Mission Marriage: Day 11

My second day in bed, but this will/has to end tomorrow. I feel better, not 100 %, but I can't afford to lose more time.

I don't know why I feel so stressed today. Is it because I miss Ali so much? or maybe because I keep thinking that time is running and I haven't done anything yet? Probably both. Tomorrow it will be only 10 days.. God, help me!

p.s.
change of lyrics.. and the answer is yes..

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 12

There are only two things in the world I really want now: (1) I want time to fly really quickly until Ali comes to Cairo, and (2) I want time to stop for a couple of days until I get better and am able to do the things I need to do.

Can anyone make the two wishes come true?

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 13 (retrospect)

There is never a good time to be sick, but you have no idea how this is a very very very bad time for me to be sick sick sick.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 14

Me very tired.. me can no blog properly.. me miss Ali :)

Ok, a bit of a background: between 6:00 am in London yesterday and 6:00 am in Cairo today I had just 1 hour of very uncomfortable sleep on the plane. Although the flight was quiet and although I had all 3 seats for myself, I couldn't sleep.

So this time I didn't do any airport blogging, of course it makes sense since I had Ali with me and we kept on chatting till it was 5 minutes before take off and I had to run for it and almost missed my flight :)

Anyway, I can't begin to describe how tired I feel now. I'm sure I'll lie again in bed very soon. What I really hope for now is that the coughing and sneezing that have been showing their presence since I landed are just very occasional visitors :)

Just 2 weeks to go.. and the Cairo chapter of this mission begins :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 15

Yes it's 6:30 am.. of course I can't sleep, at least I had 4 and half hours of passing out in bed. I know someone will be sleeping all the way on the plane tonight.

Ok, wis me luck in the final preparations.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 16 cont.

Back at home an hour ago, on my way out again now. Just wanted to say:

I AM PANICKING...

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 16

Oh God.. is it just me or time seems to be really flying? :) Let's talk numbers: it's now just 1 day till I fly to Cairo, 11 days till Ali comes to Cairo, and 16 days till our wedding.. hmmm. The weird thing is that I have very mixed feelings about leaving tomorrow.. one time I'm happy to go to be with my family in these days, another time I don't want to go and and want to stay with Ali to help him with the final move, another another time I want to go quickly to do the million things I need to do back home before the wedding, another another another time I wish I could just skip on the wedding party :)

If I'm not making much sense, just ignore me :) Anyway, got to go.. last chance for shopping today.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 17

Finally I got some decent sleep. I was dead beat yesterday and went to bed around 1 am and sort of passed out till I woke up today at 10 am. Yesterday I did a lot of packing and we went in the afternoon to our house to put one of my suitcases and 5 boxes of different sizes there before I leave. 3 of those boxes are just filled with books and papers. This morning I just realised that this was the last time for me to see the house before I come back to it with Ali after marriage and then I can really call it my own. Every day I get more and more excited about the idea of living in my own house :) It sure is a great feeling. I mean this would be the first time since I came to this country when I can say I have my own place, plus of course it's only when you get married that you start living in your house rather than your parents' house. I also realise it's a huge responsibility but I really look forward to it.

So, I am quickly having my coffee now with a nice slim-fast chocolate bar :) and thinking of the things I need to do today. Most importantly, I need to solve the little suit case crisis I have, in addition to many small errands to run, oh... and more packing of course.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 18

So I have a very tiring day, running around since morning, my whole body is aching, I sleep late and still I wake up very early for no reason. I don't like this. I want to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep but it seems that my mind won't let my body rest because my mind can't take a break any more. So, here I am, wishing I could sleep again, having a cup of tea, thinking of my body/mind conflict and I found myself looking for Anita Baker singing:

What have you done to me
I can't eat, I cannot sleep
And I'm not the same anymore
I don't know what to do
Cos all of me wants all of you
Do I stand alone at the shore?
Now once I could turn away
From everything I feel today
But, now I want to walk through your door

But I've got to know - oh
Body and soul
That you've got no doubt
inside and out
We are whole - oh
Body and soul
Don't leave me out in the cold
Just love me body and soul

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 19

Oh God... it's just 19 days.. :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 20 (retrospect)

