Jenyfer Matthews

The nice thing about visiting a local inhabitant of another country, rather than just staying in a hotel, is getting an inside look at the local culture. For instance, when I was preparing to come see my friend in Germany she told me that we would be attending a Christmas party while I was here and that I should bring a Christmas costume. I interpreted that as “festive attire” and told her I’d bring my Santa hat and Christmas earrings. She replied that was a start, but that many people would have complete Santa suits.

Hmmm…okay…

I knew that Germans liked to dress up during their carnival season (think Mardi Gras) but I had no idea that they also like to dress up for Christmas parties. I suppose it varies by crowd and occasion, but the love of costumes is common enough that there are many, many party stores here with not only a staggering selection of decorations for various occasions but also a huge assortment of costumes / masks / make-up / props – primarily aimed at adults. One store I browsed was three stories high!

(Where are these stores when I need to create costumes for my children for all their various school events??)

I’ll bet you are wondering what I ended up wearing to the party in the end, aren’t you? I did not purchase myself a full costume. I did however pick up a mask:

In my defense, I’d like to say that the mask looked better in person (kinda scary in the picture!) and that I wasn’t the least original one there. There was someone in a green turtle neck with garland around her, a few people with fake poinsettia wreaths on their heads, a snowman and an elf. On the other end of the scale there was a couple dressed as bicycle snow tires and another man dressed as a mug of gluewein.

My friend and her boyfriend? They were both creative and ironic. My friend (and two of her friends) dressed up as gold foil-wrapped chocolate Easter bunnies – which mostly involved gold glitter on their faces, gold rabbit ears, and a jingle bell ribbon around their necks. Her boyfriend dressed as King Herod. I thought his costume was the best one, but it might have been too clever as it seemed to confuse many of the other people there – or perhaps they were just drunk. I suggested next year he should not be so subtle and he should just dress as Jesus instead.

The party itself was interesting – not knowing anyone and not speaking German pretty well reduced me to an observer. My friend was a bit apologetic for how “tame” it was – said it wasn’t a typical party at all. She told me fondly about a Christmas party she hosted in college where their house was an inch deep in crushed ornaments the next day. We left fairly early – just about midnight – so I can’t say if any of their wine glasses survived the night, but I think the main difference is simply age. I don’t know many adults of any nationality who would encourage wanton destruction of their home in order to call their party a success!

Why do all the best tourist attractions require so much climbing? Think about it. The Eiffel Tower has an elevator, but most of the other great places require a lot of walking and stairs – including the Cologne Cathedral. I had gone across the Rhine River with my friend’s sister on Wednesday and up a high tower there to a scenic view so I wasn’t convinced I needed to climb the Cathedral, particularly as it has been so gray and snowy. But when there was a bit of clear sky yesterday, I took it as a sign I should go.

It didn’t take me as long to climb the tower as it did for me to climb Mt. Sinai, but it was nearly as uncomfortable. The climb involves ascending a fairly narrow stone spiral stairwell that was the approximate temperature of a freezer, with breezes.

Ironically, the tour begins in the original Roman cellar, below street level!

Why do people vandalize things? It’s a CHURCH, people!

See how high I am? I took this from a window in the stairwell on one my catch-my-breath breaks. I have no idea at what point I am here. I did not count which of the 533 STEPS I was standing on!

I am not particularly bothered by heights, but I admit that I did not enjoy this last flight of metal stairs – they were narrow and just a bit icy!

There was fencing all around at the top of the tower, which is just as well because it was ridiculously windy. There was a time or two that I was almost pushed off my feet!

I admit that I thought this particular bit of graffiti was funny!

This is how close I was to the tippity-top of the cathedral. Apparently you can book special tours where you actually get to walk out and around the roof. This is close enough, thanks!

This is another view from my walk down the stairs. See the tree in the first picture up top? Doesn’t look so large from this view!

This sign just amused me. Who know that “schmuck” in German means “jewelry”? But thinking of the insulting American usage along with the “Christ” this was just too good a sign NOT to take a picture. (Yes, I am quite juvenile at times.)

I am happy to report that my legs don’t feel too bad after an hour long walk to the cathedral, the climb, Christmas shopping, and an hour long walk home with bags. I certainly burned off the bratwurst and gluewein I ate for lunch. I’ve gotten everything on my shopping list so from here on, it’s all just fun and good times…

The travel blues that is. How could I not be? Just look at this place!

