Brianna's flight landed at 5:07am on Saturday the 15th. Seeing her come down those stairs to collect her luggage was a beautiful thing. She was so tired .... and couldn't wait to get out of the airport.
Christmas can come now .... she's HERE!!!
On Dec 22, we will board the sleeper train to Aswan to start our 9 day Christmas trip. I'm going to try and use my cell phone app to do updates on the go so you don't have to wait until we get back to see what were were up to.
And now for some upsetting news: On Monday the 17th of December, I was walking to the preschool at 7:45 am as usual .... a car pulled up behind me very closely and before I had time to register what was going on, the passenger in the car had too strong of a grip on my bag for me to pull it back. The car was a white taxi. They are supposed to be the ones you can trust. The man leaning out the window was Egyptian, in his early 20's. Dark clothes and short hair. But the car immediately turned right onto a very busy road and before I could even think about reading the licence plate or the cab number it was gone. My bag was gone. My cell phone holding all my passwords, contacts, e-books, addresses and phone numbers. My new little blue underwater dust/sand proof camera. The little speaker I use every day to dance and sing with the kids. My new wallet. My credit cards and bank cards. My 2 USB sticks. My keys to our flat. My special Creative Memories bag that I got this summer in Minneapolis. ALL GONE. I was freaking out - screaming and trying to breathe. The back of my arm was hurting but that was it. I wasn't hurt. I WAS NOT hurt. I went home .... no way I was continuing on to the school. I was SO thankful that Brianna and Becca were both home. (How else was I going to get into the apartment). I told them what happened. We used Becca's phone to call Mike. Then I had to use Skype to call the emergency credit card number. (You can not call collect or any 1-800 numbers from Egypt. Not very convenient when you're in a panic.) Skype worked perfectly. The people at MasterCard cancelled my card. They also told me that there was already a failed attempt to use my card! But because he didn't have the PIN, he did not get any money. (Mom and Dad, MasterCard and BMO are issuing me new cards which should arrive at your house next week.) Once that was taken care of, we unlocked Becca's Canadian cell phone, transferred over her SIM card and went to the phone company to get my SIM info switched from the stolen phone to Becca's Egypt phone. My phone number here has not changed. Becca's phone works ok but it's no HTC Incredible S. I've heard a lot of stories from Expats and Egyptian women alike who have all been victims of theft just like me. The only comfort that gives me is that I wasn't followed for days or watched .... it was completely random and it can happen to anyone at any time. I have heard all the lectures (walk facing traffic, have your bag on the inside or in front of you or under your coat). Last night, with the help of a shared bottle of wine, was the first night that I fell asleep without seeing his face. ..... anyway .... now you know. This isn't something that just happens in Egypt. It can happen anywhere. It's just upsetting and a little frightening when it's the first time it happens to you.
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