Chunky Monkey!

As I said on my previous post I am in El Paso, TX at the moment and can I just say that I am having such a hard time with this move! I am going crazy. I miss the intensity and frantic noisy Egypt. I also miss my beautiful tropical island. Anyways the only way I am surviving is Chunky Monkey!!!! For those of you who don't know what that is... is Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream! I was two years and half without this glorious treat and now I am so happy to be able to eat it while I get use to this crazy place.

Let's start with the fact the we are in the border with one of the hot spots in Mexico. Ciudad Juarez. So everyone has this fear and are always saying be careful where you go and of your surroundings. So I left everyday harassment, bombings and all the crazy things going in Egypt to end up in pretty much a same scenario. No where is safe and I wish people will understand that. Puerto Rico is not safe either so I think I should definitely find a place to learn some self defense since I pretty much like to travel to different places. But one thing is for sure we should always be safe and do research and try to learn as much as you can before you find yourself in a very sticky situation.

Do not fear, I'm in a very safe place! I am not saying where but is a fortress! Moving on there is something that has been bothering me lately and is people's attitude. How much I had forgotten that people here are not friendly! Urgh! El Paso is full of Latinos so that means for me that is OK to talk in Spanish I mean is my first language! But no, can you freaking believe that I am seeing them I know they are Latinos I am a Latina, and they have the audacity to say excuse me? I don't speak Spanish. What? Yes, you read that right. I can hear this thick accent and I just, I am speechless! How can you deny your first language? I can hear your English is bad and your telling me you don't speak Spanish! The other day I just laughed at her face I couldn't help myself. How did we get here?

Latinos have always been subjected to racism in the US and now we are denying our roots and our culture and to top it off we look down on our own! Shame on you Latinos of El Paso who do this! I myself don't have trouble with English on the contrary but my Sister in Law gets so shy and I see her ask if they talk Spanish and when they refuse to speak it to her it sends me in a mood that I just have to step in. I think is a blessing to be able to communicate with people in different cultures who speak your language. I remember when I found Latinos in Egypt I got so excited to speak my language! I am the kind of person that I always want to help. I can't stand people who understand the language and choose to ignore those who need help. Just so you know this people have the audacity to speak Spanish in front of you when they answer their cell phone!!!!!!  It happen to me in Bath and Body Works! I understand the ones who look like Latinos but don't know anything in Spanish I have cousins in Chicago who don't speak Spanish!  But the people I am referring to are the ones who understand the language and deliberately say they don't.

Wow, that felt good! Can you understand why I need the Chunky Monkey now?! A few things I have found is this good website called Meetup.com where you find different groups of people to do stuff like hiking, reading clubs and such. I checked and there are some groups in Egypt too for my friends there who read this blog. So between looking for things to keep me occupied, finding a job and eating chunky monkey I have also spend my time reading Craiglist adds... I know! I never thought about those things but I kind of find so romantic and sometimes I laugh at the way people see each other. You don't know what I'm talking about? Check Miss Encounters on Craiglist and see the ads some are super romantic others well they are just plain stupid but I always hope that those people kind of get their happy ending! Also is good material for my book! Anyways I think this is it for now I will keep you guys posted on my adventures!

Thank you for reading and following me!

Opposites attract?

Hey everyone! I hope you had a fabulous Valentine's day yesterday. I passed the day thinking about love and relationships. I mean me and habibi have been together for two years already and we feel like it was the first day all over again. At the same time we are total opposites! I mean I am the kind of girl that likes to laugh, hyper, love food, I am totally loud in everything I do and love music! My habibi is so quiet and serious but still has a sense of humor he is the one that does things and you are not sure if he did it or not! He doesn't love music as much as I do! I mean I hear music for everything! I sing out loud and dance. I concentrate the best when I'm hearing music or background noise. My habibi is the total opposite, he likes silence and if he wants music he enjoys classical the best.

He always says to me you are so noisy! LOL I say yeah so what? He already got use to it. If I am too quiet he just goes to me and says, "You okay babe?" to what I am surprise and say "Yes, Why?" he says "Well you are so quiet today... you sure you are ok?" Isn't he a cutie? He understands me so well! Same as me I already know when instead of putting the music loud just use earplugs because he is in thinking mode!

Even in food we are different. He is the kind of healthy eater. I am the total junk food eater! I learned to make a balance with the food but not with desserts! I am a total sugar freak. I mean I can eat pizza, french fries, potato chips, nuggets, burgers and sweets every day. See a unhealthy pattern there? Habibi loves to eat veggies and fruits. He loves french fries and burgers too don't get me wrong but he prefers always healthy things. I have ruin him in a way he loves to eat desserts with me now! There is always cookies, cupcakes and anything you can imagine. I make them or he buys them for me.

My point being that I feel like we complete each other. I believe opposites attract because in a way they have things the other doesn't have. I am totally emotional for everything he is totally rational. But in a way we make it work. There is not a dull moment in our house. We laugh more than anything and we play pranks on each other. We enjoy the chance that we have. We learn from each other also. Our religions are different, our cultures are different but in all the difference we found a perfect blend.

Love is in the air! Well maybe is not! LOL My advice just enjoy life. Sometimes we focus too much in finding someone perfect and we are not going to find it. There is compromise in every relationship and the secret of success is to look at the bigger picture. Focus on the good things and not the bad things. Forgive and forget and move on. Wishing you all the best from a very rainy day here in Cairo!

The Job struggle

Recently I have a hard time figuring out what is a normal day. I have not been working for two months now and honestly time has gone by too quick! I mean I have went to interviews and everything but still things are not as I want them to be.  It's been like two years of constant change in my life.

