Pastor Ghobrial

Hi everyone!

thanks so much for all your prayers and support. I have been accepted into Nyack Theological Seminary and i'll be studying for my masters of divinity and that should be really awesome and amazing! So just wanted to say the big news and...yes i am now one step closer to being called "Pastor Ghobrial" haha. Thanks again!

God is good

Ok everyone...so i dont even know where to begin. I guess i'll give a little history first. So i went to high school for 4 years (haha) and everyday of high school for those 4 years i would buy a Peach Ice Tea Snapple from the deli across the street. I could honestly say peach snapple is my favorite drink. So anyway i drank it all the time and i love it but since i have come to egypt i of course never get one since i mean they dont even have snapple everywhere in america what would bring it to egypt, right? So anyway i was talking with my co workers yesterday and i just had a real craving for peach snapple (you can see from the post below) i was going on about how amazing and awesome they were and how its so good and i cant wait to get back to america and just drink down a delicious peachy goodness. So anyway this is really really awesome. At the super market down the street from the office apparently they stocked peach snapple and my co workers bought me one never seeing it before, this is because its never been here before and they bought me a peach snapple! How awesome is God when He answers prayers? haha. Anyway yeah within 24 hours of really wanting a peach snapple God i guess decided to shut me up and give me one. I love it and it was so good and so delicious and i am just in awe. Anyway just wanted to share how cool that was.

...

I really really REALLY miss Peach Snapples...




That is all.

Important Decision

Ok so work is really really busy and i dont know if anyone even reads this anymore. So there are a lot of cool new things in my life but i dont have the time to type it out anyway....But i did decide something very important the other day. So growing up as a kid i liked super heroes and its always hard to pick your favorite since there are so so so many to choose from. Anyway yesterday i decided that Spiderman is my absolute favorite comic book superhero. Why? i'll give some short reasons.

1. He is a nice kid just trying to do the right thing
2. He gets really bad rep from the papers and a lot of abuse but regardless of all that he still does what he has to do because its the right thing to do
3. He has a sense of humor
4. He has a cool costume
5. He is a lot of fun to draw.

Seriously he is a lot of fun to draw because its so easy. I dont have to worry about terrible details like eyes and a mouth or a nose i can just draw a circle and bam thats spiderman since he has that mask. So yeah Spiderman is my favorite comic book super hero. It may not be that big of a deal but its still news.

temperature

so this is just a small update....yesterday it was about 11 degrees Celsius which is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit but today it is a ridiculous 35 degrees Celsius which is 95 degrees Fahrenheit! man i have no idea where this came from or how long it will last but man oh man it feels good to not be freezing anymore. I apologize for everyone still dealing with snow :/

ok just wanted you all to know its March and its 95 degrees here...

I hope Joe go to read this

Bus

So I guess my new format of this blog is instead of typing a ridiculous amount of stuff to just type out short and sweet events that happen and perhaps reflect on them a little.

So i take the bus to work every morning. I have been doing it enough that i can see the bus coming and i know what i need so i can get in a little job before hopping on rather than chasing after the bus as i realize too late that its what i want. So something really cool that i notice the other day is how there is a separation of men and women when waiting for the bus...i'll explain. So the way it works is there is the curb to the street and then of course the street. The men generally stand up on the curb and the women stand on the street as we all wait for our buses. The reason for separation isnt because like men and women arent to stand next to each other or even that men are regarded as "better" thus they get to stand up on higher ground as the women have to stand on the street and have all the "big strong tough" men towering over them or anything like that. The reason for this is that when the bus comes the men allow the women to get onto the bus first so that there may be a possible seat for them to take or even that they get to stand inside the bus and not have to hang out the door like most egyptians have to. So i thought that was really cool that its this unspoken understanding of manners and shivery.

This also got me to thinking about when i would take a bus once in awhile when i was in america and how there is no regard for anyone around and its just a bunch of pushing and racing to get on so that you can get a seat. Haha its ridiculous to me even when you go to like the greyhound station and purchase a ticket. I remember people rushing to get onto the bus first which makes no sense to me because there are tickets that promise you a seat no matter what. Its not like being the first on line makes any difference if you are the fifth on line because no matter what you get a seat and the bus isnt leaving until you get on, but still there is "need" to push and make sure you get on first. I dont know why there is such a competitive drive in america. Haha it just makes no sense to me i guess. I can understand that kind of behavior maybe in egypt because there are no assigned seats and it literally is first come first serve for a spot inside the bus, yet these people still take the time to be courteous. Anyway i thought that was really cool.

hope everyone is cool and great and stuff.

I hope Joe got to read this

Indian Food!

Hello Everyone,

Sorry i havent been posting for those who still wanted to read about what i am doing in my life. To bring everyone up to speed i have been really busy building in upper egypt and now Habitat Egypt is celebrating their 10,000th house in march so that is where all my time is now basically. So other than that i havent been posting because i feel drained from this blog and also because i have gotten into the habit of emailing people directly and i usually type a lot so when it comes to the blog i am all typed out. So i apologize but thats alright because if you guys really really want to hear from me and get more information feel free to email me at ghobrial@gmail.com for the time being.

So why am i posting now? because though i have been doing a lot and many amazing cool things have happened the last month nothing tops what tonight will be...me eating indian food! Haha, i have not eaten indian food since...oh my snap...i never thought about it but the last time i ate indian food was in May before i graduated at the final ICF meeting...that makes me sick. Haha i love indian food and i never can find a place since this is Egypt. But i found a place. There is a hotel that is run by indians and they are all authentic indians and at the restaurant they have these amazing indian chefs. My friends went there the other day and i am going to go tonight before my Bible study. So basically i am really excited to eat delicious delicious indian food. So i hope all are well. I am probably going to get chicken tikka masala since its one of my favorites. and of course naan. mmmm....naan....ok farewell.

America

Hello Everyone,

so i am feeling a little homesick of the goold ol' USofA and i wanted to just get some thoughts and feelings out on a text box...so i am going to talk about something i really miss from America that isnt here in egypt and that is the squirrel.

Now i know you are all thinking "what?" and yeah but hey its me, i am weird and if you havent figured that out by now well i am sure this post will surely convince thee. So Yes i miss many things from America and many people but its just as long as i can remember squirrels have been a part of my life and have been part of America...i mean squirrels are as american as apple pie! am i right?! Haha, what i mean is i know i am in america when i see a bunch of gray squirrels running around or in a tree or running along a telephone line. Well as most of you know i love animals. I like knowing things about animals and telling people about animals and drawing animals...why i didnt become a zoologist or something is beyond me, either way i am dedicating this post to one of those american favorites...the gray squirrel.

I want to begin with a few demographics on the squirrel:

-scientific name: Sciurus Carolinensis
-where it lives: Like everywhere in America and some parts of Canada
-size: can actually range from 5-36 inches (weird)
-diet: insects, eggs/baby birds, seeds, acorns, walnuts, and umm more nuts...
-lifespan: 10-12 years
-now some interesting facts: a squirrel can actually jump up to 20 feet in the air, and at the same time fall from up to 100 feet in the air without hurting themselves...how? well squirrels have tails right? well the tails arent only for balancing they can be used in such a way as a parachute. Now thats interesting!

Ok so now that you all know a little more about the amazing squirrel i will finish this ridiculous post with some squirrel memories i had throughout my life.

-When i was about 7 or 8 i loved squirrels a lot to the point i wanted one as a pet. Haha, i dont know why but i always dreamt of having a pet squirrel and it just hanging out on my shoulder and i would walk around and it would be cool! haha so i remember one day i wanted to try and obtain a pet squirrel. So as you know i am egyptian and my father is egyptian and part of being an egyptian father is loving and constantly eating peanuts...haha...so i took some peanuts with me and we went to a park one time and i remember doing everyhting i could to get a squirrel. I would hold out some peanuts and run after squirrels(that didnt work) so i tried a more subtle approach where i would sit underneath a tree with peanuts on my shoulder waiting haha needless to say that didnt work either and i never did get a pet squirrel...oh well still a good memory!

-a sad moment involving a squirrel in my life was when i was in the the fourth grade. I was at Harbor Park with a kid named Frank (not frank adams) and it was winter...like for real winter like a blizzard. So we were walking around and we saw the most miserable looking squirrel in a tree he was half covered with snow and shivering. My heart ached for it and i wanted to take it home and nurse it back to health. But i couldnt, do you know why? frank had a tennis ball with him (haha come to think about it that kid ALWAYS had a tennis ball with him...) anyway he threw it at the squirrel and actually hit it! the squirrel must have been so cold and weak it was knocked off the tree hit its head on another branch and hit the ice and all i could hear was a crack sound...yeah that squirrel was dead and i was very sad...

-ok time for a little more upbeat something. So in the fifth grade i think one of the most memorable times i can think of there was when a squirrel somehow got into the building of our elementary school! haha, i remember it well because it was a reason to immediately get up out of our chairs and into the halls to try and find it. It was amazing the teachers could do nothing to stop the mob of children in search of this most welcomed guest. Eventually the squirrel was caught by one of the janitors and we put outside. That guy was crazy he caught the squirrel with his bare hands by i guess faking it out and diving to catch it. He didnt hurt it of course it was weird the way he did it was so...familiar to him it was like he had done it a million times...haha ok well that was a fun time and we missed like 20minutes of class because of it.

-i will give one last memory and i guess end it because this is getting to be a really weird post even for me...so yeah this has a little back story first. In front of my house in mamaroneck there was this bush (its gone now) and in this bush lived a most foul and vicious creature. My friends and i called it "the cat creature". We first discovered this thing on rainy night at about 10pm. It was pouring outside and my friends and i just pulled up to my house to drop me off. The driver was Alex Stein and I was in the front about to get out. In the back seat was Dan Davis and Sam Nia. It was just a regular rainy night i was saying goodbye when all of a sudden something jumped into the head lights that taught us all the definition of horror...THE CAT CREATURE! man it was scary. We all screamed and it jumped into the bush...man if i had to describe what it was...or is...its a cat sure but its a cat with a head twice the size as normal! man those eyes and everything were so big.....ok ok ok so yeah thats the small back story this frightening creature of the night residing in the bush infront of my house. It was really scary having to walk home each day and passing by that bush. So now here comes the memory. So it was a regular day after high school and i was walking home. I was preoccupied with a conversation i had just had with a one Mr. Dan Davis about how "church guy" wrecked him (haha thats a story for another time)....
...so since i was occupied i was walking a little closer to the curb on the side of my house which is also where the bush is. So i was walking when a squirrel from across the way hurled itself from a tree and darted infront of me as i was about to pass the bush. THEN all of a sudden these two paws reached out of the bush and grabbed the squirrel! I jumped back and it was too late the squirrel was dragged into the bush, a few seconds of rustling and then silence...my friends that squirrel saved my life! if it had not been for that squirrel the andrew ghobrial you all know and think is crazy for making this post, haha, would be dead today....


ok so yeah i think you all get the point that squirrels are awesome and that i love them. Like i said i miss many things from america and i definitely miss a lot of people from america (you know who you are...haha kidding i miss you all!) but yeah the common gray squirrel has always been there and it reminds me of america. Ok i have more squirrel stories but i didnt want to go overboard. I hope all is well and may everyone have a good day!

I hope Joe got to read this

ps. I suggest everyone to go outside and admire a squirrel or something haha

Always look on the bright side of lfe

Hi everyone,

sorry about not posting more frequently but these coming months are the busiest and i am working with a lot of people jumping in and out of meetings at the office and then preparing for the builds coming up. I will however give you a small story that happened while my parents were here.

