No Voice to Speak Of

If I could compare myself to any character in the Little Miss, Little Mr. children's series, there is no question that I would be most similar to Little Ms. Chatterbox.  I know I like to talk, and this blog is another method of sharing my opinion and our life here.  It is all a natural connection for me.

So, the last couple days have been torture for me. 

On Sunday, while I was at school, teaching my last period mathematics class, I noticed that my voice was becoming a little frog like in its sound.  This is pretty common for teachers because we rely so heavily on our voices as our medium of instruction.  The students found it pretty funny, but I just knew it would be fine in the morning because it has happened before.

Then, instead of it getting better in the evening, it actually got worse!  By the time I went to bed, I sounded like a squeaky mouse!  My voice was cracking like crazy!  I thought it was pretty funny, but, I was still optimistic that I would be okay in the morning.

When I woke up I had NO voice.  This was quickly becoming a disaster for me.  How was I going to teach if I could not talk!  I never call in sick.  Not for anything!  So, I went to school anyway.  I was sounding quite hoarse, but, I managed to get through first period.  Hubby came in to help teach my second period classes to give my voice a rest, but, by last period, I was done for.  Pushed it too hard.  But, I got through the day nonetheless. 

It was a very quiet evening, full of whispers from me.  I was not going to push my voice because I was taking the grade 7's on a field trip the next day.  We do not get many trips, and I was not going to miss this one.  When I woke up, I still could not talk.  But, I went to school anyway.  I was not "in charge" of the field trip and I was curious about the location we were going to visit. 

When we got back, I had a parent meeting.  This was interesting to do with a limited amount of voice to work with.  I squeaked out the important information and let the lady do most of the talking.  This has certainly forced me to sit back and listen more as I cannot give my input as much as I would like.

We had friends over for dinner last night and for the most part I was pretty quiet, sharing my few stories in whispers.  When our guests left, I continued to whisper in hopes that *maybe* my voice would be back today.

This was not to be the case.  My voice has been lost for 3 full days now.  I miss it.  I miss sharing my opinions readily and teaching my students daily.  It is hard to interact with people when you can only whisper, especially when in it 20 grade 7's in a concrete room!

Today, I did not go to school.  On top of my voice loss I have a horrendous, almost uncontrollably painful cough.  So, today, I stayed at home with Princess who is suffering from some ailments of her own.

So, perhaps tomorrow will be the day my voice returns.  I hope so, because I do not think that I can handle being away from school for 2 days in a row!  I would not know what to do with myself.  In the meantime, I sit and listen to the sounds around me.  The kids playing, the movie blaring, the food cooking, the dogs barking and my coughing.  Such comforting sounds.

Until My Voice Returns, I will enjoy the idea of talking away...

 

Picky Eaters and A Hidden Solution

Well, this has nothing to do with my usual posts, but, it is something very real that happens in our house daily.  The picky eater battle begins at lunch.  Our kids will eat pretty well any breakfast item as long as it is not an egg.

Dimples is far more picky than Princess, and Princess has improved leaps and bounds in the last 4 months.  But, the struggle to get Dimples to eat anything after breakfast is an indefinite struggle, and since he is so incredibly stubborn, he goes long stretches of time without eating.  He will wait until he gets what he wants.  I am not concerned because he will eat all fruits and some vegetables, but will not touch any resemblance of a meal or important vegetables. 

When Princess was little, I purchased all her baby food.  Living in the country and working in the city provided little extra time at home to prepare baby food.  It was easier to buy and transport a jar of food that I could just grab out of the cupboard.  As she got older and exhibited picky eating behaviour, I decided that with Dimples, I would prepare all his baby food.  I was convinced that this would prevent him from being a picky eater.  Although he would eat all the purees, finger foods like noodles and cheese were no go's from the start.  That was the beginning of the no go food list for him.  In the end, he became more picky then Princess. 

So, I started investigating ways to get my picky eater to eat.  I tried all the methods.  The idea that it takes a while to get your child interested in food is not factual in my opinion.  Dimples has probably seen pasta 40 times in his life and has never once expresses any interest in trying it.  The "experts" say that a child will try a food after being exposed to it 12-15 times.  If the child is not interested, he just is not interested.

With Dimples, I have determined that the problem is mostly textural.  If it is slimy, slippery, chalky, or mushy, he will not touch it.  If it is green or orange, he will not touch it.  If it could end up on his hands, he will not touch it.  It has been a very frustrating journey with him. 

With all that said, he is a very sturdy, very healthy boy that has energy that is unimaginable.  So, it makes the frustration even more frustrating.  I had to come up with a new method to ensure that he was getting the nutrients that he needed.

