What in blazes is going on?!

First the good news -- Hassan called me at 6:30 a.m. this morning (Cairo time) to tell me he got a mobile phone (ok cell phone) and he is in Maryland/DC. He starts work tonight with Stoney and will stay with Stoney for the first couple of days. Alhamdulillah.

Now for the rest of the story:

I don't know what is going on - maybe it's the alignment of the stars or something, but it has been absolutely hectic here and crazy for the past couple of weeks.

My friend, the princpal of the school where I work, was out grocery shopping one night and had her purse stolen at the grocery store. It had everything in it -- keys to her home, office, flash memory, money, credit cards, kolla hagga (everything) in it.

There are problems at school amongst students of the various grades and racial/ethnic backgrounds. (I really don't want to elaborate on this right now.)

Then Hassan left. A whirlwind all on its own.

Today I went to school, found out that someone who I thought was gone from the school has returned, and I have done my best to keep away from him. The principal was not in a good mood today and interrupted a friend's class, making him feel uncomfortable. I told him that she was distributing her frustrations equally today and not to take it personally.

Now, after the day is over, with Mira sleeping since 6:30 p.m., I get a call from Debbie. She took Karim and Jasmine down to Dokki Street (downtown Cairo) from Rehab, to get Jasmine's braces adjusted. While Debbie was en route to her home, her purse got stolen. The thief only got a 150 LE, but her passport, keys, credits, yes, once again, kolla hagga (everything) was in there. She called me from the police station and I tried to get her landlord on the phone to tell him to bring the extra key to Debbie's apartment, but the person that I spoke with didn't understand any English and my Arabic is really bad.

The great part about today is it's almost over. The not-so-great part is I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

Ma'salaam,

~Marian