so do you feel better now about planes?

No..they have bathrooms on planes!!!

Actually now I'm freaked about catching the avian flu. I just read that in mid October '06 they had another fatal case of it in Egypt, though the woman who died of it used to pluck duck feathers. I'll have to stay away from the duck feather plucking activities.

Also, I never got vaccinated for Hep B, but I never told my doctor that there's a chance I may become "intimate" with a native Egyptian, which is one of the risk factors. Hopefully he doesn't have it.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooh, an excuse to eat cookies! I'm sure Dr.Atkins won't mind

Didn't you hear? The physics of being airborne cause cookies to lose all calories while airborne.





My favorites..yummy

I should drink more Red Bull's

Last March, when I was in Cairo, we couldn't get chicken or eggs because of the bird flu . . . they had killed all of the birds I think. Lots of empty meat cases at the Carrefour when I was checking it out. I didn't worry about the bird flu because we couldn't get any, but I've heard that if it is cooked it isn't a problem.

That's interesting that they have Carrefour in Egypt and not in Morocco since it's a French store (I thought since I saw them in France).

Cool!

Yeah, the one I went to was out in Maadi . . . not sure if there is another one. By U.S. standards it isn't much, but considering that most neighborhood stores were little markets, it was perfectly fine. I think on my next trip I want to check out the big mall in Nasr City (is it City Stars??? ) . . . much more western from what I hear . . . I'm just curious to see what is there, but I dont really need to do any "western" shopping.

LOL..you are a classic worry wart, Doodle!!! Don't worry about avian flu. I was in Egypt right before it hit and after it hit and I'm fine alhamdulillah. I also spent time with rooftop chickens, roosters, and geese both times. Ship shape!




There's one in Alex too. It was similar to a Meijer or Super Walmart. Mohamed had never been there before and was not liking the shopping carts. He said, you're gonna have to push THAT! I guess it's not manly to push a shopping cart.

The flight to Australia puts me right there with ya'll! It's 6 hours from Fl to LAX - then 16 hours to Aukland, and 3 hours to Melbourne!!!

Over 24 hours of flying!
I watch their stupid movies, read a book, and mianly - SLEEP!!!!

I OD on Benydryl!!!!

OK this is weird. I'm browsing the travel accessories of this website and they actually sell the strangest things:

disposable undies (wha???? like do they help if you sh!t your pants or something? I'm not getting this)

urinelle Ok I have to meet whoever bought one of these. Like you can't just make one yourself outta a piece of paper? They make it sound like it's this space aged invention!

tush wipes ................just gotta love the name!!

germ finder ............... a cruise friend of mine used to bring this with her and use it once she and her husband entered the cabin upon arrival. What I wanna know is......what do you do once you find out that the place is riddled with them???? To me it would just freak me out and give me yet one more thing to worry about the whole time I'm on vacation.

You should have travelled with some of the ppl I travel with for work . . . you won't want to touch anything in a hotel room once they start talking about it . . . . so bring your wipes and lysol (or whatever), heheh . . . and this is in the U.S . . . Remote control??? think what you do with the one at home and imagine the one in the hotel room. Bedspread . . . they said always remove it because you don't know what someone did on the bedspread and how often does those things get washed/changed?? Actually, that was a good point.

After listening to all of them, I decided that maybe I should stop listening . . . they were saying how the first thing they do when they go in the room is to wipe down everything with the stuff they carried from home . . . hmmmm, some of that stuff can't be in carry-on bags anymore. Well, you can get those lysol wipes to carry now. So, Bon Voyage!!

Wow that is alot of flying.

My nerves would be shot, I hate flying

Moody that's funny Mohammed made you push the cart. Whenever we go to the grocery store Hicham gets the cart and says "I'll drive" hahaha.



Oh my God! I don't know how you do that. I would be strung out.

So Doodle, what are you going to buy??

Nothing!!! I was gonna buy an outfit from there for the trip but I really don't care for anything. I do need some electrical converter thingies for my hair dryer, curling iron and cell phone charger.

is there any problem with me flying into Canada as an american..i want to fly from here...lebanon to toronto....then my mom is picking me up there or in buffalo ny.......will i have any problems entering and then leaving like the next day?

I bought a converter and plugged in my curling iron and it melted at the base because I was waiting for it to heat up and it heated up in seconds and started to melt the plastic part on the handle so when i picked it up the iron part fell off, so you might want to take two curling irons. I went around Irbid Jordan looking for a curling iron and all i found were the blow drying round shaped brush type. Thank good I took some hot rollers. Also I used the converter to charge up my cell phone and it blew out the charger.