Then, I decided to start hiding things in his food.  This has been ridiculously easy and so far, quite successful.  It is all about pureeing certain vegetables together and mixing them into things you are already making.  This is something that I had tried ages ago, but had not put much thought into.  I would just add whatever I had on hand, not thinking about the impact of flavor.  The trick is to mask the unmentionable ingredients into a kid favorite that will be completely hidden.  Like spinach juice in chocolate pudding.  Or, sweet potatoes and carrots in the mixture for french toast.  Watching him gobble up these types of things has been making meal time a lot easier than the constant battles of patience we normally encounter at meal time.

If anyone has a picky eater, the trick is to pureeing certain combinations of fruits and vegetables and mixing them in to kid favorites.  They unknowingly devour the foods they try so hard to avoid.  Try this recipe for french toast, whether you have a picky eater or not!  The extra veggies never hurt anyone :)  The recipe comes from the Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine.

This recipe makes 4 pieces of french toast.

2 eggs
1/4 cup orange puree (see below)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Mix all ingredients and place in a shallow baking dish.  Soak whole grain bread in the mixture and prepare in a pan over medium heat.  

Orange Puree

1 medium sweet potato
3 medium carrots

Peel and rough chop the carrots and potatoes.  Put in a pot and cover with water.  Cook for 20 minutes or until tender (especially the carrots).  Strain and place into a blender and blend until completely smooth.  This will make about 1 1/2 cups of orange puree that can be put into everything from pasta sauce to meatloaf and meatballs.

The french toast is the same color as usual and tastes pretty much the exact same.  At least the kids did not notice and even asked for seconds.  Hubby enjoyed them as well, even though he new of the new addition.

Watch out for the puddles!

When we first arrived in Egypt, I commented on the chaos of the driving conditions in Cairo.  Having just arrived and witnessing a style of driving that is very different from home was a little concerning.  It seemed that there was no rhyme or reason to the lane changes, honking and excessive speeds.  I was surprised to not see more accidents.  We have seen accidents though.  Almost all of them we very severe accidents, and we have known people that have been in very bad accidents here.

Although there are lanes painted on most roads, they are seldom used, and if they are used, it is not by everyone.  If your car can squeeze through a small space between other cars, they try.  A four lane road can suddenly become an 7 lane road. 

Then, the more time that we spend in Cairo, the more intricate the driving system appears to be.

As a new person, the traffic looked like a swarm of bees around a hive, or a bunch of ants roaming over a huge piece of food that they want to move.  These insects appear to be moving frantically without much communication, but, in reality, the complexity of the situation elevates the communication.  The proximity of the insects to each other facilitates co-operation and fluid movement.

This is how the traffic in Cairo appears.  Frantic, chaotic, disorganized and loud.  But, as you watch and learn, there are a series of horn honks that indicates where another car is in proximity to you, or, if they are passing you.  Of course there is also the, "What are you doing!" honk and the, "Get out my way!" honk.  But, the amount of honks and the duration of the honks are a language in and of itself.  It is like Morse Code for drivers.  As a newbie here, I am still trying to determine which honks mean what, but, I am not driving around.  We have a driver for that.  It is still fascinating though.

What grasps my attention the most however, is the unusual behaviour driver's exhibit around puddles.  Since we are in a desert, it seldom rains here.  Most puddles occur because someone was washing their car on the street, or a porter was watering the trees, grass and plants and some water accumulated on the road.  Or, a pipe explodes and turns the road into a massive, muddy lake (as is the case in front of our house right now). 

On rare occasions, like today, it actually rained.  Rain often brings a sense of excitement to the people here, except when they are driving.  A driver could be speeding down the street (sometimes at excessive speeds) and encounter a puddle.  If the puddle pops up suddenly, the driver will literally slam on the brakes so that they can avoid the puddle.  They will slowly move around the puddle and then continue at the speed they were going before the puddle. 

They will also drive onto the other side of the street to avoid puddles that are covering the entrance to a street, or take excessively wide turns so that the wheels do not touch the water.  Or, a car will swerve into another lane to avoid a puddle while driving at a fairly quick speed and severely cut off another driver, nearly creating a massive accident. 

So, when it rains, the entire street is wet.  It is like the first snow in Winnipeg, when "most" drivers take extra caution to ensure that they do not encounter an accident. 

We are unsure as to why they have this feeling about puddles, maybe they just do not want their cars to get dirty.  But, the behaviour is quite intriguing to say the least. 

We moved...again!

The kids room...Dimples is sleeping away.

Our room.

Princess dancing away.  She can make an

Moving is stressful.  Especially with two little ones running around your ankles.  Since Hubby and I tied the knot we have moved more times than I can count, but, in the last 6 months we have moved three times...the biggest of which was our overseas move of course.

We really are not big fans of moving.  So, why have we moved three times in 6 months?  Allow me to elaborate.

