OUR STUFF IS HERE!!!

As what I can only imagine is Fate's appology for 'the incident' the other morning, OUR STUFF ARRIVED!! Well, most of it. Customs opened everything. Pete, the DP, tells me that that's the norm. Last year for his birthday, customs opened all his gifts and then re-wrapped them with the wrapping paper inside-out. Uh huh.
Regardless, it was like Christmas morning- boxes being torn open, excited exclamations, etc. Our room is now (almost) fully equipped. We're only missing a few essential items like adhesive remover (it's been somewhat slow-going- not to mention sticky- removing pieces with alcohol), brush cleaner and the catalyst for the silicone (kiiinda important- it's what makes the molding silicone harden), and a few other bits and bobs. Chris and I are in high gear trying to catch up on the build, with the top priorities being a fake pregnant belly we can shoot getting cut open for an emergency c-section and a torso impaled with actual metal rods that they want to saw off on-screen. Major engineering is going into that last one. We could use your help, Papa Mills!

Last Friday we were invited for the day to Ismalia by one of the guys who works with our department, Ibrahim. Ismalia is a small town on the Red Sea at the mouth of the Suez Canal, about an hour and a half away from Cairo. Ibrahim has a little villa by the ocean in a small resort apartment complex. While the sky was cloudy and it rained on and off, we had a terrific time with his family and close friends. We played football ('soccer' for y'all state-side) and a few games like 'Blindman's Bluff' and 'Musical Chairs'. Everybody played, and was really into it; adults, teens, kids, "Hawaagas" (foreigners, i.e. Us). We had a lovely (albeit cold) picnic on the beach, and feasted on (whole) grilled stuffed 'boori' (mullet) and 'bayadi' (Nile perch-whole), rice, fresh flat bread and salad. The minute they unwrapped the fish, we were descended upon by over a dozen 'otas' (cats). We tossed them bits and pieces and they had a feast too.
Despite the somewhat hindering language barrier, we all had a blast. The games seemed to serve as a sort of universal language. Plus, Chris and I got two more invites for lunches; one with our driver Sa'eed's family this Friday and another with Ibrahim's friend's (Waseed) family later. I'm really glad we took my aunt Janice's advise to jump on any invitation extended to us by a local. It's a really great way to see what life is like here, more of the language and little out of the way place you might not see as a tourist. We're looking forward to this Friday!

Also in what I think is a 'reality check' from Fate, we got locked out of our apartment. It was late Saturday night, and Chris and I were amongst the last to leave the studios around 11:00pm (working late on fiberglass). We trudged exhausted up the stairs and stumbled (there's no light on our floor) to the front door. Chris put tried to put the key in the lock but it wouldn't go in. What the???? He tried a bunch of times but it just wouldn't happen. He played with the lock for a while, then I tried, then he tried again before we went downstairs to the doorman [who doesn't speak a lick of English past "hello" and "Kriiiis"- Chris) and let him know that our key didn't work (hey! great time to try out that Egyptian Arabic phrasebook!). As you can imagine, we headed back upstairs so he could try his hand at it for a bit. No go. He called the landlady (12am) and she came over with her son who then went out to find a locksmith. We made small talk with Suzanne, our landlady (who was fairly fluent in English), talking about going to the gym, her aimless son and watched the stray cats in the stairwell for a while. Meanwhile, Chris contacted our production liason to let them know what was going on. They called back and told us that they had contacted our driver (! he had just arrived home after fighting his way though terrible traffic) to come pick us up and take us to the Semiramis for the night. It's nice to know we're well taken care of! We went downstairs to wait for Sa'eed. Just then, Suzanne's son arrived with a 'locksmith' (a buddy with a screwdriver who borrowed my hairpin to open the lock) who said it looks like someone was messing with our lock and broke it. Reassuring, you can imagine. Needless to say, Chris called to tell Sa'eed (who at this point was still on his way, simply to pay the locksmith) to head home, we'd cover the cost. We FINALLY hit the hay around 1am. Ugh. Sunday was rough...

THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE WAITING FOR THE LANDLADY:

1. Spit down an 8-storey stairwell
2. Work on your mental powers as you try to 'make' the door open with your mind
3. Play 'Guess That Smell'
4. Count your teeth with your tongue
5. Play 'Name That Stain on the Floor'