Vacation with Russell begins

Ahhh contentment. It feels as though Russell has been here all along and it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet! So strange to have him here finally - I cannot stop smiling!

As I expected he was up at 5am this morning! I told him my theory on jet lag – it is your STOMACH that keeps the old clock and makes it hard to adjust. So, of course, by 5 am (the equivalent of 10 PM the night before) your stomach is saying –“Hey! Didn’t we miss dinner? Where’s dinner?” and it wakes you up.

Even though I was sleepy I got up too around 7 ish. After a small breakfast we took what we thought would be a short walk (10 min) to the local gas station / grocery store. Got to show him the laundry hanging out at the unfinished buildings where people live - even one laundry stretch that had a rooster walking along the clothes - not sure how clean THAT laundry was! That is when I found out the little grocery store is not open at 9am so we went further (20 min) to the “big” mall and grocery store. This building is not full with stores but has about 5 restaurants including Chinese and Italian plus some fast food ones and does have a modern, almost all English, grocery store in the sub ground basement level. How we were gong to ascend the elevator with our grocery carts was a mystery to me the first time we shopped there until a couple of grocery workers came and grabbed all our bags and went up with us. We tip them a pound each and it is all good. The amount of people here in Egypt makes the impossible possible – and for some reason always reminds me of the catering world back home!

We toured around the grocery store and I think Russell was a little disappointed at its Westernization. (Have I mentioned that we are not know as the “American teachers” but as the “Westerners? ‘Git along little doggie!) But it is still fun to look around! On our way home the driver for the director of the school drove up to us to give us a ride back. At first I was shaking my head “No thank you.” for the ride since we get a lot of beeps from the taxis and Suzukis that are for the public who want to know if we need them. I thought that Houssein was one of them at first and was really happy to see his smiling face behind the wheel of the Mercedes SUV.

On the way home he told us his wife had a baby girl yesterday! This cleared up something he told me on Christmas Eve which I did not understand at the time and he must have mixed up his usually excellent English. He had told me that his wife was giving a baby to the mosque! Now I even knew what to say – “Mubarak!” I think that means Happy or Congratulations – but have yet to look it up and check. Either way I think it is acceptable. He will go to see his family tomorrow he said. I hope he is right since I know that the director of the school is very busy and does not drive. So, she cannot get things done if he is not around and I have heard him say he was going to see his family and then noticed that he did not go. The most I could do was say “Humdi la le” (thank God!) and congratulations! and silently hope he gets to see them tomorrow.

The lack of clear communication affects everyone here! It is very frustrating for us “Westerners” who demand a lot of communication on a regular basis. So, I can only imagine what it is like for the other classes who are just told what will happen – as it is happening. We go through phases where we completely give up trying to ascertain what is going on – with everything from what our students' abilities and needs are to what are these exam days on the calendar (still do NOT know the answer to that one) to– is anyone working on the water today? But, if we go too long in that mode of not asking and not knowing we realize we have to make the effort to open some dialogue up and then go right back to making little questioning moments in the hallway or emails etc. and then share info amongst ourselves back at the residence. It is completely foreign to us to be in such an unprofessional situation! We all shake our heads and just muddle along as best we can. Of course, on the best days, when we can get information about ANYTHING it is also futile because often the best info they can give us is “We don’t know.” It is so ingrained in our culture to be as efficient as possible and as informative as possible that this one culture clash causes the most unhappiness. It is too bad since it does not cost any money to fix and would improve things in many directions. Oh well, Egypt.

So, now Russell is sound asleep but he must get up! We want to go explore Ma’adi – take a felucca ride, buy cookies from the fun cookie store, and have dinner at a restaurant that is on a patio under a BIIIIIG tent! Fun! And of course, a few days after you arrive in Egypt you can use your passport to buy liquor so that will be a fun mother-son activity too. In the usual liquor stores you can only buy beer or wine but in the duty free you can get other flavors too. And he needs a haircut! First one since he shaved his head last May.

It is strange – I want Russell to see all the amazing and wonderful parts of Egypt – the Nile – the history – meet the friendly people. But I do NOT want him to see the layer that also makes this place a virtual dystopia – the poor – the pollution – the mistreated animals. But, here in Egypt you have to take the good with the bad. It is a lesson for everywhere but one that is harshly taught here. Now I get to see Egypt again – with his eyes and my showing him what I know so far. It will illuminate much for us both and I know we will be happy together whatever we do. Wish us luck!

Birds - Driving - Poetry!!

In an effort to update this more frequently than I did in November I am not going to worry about grouping similar info together! So, here is a disjointed collection of thoughts from Egypt!

I am really enjoying the chirping birds that occasionally sit on my balcony. I have put out a tray of water and hope it ends up being a visiting spot for them. Of course, this reminds me of working at NCC on Nantucket and the bird feeders and bird baths in S.'s back yard. The quiet yard might be white and covered with snow or gray on a drizzly day - the visits from the MANY birds would be a highlight during our lunch breaks. I have not seen colorful birds here yet. They all seem to be tern like birds. With darker markings. Black heads, small black bibs on their chests and some sort of stripey pattern when their wings are out. And they love to chirp!! The only other bird I saw was a big surprise. It flew down to the dirt road in front of me and at first looked like a larger version of the above. Then it's head totally changed shape as it displayed a good-sized red crest! Cool! we don't get that much on Nantucket! At the time my elderly brain could only come up with . . "Look, that bird has a . . . dinosaur thing on its head!"

