Wow...I knew I was feeling sad about Ramadan leaving before it left, but now that it and Eid are behind us...the blues have hit full force! *sighs*
We arrived in Egypt just a couple of weeks before Ramadan started. So, those first days were spent in getting caught up on sleep, getting sick and getting rid of our colds, familiarizing ourselves with the apartment and the neighborhood, etc.
Ramadan's arrival finally put us into a routine. It was a happy routine. I liked it. It promoted togetherness and bonding. It was also nice because during that time my husband didn't work and he got to spend a lot of time talking and catching up on family news with his mother. I think she liked that too. *wink*
With the passing of Ramadan came new schedules. Ugg. My husband has returned to work. We're floating back into our old routine of eating sporadically and working long hours. The adjustments have become obvious and there were even moments over the past few days when I felt I might not ever sleep.
It seems that the area where we live is awake 24-7 and noises of various kinds can be heard constantly.
Last night at 3 AM I gathered from the shouting that a nearby father and daughter were having a disagreement.
Night before that a baby cried non-stop for at least an hour-and-a-half; I could only imagine its little eyes swollen shut from crying so hard and long...if its mother was asleep, I want whatever it was that she took before she went to bed!
Then there is the equally sleepless toddler living in the apartment above us who runs back and forth across its entire length non-stop. Thank goodness that little tyke doesn't have a twin...or does he???
Let me also tell you how many times a day my ears witness a car accident, or wildly screeching tires from out on the beach highway just a few blocks from where our apartment building sits; I cringe every time waiting for the sound of an impact.
Car horn honking. If I ever thought the amount of horn honking was bad in KSA, let me tell you something. Here the language of horn honking is spoken almost more than Arabic!! Unbelievable the amount of it!!! My favorite form of noise pollution comes from the neighbor that clears his throat 5,000 times a day. I'm not kidding folks. Like the sound of someone gagging and almost throwing up that much makes me wonder what is left of the inside of his esophagus! Brother, p-l-e-a-s-e!!! Get help! So, during this time of re-adjustment I have basically fallen asleep once my brain and body get flat worn out. One day I sleep about 2 hours and the next day I sleep 10-12. *lol* Yea, nuts, eh? The only salvation I can find in getting to sleep is to have a fan running nearby. It generates what is called "white noise" which blocks everything else out of my head. Even the clock that chimes every hour-and-half hour from the living room! Al-hamdulillah! Then, of course, I have had to re-adjust to the amount of time my dh has to spend with me since his return to work. Yes, I'll have to admit I had become spoiled. I think mom had, too. Mom is also used to eating the larger meal of the day around 3:00 PM while dh and I don't usually eat until around 6:30 PM. I jokingly said to dh today, "I'll sit with you to eat one day, and then sit with mom to eat the next, etc." That eliminates either of them being the one that eats alone all the time. Am I diplomatic or what? *lol* It's turning out that mom and dh are the early birds, so they have a few minutes together in the morning when they take their tea and maybe eat some bread and cheese; that's the time when I am usually asleep. Al-hamdulillah. But, so as to not leave you feeling too sorry for me *she says tongue-in-cheek*, today was better, overall. I whined to dh a little bit and he spent some time with me *lol* - and the three of us had tea in the living room this evening where we have now moved the TV for the winter months since the sitting area in mom's room is colder in the evenings now that winter is approaching. It really (gosh, what's another word for 'sucks'??) that it's now getting dark outside at 6:00 PM. Anyhow, the highlight the evening came after dh went to his computer. Mom and I were left to watch TV. She always insists I take the remote control so I can find an English channel (she is so sweet); there are three channels that I surf between. *Wahoo!* Tonight I settled on an old episode of "My Wife and Kids". It had Arabic subtitles so I think mom was following along somewhat. The episode was minus the "Mrs." as she was on 'real life' maternity leave. In the storyline dad was taking care of the kids while mom was away taking care of their grandmother who had become ill. So, just toward the end of the episode there was a 'flash-back' sequence where the father was rewinding history to tell his youngest daughter, "Of course I remember when you were born!" The audience is subsequently presented with a vision of dad sitting on a chair in the living room reading the newspaper. A seriously pregnant looking wife is laid up on the sofa with a book; looking extremely miserable. Suddenly mom sneezes hard and the camera instantaneously flashes back over to the dad who catches a small, naked doll-baby over the top of his newspaper as if his wife had just thrown him a football!!! You should have seen mom's face!!! Talk about a Kodak moment!! I don't think she had ever seen anything like that in her life!!! She laughed! And I laughed! And we sat there together laughing to the point of mom catching the length of the scarf she was wearing to cover her mouth so she wouldn't laugh out loud! And she 'sneezed' again and waved her arm, reenacting the scene, and laughed some more! *lol* Oh, my goodness! The scene was priceless!
So, there you have it. All's well that ends well *smile* to get through life all you have to do is bounce. Copyright © 2005, Aishah Schwartz Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on Internet sites and to publish in full text and subject title in not-for-profit publications. Contact author for all other rights, which are reserved.
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