Miami and 'Burn Notice'

Today we met up with a friend in downtown Miami. Julie is a friend from our Oklahoma days and we try and catch up each time we are in Florida. Today we saw Julie 'at work' - she was working as an extra on the set of one of our favourite TV shows, Burn Notice. Filming was taking place in one of Miami's top hotels, the Fontainebleau.


The lobby of the Fontainebleau Hotel.

Unfortunately the filming of the pool scenes that Julie was in wrapped up early and they were already done by the time we arrived at the hotel, but we could see them still filming on the balcony of one of the rooms high up in the hotel.


Filming 'Burn Notice' at the Fontainebleau Hotel

And while there, we decided to enjoy some time soaking up the atmosphere and people watching by the pool.

A sign of the (swine flu) times

One part of life in Egypt that never ceases to amaze and amuse me is what I call "metro-shopping". The train system here is called the Metro, and on any given journey at least one fellow traveller will come through the carriage selling some product or another. Usually it's pocket-sized packs of tissues, but I've also seen colouring book, earrings, pony-tail elastics, superglue, lifesaver-type mints, and even socks. Most of these items can be had for just 1 or 2 Egyptian pounds, about 20 - 40 cents!!!
Yesterday, the product du jour was a sign of the mass hysteria sweeping the city - face masks, and the woman selling them was doing a brisk trade.
If only the population would put as much effort into observing sensible hygiene practices and educating themselves on the truth about swine flu, the city would be a lot better off.

Swine Flu

Swine flu has finally hit us a bit close to home. Two students at the American University in Cairo have been diagnosed with this dreaded flu strain. They both live in the university's dormitory in central Cairo, which has effectively gone into 'lock-down' for 24 hours.

This is the article from Associated Press.

2 swine flu cases at American University in Cairo

Mon Jun 8, 3:59 am ET

CAIRO – The American University in Cairo says a dorm building housing foreigners is being quarantined for 24 hours after two American students were diagnosed with swine flu.

Rehab Saad from the university's public relations office said Monday the two cases were discovered Sunday night along with a third suspected case. All three have been hospitalized.

The dorm in the Zamalek area of Cairo houses about 100 students.

It was not known where the students contracted the disease.

Egypt announced its first confirmed swine flu case June 2 after an Egyptian-American girl arriving in the country tested positive.

Egypt's government has come under criticism for its decision to slaughter the nation's pigs in response to the swine flu problem.

An Egyptian police stands guard next to a barrier at an entrance to the dormitory of American University in Cairo

New baby photos

This week we had a new scan done. Here are a couple of the most recent pictures.

Sort of side on view of his head, with his hand near one eye.


Profile shot - this is my new favourite photo.

As you may have been able to tell, we decided we wanted to know the sex. So enjoy the photos of our gorgeous SON!

Spring Break - Italy

Recently Dave and I took our Spring Break vacation in Italy. We were able to spend the first few days with some friends we knew from our Hong Kong days and enjoyed the beautiful peace and quiet of their place in Soriano, about 80 Kms north of Rome.

The view from Elizabetta & Adam's front door!

We spent just 1 day in Rome itself, and used it to visit the Vatican Museums, which included going through the Sistine Chapel. The halls and galleries of the Vatican Museums are absolutely loaded with wonderful artistic treasures.

One of the halls in the Vatican Museums.

The painted ceiling in one of the Vatican Museums' galleries.

The Sistine Chapel.

St. Peter's

After the 3 hours or so of going through the Vatican Museums we were ready for lunch and had a wonderful meal, finished off with a delicious coffee granita.

Enjoying my coffee granita!!

Our last 2 days were spent in Florence, seeing the sights and enjoying some more wonderful food. Michaelangelo's statue of David is truly magnificient and I'm so glad we were able to see it. Florence is a beautiful city and very easy to navigate around.

The Duomo

Michaelangelo's "David"

Just some of the pork products we were able to indulge in while in Italy!!!!

Habitat for Humanity - March 2009

Dave and I had the opportunity last month to join a weekend Habitiat for Humanity trip in Minya, about 245kms south of Cairo. This was my second Habitat trip and Dave's third. We had a great group of 8 volunteers, half were from the university and half from my church. We assisted at two build sites, moving bricks, sifting sand and brick laying at one site, and nailing the wood boards for the roof at the second site.

Me helping with nailing the roof.


One of the Habitat staff working on the roof.


Our team with the homeowners and family on the completed roof.

While in Minya we had a sunset felucca ride on the Nile. I really enjoy felucca rides, but this was made even more interesting by the police presence on the boat, as well as the water police escort that followed us around on the Nile!!

Just two of the police/security that followed us around all weekend.

The water police following us on the Nile (taken in secret, hence the funny angle).

Police/security escorts are a fact of life for foreigners 'on tour' in Egypt. Thankfully we personally don't have to deal with them on a daily basis.

Our first OB visit

Last week we finally got around to having our first obstetrician's visit. It all went pretty smoothly and the doctor confirmed the due date that I had already worked out with the help of the internet - Sept. 1. The exciting thing about the visit was that we had a scan done and got to see the sprog moving around. I might be biased but I think OUR baby scan is clearer than anybody else's I have ever seen. Look for yourself.

Our first baby photo.