Will keep you posted on the water dish for the birds.

Now, about the driving on the highway. So, yes, I think that 70 miles and hour is slow now! I have serious worries about my driving habits when I get home! Here is one more driving instruction for you all in case you have to drive in Egypt any time soon. .

On the way through the Sinai you drive on very rudimentary two-lane "highway" (think 'Sconset Road without ANY vegetation for as far as the eye can see and then even farther!). And sometimes you cannot see up ahead very well due to a hill or curve. There are NO turns off this road - either you are going East or West - that's it. So, we were following a bus and it had it's right blinker on and I said "He forgot to turn off his blinker." and our driver Ahmad said "No, he is talking to me!".

The right blinker on the bus ahead of us was telling A. to stay to the right - or behind the bus - because the bus driver could see a car coming in the distance. Sure enough a couple cars whizzed by shortly afterwards. Then his blinker on the right shut off and on the left turned on. A. said it was now safe to go by the slower moving bus and we did! As we passed we beeped a one-beep "thanks" and the bus beeped a one-beep "your welcome!". And that is how you pass a bus on the highway in the Sinai!

We are working on planning Poetry Month for February in our school. I think the quest to be excellent observers, more keenly aware of feelings, and better interpreters of words and phrases will benefit us all - students and teachers alike and I hope the whole experience adds a layer of integrity to our teaching and just our BEING at school. We American teachers brace ourselves while hoping for such lofty accomplishments - the soufle could fall!! but, better to try a soufle that to just eat crackers allll the time! We are using Georgia Heard's Awakening the Heart as a guide and I am so grateful to R., my fellow in-the-know teacher, for bringing it to my attention. You should check it out too if you want to see some of the activities we hope to encourage at school for the month ( forever?) A wonderful map and compass for us to refer to - I will keep you posted on how the journey goes and what our eventual destination is!

OK - gotta go! Birds - Driving - Poetry that's enough for one entry! Next time - How IS my Arabic learning coming and WHY is it so hard!!!

Off to some Art Galleries - Grocery Shopping - meeting with the Principal - yay! A little over 24 hours til Russell comes!!!

Vacation December 2009

Happy Day After Christmas!

Spent a nice day yesterday with the other two teachers who remained here during vacation. Made a nice “soccer team” brunch ala Whaler soccer! French toast casserole, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, YUM! Then went to Maggie’s (she is from Fiji but lived in VT for 8 years a while ago) beautiful home in Ma’adi with her wonderful family. Turkey dinner! Her husband and his 3 siblings (Americans) lived in Cairo as children and now they live with their spouses all over the world. Their mom lives in DC now but basically lived everywhere in the world and still travels all over. One in India, on family in Columbia, one in California and then Maggie’s in Egypt I think their 9^th country?? Lovely, kind, and interesting family and we were so grateful to be included in their celebration.

Of course, the highlight of MY day was SKYPING in to my home in Nantucket. Casey, Russell, Geoff, Becca, Charles, and Friday were all there – and I got to say hello to everyone. AND! See the snow!! Nice!

Funny story about Maggie and me. We have a mutual friend of course! Her friend from Fiji – Annette – and I met at Harvard when I was doing my masters in 96. Small world!!

Here in Egypt I am getting used to the new apartment and the neighborhood. Checking the water/electricity/internet service is like the weather for the day “Spotty hot water in the AM changing over to completely steaming and no cold by evening – excellent internet reception throughout the day followed by a complete electricity blackout during the early evening. For those of you staying up late enough you will be able to see the lights on in the residence through the use of the generator and the only other light visible in the night sky will be the red flashing light at the top of the fake palm tree/cell tower.” Today – right now – all the elements of the universe are aligned and we have it all! And I am grateful!

Even though every building I can see from my balcony is empty we went for a walk and found that there is a more (relatively speaking) established area just behind the mosque. There is a large school – looks pretty traditional ie poor – complete with busted glass windews - and more inhabited houses. We also found a huge construction supply “mall” so if we need to buy a sink – or gallons of paint which is more likely – we are allll set!

 here is a google earh view of the school from a year or so ago - not much around us has changed but the school is more finished.

We also timed the walk to school – 22 minutes -  and then continued past it to time the walk to the local gas station (gas stations seem to always have a small market AND coffee shop and therefor is a HANGOUT!! Yes, I am beginning to hang out at gas stations! Every time I do I think – If they could see me now . . . ) which only added another 10 minutes. Also there is a new McDonald’s!! Of course!! Then we kept walking through MAJOR construction area (complete with many folks in hard hats and BIG machinery unlike around the school and residence where manual labor is building everything one stick and one brick at a time) to time the walk to the bank – 45 minutes total! Doable now when it is not hot! but I am afraid that by early-mid April will be impossible.

