Social Skills, Part II

Thomas came home from soccer practice last night very excited about making friends with a boy Matteo, who is also in his class at the British School.

Thomas: Mom, when we were in Movieland, before I went into your womb, Matteo and I had the same DNA. It was like the experiment with the penny in the glass that you can't see . . . At first you can see it, then it disappears under the water and then you find it again.

Me: you mean, at first you knew you had the same dna, but then you met him again at school and didn't know, and now you've realized it again?

Thomas: Yes! At the soccer game!

Me: that's very poetic. Um, how would you say that in regular six-year-old language? (this is a big new theme of Dahlia's: that Dave and I need to do a better job of talking to T like a normal six year old.)

Thomas: oh, well in Movieland we had the same DNA . . .

Me: Most other six year olds won't know what DNA is.

Thomas: They don't? (surprised and kind of proud expression)

Me: Nope

Thomas: Ok, well in Movieland we were friends and then we saw each other again-

Me: Most other six year olds don't know about Movieland.

Thomas: oh, well, they can ask me and I'll tell them,-

Me: They may not ask. They may just think it's kind of unexpected-

Thomas: OK, ok. well (shrugs) I made friends with Matteo at a soccer game?

Me: Perfect!

(Actually T just learned about DNA yesterday from a Captain Underpants comic book- )


- Posted by Laura

On the Nile

I am so glad to be able to share with you the photos from Felucca-palooza, Giacomo's goodbye celebration.  

 

 We were two boats tied together.  That's Giacomo's dad on the guitar.

Here's Giacomo on top of the world:

And here's Thomas:

This girl had just moved to Cairo with her family.  They looked ecstatic all evening.  I suspect they will be disappointed when the rest of their time in Cairo is not like this at all.

And how does the "empty room" look now with furniture?  Quite nice, thank you.

This chair is controversial.  We really like it, but if we are honest with ourselves, it's too big for the room.

And here are some sweet memories of days gone by:

August at the Art cafe

It was a little sad and weird coming back this fall since so many of our friends from last year have left. Or had they?

It turned out Giacomo and his family were back in town to pack up for their next assignment in Kuwait. We had a great week or so hanging out with them-- and a beUtiful goodbye party on a felucca.


I hope to have more pics of that soon- at one point all the kids climbed up and sat on the canvas roof of the boat and it was quite something--

Then we did a week of art camp at the art cafe. Thomas made some amazing things.


Here he and Emmett show off their art skills at home.




Mulu is back on the scene. If she is a little overwhelmed by this household with a perennially missing father and totally disorganized mother, she has only barely let it show. It turns out she is also a crack shot with a bow and arrow. I don't think we have photos of that, sadly, but here are Diana and Juan taking aim at our new backyard target.


So we do still have some old friends about!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

NYC and then Cairo, year 2

We had such an extraordinary visit to NYC, it was difficult to come back to dusty old Cairo. First, we checked in with those badass Michel girls in Riverdale. No wonder the boys always want to stay with them! What lovelies.







Sadie was her usual charming hostessing self, even though she had mono. That's only fair, because we exposed her to lice last time we were there.



While Sadie and Clare looked after the boys, I got to hit a Fountains of Wayne concert at City Winery! It was rockin'. Their new album is just hitting the airwaves, and I bet I don't need to tell you to snap it up pronto! Especially if you are in that slamming over-40 demographic.



Here they are in action.





Then we stayed chez godmother Julie looking out over the reservoir on 5th avenue. It was like we were back in the country, but with a doorman! You can't take the 718 out of us though- we quickly made our way over to Ocean Parkway to hang with those adorable Erika Lea twins.











They even found a park that had a dragon water feature! Too bad some of us were feeling a little too grumpy to enjoy it-



Then came the main event: a visit to Times Square!





Here we are saluting the corporate flagship. Thanks for all the groovy furniture, that vacay in Dubai, and the plane tix home guys!



But actually, no, the real main event was meeting cousins Ben, Emily and new cousin Shannon in Times Square!!!! For lunch and then Lion King. Here Ben schools Emmett in some family traditions:







Here's the whole gang. Needless to say, we totally approve of beautiful Shannon, and can't wait to offer our ring-bearing services wherever they might be needed.





And then Ben bravely took Thomas solo for some big-boy bonding amidst giant puppets. Thanks fairy godmother Mim for arranging everything, including a tour backstage with Simba himself!!!!





The next day, Uncle Arthur arrived to help us make our airplane home. Thanks to him, the trip to the airport was smooth sailing.







Bye NYC family!!! I really feel like we got to see the best the city had to offer in our short stay!



After all this, it was truly a bit of a letdown to fly home to Cairo with a bunch of smelly Egyptian strangers. And I think we would have felt this way even if the plane hadn't been delayed for 5 hours.



But now we are back and settling in. Ex-pats are slowly straggling back from their summer holidays and everyone is grumpy. You can't help it if you arrive in Cairo in the August heat during Ramadan. No one quite knows what to expect-- more demonstrations? fraudulent elections? War with Israel?



Kath is right-- the first few days in a place you notice things that kind of gloss over later. I'm sure I'd seen this sign at the check-out stations at the Carrefour market before, but, maybe I was jet-lagged, who knows, I found it truly infuriating this time around:






It says, "priority for ladies and disabled."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone