Blog list and a small rant about wealth

I have added a blog roll to the margin of this blog. Not only because Blogger recently released the new page element “Blog List”, but because these are blogs I read now and then, and they’re interesting and well written so I thought I’d share them. Most of them are written by people I know; friends here in Egypt or elsewhere. I love reading about people’s everyday life, their thoughts and opinions; in particular though, I enjoy reading about their travels. Knowing we can’t visit all that many places for the moment (local or foreign), I read about my blog friends’ adventures and partake in their pleasures passively.

I wish we could travel more, but because of monetary shortage we can’t. Not only do we earn less than others in our position here in Cairo, but whatever money we have that’s not used for living expenses is earmarked for repaying student loans. I’m glad we were able to borrow money for education – it was an investment we consciously made - and in a few years the loans will be paid off, and we’ll be more than fine, but in the meantime, especially since we have all these amazing places within reach, sometimes, I wish we did not have to worry all the time and be so careful about spending.

Part of me feels ashamed complaining about this, because looking around me, we’re not poor. I see poverty every day, and compared to a lot people here in Egypt, we are extremely privileged. Though everything is relative, right? I compare us to other expats, and we fall short. But here’s the thing (and Courtney points this out to me when I pout about not being able to buy pickles because they’re 30 LE/jar): if it was all about monetary wealth, we could have stayed in Belgium where I alone made three times the amount we make now, and where dental care for children, schooling and medical care is practically free. I could have bought all the pickles I wanted! I would, however, have been eating them alone in my Brussels office, because I wouldn't have been able to stay home with the boys, home schooling them and watching them grow. I would not have been experiencing all this amazing Arabic, Muslim and Egyptian culture with my family. We would not have four months of paid holiday every year, AND; it would most likely be raining right now.