A bonus of this trip was our finally checking out an “eatery” we have always wondered about that is visible from the way we approach the bank. It is called the “Time Out” on its sign written in English. We all have a good chuckle at the irony of teachers going to Time Out. We never rushed over there to check it out as it is literally up against some piles of fill near our bank since it is an unfinished office building and there are many in this strip. The “roof” of the “Time Out” is tent like and looks really, really local i.e. we thought probably a little too rustic and a little too much risk for tummy trouble if we went. R. and I were VERY pleasantly surprised!! That is the back door entrance to the group of FOUR different outdoor restaurants!! And the front door side is very complete and modern looking. YAY! Seating at all of them is on comfy couches and they have big screen TVs too so now we know where to watch soccer – VERY important. One had wireless interent (we think! The English was Shway shway. One had Shisha and one had a beautiful setting with each table under its own little tent (getting addicted to my own little tents!) but a more expensive menu. And the people there were all dressed in Western fashion and style so more comfortable for us. We are here for the exotic experience but every so often it is nice to take a break! So, “meet you at “Time Out” may become an oft used message – we’ll see!

In addition to exploring the neighborhood this week I am also thinking a lot about teaching. It is interesting to be “learning” about Christmas and the lessons it teaches us all during this week off when I am also supposed to be regrouping for this next term at ISE. Not that I mean to compare my teaching with that of Jesus and/or any of the prophets but I am just thinking about teaching and “lessons” and their  multiple layers all the time this week.

(There is so much to learn about the Christian faith here! I thought I was a pretty well-schooled Catholic but by adding all the authentic Middle Eastern themes and traditions to the stories they have become fuller, richer stories. The multiple layers of cultural references that I knew nothing about before and their metaphor and symbolism also continue to intrigue me.)

So, I find myself wondering what are we REALLY accomplishing here in our little school? Some of us wish we could just have a class that would come in to the room, find a seat, get out their supplies, and be ready for some interesting dialogue and practice! That is a looooong list of wishes here since we think that these children have only been ordered around like trained circus animals in their past schools. We have tried to give them the freedom to operate independently and for the sake of getting to learn (which they DO want!) but it seems to be too much freedom too soon. So, there are many trials and tribulations and sometimes by the time everyone is sitting and ready and not fussing 15 minutes or MORE have gone by. We shake our heads wondering if it is worth it but I know it is. If we can get through this year getting the kids to respect the idea of “This School is for You!” will we have accomplished much. Then next year there will be a core of students who know the ropes and will be able to show the new students (who will no doubt experience the same shock at not being ordered around every step of the way) how to participate.

So, classroom management has taken up a majority of the teaching time here and that causes frustration but I think I will have to remind everyone that it is OK to be teaching that – in as kind and gentle a way as we possibly can. It will mean a lot for the future of the school! And if there is less social studies learning then so be it! They will catch up later.

The MAJOR classroom management challenge here is the volume of the classroom and the amount of talking out of turn and off-topic that occurs. It is partly because of their complete lack of training in the last few years but also it is partly cultural. The Egyptians here do talk over each other and they are loud! It is impossible to run our classrooms this way though so we are retraining a new culture to adopt at school. This is pervasive through all the grades and even with some of the Egyptian teachers. So! If the teacher is loud then the classroom is loud! Walking down the hall some days I am sure you would see my eyeballs popping out of my head when I hear just the type of sound coming from a room!! WOW! We each seem to have a story of shame where we cannot believe the words that have left our lips in order to maintain some sense of order! That is very frustrating and for the most part we are left on our own in this wilderness to cope without any help from the admin. They are too busy trying to put out fires to possibly notice any details such as “What is getting taught here?” Luckily this group is completely dedicated to the ART of teaching even though there are many who have little experience and are still learning what that means. So, we fumble along and support each other as best we can. It may be the effect of vacation and distance from the classroom, but today I have confidence. I hope it lasts for a little while at least once we are back in session – for myself and others.

We had parent conferences recently and here a few tid bits:

Most parents say there is toooo much homework. Something I suspected from the get-go and have asked for help with coordinating among the EIGHT! Teachers that the children see! We have yet to coordinate though! My homework is minimal reading each night and practice spelling for the most part. We do not use the 5^th Grade social studies book much since it is written for accomplished American 6-8^th grade students who speak English. There is so much wrong with using this particular text with my ESL Egyptian 5^th grade students that I cannot go into it. However, I think other teachers ARE using their Textbooks-That-Shouldn’t-Be-Used and forcing the students to pour over them for a couple hours each night with their parents. These students, for the most part, are pretty high strung as are their parents and I cannot bear to add this stress on to their evenings!

One parent asked if I could add more competitions to the week’s work. Her son, she said, would do better if I made it all a contest. This is a VERY common theme and one that the Egyptian teachers respond to. They have competitions all the time and give prizes – small toys and candy – to the best students. The students are obsessed with points and scores etc.. BUT! If I say “Do your best work.” When I hand out an assignment – they all ask what it means and how can they tell if they are doing it right!! This dichotomy in the school is extremely frustrating for us American teachers. We do have to deal with it eventually but it is so embedded in the system that we are stymied as how to go about changing. Again, no voice from the admin. We do not have a teaching hand book etc.. and it already feels as though the Egyptian teachers are feeling undervalued so cannot choose this battle yet.

