Well, it's been a while since I wrote a blog, mainly because my laptop had heart failure and needed to go in for repair. However, since my last blog a fair bit has happened here for me in Egypt.
First things first, my mum came to visit from Australia. She arrived at the end of December and stayed for 3 weeks. It was so great to see her and I was so glad that she took the trip. It's a long journey to Egypt, but my mum handled the journey like a seasoned traveler. It was great that she made the trip as at the moment Mena and I can't really leave Egypt as he doesn't have his visa to travel to Australia yet. She has met Mena on Skype, but I think she really wanted to meet him in person and see what our life is like here in Egypt.
In a lot of ways I think she was surprised. I can't speak for my mother and I don't really know her true feelings and opinions, but she noticed first of all the poverty and dishevelment of Egypt in general. Things don't 'work' here as good as they do back in Australia. Garbage collection, building standards and the general running of public services is kind of below par here (putting it nicely). This was one of the first things she noticed. On the other hand I think she enjoyed seeing all the sights and spending time with us. Mena was able to get her a great deal on a Nile River cruise, the same kind of cruise I was on when I met Mena. And when I say 'Great Deal' I talking one sixth of the price she would have paid had she purchased her ticket in Australia or even from a travel agent in Aswan. I was pretty impressed myself because not only did she get a great deal, but where ever we went Mena seemed to know someone and because of this people bent over backwards to help us out or give us a great deal. One friend of Mena's gave us a tour of a local Temple, he spent the whole day with us and didn't take a single Piaster for his trouble. At the end of the day he insisted on buying us tea in a local coffee shop. It's nice being on the arm of someone people like and respect. When we picked mum up after her cruise she looked light and breezy. She seemed so relaxed and I think she had a great time.
Mum also got to meet my new Egyptian family. My mother and father in-law as well as my sister in-law and her husband and their two gorgeous kids. We spent a little bit of time with them before we headed to Cairo so mum could see the Pyramids and the Egyptian museum.
Mena's grandmother and some Aunts and his Uncle live in Cairo so we were able to spend some time with them too. Mena and I hadn't had a church wedding and making sure we did this was important to Mena's family, so while we were in Cairo Mena's Grandmother and Uncle arranged a Coptic wedding for us. It was a well planned affair and the social highlight of the Cairo suburban scene.
A day after we arrived in Cairo we headed to Mena's Grandmother's church where I was baptised as a Coptic Christian. This was essential and a Coptic wedding would not have been possible without it. So first things first, I was baptised (again). We still weren't sure if the Priest could do the wedding. These things take a bit of arranging and because we are in Egypt we had to make sure all our papers were in order (again). It wasn't such a big deal this time though and the Priest agreed to marry us in the church the very next day....that's right...the next day!
So off we went! Had to find a dress and suit for Mena. Luckily we were staying across the street from a classy little shopping mall that had a few good little dress shops. We couldn't be picky. Something appropriate that fit was all I could hope for. Mena's father arrived with his suit. We found some shoes to match my dress and a nice shawl to wrap around my shoulders and last but not least a nice hair salon that could set me up with a nice hair do for the occasion. Easiest wedding planning EVER!
So the next day after putting all this together we head off from our hotel with my mum in tow. Driven by another friend of Mena's who has a nice car. I wasn't sure what to expect. When we arrived at the church we were met by a camera man who was there to document the wedding for Mena's mother and sister who couldn't come from Aswan. Mena's Uncle Emad had a lovely bouquet of flowers for me to carry down the isle. The church was not full. It was a small assembly, but there were more people there than I expected.
A few days after our Church wedding it was time for mum to head home. The whole wedding experience had been a cultural over load for her and me. By the time we headed to the Airport I think she was ready to head home. As soon as she left I missed her terribly.
Now, we still had some business to do in Cairo so we couldn't head off straight away. We moved into Mena's Grandmother's house and started working on submitting Mena's visa application. Papers, papers, papers! It never ends! We needed to get some documents from some places in Cairo and of course the protesting for the Revolution held us up a bit. But after about a week ... I gave up and left Mena to it and returned to Aswan.
