Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Middle East and North Africa	MORNING MENA - ITS TUESDAY	I'm just hanging out......wanna hear from Tamara about her flight! I hope she is safe and sound. How is everybody? Well, a better question......WHERE is everybody? Jackie - do you like other types of music in Spanish besides Marco Antonio? I know of some songs that made me think about you by Diana Reyes. (She sings the duranguense type of music.) Have you heard of her? Take care everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-28 10:09:00
Middle East and North Africa	Is this the Wednesday thread?	I just finished braiding one of Mon's cousins' hair. Her hair is so pretty! We are not doing much today. I think we will go out in the evening to visit some of the family ( which is always fun because they have twins, and Mon's brothers are twins - it's cute seeing double the children! ) . What is everybody else doing on Wen-uh-sday??? Yassmine, mabrouk on starting a daily thread!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-29 09:42:00
Middle East and North Africa	SLEEPY SUNDAY	Wow! It really is a lazy Sunday. Nobody's posting. Jackie, your granddaughter sounds so cute. Don't you just love it when they pick up on every little detail? My niece told me that for her 5th birthday she just wanted to "take it easy and relax around the house". hehehehee doodle: sorry if those pics are misleading. I couldn't stay connected long enough to edit that post. Those are pics of the North Coast only. I bought the camera the night before we left Alex, so I didn't get a lot of good pics from there. But, here are a few:	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-19 16:10:00
Middle East and North Africa	SLEEPY SUNDAY	Happy Sunday MENA! A few pics from Alex and North Coast-	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-19 12:00:00
Middle East and North Africa	i miss.....................	I miss sitting on my front porch watching the kids play. I miss fresh cucumbers and habanero peppers from my mom's garden. I miss brewed coffee. I miss driving. I miss dancing in the car with my friends. I miss shopping by myself, taking my time, and not buying anything in the end. I miss chili burgers. I miss my independence.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-29 09:04:00
Middle East and North Africa	Im Going 2 Egypt!	TODAY IS THE DAY!!!! TAMARA IS LEAVING TO SEE HER HUSBAND!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-27 07:28:00
Middle East and North Africa	Im Going 2 Egypt!	only 2 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-25 12:48:00
Middle East and North Africa	Im Going 2 Egypt!	QUOTE (amrssnowangel @ Aug 3 2007, 06:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> WOW i leave the 28th for Egypt to for 2 weeks....wow...you did get a great deal. Enjoy and have fun. It looks like snowangel is leaving the day after Tamara! I hope both of you enjoy your visits!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-24 15:52:00
Middle East and North Africa	Im Going 2 Egypt!	Just wanted to bump this thread to countdown for Tamara her reunion with her husband! It has been more than a year, but she will leave for Egypt in 3 days!!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-24 15:49:00
Middle East and North Africa	Im Going 2 Egypt!	Party for TAM!! I am so happy for you.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-02 22:49:00
Middle East and North Africa	Amr & Jan time for the happy dance ....congrats on the visa	Congratulations. Time to dance.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-01 08:56:00
Middle East and North Africa	Egyptians	My answer was no. He had his fingerprints taken at the police station for the police record, but he didn't have them taken at the embassy. (I hope I answered the question right) And, his case is still in Cairo. (But we did DCF, so that might make a difference.)	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-01 18:37:00
Middle East and North Africa	Sunday???	Doodle: I used Orabase by Colgate, too. (I had to look it up cause I couldn't remember the name of it) It worked really nicely. Sorry for the multiple posts! Slow connection = can't edit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-02 11:45:00
Middle East and North Africa	Sunday???	QUOTE (Aymerlu @ Sep 2 2007, 07:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (doodlebug @ Sep 2 2007, 10:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mornin. Woke up with canker sores in my mouth. Whaddup with that?? I'm trying to think what I had to eat....steak and cheese sub for dinner and mocha chip ice cream for dessert.............nothing unusually tart that would cause this. UGH. There's two...one on each side of my mouth. oh well. Just cleaning and food shopping today and listening to my kids fight nonstop. Whoo hoo. Doodle. Get some Lysine. It's awesome for canker sores. Gets rid of them pretty fast! Lysine works really good!! My orthodontist gave it to me for canker sores caused by the braces.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-02 11:34:00
Middle East and North Africa	Sunday???	For Jackie!! Have fun at the concert. Happy Sunday everybody!!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-02 11:29:00