This is the Cologne Cathedral, in the central square about a twenty-five minute walk from my friend’s house – or 10 minutes by train for those brave enough to use it (not me!). The cathedral wasn’t open in the evening when we went to the city center to wander the Christmas markets but I will certainly be going back when it is so that I can go inside. I want to light a candle for my mother but you can apparently also climb one of the towers and get a view of the city. The climbing I’m not so enthusiastic about, but it needs doing if I am going to keep consuming as much German beer, gluewein, and cookies as I am currently!

And how can anyone be down when there is flaming gluewein to be had? Brandy and a sugar cone apparently provide the fuel. It amused me and warmed my hands and my insides – what’s not to love?

We started exploring in the late afternoon and the later it got, the thicker the crowds became on the ground. A combination of the gluewein and the crowds made it seem perfectly reasonable to take a ride on a ferris wheel – such a beautiful view!

I think it was only about 7pm when we gave up and went home with numb toes and red noses. It was somewhere in the mid-30s (F) but it was also very humid so the cold was that bone chilling sort. I was very tempted to buy myself an Alpaca scarf and hat, but though they would be very useful here, I doubt that I’d get much use out of them in Cairo! Instead I bought myself a gorgeous vintage amber and silver ring. Won’t do much to keep me warm but I get a warm glow inside every time I look at it.

Sooner or later I’ll get out to do some shopping for other people!

Lately when I travel, I experience a near physical pang when I actually get in the car to go to the airport, a real physical dread. I question myself as to why the hell I’m going away at all – particularly after my children bid me a teary farewell. No matter how much I eventually do enjoy myself, I find myself distinctly depressed as I board the plane and wedge myself into my seat amongst a crowd of strangers.

I never sleep for more than a few fitful minutes at a time on a plane, even if it does take off at 4am like my flight to Germany. I read for a while but when my eyes grew too tired to focus, I decided to watch a movie. I chose EAT PRAY LOVE from the menu of choices. I’d adored the book and was curious how they adapted the story to the screen.

You can take my opinion with a grain of salt – I was watching it on a plane when I was well beyond tired – but I was very disappointed. They pretty much stuck to the story line so far as I recall, but emotionally the story fell flat. In the book, Liz Gilbert makes a traumatic decision to end her marriage because she and her husband wanted different things from life – he wanted a settled home and a family and she…didn’t. That one decision was so wrenching for her that it sets off the entire chain of events for the whole rest of the story. Because they did not give that decision the weight that it deserved, the rest of the movie was just a string of events that didn’t seem nearly as interesting or compelling. I realize that movies are very different from books, but so many of the characters were treated so superficially that her entire reason for traveling seemed very shallow instead of the life-changing quest to find herself that it was. I was, in fact, tempted to make another selection. The saving grace? The actor who played her Brazilian lover in Bali. Yum.

The movie did serve another purpose for me however – to remind me of a big reason I travel. I don’t travel because I love to fly. I look forward to the day when I can get everywhere I want to go by car. I travel to see new places and to have interesting experiences, and, when I’m lucky, to make new friends. I have wonderful friends from all over the world, most of whom I never would have met if I had just stayed put. It could be argued that I wouldn’t miss what I didn’t know, that I’d have made other friends. That may be, but I treasure the experiences I’ve had and the friends that I have made in the course of my travels. It’s why I got on a plane to Germany while my children were sleeping – so I could visit my German friend who I met in Thailand back in January and experience the German Christmas markets for myself.

Aside from the fact that I almost missed my last flight because of a long line at a snack counter (though they had yet to threaten me over the loud-speaker) my flights went as well as could be expected. However next time I’m going to try and lure my friend to come to me in Egypt…

Well, not literally. Decorating my halls would be a wasted effort – they are very dark!

I put up the tree last week and let the children decorate it. Then I redistributed the ornaments when they went to school the next day. Why is it that they leave some branches entirely bare and hang 8 ornaments on another?

I also decorated the beds. I put the two Christmas quilts I made the children a few years back on their beds (not sure why I never posted a picture of my son’s quilt?) My own Christmas quilt is one of the first bed sized quilts I made after I got serious about quilting. I borrowed the pattern from my quilting mentor at the time – who was adamant that all ‘beginner’ quilters start with Log Cabin. I had never really liked Log Cabin until I saw this pattern, at which point I jumped at it. The signature on the back says 2003. Surely doesn’t seem so long ago.

