I wonder if Australians realise how fortunate they are in how well their laundry rooms are designed. All the rental properties we viewed when looking for this one included at minimum a tiled floor and large sink, as well as the requisite washer and dryer hookups.

Why I enjoy using our laundry room:

• large, very deep sink for rinsing, soaking, and hand-washing
• cabinet above the sink – keeping all the chemicals well out of children’s sight and reach
• cabinet below the sink – I am still thinking about how to best utilise this space, but right now it has a stack of rags so Nikki can easily help me clean up any spills
• sliding glass door with secure locking screen door
  • odours from cloth diapers can escape without compromising the security of our house. With the laundry room door closed, we ensure that any air conditioning or heating in the rest of the house isn’t lost.
  • easy access to an outside clothes line – if we had one!
• just enough room for a clothes drying rack and laundry baskets

Michael particularly likes exploring in the laundry room. I can just imagine him saying, “Mama – I need some clothes… are there any here in the washing machine?”

When we were first taken to see the house that we are renting, the information sheet listed ‘view’ as one of the amenities. We were a little unsure as to what that meant.

Over time living here, however, we have come to value the vista to the east. Below, a photo I took through the picture window in our upstairs seating area.

You can see our neighbour’s townhouse facing onto the street that boasts the best local views, and just to the left of his tree, a patch of blue – the Swan River. Between his house and the tree, you can see hills in the distance.

Mama and Baba finally got all the boxes cleared out of the playroom!

Time to play! Pull out a basket, throw a ball, and then crawl after it!

That was fun! Time to find a quiet corner and open up a board book.

Now it’s time for cuddles and tickles with Baba and Nikki.

I love Baba! I wonder if he’ll read this book I found over here!

Ben and I have lived in a number of rental properties – this is our tenth, if you count temporary accommodation. Let’s face it, we’re practically nomads! But a bonus coming out of living in so many houses is that we know a good place to live when we see one.

The townhouse we are living in has some terrific less-than-obvious features that make everyday living that little bit easier.

Pictured above, the built-in rubbish bin under the sink.

Why I like the Kimberley Twin Bin Waste Separation System:

• the bin slides in and out rather than drifting around under the sink, thus taking up the smallest possible space
• automatic lid since the bin slides under a plastic cover
• the plastic cover allows me to stack cleaning supplies on top, providing even more space under the sink
• the bin is just the right size to be lined with an ordinary plastic grocery bag
  • we don’t have to buy purpose-made rubbish bags
  • after a few days when the bag fills up, it is easy to carry down the stairs to the curbside rubbish bin
• there are two slots in this unit. You can see that the first slot is filled with our rubbish bin. The second slot is empty, but if we can find the correct size plastic bucket to fit in the second slot, it will be perfect for all of our recyclable material

When we were house-hunting in Maadi, we were counseled to try to find a ground floor flat. Elevators and electricity can be dodgy here and how would I get a baby and a pram and groceries up multiple flights of stairs? I fell in love with this penthouse apartment and decided that it would work out somehow.

Fortunately, the electricity and elevator in our building are both very reliable, so living on the fifth floor hasn’t been an issue. On the few occasions when I cannot take the lift, I simply walk five flights. This is easy for me since I don’t use a pushchair (we have an umbrella stroller that hasn’t left its box) and my groceries are delivered.

If there ever was any inconvenience in skyline living, the sunset views from our terrace more than compensate.

 

Yesterday we went to a Christmas party at Mike and Ute’s house. We were instructed to arrive in our pyjamas, just like on Christmas morning. Mike made Belgian waffles and we enjoyed a breakfast feast, followed by a ‘Dirty Santa’ (this is the German name, I’ve always known them as ‘White Elephant’) gift exchange.

Ben ended up with a so-horrible-it’s-actually-pretty-cool orange and blue striped polyester tie. I got a little ladybug cosmetic bag filled with stickers and a grumpy-looking stuffed camel. Probably the worst gift available was the pipe filled with men’s cologne. The most coveted item was a hand-puppet of a boxer that could be squeezed to make the fists punch. Lots of really cool people were at the party; it was nice to spend time with a group of Christians, chatting and having fun.

