Jenyfer Matthews

It really heated up in Cairo over the weekend. Great for drying clothes outside but not for much else. And because it’s so hot, people are running their air conditioners more which does two things: pumps yet more and hotter air back outside and puts more strain on the already inadequate electrical infrastructure of the city. It won’t be long before the rotational black-outs start. We’re lucky because our power is rarely off for more than half an hour, and usually in the middle of the night. But once in a while an unplanned black out occurs. Yesterday I had to grocery shop by the light of the flashlight in my cell phone because the transformer in the building next to the grocery store had blown. Smoke was billowing out from between the cracks in the pavement as I walked home. Is it any wonder that the quality of frozen foods isn’t the best here?

I have lots to accomplish in the few weeks that remain before I leave Egypt for the summer (provided I don’t contract H1N1 flu and get quarantined or grounded before I leave, touch wood) but all this heat is making me lethargic. I need to get busy quilting the moose head wall hanging but have found that my thread colors aren’t quite right. It may be some sort of elaborate procrastination method generated by my genuine fear of messing this thing up, but I can’t start until I get the right colors of thread and yesterday when I went to the shop it was closed. Will try again tomorrow.

And today I got another commission, this time for a bed scarf (they are all the rage, darling!) The project itself isn’t such a big deal, the problem is that the family is leaving Egypt at the end of September so I have to get a start on it now if I have any hope of completing it before they leave, given that I will be away shortly for six weeks myself. If the school shuts down because of H1N1 flu, I’ll be totally screwed.

(No, H1N1 is not actually such a big deal here but the Egyptian government is taking no chances at all – hence the senseless slaughtering of masses of pigs.)

Basically, I’m just trying to prioritize and get through it all – and stay cool in the process…

Only 12 days of peace-I mean school-left.

Putting the constant cries of I’m bored and the general sibling sniping that occurs when the children are in each other’s company all day, there are several things about summer vacation I’m looking forward to: getting out of Egypt and the heat and seeing family, no homework, no packing school lunches (x2). There are too many things to itemize really, but one very small thing that I really love about summer is not having to wake up to an alarm.

What’s your favorite thing about summer?

That is the main message of a wonderful book I read over the weekend called IN DEFENSE OF FOOD by Michael Pollan. It’s a quick read in just over 200 pages, and it’s really eye opening in that it shows you what’s right in front of your face: that scientists have been trying to identify components in food that are good for us without considering the food as a whole or its (or our) place in the food chain. Ever noticed that health advice keeps contradicting itself? And what the US food industry itself gets away with is practically criminal in the health claims it slaps on the processed creations they produce.

In most ways, he was preaching to the choir with me as a reader, but I too fall into what he calls the “nutritionism” trap by being overly focused on this or that vitamin. I don’t actually spend much time seeking out nutrition information, though I am interested in the topic, it seems to just seep in by osmosis – no wonder with how much money and research is poured into the topic by the US food industry. Most of Pollan’s suggestions for eating were commonsense: eat more vegetables; to the extent you can, eat and shop locally (farmer’s markets); shop the periphery of the store to avoid the bulk of the processed foods; and spend more money and time in eating quality whole foods as an investment in health since many of the big “western diseases” such as diabetes and heart problems can be traced back to diet. Though the focus of the book was on the American diet, it would still be of interest to non-Americans given how pervasive the American diet has become around the world over the years.

I did particularly enjoy the vindication that butter was given over margarine. I switched years ago because since I don’t use that much anyway, why not have flavor over a stick of chemicals that doesn’t even melt on toast? Seems I was right.

Reading the book really gave me a boost in my menu planning this week. One of the main things I like about Egypt is the produce. Egypt is one big farmer’s market. Though much of the produce is labeled “organic” I have no idea if anyone oversees such a label and how it is applied. But it is fresh and tasty, and we tend to eat what’s in season because that’s what they have to offer at the time (and I refuse to pay $$$ for bland imported produce, grown more for looks and portability than taste). Things are at a seasonal high at the moment with sweet corn, watermelon, plums, and grapes all available in addition to all the usual things. I spent more this week on fruits and vegetables than I have in a long time and the results so far have been tasty.

THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA by Pollan is next on my list.