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I remember buying the fabric for this quilt. I wanted it to look scrappy so I would buy 1/4 yard of every red, white, or green Christmas fabric I found and liked. Laughable! Fabric was so inexpensive in Dubai that only a few months later I would buy 3 yards minimum if I liked the fabric.

Every time I look at the quilting I am impressed and … astonished. What was I thinking?? I hand quilted the entire quilt, every block – starting in the center and moving diagonally across every strippy piece. I finished it in about a month and also made a lap sized quilt in the same pattern for a friend of mine. Insane.

As with most quilt patterns I really like, I imagined and planned to do this one in other color schemes. Lavender, white, and pale green was my plan. Never did get to that. One day…

The only thing I have left to do for decorations is to buy some new poinsettias (I like to think that they make up for the fake tree) Why did I decorate so early? Because I am going to Germany this evening, to visit my roommate and friend from the tour I took in Thailand back in January.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing the Christmas fairs in person. And my friend said that we would go and light a candle for my mother in the Cologne Cathedral, one of the few large buildings to survive the Allied bombing during WWII. When I told my mother about my intended travel plans this past summer, she was very pleased – “You’re finally going someplace civilized!” My mother was very proud of her German heritage so I can only imagine she’d be pleased by both my trip and the candle I’ll light for her.

I’ll be gone a week but I plan to check in when possible. Keep an eye open for pictures…

The children have the entire week off of school for the Eid holiday, the second big feast after the Ramadan season. A week plus two weekends is a significant chunk of time to have off – enough to go away somewhere, which is what most of the population of Cairo seems to have done.

I’ve been planning a trip to the beach with some family friends for a little over a month. Initially I wanted to go from Monday to Thursday both to minimize the amount of time the children would miss their tennis lessons but also to eat up as much of the week as possible. Who wants them bouncing off the walls at home all week? My friend, who was actually organizing our accommodation, arranged for us to go from Saturday to Monday. Initially I was a bit annoyed because it meant we’d return to Cairo and still have the whole week in front of us. As it turned out, it was a blessing in disguise.

Because we went a few days before the official holiday and many people actually had to work on Sunday (poor slobs!), we had the place to ourselves. Isn’t it lovely?

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We rented a two bedroom chalet in a community of holiday homes. Look at it now, serene and peaceful, and then imagine it crawling with people…

Just in case swimming in the Red Sea doesn’t appeal, there are also large pools scattered here and there – and some of the bigger homes had private pools too.

This was the beach midday on Saturday. We had the place to ourselves!

My daughter spent most of her time in the pool but we couldn’t keep our son out of the Red Sea. The beach was rocky, as was the sea floor. He spent a lot of time face down in the water looking at the pretty fish. His reports were so enthusiastic that I actually decided to give it a try in spite of lack of a snorkel.

It was surprising how buoyant the salty water makes you – floating on the top was nearly effortless. Holding my breath wasn’t nearly so easy, but hey – salt water is a great nasal rinse, right? At first all I saw were rocks, but then suddenly there were fish everywhere. I didn’t see so many colorful ones as my son – he told me there were more closer to the dock. I was reluctant to go there at that time because there were some fishermen there and I did not wish to be their catch of the day. My plan was to go back the following day and launch myself off the end of the dock. The bottom was so rocky that it was incredibly hard to just walk in from the shore.

My plans for swimming on our last day were thwarted by wind. Not only was the water a bit too rough for snorkeling, but the wind was cold! (To me!) It had been difficult enough to get out of the water the day before – I knew I’d have turned into a popsicle getting out into that strong wind.

It didn’t put my children off however – we found a sandier bit of beach and they rode the waves in their inner-tubes!

More people started arriving on our last day at the chalet. Soon, we saw lots more scenes like this.

The beach was huge and we still had lots of space to ourselves, but it’s amazing how quickly you become spoiled. I was very happy to be packing up to leave because even those few people were disturbing “my” peace and more and more cars kept arriving.

We left in the evening on Monday, just after dark. Next post: the dangers of night driving in Egypt.

My trip back to Egypt went smoothly enough, in spite of a surprise re-route through Paris. I was worried about that – can you blame me after the trouble I had on the first part of my trip?? – but it all went well enough. I am almost positive two of my bags were over the weight limit but with the distraction of re-routing me and the children either the gate agent didn’t notice or chose to let it slide. Phew.

