Jenyfer Matthews

I really really love a day when I don’t *have* to go out anywhere to do anything. Better yet if it’s dark and rainy or cold and snowy and I can curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and a thick book. The inclement weather isn’t necessary, I’d just take a day with a schedule empty of chores / commitments and the book.

I can’t remember the last time I had a day like that…

When the weather heats up in Cairo, there are few more pleasant pastimes than taking a felucca ride on the Nile – which is what I did with some girlfriends last weekend.

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A felucca on the Nile and the skyline of Cairo.

It’s not all pleasure sailing – some people are making their living.

And some are starting a new life together. One photographer was taking a picture of us, taking a picture of them!






Our felucca captain.

Sunset on the Nile.

I never get tired of sailing on the Nile, and every time I get out there I wonder why I don’t go more often.

There were times when I wondered if I would make it, but in the end I accomplished all that was on my to-do list yesterday. Cleaning the children’s room alone took me two hours.

I had a lot of time to think as I cleaned. Here are some random thoughts on house work:

* It’s not much fun

* Painting may be easier than washing walls

* If you haven’t moved your washing machine to clean under it in three years, you are in for a nasty surprise

* Unless you live alone, the moment you have one task done, another will be created for you

It’s a never ending job, but all in all, I guess I’d rather my house be reasonably clean than not. Fingers crossed we won’t have another sandstorm for a while…

PS – I’m taking the night off of cooking – and the rest of the weekend too if I can manage it

Yesterday was the first day I’ve had to myself since I got back from Qatar last week and what did I do? I spent the entire day cleaning.

My house has been slowing falling apart for the last week while I was traveling and then was busy working, but a two day sandstorm just topped things off. I have lovely French doors and windows all over my house, which are a pleasure to behold in normal circumstances but might as well not be there for all the good they do to keep the dust out during a sandstorm. Actually, that’s not totally true – they help a little. I’ve gone out and left them open only to have a sandstorm hit and that was much worse.

The sky was blue this morning (yeah!) so after I put the kids on the school bus and had breakfast, I got to work dusting, vacuuming, washing windows, doing laundry, and mopping. I even hosed off our (very) large balcony. All in all I was hard at it for about four hours and I got the kitchen, living room, dining room, and master bedroom done – roughly half our apartment. (I told you it was bad!) There was a layer of micro-fine dust coating everything. I hate to think of how much is caught in the curtains (washing those is a project for another day – after sandstorm season has passed!) I could have really used a face mask, or at least a bandanna, as I went about my duties.

Today? I’m tackling the kids’ room (that alone will take me most of the morning!), the computer room, and the bathroom. I also plan to make some banana bread and a lasagna. I am woman, hear me roar.

Or maybe that’s just the vacuum cleaner…

Since moving abroad nearly ten years ago, I haven’t worked outside the home – instead I had two babies to keep me busy. Now that they are old enough to be in school all day, it seemed like a good time to explore some options to keep my resume alive. Which is how I started working as a substitute at a neighborhood school library.

I started in January and since then, it’s been a day here, a day there. But since last week, I’ve worked five days and I have six more days scheduled this month already so far.

It’s not so much that it’s a demanding job, but when I’m there I’m not at home and when I’m not at home, a whole lot of stuff goes undone. I can’t grocery shop at my usual time, I can’t do the laundry – or any of the other hundreds of chores that go along with keeping a house with two small children in residence tidy. (Note: I live in one of the dirtiest cities on Earth and we’ve had a two day sand storm this week. Guess how much dust and grit is coating my home right now??) Homework, dinner, and bath time is a mad rush. If I’m lucky I can collapse on the couch by about 8:30 – and have an hour of chat with my husband before we both crawl off to bed.

As I said, it’s not a demanding job, but I guess I’ve become spoiled in my decade at home. I don’t like having my routine disrupted, I don’t like seeing clutter and mess all over the house, and I really don’t like not having more time to myself. I haven’t written anything new in months and I have a long list of quilting projects I need to complete in the next little while.

Yet I know that other people deal with FULL TIME jobs on top of having a family to take care of AND still find time to write. I am in awe. It makes me wonder – do they never sleep? Because that is perhaps the only way I could find any peace and quiet to do any writing or anything else.

Works for me!

I escaped all of the responsibilities of my normal life, left the children with their father, and spent last weekend visiting two of my closest friends in Doha, Qatar.

I’d never been to Qatar before – my friends only relocated there in August last year. I was interested to visit though – not only to see my friends and to have a little me-time but also because I wanted to check it out. Qatar is growing rapidly and when you work in this region it’s one of those places that is on the short list of possible places to move for a job.

Doha is a boom town, a sea of construction. Everywhere you look there are cranes and construction sites – with everyone competing to see who can build the shiniest, tallest, most interesting high rise.

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There was construction as far at the eye could see!

Not sure if this is an office building or apartments but it made me a bit dizzy just to look at it!

The pool at the Ritz Carleton hotel – an oasis of calm.

Taking an evening stroll in the Souq Waqif.

Coffee break!

Evening entertainment in the Souq Waqif

View of the Doha skyline from the corniche.

The Gulf region is great for street “art” – I simply had to have my picture taken with this giant oyster shell

Overall, Doha wasn’t a bad place to visit – very shiny and clean. There were lots of mall for us to visit, which was great since that is one thing that Cairo is sorely lacking. The weather wasn’t bad either – hot but with a constant breeze and surprisingly low humidity for being on the water. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in ten years.

And for anyone who read the account of my atrocious seat mate on the flight from Cairo to Doha, I am pleased to say that I had a row of three to myself on the return flight!