So one of the things to accomplish while my parents were here was to get me a national Egyptian ID so that i dont have to pay a ridiculous amount when using the train or wanting to go to a tourist attraction (as i once said its 50 pounds for a foreigner and 1 or 2 pounds for an Egyptian with an ID). So yeah that was thank God accomplished with relative ease (thats a story for another time) but my aunt also said it would be good if i got an Egyptian passport. So we applied for one and after much and much stress and waiting it seemed to be going well until i had to prove i was the only son so i wouldnt be forced to join the Egyptian army. Haha, i am pleased to say i am not going to the army but here is what happened one day....

I was in the office preparing for a big meeting for a build thats coming up when i get a call on my mobile; its my father. I go "hello father how are you doing?" my father replies "andrew you have to come here right now." and i go "umm...what?" basically my dad was at this huge administrative building called "el Mogaama" (eh mo-gamma) which is Tahir Square (tah-phlegm-eer square) that is about an hours away from my office. But i had to first get my American passport that was in my room in the seminary which is another 20 minutes away. So i had to apologize for skipping my meeting and run to a taxi and get my passport, then i run to take another taxi to the metro and go all the way to the mogaama. When we get there there was some represenative for whatever and he looks at my passport for about 3 seconds before he says we need to go to Helwan....haha oh boy. Ok so let me explain some geography first with a little Mspaint drawing.

so the way it works is on the metro the last stop is this place called Helwan, why do i need to go to Helwan? haha because on my Egyptian ID my address is that of my grandfather and he lives in Helwan so i need to go to the police station in Helwan to get this formed signed so i can come back to el Mogaama to finally get the passport authenticated...So my dad, this guy, and I get on a metro and ride for about an hour till we get to Helwan and we go to the police station. We talk to them for awhile and apparently there is this 3 digit number that i need first before they can give us the form and we first need to go to a place called Mohandehsin (moh-han-deh-seen) which is about 20 minutes East of my office...haha that means we have to go travel for about 2 hours get a silly number go back another 2 hours to get the form signed. So we start walking back towards the Metro (oh yeah the guy who was with us left since he lives in Helwan too) and then my Dad finds the 3 digit number we need! apparently we were given it just we didnt know. So we go back to the police station and are like here you go. After arguing with them that this was in fact the actualy 3 digit number and not use just attempting to skip a step the guy at the desk eventually says "sorry we dont have any more forms" we go "uhhh WHAT?" basically they ran out of forms as in no more physical forms they ran out haha. So my dad is like "are you kidding me look here maybe one fell on the floor or something we dont want to have to do this all over again!" and then the guy at the desk says "even if i find a form it wont work since the person with the stamp or whatever left for the day...come back sunday" haha that was it. My dad and I decided right then and there its just not worth it so we go back defeated by the Egyptian system...

haha but thats ok because like they say there is always a silver lining in every cloud. My silver lining was that i got to spend a lot (and i mean A LOT) of time with my father. It was nice just walking around with him and being together. After that ordeal we visited his uncle (my grandfather's brother) and it was cool going with my dad and having him say "this is my son" haha i know it sounds silly or something but it was a really cool feeling that i enjoyed. So though i missed my meeting, though i did a lot of traveling and was extremely physically tired it was great being iwth my dad. Since I knew how much more of an effort my dad was putting trying to get this passport for me so it was very much appreciated. Anyway that was a really long day. Haha but its something that will be looked back on and laughed at which is always a plus. And the experience gave me another story to tell you all so huzzah to looking at the bright side of life!

Have a good day everyone.


I hope Joe got to read this

aaaaaaaand back again

Yes Hello everyone,


sorry about being MIA for awhile but my family came to visit me for three weeks and it was really really busy. Haha i will go into details in my next post i promise, but yeah if i could sum up my time with them it would be a little like this...







and of course who could forget...


and


ok i will post again once i get some free time work is busy with many teams coming to build. Hope everyone is good!


I hope Joe got to read this