I started with the journey of losing weight and then after that the falling in love again after a very messed up relationship, moving out of my apartment, selling my car, selling everything I owned and moving to another continent! Not much right? Don't get me wrong I am super happy about all these changes but suddenly I am met with the struggle of What do I really want?!

Before moving here I was working as an office administrator in a marketing agency for five years so before coming my Habibi told me that I could not do the same work here which was fine with me honestly I learned a lot from that job and it did not fulfilled  me at all. The part I love about my job was the challenge of marketing campaigns and the new clients and stuff but being in the management part I was working more with payroll, HR and Accounting! BORING!!!!

I am too creative for that shit!  Anyway I started on a new career path... Teaching English.... Yeah worlds apart! Now is a great job honestly and you have to be so dedicated to do it that I am impressed and I found new appreciation for teachers everywhere. Is hard work and well here in Egypt is a total mess. The schools are not worried about Education at all they just want money from the students and no matter what you have to pass the students because if you don't they will take the student away and they lose the money.

So its been a challenge to find something that I truly enjoy. My days are fill with basically me finding my right place in the world. I pray every day for guidance because definitely with out God I would not be who I am and where I am today. In all my frustration with this job  situation I have somehow found peace. I know that I will find my true place and that God will guide me in the right direction.

Everything that I do in my life I take it as a learning experience. The more you are exposed to things the more you learn. So I am enjoying the time with God and focusing on learning more from him. Talking to my family, reading, cooking for habibi and my cats. Looking for jobs and decided to learn a new language by the end of summer.

I guess there are a lot of people in jobs they hate. Knowing that they need the money to support their family and to put up with bad bosses and circumstances all because they needed it in a bad way. For those of you do not despair I was in your shoes and I seen a lot  but God will bring new things and blessings for you. As I pray for my new path I will also pray for those in situations like this I wish that God will help you find your true passion and a better job.

I am feeling confident in my future and I know something great will come out of it. I love blogging also so that is a plus! I have ideas in my head that are coming together too so is about timing! Anyways I leave you with my thoughts I have a few ramblings about past interviews that I know will make a great post! You won't believe the things that happen to me! LOL Anyways until next post!

Are you happy with your job?

Thank you for reading and following me. 

When is it enough?

So here is the thing about living in a different country that doesn't have your same religion, culture and language, can you adapt or when do we say enough? After been here for eight months they are still things that just plain irritate me!

I wish I could just speak the language right away! LOL. I understand some words and can speak a few too but is not enough. I can't read anything in Arabic is totally messed up and starting with the fact that they write from right to left... confusing enough?

The eating habits of Egyptians entitled every body part available in animals, kidneys, livers, cow legs anything you name it they eat it! So that been said I have to say that I only eat chicken and beef and of course not any weird parts! Please don't judge me but I really can't eat it and I don't eat fish either so I guess I fall into the picky eater category. The only thing is you can eat in front of me no problem just don't think I am going to try it!! Lol.

The clothes is something am pretty much adapted too already but really some day's I wake up and I wish I could just wear whatever I want! No sleeves, shorts ... maybe the rebel part of me or something! All this I took into account before moving here but we have a saying back home that says You can't be sure of things until you try them. So here I am musing and complaining to you guys because sometimes is hard.

I miss home and of course the way I lived my life for the past twenty six years and guess what is normal! No one can make such a big difference in their life and expect to adapt in eight months, doing something totally different than what you have been doing your whole life. This is post is for those of you who are afraid of changes, is not going to be easy but hey maybe you do not need to make such a drastic move as I did.

There are country's who speak English or any other language that still will make things challenging for you. Life is never easy and if it is for you, you are either living in the clouds or something is wrong with you! LOL The only thing that will change the outcome is our attitude and I have to say that I have been letting my frustration get the best of me so don't let it happen and if it does, as it happen to me just cry a little maybe get mad and get over it.

Thank you for reading and following me!  

Missing...

When you become an expat they are things that you definitely miss from home. So I decided to share with you mine. First of all I miss my Island!!! the beach, the mountains and of course the rain! One thing I love about the drive to work in the morning is when we pass by the Nile river it might not be the same as the beach but water all the same and it sooth's my "sea desires" LOL.

I surely miss driving! There is nothing more relaxing for me, but only back home! Here in Egypt is a little scary to drive still I thank my habibi for letting me drive a few times.  :)

I miss a really good cereal! The other day I bought "original" Fruit Loops on Carrefour and I was so disappointed because it was not the same as back home! they taste awful. The thing is that it was the same box and everything! But between you and me, they have a Kellogg's here in Egypt so they make everything to look the same but tastes different. That goes for any cereal. On that same note I miss fresh milk. You can find some in Egypt but you have to boil it and everything so we just stick to buying full cream milk.

For those of you living here in Egypt and miss fresh milk too, I share with you a good discovery that tastes almost as good as fresh milk. Dina Farms has a variety of products and one of my favorites is their fresh milk. Here is an ad for it. If you buy it be aware it goes bad quickly. You have like a week before it goes bad, but trust me this stuff is good.

You can find pretty much any fruits in or vegetables in Egypt but to my dismay they don't have plantains! I love plantains in any form and I miss them like crazy so when I get home I am planning on eating so much plantains that they come out of my ears!! LOL 

There you have it people the things I miss the must! There are many other but the life and the country are different and am sure when I go home for a visit I will bring a suitcase just for this type of things! Please don't tell anyone I don't want any problems at the airport! Lol 

Thank you for reading and following me!