There are built in flower boxes outside each of the second and third bedrooms. When we first moved in, I was trying to decide which plants to put where and what might work best in which locations. One of the plants I wanted to get was aloe vera. It wasn’t more than a few days after I had that thought that a baby aloe vera plant appeared in the window box outside my children’s bedroom. I didn’t end up leaving it there, but I was quite pleased to have it.

At various points, I’ve had other plants in that window box. A while back I had some nasturtium planted there, until some workmen who were painting the building stomped them flat. Last year I had cherry tomatoes out here. More recently there’s been nothing but dirt. My son requested plants so I put a couple of seedlings out there. They didn’t survive. But in the process of babying and watering the seedlings, I had some nasturtium volunteer.

And as I continued to water the nasturtium, two cherry tomato plants have appeared as well. (As an aside, I find it totally ironic that I can’t actually grow a plant from a seed on purpose, they have to choose to come into my life!)

It’s kind of handy having such an accommodating window box. It’s little things like this that make my life much easier!

More and more often lately, I’ve heard other children say to my children things like “You haven’t seen Spiderman III / The Hulk / [fill in other comic book character]?” or “You haven’t seen The Clone Wars? I’ve seen all the Star Wars movies!” – with either great surprise or something bordering on scorn in their high little voices.

My children are only 6 & 8 years old. In spite of the fact that the above mentioned movies have characters that first appeared in animated form, I don’t think they are the most appropriate movies for my children to watch. Not only are they fairly violent but they also include many adult themes. (My children find the “rodents of unusual size” from Princess Bride a bit scary!) But given the increasing frequency with which I’m hearing the above sorts of comments, I’m beginning to feel like the only parent who gives any of this a second thought.

And I’m also beginning to feel slightly sorry for my children. It’s not their fault that they are perceived as uncool by their friends. I guess this is one thing that they can totally and legitimately blame me for!

My sister likes to tease me and say I have a horseshoe stuck up my butt because I often have good luck in unlikely situations. I don’t know about a horseshoe. Maybe it’s just that small things please me.

Take yesterday. I have known for some time that there is a second-hand / consignment shop at the local expat association, but it wasn’t until I saw a friend wearing a cute jacket that she said she got there that I decided I should check it out. I finally went yesterday. I ended up finding myself a very flattering pair of jeans, a Nike sport dry-weave sports shirt and sporty backpack / purse for my daughter, and two tshirts for my son for the grand total of $24 (plus membership fee) I can also take some of things I no longer want to sell over there which is a total bonus. I’m so psyched about my finds, I’m considering volunteering over there in all my copious spare time so I can get the jump on the good stuff. Yes, I’m that warped.

Shortly after I returned home, I had a delivery. The library where I’ve been subbing since January sent me a lovely flower arrangement and an even nicer card, thanking me for all my hard work. I have to say I was more than a little surprised. They were paying me after all! But it’s always nice to be appreciated and who doesn’t like flowers?

I decided to see if my luck would hold and went back to the jewelry store today. I decided that unless he’d done something totally ridiculous to ruin the ring, I was just going to pay and have done with it. I’m tired of the whole process and of dealing with him in particular.

The stone settings are still not perfect, but they are good enough for now. If I can ever find a competent jeweler either here or when I’m back in the US in the summer, I’ll see about having it fixed up.

President Obama is speaking in Cairo tomorrow. Guess who isn’t going to see him? Nothing personal, but I don’t like crowds…

The sage continues.

A friend of mine recommended a jeweler who works with gemstones to me so I made a visit to that shop yesterday, before going back to see the shop guy who made the ring for me. The gemstone shop people were very helpful and professional and said that yes, the stones in the ring were indeed garnets, but that the settings themselves were sloppy. I already knew that and agreed – that was one reason I was going back to see the shop guy who had made the ring for me. When they changed the stones from pink to garnets, they were not particularly careful about the settings and a couple of them were really messy. One stone was even set in further than the three others.

I went directly over to the shop where I had the ring made and he was all smiles when I walked in, thinking that I was finally going to pay my balance and our transaction would be at an end. He wasn’t smiling when I explained what I wanted next. His response to my pointing out that there were a couple of jagged bits around the settings of two stones was to get out a file and file them off. When I pointed out that one of the stones was in fact mashed in more than the others he said it was more secure that way. I had to point out that it looked bad and that I didn’t want it that way very forcefully before he would agree to take it back to the workshop. And it wasn’t easy to convince him when he was fiddling with the charms in his display case and doing all he could to not look at me.

