Snowy December in Cairo

first snow in 112 years

Merry Christmas from chilly Cairo!  Egypt was in the news again last week … but this time not for another revolution!  Outlying suburbs of Cairo received snow (for the first time in 112 years).  We saw three days of rain, and not the usually get the streets kind of wet a few times each year, but actually steady soaking rain.  What makes it really fun is the complete lack of any sewers or storm drains.  We wait for the standing water to evaporate and watch new batches of mosquitoes hatch!  A week later there is still mud along the edges of the street since the high temperatures have been in the upper 50s and lower 60s F (15-17º C), and lows have been in the lower to mid 40s (6-7º C).  So power outages have started back up as people run their heaters non-stop.  For the first time in anyone’s memory, we could not have church under our tent canopy last Friday night (December 13) due to standing water.  Instead we had to cram in a room inside with people standing in the entryway—don’t tell the fire marshal (not that Egypt has any of those)!

            So what has happened since early autumn?  Waiting!  First we waited for the state of emergency with its Friday curfew at 7 pm to lift (other days had a midnight curfew).  This forced us to meet at 8:30 am on Friday mornings until mid November when the curfew ended.  Now we are back to our 5 pm time and people are happier and less sleepy.  The streets have become noticeably calmer since summer.

a few protests still continue

There are fewer protests as the military backed government has marginalized the opposition.  Most Egyptians are quite happy with the return to better security and are not crying out about some loss of freedom of speech.  The streets also are seeing fewer crimes like purse-snatchings and robbery.  Now we wait for the elections that will start in January with a referendum on yet another new constitution.  There will be a parliamentary election in Spring, then the presidential election in June.  We hope for a government that will represent all of Egypt and not make a power grab to take care of only their followers.

Karan at Red Sea in El Gouna

            The numbers of expats is still definitely much smaller even though the US embassy has sent many people back.  Karan’s school still has a significantly lower attendance, as well as church.  The budget and staff reductions continue, but Karan still has a job next year as far as we know.  However, it has made for a fairly low morale.  People are still reluctant to come to live or even visit until they feel things have settled.  So this is yet another year of transition!  We work to relieve the underlying stress by getting away, but we are both feeling really tired and worn out.  In October we went to the Red Sea for 6 days for a warm and wonderful time away.  In early January, we are planning to go to Switzerland with Alex (the only son coming for Christmas).  We will mostly go cross-country skiing, and are not sure what Alex will do aside from a few days of snow-boarding (provided they get snow between now and then!).  Maybe he will learn to like cross-country skiing!?

             

Nelson Mandela

Our church had the privilege to host a memorial service for Nelson Mandela on December 10.  It was attended by many ambassadors and some who worked personally with Nelson Mandela in his early years.  It was fascinating and enlightening to hear their stories!  His life was transformed in prison and when he emerged 27 years later, he used the principles of forgiveness and "love your enemies" that Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount.  He became a man who helped transform a deeply divided country, a continent, and a world.  Many of us talk about living these principles of blessing and praying for those who persecute us, but few of us actually live it out!  I was inspired and humbled by the memorial service! 

            Travis has moved to Yakima with a job promotion into assistant manager for Verizon.  He is liking his new job and feels he is doing quite well in it.  He misses his friends in Spokane and has felt fairly alone in a new city living by himself.

snow in outlying Cairo suburb

Brett has been job searching all Fall without success until last week.  He will be working for the Museum of Flight in Seattle starting in early January.  He was in a major car accident when a woman made an unprotected left turn into his left front fender/bumper.  It totaled the 1996 Honda he had just bought a few weeks earlier (and had just put in $1300 of repairs), plus he broke his right big toe.  So he had his first ambulance ride and visit to an emergency room.  We believe the hand of God was in it since this Honda had air bags that deployed to shield him from more serious injury (there was lots of broken glass).  Had he been in our 1990 Camry that he had only a few weeks earlier, he would not have been protected by air bags!  Since he had only liability insurance and the other insurance isn’t interested in helping him because the other driver is claiming she had an arrow, he has had to hire a personal injury lawyer.  She was issued a ticket, but says she will fight it because she has witnesses.  Brett really needs a favorable settlement since this has cost him $4000 so far, plus not being able to start his job until after his toe hopefully “sets.”  There is still the possibility of surgery if the bone does not form together.

           

muddy street in Cairo--yuck!

Alex has finished his challenging semester at Gonzaga University in pre-business classes like accounting, statistics, business law, and economics, all while working 20 hours per week.  He arrives here Sunday night, December 21 to see all his Egyptian friends.

            We would love to hear from you!  Remember Karan is on Facebook at “karan wooley flora” and Steve is on Twitter at “srflora”.  Have a worship filled Christmas!

Steve and Karan