I didn't buy a current converter just a plug adapter. My blow drying and curling iron are dual voltage so I didn't need a converter. Those things scare me anyways.

It is also really cheap to get your hair done at the salon and they do a really good job. I brought all my stuff too and didn't use them at all. Instead I went to the hair salon every 3 days and got it washed and styled at $5 a pop. Can't beat that, plus my hair never looked so good.

Check with your hunny to see if there are hair salons close by, most arab women get there hair done and don't bother doing it at home. Maybe you can go with a sister or aunt?

now that i think of it it was an adapter the kind you would use if you need to plug in a three prong appliance and didn't have a 3 prong outlet. My hair dryer worked good as did my hot rollers, just the curling iron melted I picked it up and the iron part start falling over i was like WTF

Do women who wear hijab get their hair done in the salons or is that just a waste of money?




I have no idea how I did that!

They do in Jordan. I always saw them at the salon. You can still get a simple style or blowdry just to keep it neat. Besides, they never wore the hijab when I was in their homes, so it still has to look nice.



It's because you are cool

I saw them in Cairo too . . . . one woman came in wearing hijab and got her hair colored a dark red, etc . . . very fashionable looking with nice makeup. The salon would also thread the brows and upper lip . . basically the whole face if you wanted. It felt rather strange to get it done.

I agree that it is nice and cheap to go to salon and get your hair done. But they were always burning my scalp with the blow drier because they insisted on making it straight as a board so they took a long time and really pulled it out.

Their blowdryers also have a higher wattage and more heat. I have one

We're in a kind of visa waiver program with them. You'll need your passport, but no visa. Have a safe trip home!

I hate it when anyone but me does my hair. I'm a weirdo like that. I do like having my nails done however.

Whenever I get my hair cut I always wash it and redo it the minute I get home. Usama actually works part time in a barber shop so I wonder how he'd be doing my hair. That may be an option.

Will you be wearing higab in Egypt, doodle? If so don't bother getting your hair done. It's a waste. The higab smashes the shitt out of it. If I was staying home all day then I'd fix my hair...that is when Mohamed would stop bugging me enough to do it. Otherwise just wash and dry it. In the summer I didn't even bother with a blow dryer. It was so hot and humid I looked like warmed up doo doo all the time. I had it pulled back in a pony tail all the time just like my SILs.

Speaking of hijab making your hair flat as ****, I'm wondering about wearing it in the plane on the way to Cairo. After wearing hijab for 2 full days at the seminar I went to last weekend, my hair was absolutely flat as a sheet. How can I expect my hair to look nice for my fiance/hubby if I'm wearing hijab all day, if not on the plane then in Cairo itself? Do women wash their hair every day??? help!

I am going to wear hijaab in Egypt. I plan on putting it on right when I get off of the plane. I'll wear the scarf as more of a shawl before that on the plane and then just put it around my head real quick when I get off. He won't see me without hijaab until we're married. When I get there it will be 11pm so he'll just see me to pick me up and drop me off at the flat anyways. He won't be staying with me in the flat until we are married so I'll wash and do my hair when he's not around, though I may not bother since he won't see it anyways.

One we're married, insha Allah, I'll just fix it in the morning and then if we go out, I'll just fix it again when I get home. I don't like the type where you put that thing on under the scarf because I tried that at a seminar that I went to and I was boiling hot the whole time. I prefer the shayla type that just goes loosely over my head. He doesn't like it because he said it shows too much of my hair so I'll have to figure a way to fix it but no way will I wear that skull cap thing 'cause I'll faint from heat exhaustion!

I wash mine everyday because it's baby fine so if I don't wash it everyday it feels greasy. I didn't worry whether my hair looked nice or not when I first met Mohamed. He was happier that I wore higab than if I would've shown up with a fancy hair do. Also when you spend 24/7 with a man and his family you have no choice but to get comfortable about messy hair and all. Another thing..after traveling for 20-24 hrs your hair will be a mess anyways.

I don't have one from over there, but I have a really good one that I bought thru the salon that I go to here . . . I think you can find them on-line too. But I've gotten into the "let it go curly" mode when I travel, so I do that here too . . . but wait for humid days . . . nothing like a ball of frizz, hehe!!

I didn't like getting my nails done in Egypt because they have a different way of shaping that I don't like . . . they cut me a couple of times (where I bled) the one time I did it, so I decided not to do it again. Threading . . . i could probably handle that.

I don't travel with my blow drier (dryer??, hehe) anymore because I blew up a few while travelling for work . . . PLUS the good one that i have takes up too much space.

And one other thing... the water in Egypt is hell on hair and skin.

Uh huh uh huh

Do you wear put the hijab on before turning the webcam on? Will he want you to wear it when he comes to the United States too? I don't mean to pry, but I always find it curious when the husband has hijab preferences (i.e. - him not liking the shayla), but I guess that is because I consider it an act of faith between a woman and God and not one a husband should involve himself in; however, I realize that other people view it as a way of keeping themselves for their husband's eyes only in which case I guess he may have preferences. He doesn't mind that other men see your hair now and will on the plane but he doesn't get to until after marriage?

JP, I'm pretty sure Cost Plus carries those ginger snaps.

I'm also sure that Dr. Atkins would frown on those too, I can't have anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Wow I was thinking the same from Doodle's and Melly's post. I guess I just don't get the point of selectivly wearing hijab.





Have you been vaccinated yet? What about him? Has he been to the Doctor to get tested?

Wow tons of questions

I don't put it on using the webcam because when we started out talking as just friends I was not muslim and he saw me without it. I just think it'd be silly for me to start wearing it in front of him now since he's already seen me without it. Plus I think that when you are deciding to marry it is ok to be without hijaab. I forget where I read that but basically I mean what if the chick is bald??? The poor guy would find out on his honeymoon and that's just not ok.

He does want me to wear it while here in the US and we have that discussion all the time...last night in fact. I told him that I do not want to wear it here because I live in a community where prejudice is sky high and I don't want to put my children in a position where they are ridiculed by the other kids and even the teachers. If I did not have children I would absolutely be wearing it everywhere and anywhere but they are a real consideration that I have to think of. He keeps saying that it is not up to him it is up to God in the end but I know he's not happy.

He absoultely does mind that others see my hair now but it's something he has conceded that he has to deal with. It's all about compromise.



I have had the Hep A vaccine and I'm picking up the Typhoid pills today. Not looking forward to that one. I had a very bad reaction that I'm still dealing with from the Hep A vaccine and I'm not really that hopeful about the Typhoid pill.

I am going to ask him tonight if he's been tested for Hep B, but I doubt it. He hates doctors and dentists. Thinks it's a waste of money. I want to phrase it in such a way that he doesn't think I think he has it, if you know what I mean. I don't think he does though because he's 1) never even kissed a girl and 2) never done intravenous drugs. I believe those are the two ways that you get Hep B.

If it's silly for you to start wearing it now why is it a must that he doesn't see you without it before marriage? I can understand why you want to wear it in Egypt but for him not to be able to see your hair before marriage is kinda silly IMO. It's just hair.

I must have misunderstood your earlier post I thought you said your husband would not see you before marriage without hijab, but apparently he has already on cam. Or maybe you meant he just wouldn't see you in person without hijab. I am confused

I would be prepared for a lot of pressure to wear hijab when he gets here or a lot of problems. If he is saying he wants you to, he probably really wants you to. I have seem a lot of cases where these types of concessions are not really concessions once the man arrives and end up being big problems. Also, some men seem to think that once they are actually married, they can get their way easier or their wife is more likely to oblige them. Not saying it will be your case, but it is something to consider.

I know but he's never even kissed a woman and sometimes he gets really *excited* and starts talking about what we might do when we're married. I was just thinking that once we're in person I should get the armor on to head off any temptation. . . but I totally see your point. I'll think about it.

I agree with everything said also,My flight was 23.5 hours. But had two lay overs that was a blessing,Window shopped and stretched ALOT. Back on board bought some passengers drinks........LOL they were free anyway.... we all partied and laughted alot......

Get to know your seat companions,that worked best for me!
And yeah I studied Igbo to surprise my Babe too.

Good luck and if all else fails,try LUNESTA its a good sleep aid with no hang over effects.

Be safe & happy journey

Deborah

He's never kissed a woman...ever? WOW!!!!! Even in Egypt that's a rarity.

Thats becuase the arab cure for everything is 7-UP

OMG he LOVES 7-UP!!! He swears that dark colored colas cause lots of health problems!




Well technically he has kissed his mom and his sisters, but no. Even the most serious relationship where he almost got engaged he had never kissed her and that was in person. He is pretty strict muslim. Actually not to toally derail melly's thread but we had a long talk last night about looking into women's eyes. Currently he never looks into a woman's eyes and if it looks like he is he is actually staring at something past her. I told him that this is not ok to do here because if he does not look into , say, my sister's eyes she'll think he's hiding something or is "shifty". Plus he won't sell much product to women either.

LOL..Egypts swear a lot of things cause health problems...along with most ppl from ME/NA.

and they all know the best cure.

someone should post a new thread for this topic alone. There are hundreds of reasons fans and a/c= pain, illness, and death.

Everytime I'm sick my fiance tells me to eat Labaneh.