Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Middle East and North Africa	Monday	SHUKIS, wiw !!! I just got off the phone with DOS. I spoke to Chris. He said that everything is finished on Washington's end & that as of now they are processing the last updated information in Cairo. Duh! I knew that. But, he said the case won't go back to Washington & that the final stages are taking place right now. Thanks again, wateriswide.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-17 12:05:00
Middle East and North Africa	Monday	I concur. Boo Monday. Yeah bridget, I just need boots for the winter to replace my slides and my tennis shoes from the summer. I don't know if I would get some that high, but these were some that I seen with the wide calf on them. My leg is too wide to fit into some skinny boots. I might have to get ankle boots if I can't find anything to suit me here. No word on our case yet. I sent the embassy an email a couple of days ago. We know how that goes. I also tried to call DOS today, but the wait was more than 15 min to talk to an operator, so I decided to try at another time. I'm not sure what they will tell me, but I decided to call later. Apparently, living here doesn't speed up the process, it just helps us personally to be together while we wait. Thanks for asking though !	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-17 11:50:00
Middle East and North Africa	Monday	Happy Monday everyone. I'm still chuckling to myself over the blacked-out word ! I said the dirty word in a restaurant once with my friend & her parents and I thought they were gonna slap me ! ) It is still so funny. It was like I said the F-word or something. They wanted to kill me. Anyway, I'm on vacation this week from work. We have a 5 day holiday for Eid. Happy Eid anyone who is celebrating it !!! I'm supposed to get some new glasses for my birthday this week & I want to go shopping for some winter boots. Here's a pic of a style I like:	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-17 11:17:00
Middle East and North Africa	Happy Birthday JeanneVictoria!	Your cake looks so great ! And, I love your sparkle candles. Happy birthday again, girl !!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-18 15:47:00
Middle East and North Africa	Happy Birthday JeanneVictoria!		monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-18 05:21:00
Middle East and North Africa	Tuesday	I see you, Sandy ! Christmas is Jan 7 for us as well. I get to celebrate my birthday this week, my Christmas next week, and then New Year's and Coptic Christmas in January. I just wish each day came with presents.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-18 16:09:00
Middle East and North Africa	Wednesday	Such a Q-T !!!!!!!!!!!!! Jackie, you are so lucky to have such a sweetheart for a granddaughter.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-20 03:24:00
Middle East and North Africa	Thursday	Happy Thursday everyone ! I woke up starving. I'm about to pounce on the kitchen & take care of my problem. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-20 03:16:00
Middle East and North Africa	Friday!	Awww ! Cheryl, that's too bad ! You can always visit with a Christian family if you are nostalgic for a Christmas tree. Or you can visit Christmas stores in Zamalek. I think there are some on the 26th July Street. There are also some areas in Ramses where they sell Christmas decorations and nativity scenes. But, you are right when you say it doesn't feel like Christmas here. It's not so commercialized, but I still hope you enjoy it. Download some Christmas songs or find one of those online stations that plays Christmas songs 24 hours per day. Rent or buy some Christmas movies from a vendor (they're only 10 pounds in some places), and curl up with some movies and some nescafe or hot cocoa!! Merry Christmas, everyone ! In Egypt & around the world ~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-21 06:56:00
Middle East and North Africa	Happy Caturday!	Oh no, sereia ! I'm so sorry about your kitty. I hope that he gets better very soon. Nail biting pic for Holly: Hi to everyone ! Bridg: Lobster casserole sounds fantastic. You know what I want to try ? Crab cakes. I've never had them, but that movie "Wedding Crashers" made me want to try them. Plus, I saw Emeril make some one time that looked delicious. Very cute kids Amerylu ! Yours & the nephews. It looks like everyone is just relaxing. Same here. Tomorrow we go back to work though. We've been on a 5 day vacation for Eid, and now it's time to go back. Plus, I think this week is pay week, so we can do our last bit of shopping before the Christmas Feast Jan 7th. Yesterday was my birthday & we went to Nasr City to a Cafe called Pietro. I don't know if anyone's ever been there, but it was nice. There was a really great menu with calamari and lots of great dinners and drinks. But, because of our fast, we just ordered some french fries ! And, I drank hot chocolate with creamer instead of milk. I got me some boots, but I didn't get some like the picture I had. I could only find half boots. They are not as fashionable, but they serve the same winter shoe purpose. I also found some new jeans. So, Happy birthday to me !!! Hope you guys have a great Saturday (and Caturday ) Night ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-22 17:35:00
Middle East and North Africa	Sunday Lazy Sunday	Sorry TamTam about your bodyaches !! It's so cold here right now. My little toes are frozen. Global warming just might bring snow to the pyramids pretty soon ! Happy lazy Sunday to everyone. I am reeeeeaally lazy. I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep because I couldn't get back on schedule from our mini-vacation. I've got that zombie-face stare: my mouth hangs slightly open and my eyes can't really focus on anything.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-23 11:53:00