I arrived in Cairo three hours later than originally scheduled, just before iftar (the sunset breaking of the fast during Ramadan) and was a little concerned about that timing because typically nothing happens for about two hours after that. It was in fact the most efficient arrival I’ve ever experienced. I was through passport control in about five minutes and all of my bags came through one after another, bam bam bam. I was through customs and driving away in half an hour. Unheard of. The call to prayer (and the signal to eat) came as I was waiting for my driver to bring the car around. The timing worked out in another way as well: the roads were nearly empty so we cruised home in no time.

I can almost hear you thinking what’s the catch. Well, let’s just say I would advise you never to assume an airline with have the sense to throw a tarp over your luggage, even if it is raining steadily for a five hour layover. All of my bags were damp and the contents of two were actually wet. One quilting magazine and some other assorted paperwork were soaked. It could have been worse I suppose – at least all my new books were well protected (I tend to pack with lots of plastic bags, against interior explosions of shampoo, etc)

I’ve been back a day and my bags are unpacked and put away, until next time. I am however still settling in. After being in the quiet of the north woods for six weeks, things here seem really loud. Air conditioners perpetually blowing, two toilets running, traffic noise – not to mention the children. It will take me a little while to tune it all out again.

It’s quiet in other ways though. Two of my closest friends moved away at the end of June. No more girly chats, no more wine nights. No more silly text messages throughout the day. I’m sure I’ll find ways to fill in the gaps and distract myself but for right now it all feels a little hollow.

School starts on Sunday. I’ve been ALONE for more than half an hour since the end of June and I’m looking forward it. I haven’t been able to write since two nights before I left Minnesota and I’m itching to pick up the story again…

I’m in my usual stressed out, pre-travel packing mode at the moment. You might think that I’d be an expert at packing by now…yes and no. Stop by friend and author Shelley Munro’s blog to find out what special packing challenges I’m facing this year. Leave a comment and you’ll have a chance to win a PDF copy of SEPARATION ANXIETY.

I’ll be back with you, live from Egypt next week. Have a great weekend and send me positive thoughts for a smooth trip back!

Summer started so early in Northern Minnesota this year that most of the berry season was finished before I even arrived. I’ve had many fewer raspberries this year than usual and even the blueberries we picked a few weeks back were nearly a month earlier than the typical season.

As warm and sticky as it was last week, it seems that summer is ending a bit early too. The wind started howling a few days ago, whipping up the water on Lake Superior to nearly surfer sized waves. With the wind came cooler temperatures. Much cooler temperatures. Cool enough that many more deer are beginning to show up in the yard in the mornings and evenings, looking for corn. Cool enough that I’m wearing socks to bed and pulling on a thick quilt at night. Cool enough that I wouldn’t be surprised to see the leaves changing color next week.

Too bad I won’t be here to see it.

The children and I will be leaving for Egypt on Sunday, where it most definitely still summer. I’m trying hard to look forward to that – to the fact that in Cairo I still have time to wear the two new sundresses I ordered for myself that only just arrived in the mail here. I’m looking forward to the start of the school year and having a little more time to myself during the day. A change of scene has given me the time to recharge my creative juices and I’m bursting with new ideas for writing and quilts and cooking and…well, lots of things.

But I still wish I could be here in Minnesota to see the change of seasons from summer to autumn and from autumn to winter. I wonder how my husband would feel about commuting…

I have less than a week before I reverse my course and go back to Cairo. Where did the summer go? I feel like I just got here. And need I say that all my plans for my summer education program for my children went right out the window? I had planned to make my daughter do 10 minutes of math a day, my son read and do a bit of writing. To date we’ve done absolutely nothing. Since school starts about a week after we return and we’ll all be settling back in and getting over jetlag, I’m guess that nothing will change once we get back.

Sigh.

My bedroom at my father’s house is a very stressful place right now, surrounded as I am by a mountain of Amazon boxes. I’ve been in denial, but I won’t be able to keep that up. I really need to make a start on packing. And I know that I’ll feel better once I can see the floor again.

I am happy to say I’ve made good progress on my next book while I’ve been here, in spite of falling asleep while writing the other night. I woke up a short time later to four pages of k’s. Overall, I’m going home with about 20K words than I came with – best yet, they don’t weigh a thing