At the moment Mena and I are back in Aswan waiting to hear what the Australian Embassy has to say. It would be great if we could come back to Australia soon and share our life with people from my family and my friends. But these things take time and they won't be rushed. It's all in Gods and now ...and some government worker in some office somewhere.
First things first, my mum came to visit from Australia. She arrived at the end of December and stayed for 3 weeks. It was so great to see her and I was so glad that she took the trip. It's a long journey to Egypt, but my mum handled the journey like a seasoned traveler. It was great that she made the trip as at the moment Mena and I can't really leave Egypt as he doesn't have his visa to travel to Australia yet. She has met Mena on Skype, but I think she really wanted to meet him in person and see what our life is like here in Egypt.
In a lot of ways I think she was surprised. I can't speak for my mother and I don't really know her true feelings and opinions, but she noticed first of all the poverty and dishevelment of Egypt in general. Things don't 'work' here as good as they do back in Australia. Garbage collection, building standards and the general running of public services is kind of below par here (putting it nicely). This was one of the first things she noticed. On the other hand I think she enjoyed seeing all the sights and spending time with us. Mena was able to get her a great deal on a Nile River cruise, the same kind of cruise I was on when I met Mena. And when I say 'Great Deal' I talking one sixth of the price she would have paid had she purchased her ticket in Australia or even from a travel agent in Aswan. I was pretty impressed myself because not only did she get a great deal, but where ever we went Mena seemed to know someone and because of this people bent over backwards to help us out or give us a great deal. One friend of Mena's gave us a tour of a local Temple, he spent the whole day with us and didn't take a single Piaster for his trouble. At the end of the day he insisted on buying us tea in a local coffee shop. It's nice being on the arm of someone people like and respect. When we picked mum up after her cruise she looked light and breezy. She seemed so relaxed and I think she had a great time.Mum also got to meet my new Egyptian family. My mother and father in-law as well as my sister in-law and her husband and their two gorgeous kids. We spent a little bit of time with them before we headed to Cairo so mum could see the Pyramids and the Egyptian museum.
Mena's grandmother and some Aunts and his Uncle live in Cairo so we were able to spend some time with them too. Mena and I hadn't had a church wedding and making sure we did this was important to Mena's family, so while we were in Cairo Mena's Grandmother and Uncle arranged a Coptic wedding for us. It was a well planned affair and the social highlight of the Cairo suburban scene.
A day after we arrived in Cairo we headed to Mena's Grandmother's church where I was baptised as a Coptic Christian. This was essential and a Coptic wedding would not have been possible without it. So first things first, I was baptised (again). We still weren't sure if the Priest could do the wedding. These things take a bit of arranging and because we are in Egypt we had to make sure all our papers were in order (again). It wasn't such a big deal this time though and the Priest agreed to marry us in the church the very next day....that's right...the next day!
So off we went! Had to find a dress and suit for Mena. Luckily we were staying across the street from a classy little shopping mall that had a few good little dress shops. We couldn't be picky. Something appropriate that fit was all I could hope for. Mena's father arrived with his suit. We found some shoes to match my dress and a nice shawl to wrap around my shoulders and last but not least a nice hair salon that could set me up with a nice hair do for the occasion. Easiest wedding planning EVER!
So the next day after putting all this together we head off from our hotel with my mum in tow. Driven by another friend of Mena's who has a nice car. I wasn't sure what to expect. When we arrived at the church we were met by a camera man who was there to document the wedding for Mena's mother and sister who couldn't come from Aswan. Mena's Uncle Emad had a lovely bouquet of flowers for me to carry down the isle. The church was not full. It was a small assembly, but there were more people there than I expected. 
Now, we still had some business to do in Cairo so we couldn't head off straight away. We moved into Mena's Grandmother's house and started working on submitting Mena's visa application. Papers, papers, papers! It never ends! We needed to get some documents from some places in Cairo and of course the protesting for the Revolution held us up a bit. But after about a week ... I gave up and left Mena to it and returned to Aswan.
At the moment Mena and I are back in Aswan waiting to hear what the Australian Embassy has to say. It would be great if we could come back to Australia soon and share our life with people from my family and my friends. But these things take time and they won't be rushed. It's all in Gods and now ...and some government worker in some office somewhere.
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