Have you ever heard of the horror movie The Ring? The movie had nothing to do with jewelry, but I think that the title and genre are appropriate to this situation.

I recently took on a commission to make two twin sized quilts for an acquaintance of mine. We talked about colors and patterns and I measured the mattresses. We did not however communicate properly on how she expected and desired the quilts to fit the bed. Normally a quilt either meets the bottom of the pillow with a bit of overhang at the foot or it comes up and covers the pillow. When I delivered the first quilt, it was too short. She wanted it to come up under the pillow and have overhang at the top of the mattress, which is not a standard measurement.

Do you know what I did? I took it back and started over. The second quilt was also too small but was still at a stage where I could adjust so I took it apart and made it right. If I whined a bit privately, that’s between me and my sounding boards.

I have no idea what to expect when I go back to the shop next. What I hope is that the one setting has been fixed so that it looks like the other three. What I expect is that he will have smashed down the other three. If that is what he’s done, I may have to smash his face! I certainly won’t waste any more time on this. I wonder what he thinks the outcome of this is going to be? I still want this ring enough to go through with this transaction until he proves to me that he just can’t do what I want. But the way that he is conducting himself, I certainly won’t go back to him again and I won’t recommend him to anyone I know.

And I hope that I’ve put him off taking special orders too. He just needs to stick to his factory pieces!

I spent much of my weekend on the floor putting together a zigsaw puzzle of a moose applique wall hanging. Summer Serenity my foot – and my aching back! This pattern was made up by a sadist who is even now laughing her butt off as countless quilters weep in frustration over the gazillion of little jagged pieces she decided to require. True enough, there is a huge map to help with placement – but you can’t see the map once the larger background pieces are down. It truly is a labor of love and a test of patience. But if you (and you know who you are) decide you want a wolf or a bear wall hanging, you’re on your own! [Smooch!]

I stopped in the jewelry store on Friday night after having dinner with some friends. The ring was ready. At first glance it came out much better than I expected. It looked much the same and the quality of the workmanship was pretty good. Except that the stones were wrong. I asked for garnets and they had put in what looked like pink glass. When I questioned it, the shop owner said he’d fix it. But it of course it made me wonder why on earth they hadn’t done it correctly in the first place. Did they think I wouldn’t notice?

One of the major irritations of living in Egypt is always having to be suspicious of every transaction. Egypt is the land of fraud. Someone is always trying to pull a fast one on you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to call my credit card company to okay a transaction because it originated in Egypt. If you live here, it really is worth trying to build a bit of a personal relationship with a shop keeper so that they realize that the potential for repeat business is worth much more than a one time scam. If you are just visiting, view every transaction with suspicion and you can still expect to be ripped off.

The shop owner blamed the factory. He also claimed that we hurt his feelings with our “accusations”. I was left with a bad feeling myself. Was he trying to fool me, or had he too been duped? Thing is though, at the end of the day it is still his responsibility to look at the item before he passes it on to the customer. Because had I not spoken up, I know he would have happily taken my money for garnets and given me pink glass.

I left the ring with him to fix and he told me that when it came back, I could take it to any other jeweler I like to have it checked out. He managed to have it done overnight! When I went back to see it, the ring looked great. But I wasn’t willing to take it at face value (fool me once…) He let me take it with me and I immediately took it to a more upscale jeweler down the street.

The second jeweler couldn’t say whether the stones were real one way or another based just on looking at it. He didn’t have the equipment – or even a jeweler’s loop. So now I get to live with the ring a day or two and see if it turns my finger green. And in the absence of such an obvious sign of trouble, then I get to decide if I want to take that leap of faith and just believe.

(Also, I want my warm and fuzzy feelings about this ring back!)

Last night I had a dream that a giant raven had stolen my cell phone and though I could hear the phone ringing from time to time, I was unable to locate the raven and retrieve my phone. I kind of think that the raven represents the shop keeper and that the phone is my feeling of not getting my message across…