Middle East and North Africa	Learning Arabic	QUOTE (tammy sue kay @ Aug 26 2007, 04:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> http://beforeyouknowit.com/ You can download this site for free. Comes with "flash cards" and little tests to do online. LOL I thought it was fun to do in my spare time, tho my kids kept asking me what I was trying to do. They have a ton of languages you can choose from. What I would be interested to know is what dialect of Arabic the Jordanians use. That would be helpful to know when learning Arabic since every country has their own dialect, right? Also, I bought the book, Arabic for Dummies, which was helpful to some degree, also Nogomi's music website, you can listen to the songs and read the words as you go along, makes it easier to understand the sounds that are represented by numbers.....LOL But, to be honest....after all this time....I can still only say....bathroom, tea, bear, cheese, and thank you in ARABIC!!!! LOL Wow, Tammy! That site is great. I have already started testing myself. That's the way I like to learn. I like to have a gague of my progress. I also downloaded the Italian list. I think it's awesome! Thanks so much for posting it.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-26 12:11:00
Middle East and North Africa	Learning Arabic	QUOTE (sara535 @ Aug 25 2007, 06:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My son has been learning using this site: Madinah Arabic I like this site, Sara. The pronunciation is a little different from the Egyptian accent, but the lessons are thorough ( I think ) . Thanks for posting it.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-25 12:19:00
Middle East and North Africa	MENA sensitive poll regarding Do or Don't Tell	QUOTE (wife_of_mahmoud @ Aug 20 2007, 06:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Have y'all seen the Russian site that "exposes" the "Egyptian gigolos" ? It's pretty funny -- they name names, "case histories," the guys' places of employment, their "MOs," even photographs of the "suspects." Some of it's in English, but mostly in Russian. http://kunstkamera.net/index.php I think someone had posted that site before. I looked at it and thought it was kinda sad. But, I really couldn't understand the whole stories because I couldn't navigate around. Did anyone find any particularly interesting stories?	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-20 18:37:00
Middle East and North Africa	MENA sensitive poll regarding Do or Don't Tell	I answered yes to the first two questions and although I was debating on answering no to the third, I chose yes. It would be hard for me to make up my mind to tell or not. I think that if it was a good friend of mine, I would be scared to put our relationship in jeopardy. Most of those scenarios result in the guy smooth talking his way out of trouble or convincing the girl that her so-called friends are just jealous and/or making up lies to tear them apart. I would feel disappointed if I told someone the truth and they didn't accept it. Also, it is possible she would forgive him even for being a "cyber troll". That would be completely up to her. But, I would have the feeling that their continued relationship would probably be lacking in trust, and I would feel partly responsible. Is it better to live in the dark? It depends on the girl's boundaries and her deal breakers. If cheating and lying are high on her list of things that she will not tolerate, she would probably want to know. I would want to know.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-20 02:09:00
Middle East and North Africa	For most of us Americans in South America and The Iraq	Jeez, that map was hard. I knew almost all of the locations, but turning the states in the shape they were supposed to be in was hard!!! Anyway, my time was 15 minutes!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It said, What country are you from?! Thanks, amal. That was fun.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-03 19:38:00
Middle East and North Africa	Marrying a Muslim	There you go DSticks. I didn't really have anything to contribute about the Muslim husband stereotypes, but I did get a lot of comments from my best friend who was worried that I was travelling to Egypt. She didn't say anything really dumb or racist, but she is a sensationalist. She would use the most creative and outrageous scenarios to try and talk me out of coming here. In retrospect, she wasn't that far off from the security guidelines posted by the US embassy in Cairo. They know that there are dangers, and try to make you aware of them. She was my own little government employee concerned about my personal safety! How sweet.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-04 17:12:00
Middle East and North Africa	Marrying a Muslim	another kind of stereotype: he can have up to 4 wives. how do you know hes not already married? he will come to usa to work and send money to his other wives and children. he will find a new wife when he gets to america and he wont consider it cheating he will cheat on you and then if you find out about it, he will marry her Personally, I think any of these would be the worst situation to be in if it actually happened. But, its just a stereotype. Many men don't even consider additional marriages.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-05-01 01:05:00
Middle East and North Africa	3 Upcoming Interviews in CASA on 9/6/07	WOW! Good luck to the 3 of you. Here's another good luck bear (internationally known as Teddy, the tattered old bear)!!! Edited by monnik, 04 September 2007 - 04:43 PM.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-04 16:41:00
