Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Middle East and North Africa	Sunday in MENA	Happy Sunday everyone. It's hot here. Nagi, I bet you're pleased as punch that hubby is coming home today. I hope things go smoothly for him at the airport.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-17 05:56:00
Middle East and North Africa	Olivia's leaving us soon..	Olivia you are truly an inspiration!! I've often wondered how you keep your hectic schedule, I know I could never do it. I wish both you and your husband many happy years together. And I hope you have an awesome time this summer here in Egypt!!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-13 12:01:00
Middle East and North Africa	Tuesday - All Day Long	Happy Birthday Krissy!! Hope your hubby makes you an awesome cake and the rest of your day is great!!!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-19 14:04:00
Middle East and North Africa	Tuesday - All Day Long	Good afternoon y'all. Happy Tuesday! We've moved back in with the in-laws temporarily, and they have no a/c. As much as I love my in-laws, I hope we aren't here too long. It's hot. And when my brother in law is home, it's long sleeves and hijab. With no a/c. blaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. Could I whine any more? We have yet to see the last episode(s) of 24. Did they run 2 hours on Monday night? Last week was only episode 22 right, so there should be 2 episodes left. Looking forward to seeing how it ends. I lubs that show. Sandrila, keeping good thoughts for you. Now, where's that pool full of chocolate ice cream.... lol	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-19 07:34:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday, May 20th	Hey Olivia, glad to hear that you made it safely and with all of your luggage. Yesterday the heat wasn't as bad as the day before, alhamdulillah. Not too hot yet today, just humid. Anyways, sounds like things are moving along nicely for you. I'll pm you my number (if I can figure it out, lol) and if you need anything, feel free to call me. Hope you adjust easily here.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-21 04:23:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday, May 20th	Ditto on that, glad to hear he is doing better. Nagi, snakes??	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-20 06:35:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday, May 20th	Happy Wednesday all. Too hot and humid yesterday here in Cairo. Insha'Allah today will be better. I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes. And I've come to the conclusion that I married Spock's younger brother. Hope everyone has a great day. Nagi, I hope that sleep has found you by now. Maureen, I would love to come swim in your pool!!! Sakes alive that would be great right about now. lol	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-20 05:00:00
Middle East and North Africa	Thursday	Good morning Maureen. I think I would have jammed my whole darn food in the window washer thingy. lol That is just too gross. Happy Thursday everyone. I guess by the talk, this is a holiday weekend. lol It's easy to forget the holidays when you aren't in the country. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend full of friends/family/fun! In my continuing battle with the squitos, they now appear to be biting me through my socks? lol But, I am mostly just being bitten on my feet, so at least it's not all over my body, alhamdulillah. They have a couple of plug in things here at the in-laws apartment, one is full of some kind of liquid, which I don't particularly like, but it's more tolerable than the bug spray, and the other one has a little cartridge that you change every day. Both devices are supposed to make a smell that the squitos don't like. I guess they work better than nothing, but not 100%. The heat, although um, hot, doesn't bother me too much. We got pretty hot in the summer in California. I'm not as used to the humidity, but it hasn't been to bad thankfully. Anyways, if we move to Kuwait, it will be even hotter!! Temps there this week as high as 114, and I guess it gets even hotter than that. Thank God for a/c yah? lol Enough babbling, hope everyone has a great day! Nagi, I hope you're sleeping soundly as I type this!!!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-21 05:04:00
Middle East and North Africa	Egypt in the summer... What was I thinking?	Bridget, I couldn't believe it when I read your post about the food. I thought my husband's family was the only ones who did it. lol I've talked with hubby about it and he says that if you re-heat the food it kills the bacteria. I'm not taking my chances, thank you very much. After lunch, the food is left out on the table until dinner time, and even when we go to bed, like last night at 3 a.m., it was still sitting out. He said no one is forcing me to eat the leftovers from lunch. *sigh* We had the fridge go out on us once in the apartment we were staying at temporarily, and we were here at the in-laws when it went out. When we got back and found it had gone out, he went through and was trying to decide what food was okay. I had to force him to throw almost everything out. There was stuff he was going to keep because he just didn't understand that some foods can't be left