Sorry, I was too busy during the day to say anything and by night I was too tired. Yesterday was exhausting, both physically and psychologically. Woke up 9 am, worked on packing all day long till 7 pm, went out once to bring boxes and buy a few things, went out for dinner with my lovely friend Marwa then took the bus to her home where we would spend the rest of the evening till her husband Sherif, Ali's friend, and Ali come. So far, besides being very tired, the panic was already controlling me all day, panic over not finishing things on time, panic over forgetting something, and of course the overall panic of the new life ahead of me, but that wasn't enough.. Just as we took off the bus at the stop near Marwa's house I discovered that I don't have my mobile! I knew I lost it on the bus! I stood there for a few minutes stunned not knowing what to do and all I could think of was "God, this could not happen now", while Marwa was trying to call the numbers on the bus stop stand for help. A few minutes later, Ali told me over Marwa's phone to try ringing my phone and see. I called once, no answer. Marwa called again, someone answered. To make a long story short, it was the bus driver who found the phone and he told us to wait for him at the same stop as he was on his route back. So there we were, two girls waiting at 11:30 pm at the bus stop for a lost phone, with one of them very very tired, cold and stressed out. But I got my mobile back. Phew....

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 21

Wohooooooooo.. got my honeymoon visa and tickets today :)

The only relaxing time I had between coming and going and shopping and hopping on trains since morning till now was an hour and 15 minutes of a deep cleansing facial and a message... mmmmm.. wish I could have that everyday. Ok, maybe just the message :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 22

Today I was thinking what would have happened to this wedding party if there was no internet?! Actually, what would have happened to my communication with Ali if there was no internet?!! In fact, what would have happened to my life if there was no internet?!!! Indeed, what would have happened to the world if there was no internet?!!!!

Ok, maybe I'm a little delirious with excitement :)) Oh, and I came back from the gym an hour ago and I don't really have any feeling in my legs :)

Hmmm... I have exactly one week till I fly home. God, I have a lot to do. But I sent my second abstract today, fingers crossed I'll get some good news on my honeymoon (that is, if I remember to check my emails ;-) )

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 23 cont.

Song of the day:

When I fall in love,
It will be forever
Or I'll never fall in love.
In a restless world like this is,
Love is ended before it's begun
And too many moonlight kisses
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun.

When I give my heart,
It will be completely
Or I'll never give my heart.
And the moment I can feel that
You feel that way, too,
Is when I fall in love with you.

Nat King Cole "When I fall in Love"

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 23

Hello.. yes did some more shopping today, I mean Monday of course, but not just for clothes. Today we also bought a few things for the house, including a phone and waste bins, etc. The most important of them all, though, is an ironing table. I don't know if you can detect an ironic tone here, but believe me there is huge irony involved :) It's just a tiny little fact that I don't know how to iron in the first place :) Well.. I guess "learn to iron Ali's shirts" will be on top of my "post-marriage to do" list along with "learn to cook different things 7 days a week" and "learn to change the duvet covet in less than half an hour" :) Ok, I know what you're thinking.. "poor Ali" :)

Ok, so I gave you irony and a little bit of humour.. I'm actually in a good mood now. Remeber we agreed that being moody these days is both understandable and undebatable :) Anyway, I'm enjoying right now the great Louis and Ella singing "Cheek to Cheek" and guess who I'm thinking of? :) I think we should have this song in the party..

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 24

In the early hours of the 24th day I'm happy to announce that just now I saw the first pictures for the place we're going to have our wedding in!! Yes, this is the first time I've seen pictures of it, even Ali didn't see them yet. Do you think it's weird that you don't get to see the place you already decided you will hold your wedding party in? Well, I never thought this could actually happen to me but.. it's the circumstances of living in one country and getting married in another that made it the way it is. And of course we both had to rely on our trust in our parents' judgements.

So what do I think? Well, it does look very nice with all the decorations, flowers, lights etc etc. Although the pictures don't really give you a complete picture, they did give me a good impression about the place and the decision to have the party in open-air. Of course there is a million decision to make about a million tiny detail from how many light spots to use till what colour the seats' covers should be. Let's hope everything turns out well.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 25 cont.

I'm absolutely exhausted. Did some packing of my clothes and, most importantly, of my book and papers, made three trips to take out the trash, forgot to have dinner and now I have been watching tv for over half an hour.