For now, I do not grade! Ever! I will correct – using my trusty red pen – so children can see where they need to work on skills or redo something. They are getting used to the idea that few red marks means they did pretty well! BUT! Every once in a while I will say “You will get extra points if you do this!”. Of course, they do not get ANY points in the first place but every time I get more effort out of them after announcing this! More head shaking on my part!! I had to explain that I did not need a grade on a paper in order to know if they are “good” at reading, writing, spelling, speaking, and understanding. I have done this a few times and I THINK they are getting the idea that I can observe their skills accurately just by how well they read, write, and speak as they are before me in the classroom and that numbers on their papers cannot tell me any more. We are getting there!! Now if the E. teachers could join in!

For the parent who asked for a competition in order for her son to learn I answered without skipping a beat. I told her there IS a competition in my classroom EVERY day! She seemed incredulous. Of course, the language barrier makes all of us second guess what we are hearing so incredulous looks are pretty common here! I told her that each student is expected to do better than they did the day before every time they walk in my classroom.They compete with their own performance each day! I told her that I take note of everything they do from how they walk, sit, get ready, turn in homework, take turns speaking, take turns reading, etc. etc.. And judge how much better they are doing from the day before. She was silent and thoughtful and then smiled. I am not sure if she really got it but am chalking it up to the first of many conversations. I can just imagine the phone calls between parents that night. “Did you hear what Mrs. MaryAnn said?”, “She has competitions every day!” and “She even counts how well the kids SIT!”  I hope they are all amazed!! I can only wonder if my students are practicing walking and sitting with their parents during this vacation!! (probably!)

I am going to wrap this up now. I have to go read about Sumer and then the Hebrew kingdoms. The more I know about the view of Jews here the more I am curious about how teaching that unit will go! And we all want to study poetry school-wide for the month of February and we actually want to PREPARE beforehand!! And we want to include the observation of ART with this study at the risk of worrying the parents that the children will learn nothing during this month - MORE education to do! So lots for ME to learn as well in absolutely every direction! I will keep you posted. And I have to say MY students ARE getting it – 4^th and 5^th seem to be mostly civilized (4^th more so than 5^th) so I have a handle on things and hope it just gets better and better.

AND! Russell comes in three days!! Today is Saturday and he arrives on Tuesday at 5ish! Can’t wait! And we will explore Egypt together so that will be fun to report back to you on as well. Can’t wait to share it with him – and you all!

go to www.soundingstill.blogspot.com

for more blog on our Christmas time adventures!

Merry Christmas From Egypt!

Here I am sitting in the sun streaming through the window of an elementary school in New Cairo, Egypt sending well wishes to friends and family. Truly a surreal activity! I hope you are all enjoying the festivities and peace and love of the holiday season.

What is Christmas like in Egypt? Well, there is little notice of it really although even Moslems observe the holiday with a family dinner since they revere Jesus as a prophet. Some stores have American holiday tunes in the background but most don’t. When we ride in taxis they play only the local music. Stores with Christmas decorations are few and far between but we have been finding them! There is a small cluster of Christmas items on one shelf in each grocery store. Honestly, half of me misses all the hoopla and hustle and bustle but half of me is glad to have one December free from all that craziness and focus on consumerism.

I have to say the Christmas decorations here range from pretty ordinary, to strange, to downright bizarre! You may find some round shiny ornaments, OR a Santa shaped tissue box holder (I think that’s what it was), to a wreath made of peacock feathers and purple sparkles or black feathers and gold sparkles. There are a few buildings decorated with lights here too. Very few. The lights are strung willy-nilly from the top of the buildings down to the street level and are always blinking and multi-colored. (many opportunities to use the adjective garish here) There were some actual live Christmas trees on a sidewalk I drove by one day. There were about 10 or so. They seemed to be in decent shape. In some stores I have seen fake trees but they look as though they were made with pipe cleaners (old, used, pipe cleaners) and they looked as if the tree making project was not finished . . . and then run over by a car! The string decorations are just lumped onto one branch as though someone forgot to spread them out, and then there are two randomly placed “ornaments”. These ornaments could be just about anything, an actual ornament or maybe a clock or maybe a hat. VERY flexible decoration ideas here! So, in my apartment I have cut a tree out of sparkly silver paper and decorated it with origami. Just fine by me. Of course, I have a small nativity scene from home on one table and a nice Egyptian style nativity scene painting that I just purchased at a holiday fair. It’s all good – very minimalist and each day the apartment feels a little more like home and cozy. Next week – vacation – will help me to get more into making this my home and then of course Russell will be arriving on the 29^th! And that will help make it feel like home too.

I do plan on baking. I just don’t know when. I have an oven in my new apartment that I have to get used to. It is a regular and convection oven combo. Unfortunately I cannot figure out the manual even though it is written in English! And one setting never gets warm for some reason . . . should be interesting!! I can use it to make toast though so that works for breakfast! Christmas cookies will be an adventure all around since it will not only include learning about the oven but will also require adventures in grocery shopping! I go from interested in exploring the stores to just wishing the whole grocery shopping thing was a lot easier! But can’t let it stop me from making Christmas cookies now can I?

