there. So mnay that some stuff was just propped up in corners and other random places. I found my favorite Shwarma stand today and ate up. Shwarma is this seriously delicious grilled beef with grilled tomatoe and onion and tahini sauce to top it off. mmmm. Tonight at church we had some lively African worship which I didn't get to fully participate in because I am wearing a very full skirt that was picking up all the airflow of the 89 ceilling fans whirring above me. Needless to say I had to keep my hands at my side to prevent my skirt from going over my head in the middle of the service. What a disaster that would have been. Tomorrow morning I will be sure to wear pants so I can groove to the music. Sorry this isn't very funny or entertaining right now as I am still in a bit of a sleepless daze! Peace ya'll!

Iced Tea Anyone?

Ok, so first I want everyone to go to www.hollhil.blogspot.com to see all the beautiful pictures of my new neice that I posted on Holly's blog. Now for the subject at hand. I am officially a freak. When I came home to canada I realized that all I ever drink at any resteraunt I go to is delicious, American unsweetened iced tea. But all you can get in Canada is that sickingly sweet syrup junk. Yech! I just can't handle it and I missed my unsweetened iced tea so badly that I developed my own way of getting what I want. When I go to a resteraunt or coffee shop now, I order two glasses filled to the top with ice and nothing else. Then I order a regular tea with only half the normal amount of hot water. I let the tea get really strong and then pour it over the ice to create my beloved unsweetened iced tea. ohhhh so good. But I can't tell you how many waiters and waitresses i have absolutley confused and befuddled by this process. None of them can ever figure out what in earth I am trying to do or even why I would do that. Ahhh, the pain of being misunderstood. I will do anything for that blessed tea though. And that's about all I have on my mind right now.

I'm An Aunty!

I don't have time to write but here are a few pics of Katelyn June Hildebrant. She was born at 12:51pm on June 14th. Weighed 6 lbs, 6oz and was 19 1/2" long. We love her!

Up Up And Away

Time to travel again. That's right, I bought a plane ticket to Egypt a few days ago and will soon be off on another adventure, this time with my brother. I'm not sure about you, but I find that there is something so wonderfully euphoric about the thought of getting on an airplane to fly half way around the world to another land. You never know what will happen along the way let alone once you get there. Just think of all the fascinating people there are to meet between here and there. The stories, the conversation, the crazy outfits, the people in love, the people running for who knows what reason. I find that airports are a veritable people watching paradise. Much the same way my mom could sit on the front porch watching birds and their habits for hours, I could sit in an airport and observe people for hours. How they move, the way they look around, their little fidgety habits, how their demeanor completely changes on the phone. It is all very fascinating to me.
Then there is the simple act of flying. Oh I love it so much. I always say, "the more layovers the better". That feeling of picking up speed on the runway until you are going so crazy fast that your body is being pressed back into your seat and then the feeling of weightlessness in the pit of your stomach at the moment the plane leaves the ground. There's nothing like it. Except for maybe diving off a cliff. That's also a spectacular feeling.
Just thinking about the Middle East already has me drooling as I remember the taste of fresh pita, roasted lamb, hummus, the biggest, juciest Israeli peaches imaginable and so on. Everything about the ME is delicious, not just the food, but the sounds, the smells, the language, markets, insane driving, history that blows your mind. What a culture, what a place!