I blew it

Okay, so my mind can't keep track of "Albania" vs. "Algeria". *sigh* Just ignore the earlier post about all that. I'm so ashamed of myself...

"Threat to the UK" (not from me)

I'm sure it's all over the news, but:

From the BBC, "A terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US has been disrupted."

I read CNN's piece and it's decent, but I'll stick with BBC since this is all happening in the UK.

Scooped!

*sigh*

I can't believe David posted about the big Egypt story in the U.S. news about 11 Egyptian students who skipped out on their student visas. I'm so ashamed!

But, I can give you the update that 3 of the students have been found, with 8 still at large. (I guess I'm posting this first b/c David's still asleep)

My comments on all this:

1) The list of names -- Judging from what I see, there's only 1 name on the list that could be Christian. All the other names are Muslim names. So, I'd be willing to bet that this group set off a big red flag from the beginning and people in the government had some level of awareness of the situation before they were contacted by the university. Then, when some of the guys didn't show up...well, we're seeing the result of that.

From the updated CNN article:

"Federal authorities began thoroughly tracking international students after learning that one of the 9/11 hijackers was in the country on an expired student visa."

2) I'm a bit confused by the text of the lookout bulletin that was issued:

"At the present time there are no known associations to any terrorist groups. Approach with caution."

--If there are no known connections to bad people, then why approach with caution? Shouldn't these guys be treated as young people who violated the guidelines of their visa first and as a threat, only if evidence points that direction?

3) David is right in his assessment that tons of people in Egypt are dying to do something like this. I've talked with people who want to marry anyone they can to get citizenship and would happily break any sort of visa they got and stay in America to work. I even know someone who did this once.

Flight Information for December

Well...it's better late than never, I suppose.

Last week, my mother told me that my nephew Justin (whose birthday was Wednesday) had asked when I was coming home.

I had hoped to be able to give him that answer on his birthday, but I didn't get the information until today.

Currently, I have 2 different reservations on 2 different airlines (Iberia and KLM)
But at least they're both on the same day!

And that day is...

*drum roll*

Friday, December 15.

The Iberia itinerary:
Depart Cairo 12.25am -- Arrive Madrid 6.35am (7h10m)
Depart Madrid 12noon -- Arrive Chicago 2.25pm (9h25m)
Depart Chicago 4.15pm -- Arrive Toledo 6.12pm (57m)

Total flight time: 17h32m
Layovers: 7h15m

The KLM itinerary:
Depart Cairo 4.20am -- Arrive Amsterdam 8.15am (4h55m)
Depart Amsterdam 10am -- Arrive Detroit 12.55pm (8h55m)
Depart Detroit 3.10pm -- Arrive Toledo 3.40pm (30m)

Total flight time: 14h20m
Layovers: 4h

It seems a bit silly for me to wait in Detroit for 2 hours so that I can take a 30 minute flight to Toledo, but maybe the ticket is cheaper this way. I'll have to check on that.

Comments? Votes? What are _you_ doing that weekend?

If you're going to be in Michigan, Ohio, or Indiana in December...email me to tell me about your plans. When I was in the U.S. last summer, I used a Yahoo calendar to keep track of things and I'll probably do that again. I know the holidays are a busy time for everyone, but I'm open to invitations/suggestions on things to do and places to go (bearing in mind that I'll be unemployed with no source of income).

Greasy Rider

Back to thinking about vegetable oil for vehicles...

(which reminds me, I really need to start talking to friends/family back in the U.S. about finding a diesel VW and getting it converted so I can drive it, starting in December -- you've been warned!)

Anyway...a documentary has been made about driving cars on vegetable oil and it's called "Greasy Rider". Yes, they did go with a cheezy title!

Finally watched "Serenity"

After a long wait and much anticipation, I was finally able to watch "Serenity" last night. This is the movie connected to Joss Whedon's "Firefly" television series. Friends in America (you know who you are) gave me the series to watch and I enjoyed that special treat here in Egypt.

If you know about this movie, you 've probably seen it. If you don't know about it, then you probably wouldn't like it. I'm not sure if that's a fair statement, but I'll make it anyway and you can disagree if you choose.

Anyway, for those of you who have seen it, here is a website with translations of the various Chinese phrases used throughout the movie.

There was also some Arabic written on a door, but it was a bit blurry. I thought I'd be able to find a website with the translation, but I can't. So...maybe I'll watch the movie again and try to figure out the word.

Happy Birthday Justin! (on Wednesday)

So, here's a big birthday wish to my nephew, Justin. His birthday is Wednesday, but just in case I can't get online...I'll post this now.

For this occasion, I decided to look a bit at the meaning of his name. People in Egypt often ask me what my name means b/c here, most names have meanings and everyone knows them.

So, the meaning of "Justin" (from thinkbabynames.com)
and of his last name, "Smith" (from last-names.net)

If you combine the 2, you essentially get "the one who strikes in a just way".

Good thing for Justin that he's a soccer player! *laugh* Have a great birthday Justin, I love you!

No such thing as "coincidence"

This week, I've had some weird connections going on with Algeria. First, my old roommate Bart told me that there are 2 Algerian coffee houses Clawson where he lives and then I watched the movie “Inside Man” which contained a reference to Algeria. (I think I can say that without giving away any of the plot.) I highly recommend this movie, partly b/c I never expected to see Spike Lee do a film like this and maybe he never will again.

Actually, it's been a week of movies. Friday night, I went with a bunch of friends from my church in Tanta to see an Egyptian comedy in the cinema. It was my first time and I picked the right group of guys to go with! They really laughed hard at times!