out. Or that as KH said, you can't eat meat after a certain period of time. He eats meat that is so old it just freaks me the heck out. I stay away from it. It's great that they don't want to waste food, but then don't make so much ya know? Or stick the pot in the fridge if you're too lazy to put it in a dish before refrigerating it. And then just stick the pot back on the stove to re-heat the food. Maybe this wouldn't be as much of an issue if they had microwaves? Hubby is fully intent on buying me anything I want and making me as comfortable as he thinks I should be. You'd think I was some demanding princess or something. I told him I don't need a dishwasher, or some of the other things he thinks we should get. I just want a/c, and I am now refusing to live somewhere that does not have screens on the windows. He said that was fine. (we will see what happens when we look for apartments!) It is unfortunate we don't live closer to the bigger stores and that it's such a hassle to get to them, but really aside from the current mosquito issue, and my food issues, I actually am really happy to be here. I love it here. The heat is livable, and with screens, the mosquitoes shouldn't be a problem. I'm not saying it's easy to live here. It's definitely easier to live in the States in many respects, but I am happy I moved here.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-22 03:37:00
Middle East and North Africa	Egypt in the summer... What was I thinking?	Unfortunately (because why not be difficult? lol), I am very sensitive to scents, and I bought some skin so soft one time and pretty much felt nauseated at the smell. I don't think I could handle rubbing it all over my body. lol Though the thought did occur to me anyways. Thanks though, for the suggestion.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-20 06:31:00
Middle East and North Africa	Egypt in the summer... What was I thinking?	If I were you, I'd be more concerned about the mosquitoes than the heat. Unless you don't mind using mosquito sprays, in which case go ahead and worry about the heat. lol Sorry, I'm being eaten alive here in Cairo, and while the heat sucks, being covered in mosquito bites isn't all that great either. Best wishes to you in finding something to keep your kid entertained while here.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-20 04:51:00
Middle East and North Africa	Finally Friday	I think you must have picked a night when everyone managed some sleep. lol Good afternoon and happy Friday everyone! I can smell meat on the grill in the kitchen. Not sure what mom is making but it smells good! Hubby should be home from prayers soon and I should get dressed soon. lol Not sure what we'll do today, but I hope we'll go out and enjoy the day. Hope everyone has a fabulous Friday!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-22 06:17:00
Middle East and North Africa	Saturday 23rd of May	Hello Rosie. Happy Saturday everyone!! I'm glad someone else started the thread. I was thinking of starting one but couldn't remember what day it was. I was thinking it was Wednesday for some reason. lol Almost met up with Olivia and her hubby last night, but my hubby and I were walking in Mohandiseen, and they were going downtown. I guess today is her big day. I hope it goes well and she has a wonderful time. Insha'Allah we'll be able to meet up before she goes to Hurghada for the summer. She sounds so sweet on the phone. Not much else new in the land of mosquitoes, humidity and heat. lol Everyone take care and be safe. Nagi, I hope you're feeling better!!!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-23 06:00:00
Middle East and North Africa	Alright, MENA people, what do you think are our chances of Visa approval at Cairo?	The only thing I could see would be the amount of time you knew him before getting married, and then filing for the visa. Maybe it's not a big deal, I don't really know. Maybe someone else can pipe up about it? Best wishes, and like one of the previous replies said, we hardly see any denials through Cairo. You just have to be VERY patient.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-24 01:38:00
Middle East and North Africa	Lazy Sunday	Good morning everyone, and happy Sunday! Jess, that is just the cutest picture, I just love it. Nagi, are you feeling better? I guess so if you're out for church today. We went down to the US embassy today, only to find out that they are closed for the holiday. The holiday is tomorrow, not today, so why close today? Not sure if they will be open tomorrow or not. And they are closed the last Tuesday of the month. lol After the embassy we went to the mogamma building. It was my first time there. I actually loved watching all the people there. Hope everyone is well and enjoying their holiday weekend.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-24 10:51:00
Middle East and North Africa	President Obama will just stay 8 hours!!!!	My hubby came home from work today and said that Egypt's version of the CIA or whatever had been by his offices. They took down everyone's name and information. It seems that the president's helicopter will fly over the the tennis courts that are next to the building hubby works in and they want to know who will be in the area. I wonder if they'll put the names in a database and check them all or something?? Wish I could hear the president speak when he's here, but I think hubby will be out of town and I'm not going to brave that mob and possible problem and target spot by myself. lol And I don't blame the guy for only staying 8 hours. It's hot here.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-26 12:23:00