Middle East and North Africa	Monday, Christmas Eve	Hey ! It's Christmas in Egypt, Sandy (if that's exciting for you). Merry Christmas everybody!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-24 17:12:00
Middle East and North Africa	Hi Everyone!	Hey Tammy ! It's so nice to see your post. I am so glad that you have been spending time with your husband & getting to know eachother more and more each day. Your advice sounds so sound and reasonable. You are learning a lot from him, I can tell. I think that it's great to take the time to get to know your husband as much as possible, too. I am so grateful and appreciative of the time that I have spent here with my husband and his family. I think our adjustment to eachother would have been about the same in either country, but I would have never been able to get the experience of knowing my in-laws this intimately in USA. My advice to anyone would be : take advantage of every opportunity to get to know them and spend time with your spouse and their family. Good luck Tammy on finishing your holidays with ease and have a Merry Christmas.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-23 11:39:00
Middle East and North Africa	Gonna book the flight to Maroc!!!!!	Congratulations, allousa ! I think the picture in Olivia's signature is so perfect to describe how I imagine your reunion with your husband. Much love & hugs for you & your son~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P.S.> Nice pic, Olivia !!!!! Edited by monnik, 21 December 2007 - 06:15 AM.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-21 06:13:00
Middle East and North Africa	Gonna book the flight to Maroc!!!!!	That's awesome news alli !!! I am so excited for you. I hope you have the best reunion ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-20 03:12:00
Middle East and North Africa	Has anyone been in this situation?	I know ! FINALLY !!!!!!!!!!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-01 15:40:00
Middle East and North Africa	Tuesday; Uh huh. Happy New Year Ppl!	Happy New Year, everyone ! Tamara's Adam got his visa today ! She posted it in the K-3 forum. click here I think the new year is going to be wonerful for everyone on VJ !	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-01 08:19:00
Middle East and North Africa	Friday!	That pic reminds me of a girl I used to work with. My nickname for her was : Toke-ahontas Edited by monnik, 16 November 2007 - 02:21 PM.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-11-16 14:19:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	QUOTE (sarah and hicham @ Oct 7 2007, 08:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (monnik @ Oct 4 2007, 09:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sarah! I don't know if that was good or bad, but it sounds like a bad reaction! It's a tough song for even some Egyptians to love. I felt like I was watching the Egyptian male spice girls (boys??)!!! I didn't expect that reaction. Most people react sourly to the song, not the video. Btw, what's wrong with the Spice Girls???	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-07 16:29:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	Hey amal! Yeah, both of those songs are from the same album. You got lucky with that. No problem, if you need any other songs, it's possible I may already have them. That goes for anyone. I have lots of Arabic video clips & songs if there's something you would like to add to your collection. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-06 14:33:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	Sarah! I don't know if that was good or bad, but it sounds like a bad reaction! It's a tough song for even some Egyptians to love.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-04 23:18:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	Thanks Wael & Jeanne for those songs! I think it's so cute that you guys are together, and you sign into your separate accounts to post! Sounds like something my husband & I would do. I don't wanna hijack this thread , but I could listen to music all day long! It is the best way for me to hear Arabic, recognize the words I am learning, and overall pass the time! Here are two more songs I love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Leih by Suzy	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-04 22:58:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	Sadly, it does happen in real life, but the guy is usually not that hot. And, the "skank" is usually ugly and underage (which would prohibit someone from kickin her butt without going to jail!). And, the couple usually stay together with little or no whoop azz going on. The video is pretty sad. And the song, too.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-04 11:33:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	Hey dip_sticks. I am not sure where the video cut off for you. I can't get it to play! But, I believe the video ends after they are riding in the car with the other couple, and he is looking at the girl in the mirror, they go home. And, Nancy locks herself in the bathroom and is crying or singing or whatever. Then, he is about to come in the bathroom with her and she cleans her face and goes out and they talk like nothing was wrong or they make up, I am not really sure. heheheee Or at least that's how I remember it. Maybe anyone else can add details.