This morning we put Nikki in the cutest pair of trousers (Melinda let me borrow them). They fit perfectly – so perfectly that we think this week may be the only time she gets to wear them.

In other good news, ADSL is up and running! Hooray for a fast internet connection. We’ll be Skyping again as soon as the battery charges on our wireless handset (Ben informs me this will be 5AM our time, so I guess Skyping won’t take place immediately after the phone is charged!). We had a successful trip to the Maadi Grand Mall last night and I picked up two more floor-length skirts, bringing my total to three, a huge help out of my current clothing crisis. And the best news is that Ben is on holiday until Christmas Eve, when he needs to return to work to fill in for an absent colleague.

Now that some furniture has arrived, as you will have seen from the ‘usage instructions‘, our favourite spot in the house is the upstairs family area which walks out onto the terrace. Our furniture is modern and very comfortable. The chair and chaise lounge are each wide enough for Ben and I to snuggle together on, with Nikki on one of our laps; the sofa could seat three easily and four in a pinch. During the day we leave the curtains open so the sun streams in, making the area very warm and pleasant. At night we draw the curtains and turn on the light so that it feels cozy and private. Temperatures are such that most people are wearing jackets or sweaters.

I’m still in short sleeves during the day, since wearing Nikki keeps me nice and warm, though I do need a sweater after dark. Skies are clear, and sunny during the day. I just looked up the weather, and it says temperatures are ranging between high 60 and low 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I hope I acclimate quickly, because if I’m warm now, I’ll simply melt during a Cairo summer!

You haven’t heard from us in a while because we’ve been moving out of our temporary apartment and into our permanent flat. We are thankful to live in such a beautiful place. But don’t take our word for it, come and see for yourself! Here is Calliani to lead you up to the, as yet unfurnished, penthouse guest room:

spiral staircase	upper terrace	terrace view west
islamic tile	bedroom view east	new bathroom

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal this afternoon with quite a few Americans living locally. Imagine watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade starting at 4 in the afternoon! The American commissary came through with several turkeys that were fried and shared among an appreciative gathering, along with a host of delectable accompaniments.

To fulfil our need for day-after-Thanksgiving-Day-sales, we have two remedies:

• The Maadi Women’s Guild is holding a Christmas bazaar tomorrow. We have no idea what this involves, but we duly bought our advance tickets and look forward to checking it out.
• We also plan to begin purchasing furniture tomorrow. We’ve done a bit of shopping already and have some pretty good ideas of what we’ll buy. At the party we received further suggestions on places to try locally, so we may do a few more comparisons before we purchase. We don’t want to leave it too long, though. We’re very eager to get our beautiful apartment furnished so we can start having guests around, returning the kind hospitality that has been extended to us.
 

Cairo International Airport isn’t nearly as bewildering the second time you encounter it.

We chose for this most recent two-week trip to stay in the five-star JW Marriott Mirage rather than the more conveniently located Maadi Sofitel that we stayed in during our reconnaisance trip. We did not get ill from the food this time, which was our reason for trying the Marriott. So instead of Pharoh’s curse, we had adventures in highway travel.

Next time Ben goes to Cairo he is going to rent a car, but during our most recent two-week stay, we relied on various drivers to get us around. I felt safe almost all of the time. If I started to worry, my coping technique was to look out at the scenery rather than the traffic. Many of the drivers were especially considerate of my bump (Egyptians love children) and drove slowly and gingerly over uneven surfaces.

Ben started work for his new team. His boss mentioned at dinner one evening that it seems like Ben has been part of the team for a lot longer than his start date suggests. It’s good to hear that the team is already wondering how they managed before Ben came along!

To me, the most exciting bit of news is that we signed a contract for the penthouse apartment in Digla, Maadi! Our move-in date is 15 November 2006. Depending on when the baby comes, we will probably be in temporary housing in Cairo for about a month before we can move into our new flat.

Below I include a few pictures. The flat is currently occupied by our landlady, who has never rented it out before. We won’t have her furniture, but this should give you some idea of our future home.

First level (5th floor) :
  

Second level:
  

Third level:

Google satellite images: