Well! I have finally discovered the wonders of wireless internet at local coffee shops. So here i am ready to update and present you all with lots of pictures (i hope!). Let me just say right now i am laughing at myself because i am so short and the tables here are so high...i really have to strain to type. I also just met two American-born (egyptian decent) guys here that are in medical school. We talked for a long time and they were telling me about the education system here and their experience as dual-citizens between the two countries. Really interesting stuff. It is very different here - people come up to you and talk all the time, it's the norm. It makes you realize how cold and self-absorbed Americans are. There are always friends to be made here in egypt :)

This week I spent my time doing medical screenings for Sudanese refugee children. At present, Americans (and probably all other foreigners) can not get visas granted to them to enter Sudan. However, there greatest amount of refugees are here in Egypt. It is really a heartbreaking situation. Due to pressures from the USA and the UN, the Egyptian government has to allow them to enter the country. But really, the buck stops there. Egyptians don't recognize the Sudanese at all. It is illegal for them to work, for their children to go to public schools, etc... So what ends up happening is that they live in extreme utter poverty. The money is made by begging, which is difficult b/c Egyptians wont look at them, let alone give them money. The children go to school b/c of NGO's, non-profits and religious organizations that fund the building and maintaining of refugee schools. These schools are where we held the screenings. Each kid get a uniform provided, or in some cases they have to save up for one. Since they arent members of society here, they are not seen by doctors, nor do they recieve any other health services. So the care we provided was the first some of these children have ever recieved in their lives. Some of the very small ones were born here in Egypt as refugees, but most of them fled here - carrying the very sharp and fresh memory of the awful killings in their country.

My job was basically to do a full screening...blood pressures, eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart/lungs, neurologic checks, scoliosis screenings, extremeties, skin, etc... Some problems were the average pediatric illnesses (asthma, heart murmurs, etc...) but so many were crippled, cross-eyed, and bore scars on their bodies from machetes, bullets, knives, etc.. And they have no place to go. It is the most heartbreaking thing. After the few hours they are in school they go "home" to a room where there is no running water or electricity, and there are sometimes 10 to a room. Some of them are here as children, without their families. Some don't know where their families are. There was fear in their eyes. Some screamed and ran for their lives at the first sign of touch, probably crippled from memories of attacks and violence that our minds and eyes will be fortunate enough to probably never witness. It also makes you feel so convicted for the things we complain about.

Probably the thing that my heart hurt for the most was the realization that these children did nothing to deserve this. It's not their fault that they were caught in the middle of a war. It's not their parents fault that they have nothing left. They left one nightmare to be launched directly into another. All they know is the feeling of being hated, worthless and disposable. And it seemed like such an honor to be able to introduce them to Love. Some of the ones i just sat and held and hugged and paid attention to. I want to keep returning to the school and working with the kids. The few classrooms they had were smaller than my bedroom, and held about 30 kids each. I kept thinking about all my selfish dreams...about what an honor it would be and how distinguished i would feel holding my fancy position with UNICEF or being some world-renown physician. After this week i realized i've had it all wrong all along. And that in my heart I know I will never feel more honored than what i've felt being able to be with these children. Between being here, and spending the time at the orphanage in Assuit - i feel like i am coming to understand why the heart of God beats so strongly for the widows and the orphans. For the destitute and the helpless. For the suffering and the poor. These are the beautiful people...these are the simple that will someday confound the wise. These are the people described in the beatitudes...the pure in heart, the poor in spirit, etc.. This week as i saw these kids i kept hearing God speak the beatitudes to me as i asked to see these kids through His eyes. I do not want to leave here yet. I am not ready, and there is more work to be done.

In other news...I started learning Arabic here with a tutor. The sessions are 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. So it's pretty intense i hope to make fast strides. Being here really helps, and having all of our wonderful egyptian friends also helps!! This week it is back to the normal schedule of clinic, office work, book club, etc... It never gets boring here. Today we visited the famous citadel and had a blast! I am beginning to feel more and more at home. Keep me in your prayers as i am trying to order my next steps properly (for life in general). Many are my plans, but i want to hear what it is God would have me do.

Okay, time to cross my fingers and hope that pictures upload quickly!! I've heard people say that they can't comment or that the page doesn't load? I have no real skill with this whole blogging thing, so i'll just have to send my appologies and hope you still find a way to read and correspond with me anyway.

Love,
Nicole

Hi!
It seems like forever since i've written - i'm sorry! I just want to say that i am having such a phenomenal time here...i am starting to get sad that i have to leave in 8 weeks!! The 5 of us girls travelled down to upper egypt (yes, the southern part of egypt is called 'upper'....something to do with the way the Nile flows) to spend Christmas weekend at an orphanage. They celebrate Christmas here (the few christians there are) on Jan 7th. It was *such* a wonderful 3 days. We spent time with all the kids/widows and gave out gifts to each one. There were over 500 presents that went out, each individualized! We visited each age group and did a whole "program" for them - we told the christmas story, played games, sang songs, gave them snacks, and prayed with them. It was so wonderful, they were all so special. We even got to spend time with the widows and elderly women which was a new type of experience for me. Leslie dressed up as santa! We got to watch their Christmas eve play, and attended church with them on Christmas morning. Sleeping at the orphanage was also a fun experience (it was a little 'Nacho Libre'..!). Moody and David's parents live on site (they run the primary boys program) and so on Saturday night they had a hugeeee dinner for the 5 of us, duane and shirley, and 2 other girls who used to work here that were visiting from the states. It was really fun and yummy! The drive was also pretty incredible...5 hours of just desert. It was actually pretty beautiful. The police here are really funny. Upper Egypt has more fundamentalists and is a little more unstable, so after a certain point we needed police escorts in order to be on the road (so we're driving with police cars in front, behind, and on the side of us). It's just funny because i wouldn't trust egyptian police with a bebe gun, but they are soooo serious about what they do. It's just all very entertaining. They have police checks on the road every so often as well. When they see the car with 5 american women, it's a huge ordeal. They all flag us down like the earth is about to end, then they alllll come flooding out to see. At one stop they even brought out chairs! Then one by one, they stick their head in the car and go "Amrika???" in a very serious tone. we say yes. that one turns to others and says "Amrika!" and they all seriously nod their heads. then someone else sticks their head in and looks for a while and goes "fiiiivee???" and it's like "yes, there are five of us." then they all stick their heads in and debate and have a big fancy pow-wow to definately decide there are five of us, then they come back in and say a very serious "five!" (incase we were unsure, i suppose). And then they made sure you know to go "this way" as the all point straight ahead. Mind you, there's one road that goes through the desert. there was no other option but up (and we weren't planning on launching into space) but they made it seem like they had just given us the golden nugget of wisdom. Really funny...and to make it worse this happens about ever half hour :-) Just part of the excitement here in egypt! This week we are working at a medical clinic for Sudanese refugee children - it is awesome and i love it! And we've started our arabic tutoring 2 hours each day 5 days a week. Me and my roomate Jenny joined Leslie and Kayla's gym...so hopefully between all our walking and the gym ("gym") i wont gain any weight from all the yummy egyptian food (eh, who i am kidding...all the peanut butter and jelly). I have an album from the orphanage posted - please check it out! I will write more after the medical screenings are all over. the days here are exhausting but they are spent with the most amazing people in this most special place. Due to the sensitive nature of the country, i can't really talk much publically about the details of some things, but if you would like to hear some more "meaningful" stories, please email me @ LdyNicole9@yahoo.com and i'd love to talk with you!
Till next time,
Nicole <3 href="(http://community.webshots/ldynicole9">http://community.webshots/ldynicole9 )

ps- Right now three of us are watching the season finale of 24 (season one). Why hadn't i seen this show sooner!??! i am so hooked.
pps- i found an old copy of Food & Wine Magazine at the gym and decided that some day I want to attend the Food & Wine Festival in Aspen, CO. Any takers? And i also met a girl who backpacked through Europe last summer and after hearing her stories I am determind to do the same, somehow.
ppps- I think it would be fun to be an ambassador...or atleast the wife of one. they have it good here :)