Shereef and GiGi

it's been a while since my last post.  i dont have kids.  nothing exciting happens in my life.  i am exercising and have lost 8 pounds - that's the new news.  woo.  so yesterday i did something cool and as i was checking the blogs of people with cute kids to post pictures of, i thought that maybe my experience might make a cool blog.  or at least cooler than: "hi, it's just charles and i and the dog in our sweatpants again watching charles play video games".
Shereef Eleraishy and his wife GiGi (i believe that is the Americanized version of her name so that we can actually refer to her as something because most of us couldnt pronounce the real thing.) are the leaders of our Egyptian family on post.  explanation: i work at the on post housing office and we provide furnished homes to 29 international families (IMS - International Military Student).  one of my many hats at work is to ensure that these 29 families have clean, fully furnished and functioning homes when they arrive and to supply them with anything they might need while they're here for 10 months.  This can be a big job, as some are very needy and the company buys the cheapest furnishings on the planet and they often need replacing  this program is extremely high profile on post - each of these families has at least 5 sponsors, who could be retired or very high ranking officers in varioius positions around post.  they often entertain guests and love to share their culture.
So Shereef and GiGi are a lot of fun.  they came in this last summer, so they've been here for a while.  they're very friendly.  with Shereef, it's always "hello, my friend.  how are you today?  how is your husband?  how is your new car?  you always have a friend in Egypt, my friend."  GiGi loves to have people over, when i bring her something to furnish her home she loves to have me in to sit and visit, show me her new clothes from the PX, talk about tv shows, anything.  the wives of these guys all go to language classes a few times a week so they all get to know each other and love to test out their english.  also, it's a huge lesson in culture.  in the middle easter culture it is very rude to use your left hand for anything as that's the 'poop hand'.  in some cultures like the Serbian guys, it's rude to wear your shoes in the house.  overall, in almost all of them - it's rude to not accept something when they offer it.  you MUST sit down and have tea or juice or whatever.  they are very nice and understanding, but once you step over the threshold of the door, they've got you - and you're in - and you have to drink/sit/eat/talk.  that's all well and good, but can end up being time consuming because they'll just keep throwing stuff your way and it's hard to know when it is ok to leave while still being polite.  the management HIGHLY undervalue this program and have absolutely NO respect for the treatment of these families, so it's up to Janet (the housing coordinator) and myself to make us all look good.  and thats fine, mostly they just muddle things up when they get involved anyway.
so yea, that's a background.  on to shereef.  Yesterday i had to take shereef a new blender.  GiGi opened the door and was just extatic to see me, as always, she tried to invite me in, and when she opened the door wider for me to pass, there was shereef on the couch doing his homework.  well you just cant refuse then - they've seen you!  so in i go with lots of "thank yous" and "i cant stay longs".  come to find out, they were just getting ready to have lunch and insisted that i join them.  so here i sit, at the table with them.  the dish served was actually a Jordanian dish that they had picked up from the Jordanian family down the street at a dinner party the other day.  GiGi had added more veggies than the other lady did, it was AWESOME.  rice and veggies and beef and lots of deep spices that smelled very exciting and tasted even better.  i served myself a small portion and when i almost had htat polished off, here comes shereef with another big chunk of beef for my plate.  then here comes a helpful explanation of cultural traditions: after eating you must drink Egyptian tea together.  i am no stranger to Egyptian tea, GiGi has served it to me a couple times before.  (how bout an awkward situation: right smack in the middle of Rahmadahn here i come with a couple maintenance guys bringing a new desk and she serves us all tea and cookies but cannot eat any herself.  they cannot eat or drink from sun up till sun down during the celebration of Rhamadan.)  so i take my Egypian tea with 1 sugar (who gets the chance to know that?  i mean really!). 
in an attempt to make conversation, i am asking Shereef about his classes.  apparently he is working towards a masters degree during his time here.  that is an option to all students who come here for the 9 month school.  but he's Egyptian - english is not his language.  he admitted that he is struggling with his thesis because of the translation, but said "to become distinguished in this world, you must work hard." and left it at that.  he then went on to tell me about his topic.  clearly he is very passionate about it, as an Islamic middle eastern man himself.  he is writing a paper on the true meaning of Jihad as it was intended, and how exrtremists have tainted the concept, what effect that has had on the world, and how things would change if a better understanding were available to everyone.  it's truely FASCINATING!  so i was pretty engulfed in the situation as well as his opinions - what an interesting situation this was!  so i offered my services to him as an editor.  "oh no michelle, you dont have time" (as GiGi is on the other side of the table, eyes wide and nodding, praying that i will do it to help out Shereef because clearly she is strugging to help him too)  well, obviously i have time.  so i took his introduction and first chapter home last night and read over it and made notes.  he was giong to pick it up from the office this afternoon but i left work early, so janet gave it to him.  he will bring me the next chapter in a couple weeks he said. 
so yea, i dont know if anyone else will think tha'ts as cool as i do, but to me, it's pretty neat.  i get to do a lot of cool things for my job, some more difficult than others, but getting to know these families and their cultures has been really amazing.  GiGi was telling me that apparently i am famous among the wives because i help them all out.  most of them i dont know, but they're always very nice when i see them. 
so there ya go.  an update.