Middle East and North Africa	Tuesday	QUOTE (Aymsgirl @ May 26 2009, 08:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hey everybody it's been a few days. Little Malek broke his elbow by falling out of his damn cozy coupe car and getting himself all twisted up in it. He had surgery on Saturday and has two pins and a cast. Keep my little trooper in your prayers as he recovers. Ronell....I hope Saturday went beautiful! Goodness he certainly gets more than his fair share of troubles. Poor little guy. Insha'Allah he'll mend quickly. I felt so worried the first time my son broke his arm. But, kids seem to be troopers with stuff like this.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-26 12:29:00
Middle East and North Africa	Dip sticks Interview March 25	Did anyone ever hear anything? I can't forget how long they've been waiting and really hope that things are okay.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-27 10:33:00
Middle East and North Africa	Dip sticks Interview March 25	*bump*	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-03-30 06:31:00
Middle East and North Africa	Dip sticks Interview March 25	I hope it went well. Any news?	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-03-25 10:46:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday!	Tasha, I wanted to apologize for calling you Amy. I am ALWAYS looking at your nick and seeing amy instead of aym. lol Anyways, my well wishes for Malek still apply, even if I couldn't get your name straight.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-27 10:28:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday!	QUOTE (100% Al Ahly Fan @ May 27 2009, 04:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Anyone watching the Manchester United vs Barcelona match today? They don't usually have soccer on here at the in-laws, but my father in law happened to turn that match on (I think it was that match) just before we had lunch. From the looks of it (while sitting at the table eating lunch), Manchester won? I was thinking, while watching the few minutes of the match that I did, that I'm really really REALLY happy my hubby isn't a soccer fan. lol He used to play a lot when younger, but was never a huge fan of watching. I can watch a little bit but then get too bored. Unless my son is playing. That's an entirely different situation.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-27 08:24:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday!	Tamara, I hope it is easy and painless for you! Do you have plenty of ice cream and mushy foods ready at home?	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-27 06:21:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday!	Hi Maureen. That's cute about the lovebirds. Hubby and I made it to the ministry of justice and so now we are "officially" married. Yay! There was a couple with us in the room at first, and they were at the end of the process there, and I felt so happy for them. I almost felt sad that this wasn't our first time getting married. That first time is so special, and watching this other couple just made me miss that feeling. In any case, we brought our papers from our first marriage and so they took the date of those papers as our legal marriage date, so we don't have to have two marriage dates. lol That means we'll be married 2 years as of October. Where is everyone today? No insomniacs? lol Edited by Melly 2, 27 May 2009 - 05:58 AM.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-27 05:57:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday!	Good morning MENA. Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week, yippy!!!! I hope everyone is doing well. Amanda your interview is coming so quick, it will be here before you know it! And Amy I hope little Malek is continuing to mend and do well. Hubby and I will attempt to get "married" today. lol We were Islamically married when I came here last, but because of that thing with Cairo not letting people get married, we were not able to do the marriage at the ministry of justice. And hubby was going to file our marriage papers that we did with the court but..... *ahem*... Anyways, this whole process is just taking forever so I just want to finish it up and get it over with. And I've been blessed with only a very few mosquito bites the last few days, alhamdulillah!! Alright, Nawal, here you go, Wednesday is all ready and waiting for you.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-27 02:04:00
Middle East and North Africa	Thursday	Sandrila changed her name to Godzilla? lol?	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-28 11:54:00
Middle East and North Africa	Thursday	Hello MENA, happy Thursday. How are you feeling today Tamara? I hope you're recovering nicely. Lazy here today. Not much different than most days. Hope everyone passes the day quickly. Friday will be here before ya know it!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-28 08:42:00