I found a nice little Episcopal church in Ma’adi to attend on Christmas Eve – if I can stay up that late – midnight service! Actually, Alicia, another American teacher found it and got me to go – thank goodness! I felt completely at home there. The service is done by Paul, an American pastor in his 7^th year here, and almost all the congregants are from America, or other countries, although many of them lived abroad for many years. The church itself is a beautiful domed sanctuary with a few very small, but very beautiful, stained glass windows set into the stucco walls. Lovely. The other day I was driving by and saw three camels with men dressed as kings sitting on them on the patio entrance to the church. Taban!! There were also some sheep lined up eating hay! I guess if we had access to camels in Nantucket they would be invited to a Christmas pageant too! This church is interesting also because it serves 12 different languages each week! Amazing!

The little stained glass is from this church and is of the flight into Egypt. So beautiful. Follow this link if you want to learn more about the church (interesting!) and their little bit of info on Ma’adi is good. I learned that ma’adi is Arabic for ferry boat and that ma’adi was a major Nile crossover point for caravans. Wow! http://www.maadichurch.org/background.html

I went to the children’s service complete with the reenactment of the Nativity a week ago. They have this service so early in December because all the families of foreigners head out of Egypt so early. It was such a cute little service and it just amazed me to see the story told here in Egypt as I have seen it done so often at home – the same story – the same families – the same nervous Sunday school teachers . . . They had some nice twists – the narrator told us the holy family had to travel and were only slightly delayed by all the camels, traffic, and pollution! - Caesar Augustus was portrayed as a schmarmy business exec on a cell phone . “Yeah . . . I um, yeah, I um want to have a census . . . you know, like of all the people . . .” and best of all the “star” was worn on the back of a baby while his dad carried him to the front with the three wise men following. Cute!

So, church will be an activity in the coming week! I hope I stay awake late enough to attend the Christmas Eve Service. My midnight will be Nantucket’s 5PM so I will imagine everyone down on Main Street at the drawing!

Meanwhile, this week is the last week of school. Last day December 17. Then 4 of the teachers go home! (sniff!) for vacation and three of us will be left banging around in the residence. Before they leave we have to figure out what to tip our Bowab or houseman. He lives in an empty apartment and keeps and eye on things. He comes out to greet us every time we arrive or depart and makes sure strangers do not come in the building. He has very few possessions but is considered very lucky to have a job and live in a finished building. Many bowabs’ live with their whole families including young children in unfinished shells of buildings. We can see their fires and silhouettes as we drive by the endless construction at night. They light these fires in old metal cans on the first floors of the buildings. During the day we see their laundry draped over the half-built brick walls. I cannot describe the feeling I have when I see the little baby clothes among them. I wonder what it is like to grow up in such a situation, camping in an unfinished building. And, of course, we Americans complain when we have no hot water or electricity . . . . It is all strange here. I cannot think about it all too much as I know I am powerless. This mindset must take over all the Egyptian psyches as well, and this must explain much of what we see as the cultural differences between us.

So next week we will make do and enjoy the quiet – and try to go out and about to a movie or such as well! I am sure I will find some baking and writing to entertain myself. Not to mention reviving my study of the Arabic language which has stopped completely. Last night we were sitting around and decided that perhaps watching Sesame Street might help. It comes on around 4PM so coincides nicely with cocktail hour!

There are lots of things to miss from home – baked goods, gatherings with friends, finding all the family ornaments and reminiscing while decorating and all the beautiful scenery but I know it all waits for me in 2010 and that will be soon enough! For now I am content to see images from home via the internet. There is a blizzard on the East coast today - it is warm and sunny here!

I will have to update this blog in January with the adventures Russell and I will have! Can’t wait! He arrives on Dec 29. We’ll take it easy for a couple days (visit Ma’adi and go for a felucca ride/out to dinner day one and visit the pyramids day 2) and then we fly early on Jan 1, 2010 to Aswan and get on a cruise ship for a 3-day 2-night tour of all the ancient sites! Awesome! I cannot wait! We are lucky to be joining a first rate cruise ship. It will have a tour group from Sienna college on board! I am so psyched that Russell will not spend the time with retirees as I was worried we would! He’ll come to school with me a couple days and then I hope we make it to the Sinai for a Bedouin experience too! insh’Allah we will be there for his 20^th birthday!!Mrs. L. wants to take us to dinner and I hope we get in to see the Sufi dancers too. Wow! Russell is a sophomore at Emerson this year and enjoying all it has to offer. He joined a fraternity and is a beat boxer in an a capella group in addition to working on the occasional film set and  . . .oh yeah! Studies!

Casey has been working for IBM since he graduated from Boston University in May. And he just recently got accepted into BU’s doctoral program as a teaching fellow. So, right now he is busy apartment hunting and making the move from Connecticut. We are so proud of him!

Teaching here started out very challenging but has smoothed out somewhat and for that I am grateful. Some days I shake my head quite a bit! I hope to comment on the whole experience and may be able to do so as this vacation will give me some distance and therefore perspective. My students are wonderful and they amaze me every day with how smart they are! They speak English and Arabic and also take French here. I am learning a lot about teaching and a lot about myself which makes this all worth it.