Middle East and North Africa	contacting your senator or rep for help, was it helpful ? pros/cons	Thanks for the article (in the other thread, I think) , doodle. Mr. Hermann looks like the same guy who is the congressional liason. Here is a copy of the mail from my senator's office: Good Morning, Nicky! Our office received a reply from the embassy over the weekend concerning your husband’s immigrant visa case. Below is a copy of the text from Richard Hermann, Consul General of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. As you will note, the embassy will contact your husband once the administrative processing is complete. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions! Cairo, Egypt September 3, 2007 The Honorable Bob Inglis United States House of Representative 105 North Spring Street, Ste 111 Greenville, SC 29601 Dear Congressman Inglis: I am writing in reference to your e-mail message dated August 23, 2007, concerning the immigrant visa case of Mr. Mina xxxxxxxx, the husband of your constituent, Ms. Nicky xxxxx, case number CROxxxxxx. We acknowledge receipt of the required documents ****(THIS IS WHERE THEY SAID THEY RECEIVED OUR COSPONSOR PAPERS! ) ******. The case of Mr.xxx is currently undergoing required administrative processing. The time needed to review individual cases is difficult to predict. As soon as the processing is complete, we will contact Mr. xxx to notify him of the next step in his case. I hope this information is helpful to you in responding to your constituent’s inquiry. If I can be of further assistance in this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. For the most expeditious answer, please contact us by e-mail at X. Sincerely, Richard C.Hermann Consul General Edited by monnik, 05 September 2007 - 05:43 PM.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-05 17:42:00
Middle East and North Africa	contacting your senator or rep for help, was it helpful ? pros/cons	Another email today from their office!! I think she has a crush on me. Nicky, Just wanted to let you know that I was able to send a letter of congressional inquiry to the embassy in Cairo this morning. I will email you again once we receive a reply.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-27 09:35:00
Middle East and North Africa	contacting your senator or rep for help, was it helpful ? pros/cons	I got a reply from the senator's office today! She said she will be happy to help us, and hopes to get some kind of an answer from Cairo by the end of this week!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-27 07:35:00
Middle East and North Africa	contacting your senator or rep for help, was it helpful ? pros/cons	We contacted my senator's office on May 27th of this year. We were waiting for an interview to be scheduled and we had been waiting since February. The senator's aide wrote me back on June 4th to tell me that Mon's interview was scheduled for June 14th. I don't know how much she helped, but I have already contacted her to check on our case now that we are in AP. Even if we haven't passed the standard waiting time, I wanted to update her because she has helped us before. I HOOOOOOOOOPE that it helps - even if it's just a little bit!!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-25 13:22:00
Middle East and North Africa	Looking for work... Driving me crazy!!!!!!!	WHILE I'M TRYING TO READ ALL THIS, IS THERE A WAY TO SEE ALL THE REPLIES SCROLLING DOWN RATHER THAN HAVING TO PULL THEM UP ONE AT A TIME???? Just call me technologically impaired.....Debbie Go to the top right of the page in an open thread and choose options. Then choose standard view. Here is a pic to help. Edited by monnik, 31 July 2007 - 08:40 PM.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-07-31 20:39:00
Middle East and North Africa	Looking for work... Driving me crazy!!!!!!!	how can I get a business loan? I dont know.. go ask them... No you ask them You may already know this, but here is a link about business loans . Most banks want financial projections, outlines, graphs, etc. in order to prove that the business will be profitable and their investment will be safe. You also have to invest a sizeable amount of your own money to start a business. It might calm him down to sit with him and say : This is what is need in order to get a business loan and we need to break it down step-by-step so that we can eventually apply for one. Take all of the requirements and break them down into baby steps. SS# being the first thing, establishing credit, then building credit.......very small things that take months at a time to accomplish. But, make small goals for him and each time he sees hisself acheive one thing, you can move on to the next with more enthusiasm. Also, if your credit is bad, he can establish his own credit and it won't be linked to yours just because you are married. Here are some links about credit. establishing credit 7 steps to stellar credit marriage and credit score	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-07-24 16:17:00
Middle East and North Africa	The Pyramids	Some pictures for you Jeanne, since you love the pyramids. We took them a week or two ago.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-08 12:04:00
Middle East and North Africa	Touches... where?	I can't use that site to check on the touches. It won't accept my case #. It asks for a receipt number (which we do not have). Does anybody know how to get your receipt number from USCIS? Once, when I called USCIS, they checked on our case for me just using the case # that we were issued in Cairo. She said there was a receipt number in her system, but she wouldn't give it to me. Anybody know what that means??	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-10 10:54:00
Middle East and North Africa	Cairo Embassy Visa Waitees	How far into the AP process did everyone contact their senators? Or can someone direct me to another thread about that?? I searched for the word senator, but that gave me tons of threads.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-25 12:54:00