Middle East and North Africa	Caturday in Cario	Hello MENA, happy caturday! Happy birthday to Josh! I hope you are feeling better now Jess. Olivia, I'm sorry to read that you are having trouble here. It's so hard to be sick when you are away from home, wherever it may be. I hope you will feel better soon. Hubby left for Kuwait this morning on a business trip for around ten days. I am with the in-laws and I know they care about me, but I just feel alone here in a foreign country. Insha'Allah these days will pass fast. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and time off. Nawal, I hope your party is awesome. Do they have a smileys anonymous group? lol Sometimes I think I use them too much.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-05-30 12:14:00
Middle East and North Africa	TUESDAY in MENA!!	Hey Nagi, I'll trade you your chilly and rainy for my hot and humid It's only 95 today which isn't so bad but I'm not sure how high the humidity is. Whatever it is it's too much. Of course... I forgot to change out of my long sleeves and socks until about 2 this afternoon. I have to sleep with them on or risk the pesky mosquitoes. Though they seem to bite through my socks well enough during the evening. I got a couple bites on my poor little toes last night. Okay, sorry, enough whining for me. At least for today. Amanda, just wait til the night before the interview!!!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-02 08:11:00
Middle East and North Africa	TUESDAY in MENA!!	Hello MENA and happy Tuesday I finished reading The Hobbit in two days and am now onto the Lord of the Rings. Enjoyable but I'm still totally bored out of my mind right now. lol Day 4 of hubby gone. I guess if I was in my own home I wouldn't be so antsy. Tasha and Sandrila I send you out best wishes and hope that Allah will make things easy for you. I got a text from Olivia last night. Seems she was at the bus station with her hubby and they were going to leave for Hurghada. I hope she made it safely and will finally start to feel better!! Nawal, glad to hear the party went well. Looking forward to seeing your pictures. Amanda, less than two weeks, hurrah!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful day today.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-02 07:32:00
Middle East and North Africa	It's Monday	Tasha, I'm really sorry to hear that things are not going too well. If my hubby suggested going away for two months I'd be beside myself. Makes me feel bad for complaining that mine is gone for just ten days. Feel free to pm me if you ever want to talk. I'm usually on when everyone else is asleep because of the time difference. Sandrila, my hubby went to Kuwait on business for about ten days. I'm staying with the in-laws, who are great, but it's still a bit awkward. Jackie, good to see you posting. How are you doing? Anyone hear how Nawal's party went?	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-01 09:00:00
Middle East and North Africa	It's Monday	Good morning Maureen. Hope your day goes by quickly for ya! I'm on day 3 of hubby being gone. It's not going fast enough and I am still Insha'Allah his trip will go well and he will be back to me soon. Found this video and had to share. Not sure if it's been posted before or what but it totally made me laugh out loud. Sound totally necessary for this one. funny video I'd put the video on the page but I don't know how. Happy Monday everyone, enjoy your day!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-01 05:42:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday in MENA	Hey Olivia, glad to see that you made it to Hurghada okay. I was wondering about you this morning and hoping everything was okay. Sorry your medicine sucks, insha'Allah it will help make you all better. We may get to Hurghada at some point, though I'm not sure I want to visit the city so much as I'd like to go to the sea. But... ya know... away from the half dressed European women there. lol Anyways, I really hope things start to turn around for you! Happy Wednesday MENA!! It's a hot one here in Cairo. At least 100 degrees. Thank God for wind. Looking forward to Obama's speech tomorrow, though I'm sure the inconvenience is irritating quite a few people. lol Traffic routes have been changed and many things are changed around for the visit.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-03 07:48:00
Middle East and North Africa	Friday!	Happy Friday everyone, a little bit late. Actually, it's technically Saturday for me. lol But I have some encouraging news. I finally killed my first mosquito!!!! I usually bat them away but this one was in the bedroom and I really didn't want to sleep with him and my vampire hunter is still out of the country on business. lol Too bad I used a white shirt to do it. Hope everyone has some nice plans for the weekend.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-05 18:15:00