Here is a little donkey eating his lunch on the side of a very busy street. We passed by as we went into Ma'adi yesterday to do a little shopping. This sight is so common I almost did not bother to take a photo. But he reminded me, on this warm sunny day, of the beast of burden that the holy family may have used to travel here so many many years ago. It was a different time then but in essence much of all we know is exactly the same.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Giving Thanks from Cairo to Nantucket

Ahhhhhh, some time off. (we should only have a 4-day long weekend due to Eid but they gave us 10 days in order to ward of H1N1 from hitting after everyone travels and sharing germs) We are also sort of stuck inside today as I strongly wish to avoid seeing any of the slaughtering of animals that is going on –literally in the streets – today for the Islamic holiday, Eid. I am not a vegetarian but  . . . . did see many of the animals alive tied inside the stores and even two cows tied to a street light outside the liquor store the other night. . . I will be glad that this is over as the sights of all these animals in vehicles etc. . . has been hard this week. So I am entertaining myself at the computer today which is just fine by me. Free time! Precious!

There are so many things to write about but since it is the morning after Thanksgiving, November 27, 2009, I am compelled to write about gratitude. I have always thought of myself as a grateful person in general but there is nothing like being without all the comforts of home to refocus you on what is important. And of course, there is much here in Egypt that I see through my American visitors eyes that remind me daily how lucky my family, friends, and I am.

Last night five of us American teachers got together for a damn fine meal. The only turkey we could have gotten would have been 25 pounds! Too big and it would never have even fit in our little half-oven! So, chicken it was. Mashed potatoes but of course at the last minute we realized we had no potato masher! So, the meat mallet? . . the whisk? . . . a couple small forks ? . . . nope! We used the hand-crank egg beater! Worked fine and they were delicious. We actually found two cans of cranberry sauce! Ocean Spray! I think I heard that all the ACK cranberries go into juice products but maybe, somehow I ate some ACK cranberries. On some packages the cranberries are referred to as “famous American cranberries”. We only had two proper bowls but somehow that was enough after we pulled various and sundry containers of other sorts from the cabinets of our rental apartment to use for mixing – a little like camping. K. brought some delicious homemade stuffing a la Egypt with kofta instead of sausage. D. manned the oven roasting two 1 kilo chickens AND made gravy too! I was soooo glad to not have to think about that! YAY! I was completely impressed since she is only 23 and this was her first time making such a dinner. A. made a delicious salad (my first in Egypt as I was afraid to eat the lettuce but A. said she washes the leaves with soap and water which is how to do it) tangerine segments were subbed for mandarin oranges, the SMALLEST celery I have ever seen – like 1/8 of an inch wide! gave a good crunch and candied almond slivers gave it a sweet delicious taste!. Thanks to A. we also had a veggie – green beans roasted with lime and almonds and a dressing. This was an awesome meal.

Degla and the Corniche (that is how we refer to ourselves here as the teachers are split between two locations in the city of Ma’adi – like the teams on “Survivor”!) splurged and bought wine too – the liquor store in Ma’adi has about 6 flavors total! Small, small store. D.W. was only caught drinking out of the bottle of red once!  :  ) as he was on his best behavior for the occasion . . .

We set up K.’s delicious appetizers – REAL cheese! YUM! And olives and almonds – on the ironing board! Worked perfectly! And later it also held the pies – one apple – one sweet potato – one pumpkin (found Libby’s pumpkin filling too! It was two weeks ago and I shudder to think we actually contemplated coming back to buy it some other time! Whew! That was a close one! I have heard that in the states there is a pumpkin shortage – who knew!) homemade pie crusts (turned out pretty well considering I cut the butter in with two butter knives! – no food processor here!) that I made - complete with whipped cream.

So, we all talked of home and Thanksgivings Past (the ones I mentioned were the Tuckernuck adventure with the Kellers and last year’s trip to see The Eagles in concert and my cousins – good memories!) and our traditions. I might try K.’s family tradition of prosecco in the morning – viva Italia! And D.W.’s family tradition of picking a Scrabble letter and saying something about what you are thankful for with that letter. We did that with our initials and of course I cried JUST A LITTLE! Saying I was thankful for My new friends and My family. . . All of us excused ourselves for SKYPE or phone sessions during the evening too. My Casey has a beard! I got to see Friday! And toured the apartment and the Nile at night with Charles, Jess, and Russell. Russell and I tried to count the days until he comes but that involved math and, well . . . .soon! That made it fun as well. And, of course there are all the email and Facebook well wishes that I received and sent! Can’t say enough how much they mean to all of us teachers here. I was thinking about and being grateful for all the support I get from home – the electronic messages and the gifts I was sent with from little paper cranes that hang in the center of my room, the pretty cards that decorate my walls, to a film festival bag I use daily to carry my books – to earrings I wear daily – all reminders and talismans of friends and family back home! Couldn’t do it without! But couldn’t do it without the teachers here as well – so it is a team effort. I always wonder if my Nantucket “team” will ever meet my “Egypt” team. I hope so! One day, Insh’Allah!

So, you can see I have so much to be thankful for. And I am. But we also talked yesterday about how we Americans forget what a privilege it is to be able to travel! We have one teacher here who does not want to live in the country where she is from and is having trouble getting a visa to live here in Misr and cannot go back to the states. Oh! And, there are Egyptians here who are not allowed to leave their country (as there are people in other places in the world as well). Strange to think of all the travel opportunities offered to Americans and yet we do not take advantage of them. And, some of us remain so unknowledgeable about the world.