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-04 10:56:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	Well, he didn't do them. I think it was different artists. A lady was singing the Argentinian version.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-03 14:07:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	sparrow, do you want the English translation? Or, are you asking because you know the English version? I have heard the English one, the Italian, and the Spanish one. Would you like the translation or an English version? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-03 13:37:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	QUOTE (amal @ Oct 3 2007, 05:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> wallahi mahakallemha (sp) by hisham abbas is my #1 favorite but I can't find a vid for it ..or even a link to the audio my 2nd favorite is qalaty nafsak (also by hisham abbas) and also can not find a visual or sound..*sigh* but they're great!!! I found some links where people can listen to your songs!! Here is the first one: http://l7en.com/masri/hisham/ and here is a link to listen to the second song as a ringtone. it's only 20 seconds or so. http://mobile.gameco...lat-nafsak.html I couldn't find a video on youtube or any other site. Sorry! Here's a really great song "Enta Eih" that I like by Nancy: Edited by monnik, 03 October 2007 - 01:18 AM.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-03 01:16:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	QUOTE (jade2004 @ Oct 2 2007, 03:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> i like this topic....my favorite is 7ameed-al-sha3ery----roo7-al-samara and there is one by Nancy Arjam...not sure about the name (I call it "Licki Wawa...helli wawa")...hehe Haifa is the one that sings it. Here's the video!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-02 08:48:00
Middle East and North Africa	Whats your favorite Mena song?	I couldn't find a video for my new favorite song. It's Hobak 3alemni by Ehab Tawfiq. It was one of the first songs my husband sent me online. I started listening to it again this week and I still love it. Here is a link to download the song if anybody wants to listen to it: http://www.zshare.ne...39634244870e00/ There is a player at the bottom that lets you listen to the song or you can click on the link to download it to your computer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-10-01 21:23:00
Middle East and North Africa	verizon wireless and egypt	Hey, bridget. I used to have Verizon in the states. I used to just use Yahoo Messenger on my phone to send & receive messages so that I wouldn't get charged $0.25 for every international message. He also used to use verizonwireless.com to send me messages from their website. The catch is that he has to have access to the computer & he can't send them directly from his phone. But, both of those methods will just use your messages that are included in your plan. I used to have 500 messages per month, I think, and it was always enough. Good luck figuring out a plan.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-28 13:52:00
Middle East and North Africa	An Egyptian Bank Account	That sounds good, Olivia. I have done international transfers before (back and forth from Mexico while I was there) and they were pretty easy. It depends on what you're wanting to do with the account as to what will work for you guys. But, if he has an account here, you can wire transfer him the money from your account whenever he needs it or every 2 or 3 months (or something like that ). Also, with some banks you can order a second ATM/credit card and send it to him. Check with your banks also to see if he has to sign something in order for you to do it. Good luck !!! P.S. - Are you planning on sending $4000 ? That would be nice ! (Just kidding. Don't answer that personal question.)	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-06 05:26:00
Middle East and North Africa	Happy Monday	Happy Monday and Merry Egyptian Christmas to everyone. We had a fun night at the church and later at a cafe. We finally got to break our fast & I tasted CHEESE again ! I loved those fish videos and I'm still giggling about "hijo de la chingada". Is that another benefit to living in Texas, WOM ? Bilingual expletives !	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-07 12:25:00
Middle East and North Africa	Shisha smoking	QUOTE (OlivianWaleed @ Jan 12 2008, 11:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Anybody else have shisha smoking pix? I really enjoyed them in this thread. Me at the Khan El Khalili market... some old cafe I don't remember the name of. 2006	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-14 12:55:00
Middle East and North Africa	Shisha smoking	Well, not just smoking is accepted. I mean overall more things are accepted. Girls hanging out and laughing is a normal activity, but if they are in a shady neighborhood at a local cafe, then it makes their behavior look questionable. If they are at a high class cafe with a large minimum or high prices , then it's not even thought about. It is really weird. And I'm not saying it exists all over MENA. Just what I've seen in Egypt. Also, if you're a foreigner here you get a one-up on whatever everyone else is doing. If no girls are smoking sheesha or cigarettes in a place, then a foreigner might smoke sheesha but not cigarettes. If no girls are allowed to sit at a certain cafe, then maybe a foreigner could sit there. (I only say this because ONCE, just once, my husband took me to his local cafe. It was about 11am and no other customers were there. And we sat outside and played dominoes until his dad arrived to pick us up. He said I was probably the only girl