Middle East and North Africa	Thurday In MENA	Hello ladies, happy Thursday. Another day of 100 or so weather here in Cairo. Same as JeanneVictoria I guess. I know I should be thankful we at least have fans, but it's still darn hot. Amanda, maybe a little less coffee will make you a little less jittery and antsy. At this rate your nerves will be shot by the time the interview is here. lol Deep breaths!! Tasha, still thinking of you. Big hugs to you. May Allah ease things for you in all your affairs. I have been busy feeling sorry for myself and angry at hubby. Maybe we should get together and make a sort of a handbook to help our hubbies understand us better? lol Hubby is wonderful but sometimes I guess I'm too emotional compared to what he is used to. Though I'm not sure how that's possible if you hear the men talk about Egyptian women. My mother in law is totally trying to fatten me up. I guess it is working as my hips are getting bigger. I swear everything is either fried or baked with 5 gallons of oil. Alright, I hope everyone passes a wonderful day and is ready for Friday and the weekend!!!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-04 11:28:00
Middle East and North Africa	Sunday	Jumping the gun a bit for the Sunday thread yeah? Happy Sunday MENA. I'm not usually up so early (9:05 a.m.) after staying up so late, but I woke and couldn't get back to sleep. Talked with hubby last night. He wants to make the move to Kuwait but it won't be for at least a month or two (or maybe more), in which time we will continue to stay at the in-laws, with no a/c, no screens on the windows. During the hottest months of summer. Honestly I was too depressed thinking about it and didn't say anything to him about it last night when we were chatting online, but I'm sure he knows I'm not happy about it. This was not even remotely in our plans when we were talking about my move here. I am just hoping that we will have a/c by Ramadan, otherwise I can't imagine.... Tasha, how are you? Haven't seen you around much and worrying about you. *hugs* Nawal, your babies are too cute. All the MENA babies are. It's really nice that everyone shares the pictures and stories. Amanda, it's coming up quick now!! As many of the women mentioned, some of us had very long separations on this "journey" and I would venture to say that almost all of us have felt almost exactly like you are feeling now. The stress gets to be too much, things are strained, you feel like you can't take it anymore. And yet, you get through it, day by day, because what else can you do? My hubby and I were apart for about a year and a half after we got married, and if I hadn't recently made the move to Cairo, it would have probably been even longer until I saw him. Hang in there, you will get through this, just like everyone, even though it's very painful at times. JeanneVictoria, I miss your pictures, they were always cute. I'm sure everyone else misses them too. For everyone in hot places (like me ) stay cool!! I was joking with my sister in law yesterday and saying we need to put a pool in on the balcony. Hope everyone enjoys their Sunday. One more day to relax/rest/do whatever before that dratted Monday rolls around. Anyone hear from Olivia? I keep forgetting to check FB for her status. Edited by Melly 2, 07 June 2009 - 01:18 AM.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-07 01:16:00
Middle East and North Africa	It's officially Tuesday	Bitay is some kind of pastry. I don't think that's how it's spelled, but that's how my hubby and in-laws pronounce it. Kind of like a croissant but not really. And I like the ones with chocolate inside. They like the cheese ones but I think they're gross - too salty. lol	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-09 15:32:00
Middle East and North Africa	It's officially Tuesday	Happy Tuesday MENA!! Hey Maggie, good to see you! Are you going to be able to work while watching the three kids??? It's really great of you to take them. I can't imagine handling that! I hope you all have a wonderful time at your meet up! Hubby's trip was extended and instead of coming home today he will be home Thursday or Friday. I don't mind so much, the days here pass one much like another, but two weeks is more than enough for him to be gone and I do miss him. However, I have chocolate bitay waiting for me on the dining room table, so at least I'll have a good breakfast. Jackie, how long is the visa good for? I thought they only lasted 6 months before expiring? And I thought he was going to be able to come in June??? I'm so happy he got the visa but I wish he could come home to you sooner. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-09 02:34:00
Middle East and North Africa	Is MONDAY canceled??	QUOTE (jessNgeorges @ Jun 8 2009, 05:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Blahhh one big draw back of living in Saudi....there is no cold tap water in the summer! its impossible to take a shower after 7am or before 7pm. Joys. Hubby said something about leaving the water heater off during the summer or the water would be too boiling to use at all. Not sure how it works there in KSA. Maybe it's the same? But, I don't know if it gets cold or not. I know right now I can't get any cold tap water out of the bathroom sink. I keep hoping, staring at the faucet like maybe if I wait long enough it will just get cold. Still, when it's hot and humid, even the water I can get feels nice on the arms and face to cool down a tiny bit.	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-08 10:17:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday	Boy, that will work you up an appetite first thing in the morning yeah?	Melly 2	Female	Egypt	2009-06-10 09:38:00