I was watching a program called "Trick of the Mind". One of the 'tricks' was to demonstrate the ability of people to understand each other even if they didn't speak the same language. So the idea is to get two people who didn't speak each other's language and the first would draw something, not show it to the second, describe it in his language, then the second would draw whatever comes to his mind. Interestingly, the first was a woman whose native language is Hungarian, and the second his native language is Arabic. So I was all focussed when she started describing what she drew in Hungarian, and, to be honest, I got absolutely nothing. BUT.. surprise surprise.. the man drew an ELEPHANT and that was what the woman drew too.. and I was thinking: Come On!!

Anyway, now I'm thinking I have so many things that I need to read. You know when you sometimes buy a book because you think you should really have it but then forget to read it and it just sits there on your shelf untouched for ages? And it's not just books for leisure, there are some linguistic-related books that I haven't read yet although I was very enthusiastic about having them. Maybe it just takes moving in and out of houses to realise what you're missing :)

On the academic side of my life, and yes there is one still :), I am hoping to send an abstract on the 19th for particpating in a conference. I haven't really concentrated much on my work since I did my presentation at Middlesex, but at least I'll have to in the next couple of days to feel good about this abstract. I did send another one earlier this month to another conference which I didn't feel good about at all because it was done in a hurry so I'm not having any hopes for that one.

Ok.. see you on the 24th day :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 25

Good morning. Yesterday I slept at 4 am and woke up today at 10 and it feels like I've been sleeping for half an hour. But at least the shopping trip yesterday was successful.

This morning I just want to listen to nice music, of course Omar khayrat is the first to come to mind. Still need to get up from the sofa and make myself a nice cup of coffee.

Yesterday it struck me that I only have 10 days left until I leave for Egypt. Loads of packing to do, and a million little things that need to be done. I keep on forgetting and remembering things and now I have this big messy "To Do" file on my desktop which has everything written in it from "buy sun block for honeymoon" to "change address with bank". The point is not to forget to remember to check this file every now and then.. I guess :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 26

Ok.. confusion gone, or so I think :) Do you think I'm a bit moody? Well, probably it's understandable in these circumstances: one morning you wake up thinking "ohhhhhhhhhh it's just 27 days till my marriage", the next day you wake up thinking "hmmmm... it's just 27 days days till my marriage" and I'll leave to you imagining the accompanying intonation and facial expressions :)

Anyway, today is another busy day, going shopping outside London. Wish us luck.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 27

I have absolutely no idea what to say today. Yesterday we met some friends over dinner and had a good time. But, there were some comments about how quickly we made decisions and how we are rushing everything and how are we going to manage arranging the party, the dress, etc on time.. I wasn't really bothered with this, although to be honest, I panicked a bit.. juuuust a little bit :)

Anyway, it's raining again.. and of course I'm going out in a while..

There is such confusion in my mind
To play your illusion is so unkind
I didnt know who you were this afternoon
You said that it didn't matter and I'll see you soon
Standing here in the rain, maybe the weather will change again
Change again or stay the bleeding same

Madness "In the rain"

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 28 cont.

Did some good shopping today, spent a lot of money (my poor budget), and sorted out a few of my stuff. Going out again in a while. Now I'm listening to Madonna's "You must love me".. it's a bit deep this song, isn't it? It made me think about what life can bring into your way.. things that you don't expect and takes you a while to know how to deal with them. I'm not having cold feet or anything, don't get me wrong, but the more I think about my future the more I realise that the best thing about it is that I'll be sharing it with someone I love.. that's what really matters :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 28

I just woke up about 15 minutes ago.. I guess I had to compensate for yesterday's disruptive sleeping. Anyway, I'm ok apart from the pain in my knees and shoulders from yesterday's workout :) No pain no gain :)

So will have my coffee first, then I decided that today I should start to do some packing. There's still a lot of shopping that I need to do too, but will see how the day goes with the sorting out of stuff.

Oh, and the good thing is that tomorrow is a holiday (yaaaaaaaaaaaay) and Monday is a holiday (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay) so I'm hoping that in terms of actually DOING things, this weekend should be very productive.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 29 cont.

Very busy day, even though I just slept for 6 non-consecutive hours. After I watched the sunrise I went to bed again around 7 am then woke up at 10:30. I went out three times and changed three times and didn't eat much. I am not hungry at all, probably the one hour and 45 minutes that I spent in the gym today have something to do with it. Or maybe it's just the bride's feeling that a wedding is coming up and she has to take extra care of her shape?! Such a stereotype, isn't it? :) Generally, I don't like stereotypes but I guess sometimes a girl can't help but feel certain girly things.