to sit there, but that rules are broken for foreigners sometimes.) For example, the cafe that sparrow showed a picture of I have never seen girls smoking sheesha in there. Why ? I think it's because it's in the mall. It's in the middle of the community. Lots of people are walking by at all times and it's just not the upper end. It's medium classwise, I would say. I have smoked sheesha there once. (I don't smoke it really cause it gives me a head rush. But, if I wanted to, it would be accepted at that cafe because I'm a foreigner.) Anyway, back to topic. Smoking sheesha is terribly bad for you !! And I hate the fact that my husband still smokes it and he is very addicted to it. He gave up cigarettes in September after 5 or so years. So, I am hoping that when we get to the states (If that ever happens) that it will be easier for him to quit. He knows how horrible it is for his health. I think he's addicted to the sociability of it as much as the nicotine. If he gives up sheesha, he may have to give up his friends & hangouts. He will be leaving them behind anyway when we go to USA, so I think it might be a smoother transition to give up sheesha then. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-12 04:38:00
Middle East and North Africa	Shisha smoking	QUOTE (the sparrow @ Jan 10 2008, 03:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (bridget @ Jan 10 2008, 08:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I could never stand the thought of ALL those other mouths being on that thing. BLECH. I know they give a new peice to each person but still germs have to have slid down the mouth peice and somehow get to the next person. Plus they've all touched the hose, etc. YUK! We went to a cafe where there were a lot of men smoking shisha, but it was like the newer cafe that melly talked about. I saw western girls smoking but not Egyptian girls...though Egyptian girls were present and just hanging out. (Sorry for the blurry pic) See, the girl on the left in orange is, but the girl in the pink is just there. There's a monkey just to the right in the tree but it's asleep and draped over a branch or something. lol We were just there before Christmas, sparrow. I think that's the Afrikano Cafe. We usually sit outside though cause I will get a headache and/or head rush from all of the sheesha. You guys were right across the street from us. We walk to the mall all the time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-11 17:28:00
Middle East and North Africa	Shisha smoking	QUOTE (?JP? @ Jan 11 2008, 01:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In Jordan you will see lots of girls in cafes smoking argileh (shisha). They have several places and they have places that are exclusively for men and you won't see any women there at all. They also have what are called "family establishments" where women smoke argileh and upscale cafes and hotels. Its pretty common in Jordan which is a relatively conservative country. This is pretty much what I have observed in Egypt. There are lots of women & girls who smoke in cafes. I think the location plays more of a part than the gender. Some cafes are just hole in the wall places with all male clientele. It's considered trashy and disrespectful for women to go there (especially at night). Also, the large establishments have children, families, and even young (I would say 17 & up) customers. But, I have not seen a lot of women smoking cigarettes. It happens, but usually only in upper scale places. I think that's another example of location. The higher you go up in class of the place, the more is accepted. DEFINITELY no smoking cigarettes in the street ! A girl that I work with (American-born Egyptian) asked me to walk with her on our lunch break one day & she walked to a side street and started smoking a cigarette. I was so uncomfortable. I felt like everyone was looking at us (even though they weren't). It is just socially unusual for a woman to smoke cigarettes in public in Egypt.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2008-01-11 17:25:00
Middle East and North Africa	Home Visits in Cairo	Very true Bridget ! There's no telling why people go through AP faster or slower than others. Just be prepared for the long haul. When I signed up for VJ, I saw on the timelines that the average time for Cairo visas was about 300 days (or something like that). So, I automatically had it in my mind that it would be about a year. We just reached the year mark on Dec. 3rd (the day we filed the I-130 DCF) and so I am not freaking out yet. (That doesn't mean that my husband hasn't worried. He had a general idea that it would take 4-5 months MAX and so he hasn't been pleased with how everything has dragged along.) Just be patient and look to your friends (VJ and otherwise) to help you get through. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-21 06:26:00
Middle East and North Africa	Home Visits in Cairo	Our interview was in June, too. It seems that they are getting around to some of the cases that have been just sitting there. Good luck to everyone !!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-12-02 13:13:00
Middle East and North Africa	Home Visits in Cairo	Wow ! We must both live on his route. Speedy visas !!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-11-26 14:48:00
Middle East and North Africa	Home Visits in Cairo	You're one of the ones I keep my eye on, Becky..... hope that doesn't freak you out. HHEHEHEHEEE I try to keep a watch on the cases similar to mine. I think Wael & E&M are the only other cases that I look at frequently. I hope you have some movement soon !	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-11-26 13:59:00