Here along the Nile, even in the posh expat part of the city of Ma’adi the poverty of the country is clearly evident. People live where they can and I imagine they are grateful for whatever that may be. If we go across the street to the TGIFriday’s there are usually small children who beg for whatever when we come out. I am saddened to say that the reality is that I do not give them money . . . . It’s a hard one. There is a garage that we pass on the way to work and there are two ramps built where I imagine a car can be driven and then worked on from underneath. Some mornings there is a man sleeping under a blackened blanked right on that ramp. His plastic water bottle’s blue label the only bit of color indicating that a human is under the fabric. A little further down is another man sitting up on his piece of cardboard and folding his blanket – with a cigarette in one hand of course! These streets and sidewalks ar TEAMING with people! Think Jetties Beach after the fireworks get out. Along the highway we see soooo many people! I wonder how many faces I see on the way to school if we counted all in the crowded cars and busses and walking on the sides of the road? . . . Two thousand? One thousand? Less? More? A lot!! A man has stopped his rustic donkey cart loaded sky high with what? Cardboard?. His little boy (four years old maybe? And covered in dirt) quietly sits on the cement highway barrier. The man, in a long gallabaya, stares off into space. I think of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. A very small truck goes by loaded well above the cab with cauliflower. I see that it is not covered with a blanket as I first think. There is a man lying on top of it all going 100 miles an hour down the highway. Busses and micro busses slow to about 5 miles per hour along the sides of highway and the men and women standing there run to jump on – whoever makes it makes it and the rest wait again. Groups of 3 or 10 or 20 people wait at the cement barrier median and at some unknown signal run like hell as a group across the four lane (but it is always at least 5 -7 cars across – lines are just a suggestion) highway as there are no ways to cross the highways but this. Our driver never slows down – it always seems as though we will hit them – we miss some by inches. This goes on all the way to school and back again – usually a 30 minute ride but sometimes as long as an hour. I never mind traffic slowing us down . . . it means so many less near misses!

I did enjoy a cup of tea at TGIFriday’s last week after work. We get home just before sunset and it seems ashame to waste the nice sunset sitting in the apartment and tea is cheap enough. Friday’s has a patio outside on the edge of the water and you can watch the Falucca’s, the ferry for the local workers (with all of 8 inches of freeboard! Loaded to the max and a TINY dory on the back for . . .rescuing one person??), an occasional barge of sorts, and small power boats. The power boats I think are mostly for people with money out to enjoy the river but on this day I get a closer look at one of the handful of small skiff type boats we see from our apartment each day.

These boats are about 15 feet long. They are narrow with an outboard and a thin 2-bar frame probably for putting a tarp over amidships in cold weather, or for the rare rain. One floated close to shore and I could see what looked to be a mom, a dad, and two small children going about their chores. I think there were two bench seats across the beam of the boat. The mom seemed to be cleaning the side of the boat by dipping a bucket in the river and rubbing the sides with the water. (If I put my hands in the river I would soak them in Hydrogen peroxide for hours afterward.) The dad seemed to be moving stuff around a bit. Soon enough I saw a small fire lit in the center of the boat!– so he had been readying a fire pit of sorts. The flames dancing brightly against the darkening water as the sunset was taken over by the city night. No smell or signs of cooking were happening so maybe this was for warmth? We can see these small boats with their fires from our apartment above. When I first arrived my thoughts were – “THERE’S a FIRE! On that BOAT!” imagining that I was witnessing some sort of disaster. But now I think, “Oh, there is a family around a fire on that boat.” This evening one youngster was just standing around near the stern where all sorts of cushions were piled. I am pretty sure that these are sleeping cushions that get spread around the floor of the boat at night. One other youngster was sitting atop these cushions. Soon another boat appeared and the couple- three occupants of that boat got into the first boat. I wondered if maybe they did not have a fire . . . But anyway they rafted up. The next thing I knew I could see a TV screen lit up in Boat One and the silhouettes of all the boat people huddled around! People are people. I thought that if I were a poor person here in Cairo I would chose being one of these people. The image of these two boat families on the River Nile gives me hope for us all to make our ways - somehow.

 But of course, I am so thankful for the bounties with which I and my family and friends are blessed. And the last two items in this list are truly awesome gifts! – the sound of pouring rain hitting the windows last night – what a sound to wake to! I was not sure what I was hearing at first. I have only seen two rain “moments” for lack of better words in the last two months, sort of the liquid equivalence of spitting snow. The sound of pouring rain in the middle of the night was amazing. I was transported home for just a bit lying there listening to that particular water-on-glass percussion –beautiful. 15-20 minutes too which is a looong time here for rain to go on. The roads were even still wet this am and I wonder how the vegetation may be visibly changed in the next two days by such an occurrence. . . . . AND! Amazingly enough – this morning we went to light the gas stove to heat the left over pie (Hey! It’s a breakfast/Thanksgiving thing!) and learned we were out of gas! We cooked all day yesterday and did not run out – never knowing how close we were coming. Blissfully ignorant – as Americans are want to do! But, today very, very grateful!