Middle East and North Africa	Cairo Embassy Visa Waitees	Looks like a different robot is writing your replies. Here is an exact copy of our email reply from the other day. I'm sure it will look familiar. I haven't heard about anybody else getting a visa this month. But, it looks like a couple of people are in the final stages of their reviews! Dear Sir: Thank you for your e-mail message. The case is pending administrative processing. We will contact you once that has been completed. Regards, Consular staff ni ( i wonder if ni are the writer's initials? maybe that could be an insight as to who we could contact at the embassy )	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-23 18:03:00
Middle East and North Africa	Getting ready for Ramadan...	QUOTE (moody @ Sep 7 2007, 07:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm looking for an authentic Egyptian kahk recipe. I would love a recipe that someone has actually made and knows how it turns out. My MIL has given my husband directions on how to make it but the measurements are weird and as you all know baking is a science unlike regular cooking. I would so appreciate a recipe for this traditional Eid cookie. Thanks in advance! ETA...check out this website for some very authentic Egyptian recipes (no kahk recipe though ) Has a recipe for ghraibah, also very traditional for Eid but Moh doesn't like ghraibah....of course. http://members.cox.n...a/Recipnew.html Thanks moody for this site! It has a lot of good recipes and I enjoyed reading through them with my husband planning what kind of foods I would be able to make for him in the US. He was pleased with knowing that he will be able to eat some of his favorites!!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-11 03:01:00
Middle East and North Africa	hump day	QUOTE (Donna A @ Sep 12 2007, 07:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> do i dare ask what that camel is humping under that blanket? I imagined that the camel was dancing to "My Humps".	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-12 12:29:00
Middle East and North Africa	hump day	You asked for it doodle! Like your pic, btw.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-12 10:50:00
Middle East and North Africa	hello everyone	QUOTE (Caladan @ Sep 12 2007, 04:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> She's doing exactly the right thing by herself and her kids by leaving for now. The house is hers; it isn't going anywhere. She can start that legal process whenever she wants. But she needed to get out. And her kids needed to be out of that environment. dee, you are demonstrating amazing courage and fortitude, and you are being a good mother by protecting them. I agree! And, I think that most of us here have the same view Dee, even if you can't see it for yourself. You may feel like you are drowning in problems, but from where I am standing I can see that you made the right choices until now. When the dust settles, your kids are not gonna remember how many times they were late for school or that they wore the same clothes for 3 days in a row. What they will remember is your face. Just keep smiling at your boys and let them see that they are a source of happiness, strength, and inspiration. Standing for what you believe in , regardless of the odds against you and the pressures that tear at your resistance, that means ..............................COURAGE.	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-12 10:06:00
Middle East and North Africa	hello everyone	QUOTE (deemabrouk @ Sep 11 2007, 07:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> do I know you??? i dont know about bravery.. and i feel like a HUGE F up.. not a good mom QUOTE (Lost in NY @ Sep 10 2007, 10:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (deemabrouk @ Sep 10 2007, 02:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Prince of Egypt @ Sep 10 2007, 03:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> if you don't mind my asking, what happened? hahaa.. you dont wanna know You are in my thoughts and prayers Dee - keep up the fight. I admire your bravery and wish you a quick resolution to this horrible situation. Your children are so lucky to have such a wonderful mother. Blessings, D. Wow, Dee! I know it's hard to see the forest for the trees, but you really do have a lot of admirable qualities. And, your boys (although they might have had a stressful time for a couple of weeks) will be so much better off after it's all settled. Some mothers never break away and have to make the best with the situation they are stuck in. You are so lucky to not be cornered into that option. I am grateful for you that you have dug your heels in and set an example for many mothers around the globe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-11 13:21:00
Middle East and North Africa	hello everyone	QUOTE (deemabrouk @ Aug 21 2007, 06:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (doodlebug @ Aug 21 2007, 11:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> don't feel awkward!!! (did I spell that right? ) We need your sense of humor in here!!! I actually have a sense of humor??? now I feel like eeyore...... It feels like home to see your posts here. And, hey! Eeyore was my favorite Pooh character. He is actually pretty funny!	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-08-21 10:41:00
Middle East and North Africa	AP	QUOTE (Prince of Egypt @ Sep 10 2007, 09:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Wow, were you already approved and you are just waiting for the visa stamp? That is crazy what do they say when you write them? You should talk to your congress man. Well, that scenario (along with many other ridiculous ones) occurs repeatedly in Cairo!!!! Welcome to the Egypt AP black hole, Prince.....	monnik	Not Telling	Egypt	2007-09-10 14:25:00