Anyway, now I'm absolutely exhausted. Need to warm up with a nice cup of cof.. tea. Oh, this is another bridal thing, cut down on coffee because it's not good for the skin (the lady who did my facial a couple of weeks ago told me so too).

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 29

Good morning.. I actually went to bed 3:00 am then woke up 20 minutes ago. After I kept fidgeting in bed for 10 minutes I gave up and came down. Maybe it's the excitement, maybe it's the worry, most likely both, that made not sleep for more than 2 and half hours. Anyway, I thought that watching the sunrise would be nice. So, lying on the sofa facing the window, I logged online, checked sunrise is at 6:12, munching on a couple of almonds. As far as musical effects are concerned, I actually opened itunes, typed in the word "sun" and clicked search :) I had a list of 20 songs. So now I am listening to an interesting collection of "sun songs" which include "Here comes the sun" The Beatles, "Ain't no sunshine" Al Green, "Under the same sun" Scorpions, "House of the rising sun" Jimi Hendrix, and "Sunrise" Norah Jones.

Ok.. the sun is coming now..

Sunrise
Sunrise
Looks like morning in your eyes

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 30 cont.

Song of the day:

بعد أما ارتاحت روحي ليك
وعرفت طعم الدنيا بيك
مشيت خلاص ومقولتليش
أنا أعمل إيه
...
أنا قلبي كنت بخاف عليه
شوفتك معرفش جرالي إيه
حبيت وخلاص محسبتهاش
ولاقولت إيه
كان حلم دا ولا كان خيال
لاارتحت ولا بيرتاحلي بال
ريحني وقولي إزاي البعد
أقدر عليه

Our favourite part in this song roughly translates as:

I used to be careful with my heart
Then I saw you, and didn't know what hit me
I suddenly became in love
And didn't even say a word

It would be much nicer if it rhymed of course but.. actually it only makes sense in Arabic. The important thing is that it has a special meaning for us :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 30 cont.

Since music as always plays a huge role in my life, this is something I just thought of now. On the right of your screen you should see a lyrics box where I'll put lyrics of some special songs all related to the mission, I mean, the marriage theme :)

First song: "The Man I love" :)

p.s.
today me and Ali exchanged ONLY 43 emails :) hey.. we have a wedding to arrange :)

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 30 cont.

I woke up this morning thinking: ok.. no more worrying about millions of little details for the wedding, today I'll just relax a bit. So I watched tv for some time, listened to lots of Arabic love songs, read a bit, and did some online chatting all while lying on the sofa.

Then the millions of little details started to nag me again. So I got up, made a few phonecalls, looked into my papers, checked out some websites, etc etc etc. Of course the one common thing that I always do whether I'm relaxing, studying, talking over the phone, watching tv, doing anything is emailing Ali every 5 minutes.. :) well, not exactly 5 minutes.. maybe 4 and a half? :) sometimes I wonder if he actually manages to get any work done :)

Ok, now I'm hungry and I think I'm going to make myself a nice cup of cof.... tea and sit and do some real work.

Mai (the bride)

Mission Marriage: Day 30

Yep.. now the serious countdown begins. I wish I could have blogged about lots of things in the past 2 months, but at least with exactly one month to go till my wedding I will not waste this opportunity to document every step. I am so excited about this. Are you? :) Well, I hope you'll find it interesting to read about the thoughts, feelings, thrills and worries of a young couple getting married. I got to say that we've already gone a long way in our preparations, but still I should say that it's NOT easy to arrange for a wedding in one country while you're in another.

Whether both Ali and me are here in London, or I'm in Cairo and Ali is in London, or both Ali and me are in Cairo, I'm going to talk you through the road to the wedding.

So, what am I thinking about this evening? Well, I'm basically thinking..

GOD I'LL BE MARRIED IN A MONTH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH :)

Mission Marriage Begins
The Road to Paradise
11 May 2006

Mai (the bride)

it's spring today

Spring for me just started today..
I'm so happy that I don't know exactly what to say..
Is it the thrill from finally sorting out our hut?
Of course it is, it's really exciting and exhilarating, but
There's still more that we need to think about and do
And I know we will, together, me and you
Because since we met, the most important thing we have
Is not understanding, not care, not kindness.. it's love.

:)

Mai