Living Life by a Theme 2011 Recap - A Year of “Doing what makes me Happy”

Every year I live my life by a theme.  The theme is kind of like a resolution for the year but with a new rule to live by.  The theme for this year, 2011, was “Do what makes you happy.”  As I look back at my theme this year I feel like I failed, but then the more I think about it the more I realize I made great strides and I grew as a person, even if some of that growth was sometimes painful, so maybe it wasn’t a complete failure after all. 

When I made my theme doing what makes me happy this year I thought it would be easy and I thought by the end of the year I would be a really happy optimistic gal, well that just isn’t me.  It is against my nature to do what makes me happy all the time because what makes me happy might make other people miserable or upset them.  Also there are other factors that lead to me being miserable or less happy that I have no control over, like tragedy striking my community over and over and the economy.  It was a rough year for Reno and I cried tears, felt the pain and sadness with my community. 

Even with all the tragedy in my community and the tough economic times I was still able to focus on my theme of doing what makes me happy.  A few months into my theme I realized this was going to be a hard year to do what makes me happy, and I seriously questioned if I was up for the challenge.  I thought going out with my friends all the time, buying stuff and taking trips would make me happy, and maybe it would have, but the economy didn’t want to cooperate this year so I have had to put that stuff on hold.  So I decided to do the best I could and focus on the things I could change or control and tried not to worry about the things I can’t control, which is totally against my nature.  By nature I worry and expect the worst, so this year I tried not to let it get the best of me. 

A Little Help from My Friends…

Me & Bridget at her birthday party.

My friend Bridget once gave me some advice about cutting the dead weight from my life, those were her exact words “cut the dead weight” and she wasn’t talking about dieting.  You may have seen another analogy in a chain email that describes how your life is a theater show on stage and only certain people are worthy of sitting in the front row of your life.  Bridget was advising me to be more aware of who was in the front row.  I am really bad at this, it is a weakness and I am at fault. I give out too many front row seats, I comp them, I give them lots of free drinks and I tend to double book people in the front row that shouldn’t be there, or don’t want to be there.   

Here is an example, I had an a-ha moment about my error in the seating chart when a friend told me I wasn’t a bridesmaid in her wedding because we weren’t good friends and most of the other friends in our circle of friends were in the wedding. I thought she was one of my best friends; I had given her a front row seat for the last decade of my life, whether she wanted to be there or not, so it was shocking to me that in her eyes we weren’t good friends.  Looking back I see that this is just one of several examples of front row seats I gave to friends that didn’t want to sit in the front row but I gave them a seat anyway.  The good news is we have been able to stay friends through this misunderstanding of the seating chart to the theater of my life, and I realize now we aren’t best friends and we don’t have to be best friends, but we can still be friends.

So this year as part of my theme of doing what makes me happy I took Bridget’s advice to heart about cutting the dead weight and I stopped focusing on the people that don’t belong in the front row of my life. This year I focused more on my friends that deserved a seat in the front row, and I hope in return that they give me a seat in the front rows of their lives. 

Me & Jana at Jana's Birthday Party

Me & Adrion at the Jason Aldean concert

Over this last year my friendships and bonds grew stronger and I realized that my very closest friends had two things in common, they all felt (and told me in one way or another) that I let too many people in the front row that didn’t deserve to be there, and more importantly they all told me they loved me.  I couldn’t have made it through this year without the love of my family but also the love from my friends, especially Jana, Bridget, Cassandra, Val, Adrion, Jessica and of course my dog Yogi Berra.  These friends made me happy, they made me laugh, and they were always there when I needed them. 

It was a year of growth and there was a lot of happiness with the sadness.  I am going to call it a tie, I didn’t completely succeed at doing what makes me happy, but I also didn’t fail.

Here are the Top 10 things I did, or other people did for me, that made me happy this year. 

1.   My family loves me and supports me.  They are always there for me, they spoil me, and I love to talk and visit with them.  I especially enjoyed spending time with my grandparents this year and my Grandpa Wayne making us Cowboy breakfast after the family reunion campout.

Grandpa Wayne serving Cowboy Breakfast

2.   My friends.  I am blessed to have so many great people in the front row of my life. 

Me & Jessica



Me & Cassandra

  

Me & Val

3.   My community.  We had a rough year; there was a fire, air race crash, motorcycle gang shootout, several other shootings, and lots of foreclosures and bad economic news.  We were on the top of every bad list and on the bottom of every good list, but you know what, we stood up and we kept moving and we worked together as best we could.  We have a lot of work to do but I think if our community can continue to come together we will make it through.  We will find better days in 2012.

4.   Volunteering – Rotary, Leadership Reno Sparks, and Reno Rodeo gave me plenty of opportunities to volunteer.  I enjoy helping and making a difference so volunteering made me happy.

5.   Yogi – he makes me laugh and he makes me cry.  What can I say? I love my dog!

6.   Nevada Outback Trip – I went on an adventure with Bridget and Andy over Memorial Day.  We lived through our journey down the loneliest highway and we made memories and have great stories to tell. 

7.   Boating/Camping – Bullards bar is my favorite lake to go boating and I was lucky enough to make it there a few times this year with my family and friends.

8.   Red Solo Cup – Toby Keith – Every time I hear this song I smile and it makes me laugh.

9.   Matinee Tuesday – Every Tuesday the movie theater shows matinee movies all day and night.  I am cheap and I like a good deal so sometimes I go see movies on Tuesdays and this makes me happy.

1o. My blog – I love having somewhere to write about my past travels and my life theme.  I couldn’t take a vacation this year so blogging about places I went last year gave me a little escape and a taste of vacation.  (Special shout out to Val and Dan, thanks for setting me up with a blog and encouraging me.)

Good riddance 2011 – Welcome 2012! 

Ramses Hilton Oh How I Love Thee…

Let me count the ways…

1. Diamond Club! = Gorgeous rooms! - Thanks to Jason being in the Hilton Diamond Club we were upgraded.  This meant a gorgeous room,  great customer service from the hotel staff, fresh flowers, bottled water, free alcoholic drinks at night (these are very hard to come by in Muslim Egypt), and dessert left in our room each day while we were out seeing the sights.   

Diamond Club! = Daily Desserts

2. Views-Views-Views!  - The views from our balcony were amazing.  These are the same views seen by millions of people around the world during news broadcasts of the riots that swept Cairo in early 2011.  From our rooms we had gorgeous views of the River Nile and a great perch to watch Cairo traffic, which is really something to see and hear.  I liked to listen to the rhythm of Cairo, there was a buzz and energy about the city that was almost like a song.  The cab drivers honk all the time to communicate their next move and they usually honk in a generic or friendly manner unlike in America where honking is usually a sign of aggression.  The constant honking and the 17-20 million people (depending on the time of day) made Cairo a very loud and busy place. I had never seen anything like it.  I really enjoyed the views from our hotel.  Supposedly you can see the Pyramids really well from the Ramses Hilton.  We couldn’t see them most of the days we were there because of pollution and smoke from a wildfire in Israel.  On one of the days we could see a shadow outline of the pyramids, I imagine on a clear day the view from the hotel would be really impressive.    

3. Location! Location! Location! - The Ramses Hilton is located on the banks of the River Nile in Cairo.  Everything we wanted to do was within walking distance or within a short distance by taxi.

4. Security – Every time we entered the hotel we had to go through security including a metal detector.  It was really easy to go through security and the security officers were very professional and easy to deal with.  It was nice to know we were in a safe place and that measures were taken to keep us safe on vacation. 

5.  Food – The hotel had a buffet every morning that we were able to attend before heading out for our daily adventures.  There was a mix of Western and Middle Eastern food so you could always find something you liked to eat in the morning.

I highly recommend staying at the Ramses Hilton.  Someday I would like to go back to Egypt, when it is safe again, and when I do I will try to stay at the Ramses Hilton. 

Thanksgiving in Cairo – 2010

After shopping at the Khan el-Khalili market we found a restaurant for dinner, for us Americans it was Thanksgiving.   This was the second time in my life that I was away from my family on Thanksgiving, and it never feels quite right, but I have been lucky because both times I was with good friends when I wasn’t with my family. 



Jason & his Pigeon Dinner



The restaurant we ate at was really nice.  It had beautiful carpets on the walls as decorations.  I remember being so excited for my first big Egyptian meal.  I ordered the Falafel, another first since I had never tried Falafel.  Falafel is a ball made up of ground chickpeas and/or fava beans then it is deep-fried.  I wrapped the falafel in pita bread to make a sandwich.  It was good but it took some getting used to for me since I had never had it before. 

The thing I remember the most about dinner is Rob and Jason ordering Rabbit and Pigeon.  I am so boring and risk adverse when it comes to eating new foods so I enjoy when my friends order things that I consider more exotic, even when I am not brave enough to try their meals.  I also thought it was funny that Jason ordered pigeon on Turkey Day. 

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner in Cairo. 



(L-R) Bridget, Andy, Shayna, Rob, Jeff, Libby and Me



   



Falafel



Khan el-Khalili Market - 2010

The Amazing Race - It is on!

Our first trip to the world famous Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo was quite the adventure.  First we ordered a few taxis.  Whenever we had to take taxis we had to take a few of them because there were 10 of us on this trip.  Every time I jumped in a taxi I felt like I was on “The Amazing Race” TV show.  It was like a competitive button was pushed and the race was on.  So we jumped in our taxi and raced to the Khan.

During the taxi ride we drove by some military vehicles and heavily armed men on the side of the road.  We asked our cab driver if it was safe.  He said to stay away from it but it was safe and that they had had a few issues with protesters because elections were in a few days, but he said we should be okay in the market.

So the cab driver dropped us off near the market.  As soon as we stepped out of the taxi a guy on the side of the street started talking to us, I’m pretty sure the cab driver tipped him off that we were coming or they had some kind of arrangement.  The cab driver seemed to have a place in mind to drop us off and what a coincidence this guy was there waiting to greet us.  He was dressed in a red sweater that said FUBU (yes the American brand FUBU), and he had on desert tan military boots.  He was an Arab gentleman probably early to mid-thirties and he spoke English very well.  He said he had been to Michigan in the United States because he had relatives there.  Dearborn Michigan has a large Muslim population so I figured that was the area he was speaking about.  (Tip – If you haven’t seen “All-American Muslim” on TLC you should watch it, it is a great show that takes place in Dearborn, MI).   

Our new friend, FUBU guy, kept telling us he loved America, which cracked me up.  I would have been concerned that a stranger was talking to us so much but I read about this sales technique in my tour guide book so I wasn’t worried.  The tourist books discussed how people will try to greet you on the street as you arrive at the market and try to take you to their shop first.  So when he told us about his papyrus shop, and how we had to go there I wasn’t nervous, although I should have been because it is kind of strange that someone greets you when you get out of the cab and wants you to follow him through alleys in a foreign land. 

Andy & Bridget at the Papyrus Shop

FUBU guy got us all together really quick and said “follow me to my shop”.  So we followed.  I wasn’t worried until he took us into this dark grimy building.  He said his shop was on the third floor.  It felt like we were climbing those stairs forever, it didn’t feel like we were in the world famous market we read about and it felt like this guy may have just made a big score by kidnapping 10 Americans.  I was getting really nervous that I may have made a bad decision.  As we approached the second floor I was getting extremely nervous that he wasn’t taking us to a shop, then on the next flight of stairs there was the sign for his papyrus shop, I exhaled a sigh of relief. 


The papyrus shop was really cool.  They had many beautiful pieces including pictures of zodiac signs, ancient Egyptians, and gods & goddesses.  The FUBU guy welcomed us to the shop and gave us a quick tour, then let us look around while his sidekick brought us tea.  I would never take a drink from a stranger in America, but in the Egypt tour guide books it said this was the custom and that they will give us a cup of tea to drink while we bargain and negotiate, so I wasn’t surprised when he offered us tea.
 

I drank my cup of hot tea and I picked out a piece of artwork.  I picked a small picture of Isis the goddess of magic.  The FUBU guy started out really high on his asking price, so I countered with something similar to $1 American which was ridiculously low.  We were negotiating in Egyptian pounds.  The exchange rate was something like 5.84 Egyptian Pounds to 1 American Dollar.  So as soon as we agreed to a price FUBU guy said okay you’ve got a deal “70 American Dollars”.  I smiled and said “I was born at night, but not last night, we are negotiating in Egyptian Pounds”.  He smiled then pinched my cheek and said “you are so cute…and smart.”  Then he made the deal.  I was bummed at first because I didn’t think I negotiated enough but then I looked at the exchanged rate again and I did better than I thought I did.  I ended up buying my art for about $12. My goal was to buy it for around $15, so I felt pretty good about my negotiating.

Isis from the Papyrus Shop - Framed when I got home by Aaron Brothers

After we all bought something at the Papyrus shop we left to explore more of the market.  We were on the side of the market with a more local flavor.  We saw meat, spices, fruits, veggies, and lots of flies. 

While walking through the market this local guy started talking to us and trying to guide us.  We thought at first he was like the FUBU guy, but he didn’t seem to have a shop he was trying to entice us to see.  He kept guiding us and talking to us as we walked through the market.  After a while we came upon a Mosque.  All the sudden he went into hard sell mode and tried to get us to go into the mosque.  At first we said no, then we said yes, then they tried to charge us and we said no again.  Then they kept tryinig to negotiate with us.  The mosques in Islamic Cairo district are historical sites.  They are beautiful and fascinating but we decided something didn’t feel right and we decided to pass on this experience.  After all that our volunteer tour guide disappeared, he probably went back to the taxi line to find the next tourists. 

We kept walking through the market and we got a little lost.  We ended up walking by the armored vehicles and the heavily armed men mentioned at the beginning of this blog.  I was worried but my friends assured me we were okay and they wouldn’t shoot us.  So we used the circling in technique and after a long walk ended up back at the spot where the taxi dropped us off.  We took the pedestrian overpass over Al-Azhar road and then we were back in a more touristy part of the market.

As we walked through the tourist side of the market the merchants would come out of their shops and try to charm us by giving us their best sales pitches as we would walk by.  At this point I was exhausted and suffering from sensory overload, plus I have never been a fan of the hard sell, so I walked by and pretended I didn’t speak English or hear their sales pitches.  One merchant cracked me up though as I walked by, and I will never forget his pitch.  As we walked by and I ignored him he said, “Hey you speak English?  You Russian?  You Italian?  You Chinese?”  After he asked if we were Chinese I laughed because it was funny.  I was busted!  He smiled at me and said “oh you speak English”.  He knew he busted me, so it was a funny moment.  He didn’t have anything I wanted in his shop, but he left me with a humorous memory of shopping at the Khan el-Khalili.



This is one of my favorite pictures that Bridget took.
The kids were holding the flag and excited about the election.
It would be Mubarak's last election as President of Egypt. 
The revolution started about 6 weeks later.



 All of the pictures in this blog were taken by my friends.  Enjoy!



Just made a sale!



View from the Papyrus Shop window.