Did I understand everything? Of course not! Don't be silly! But, I understood enough to get most of the jokes and follow the story. I only had to ask 1 question during the intermission (all movies have them in Egypt, even foreign movies) and then 1 at the end. Like most movies, there were “in-jokes” and cultural references that I didn't understand, so I needed some help with that.

Recently, I've also seen:

V for Vendetta
The Final Cut
The Skeleton Key
The Pink Panther
Running Scared

The first 3, you really should see b/c they're good/excellent. I wouldn't bother with the last 2. More details later...

I never thought I'd see this!

Saw a 1973 Plymouth Fury III in Tanta today. Crazy! The owner told us that it was stored in a garage for 25 years. And I believe it! Original paint, seats, hubcaps, tail lights, and maybe even tires. All that, and just 40,000 miles. Too bad it's an ugly car. It was ugly when it rolled off the assembly line and even moving into the “classic” category can't change that.

No glass bottles?

So, is it true that it's almost impossible now to get beverages in glass bottles in America? Just cans and plastic bottles?

This will be a very strange thing for me b/c in Egypt it's much cheaper to pay a deposit on a glass bottle and then exchange it each time you want soda/pop, rather than buying cans or plastic bottles. Plus, glass bottles are refilled locally and cans/plastic are imported.

I'm asking b/c I was listening to a recent Podcast of the Diner by James Lileks and it was all about classic beverages, but he also talked about changes in the system. I know, it sounds dull...but it feels like old-style radio listening to him! This link is to listen, but you can also subscribe to the Podcast and download weekly. Also, see Lileks.com for more fun!

Christmas Shopping

It's never too early to start thinking about what to buy people for Christmas, right?

Well, let me help you. I just learned that one of my relatives back in Michigan has an arts and crafts store and sells things through a website, too.

Check out FeatherDance Gallery and tell 'em Jason sent you!

Help Your Friends -- tell them about Firefox

A new version of Firefox (a program like Internet Explorer, but better in the opinion of many people) is coming and you should email a friend to tell them about it.

Actually, you can have them read about World Firefox Day. There, you can fill in a form to invite a friend to download Firefox. If they do, then the designers will write both your names somewhere in the new version of the program.

And the Winner is...

Erik!

He gave the correct answer for the reference I made to "don't call me daughter" in a recent post. Good job, Erik!

Also, thanks to my old roommate Bart for his answer to my question about things that have changed significantly. He even told me a few surprising things about Clawson, where I lived for a short time.

Shelby clocked in with some ideas from out in Cali. Yes, I know the places she was talking about.

And _you_? Why aren't you answering??? *grin*

Changing my style

Well, I just realized that I'm not being a very good teacher in the way I use my Blog. Mostly, I just broadcast and don't make it very interactive for you. So...I'm trying to change my ways.

In the beginning, that will involve asking some questions to have you help me learn about things in the U.S. that have changed (or haven't changed) in the time I've been gone. Please post answers in the comments to share with everyone reading.

1) What new flavors of pop/soda will I see? We have some fun ones here and I'm not sure they're available in the U.S. Can you get Pepsi Gold? Tropical 7-Up? Mirinda? Crush?

2) Additions to fast food menus? What are the biggest changes you can think of at McDonald's/Burger King/KFC/Taco Bell in the last 4 years?

3) New chains for food or products that didn't even exist 4 years ago? Or ones that have grown/expanded significantly?

4) Businesses that have gone out of business or closed a large number of stores? K-Mart doesn't count b/c I was still living around Detroit when that happened.

More to come, but I hope these will keep you busy for awhile!

Because I want to say "I did that"...

Mostly just to say that I tried, I'm going to send my CV (resume') off to Al Jazeera. *laugh* They seem to have a few jobs open that I'm mostly qualified for. I'm not sure that I want to live where they are based, but maybe I could "work from home" somewhere else.

I'm pretty sure nothing will come of this, but why not try?

More news sources

I haven't been writing much about the news b/c I'm still trying to get caught up from being away in Alexandria.

But with the protest in Tanta yesterday (it had broken up by the time I went through the area), I went looking for new websites to read.

An interesting site is the Official English Website of the Muslim Brotherhood. Also, you can get an interesting view of things by reading Al Jazeera.

By any other name...

Random thoughts here. I've gotten so used to people saying my name wrong that I've stopped correcting them.

For example, in the same take-away restaurant that I go to often, 1 guy calls me "John" and another calls me "Tony". *laugh* The first one I can understand, but I have no idea about the 2nd way!!! Also, people often hear "Johnson" when I say "Jason" b/c they know about Johnson & Johnson products.

But don't call me "Daughter". I'll publicly recognize the first person to write me with the source of that reference.

Correcting myself...

Okay, so the story I wrote recently about playing in the waves at Lake Michigan had an error. I guess it was 2001, not 2002 when that happened. Unfortunately, I wasn't Blogging that long ago, so I don't have my original thoughts on the day.

Protests!

So in Alexandria this weekend, we drove past a large protest sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood. People there had signs about the situations in Palestine and Lebanon.

Now today, a friend just told me that there is a big protest in Tanta with people yelling things against America/Israel. I have to take a taxi through the intersection where the protest is to bet to class in about an hour, so I wonder how things will be by that point...

New pictures

These are from a trip to the beach and some monasteries 2 weeks ago. Sorry...no pics from my most recent trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16399621@N00/