Our first move was inevitable because we had to board a plane to get to Egypt where our jobs would have started with or without us.  Venturing out to Egypt was the beginning of a wonderful adventure.  We had seen pictures of our flat and were excited to get settled into our new home.

When we arrived in Egypt and saw our flat for the first time, we noticed immediately that it had some flaws, but, that it would be suitable for us.  The flat was really quite small, but it had a decent kitchen and three bedrooms.  We would be able to make it work.

We stayed there for three months and we moved for a number of reasons, the first of which was the size.  The balconies were not well sealed off and we feared for the safety of our rambunctious climbing children.  The ants were horrendously bad and we had constant problems with the water tanks at the flat.  The landlady never really moved quickly to get anything worked on or fixed.

Then, the landlady offered us a great flat that was twice the size with a private garden.  The offer seemed too good to be true and we moved in a matter of weeks.  The second flat had a lot of small defects, but they were all to be fixed in 15 days.  Then, 15 days became several weeks and then months.  As more and more time elapsed, the more likely it seemed that things were not going to happen.  The landlady became increasingly difficult to work with, so, we began our apartment hunt on our own.

We looked at multiple flats, several of which we liked, but one was not suitable at all, one was gorgeous but had no kitchen, the other was perfect, but the landlady was difficult to deal with and the fourth was beautiful with an immaculate kitchen, but, had only two bedrooms.

When it came down to making a decision, it was between the no kitchen flat and the two bedroom flat.  We went with the two bedroom flat because we simply needed a kitchen!   Within one day of deciding, we were moved in.  It really was not that big of a move as our new place is right next door to our second place.

It is amazing how quickly things can change when you least expect it.  We really hope that this is our last move.  The unpredictability of Egypt keeps us on our toes.  Having only two bedrooms put Dimples and Princess in the same bedroom.  They have had a couple late nights, but, I think we are on track as Princess generally goes to bed later than Dimples, so, as long as he falls asleep before she gets there, we are in the clear!

I think that we are close to having everything put away in a new place and the flat is becoming homey.  We have two massive balconies as we are in the "penthouse" of the flat.  The one benefit of moving in Egypt is that we really do not have very much stuff.  Pretty well everything fits into our suitcases, aside from the fridge we have acquired.  That we did not try and force into a suitcase!

So, here is to new beginnings, again, in Egypt.  Enjoy the pictures of the new flat.  I think you will see why we are getting cozy here!

Current Events

I woke up yesterday morning unaware of the events that occurred in the Mediterranean city of Port Said.  Hubby watched the news and informed me that 74 people were killed during a riot after a major upset at a football game.

Immediately, all my mundane and minor problems seemed irrelevant.

Since this riot occurred after a football match I knew that it would be the main topic of discussion at school, especially amongst the boys.  Since I did not watch the news or read any of the footage, I was completely unaware that, although the riot occurred after a football match, it has been turned into a major political event.

The most deaths since the fall of Mubarak, one article stated.  Everything in Egypt becomes political these days.

Perhaps this is natural because of the current political state.  Since the football match there have been massive demonstrations in various parts of Cairo and other major cities in Egypt. 

With all that said, we are staying really close to home these days.  Although we do not see much of what is happening in the media because we are out in the suburbs, we do not ignore the messages we get from the Embassy or the cautionary statements from the school.  In the event that turmoil escalates and we would be deemed no longer safe, the school has an effective evacuation plan in place. 

At this point, we are not concerned, but, we are vigilant and monitoring the events in Egypt closely. 

First day of School!!

Today was a monumental day for Dimples.  It was his first day of school.  Yes, I know that he is still young, but, was he ever excited to go to school today.  He was up early, quickly ate his breakfast and helped pack his bag.  He was ready.  When we got to the school, he ran around the lobby and had no idea what to do. 

Then, the time came when the teachers arrived.  This is the time that he would normally leave to go home, or go with the nanny.  So, he thought it was time to leave.  He was confused when I picked him up and walked him to his classroom...a little resistant.  Then, he saw it.  A big, ride on truck and he was set.  He ran to the truck, started pushing it around and began enjoying himself.  He did not cry or flinch or resist when I said goodbye.  He smiled, waved bye bye and blew me a kiss. 

And, that is when mama got a little sad. 

My little boy is growing up.  As he waved goodbye and continued to play, a little tear rolled down my face.  He is still a little boy and will have many more firsts ahead of him.  But, today was a big day for him, and for the family.  Princess was thrilled to have Dimples at school with her and proudly introduced him to her friends and teachers.  She will take good care of him I am sure.

I am curious what the end of the day will hold.  School for a full day will drain the energy out of him I presume.  But, I am sure that he will have fun!

Princess and Dimples ready for school...he looks so excited!