Amen.

ISE Promo video - it's good to dream and the kids are cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VfZ2nvxRg0

Dahab Maktub

Here it is 11/11/2011. If the whole 11/11 wish thing works then I have sent much love and good wishes for health and fulfillment to everyone at home. I have been completely distracted today with thoughts of home. It must be cold, windy, grey, getting dark earlier and earlier there – I can only remember the cozy feeling of walking from the chill to the warm house. I know that my mind is playing tricks and putting the annoyance with the cold and the quiet in the far recesses. I did read that everyone was happy with a warm spell – true Indian Summer, such a gift. It makes me happy knowing that they are getting to enjoy some fine weather like I do every day. It gets dark early here too. It is so strange though since the day is bright and sunny with beautiful warm weather. I cannot get used to the idea that summer is over! The early dark makes me look for decorations and Christmas lights on the way home.

To make it feel even more like summer some teacher friends and I went to Dahab. Dahab is Arabic for gold –Dahabaya for golden Americaneya for female American Americaniki for male American. What a fantastic adventure! It cured me of homesickness for almost 5 whole days. We had the guidance of L. our science and math teacher who loves to go scuba diving at any opportunity. She also happens to be a “crazy Russian” which makes it all the more fun! Her diving buddies Ahmed and D. joined us. (I feel like the name Ahmed still offers enough anonymity here!).

To get to Dahab you must drive in traffic due east from Cairo for two hours. Travel under the Suez Canal in the ONLY tunnel to connect all of Africa to the Middle East (which is exactly the amount of planning that this country is capable of and wasn’t nearly as trafficky as you would think!) and then take a right and head due south for four hours on the Sinai Peninsula. Then curve around the peninsula and head due north 2 more hours. You really have to like your carmates!! In Cairo you really feel like you are in Africa but on the Sinai Peninsula you feel like you are inside a history book. It is amazing! From the Bible to the Camp David Accords my mind traveled back and forth from event to event on the time line of humanity.

The landscape is harsh, craggy, dessert mountains. It is really bleak for the most part. To me the expanse of sky above this moonscape was what offered the beauty. Most of the time we were at sea level or only slightly above but every so often I realized my ears were popping from the altitude. The climbs were always gradual so we never had a “lookout point” view.

There were PLENTY of check points and I was so glad for our native Egyptian male companion who was driving. Our friend L. was driving in the car in back of us and I think she would only take the trip with at least one Egyptian male with us. It really makes a difference. You get better service, better prices and more honest attention when you have an Egyptian male with you anywhere you go – Don’t leave home without it!! Recently when I went to fix my computer I had another Egyptian male friend speak to the computer repair person at the shop via cell phone. He pretended the computer was his and that I was working for him and it seemed to work! The computer was repaired for about 15 US dollars in one hour!

Anyway, after many check points where our passports were sometimes asked for (where I learned Americaneya) and a loooooong winding drive we arrived at Dahab. The first thing I saw in the sleepy little town (think Maine in winter only warm and with palm trees) was a street light illuminating a garbage-picking animal. Pretty typical sight in Cairo except this animal was a camel of course! Welcome to Dahab.

We checked into our little two-bed rooms. No creaking beds here as the mattresses were not on springs! They were on boards – mmmmm nice and firm! Tiny little bathroom but clean! The doors were wooden and had curved tops and frosted glass lights – even the hinged window to the patio was tiny and curved. The most dramatic feature was our domed, brick ceiling! I said I felt like I was in some sort of Hobbit House. Where was Gandolf?? So cool. And only 100 pounds for two nights – which is less than 20 US dollars! I’ll take it thank you. We even each got one towel and there was a lovely outdoor area with umbrella tables and a fun mulit-colored tiled patio. The rooms of the motel lined both sides of this narrow patio and at the end it opened onto a wide gray brick sidewalk, then the beach, then the ocean only 20 feet away! Then . . . . the mountains of Saudi Arabia of course!! I didn’t realize they were there and close enough to be completely visible until the next morning when I woke up at 7 am and came out to see them on the horizon as far as the eye could see. To the north, or our left as we looked at the ocean, were the closer-appearing mountains of Jordan. Awesome!!

We ate breakfast in a really cool water side restaurant with basically all pillows for furniture and drove to a dive shop to rent equipment and then drove for 10 minutes to a cove at the base of the small mountains that surround the town. There were some little wall-less huts with thatched roofs along the beach and equally rustic “ restaurants” in back of each of those. We settled all our gear on the colorful rug floors in one of the beach huts began to enjoy all the day offered.

We all took 30 minute dives – most of us for the first time! I surprised myself by not being too afraid to go down 15 meters. I did make a closed fist sign frequently which is the sign for “I am afraid.” But with patience we kept going down slowly and boy did I see some awesome fish! I mean Dr. Seuss could not invent more colorful fish. If you can imagine a color combination and a shape combination it was there!! So amazing. My diving guide was N. and he took my hand on the way down and I thought “That’s sweet, he’s taking my hand and showing me the way.” I had no idea that that was the rule and that letting go was unusual! He did let me go for about 5-10 minutes at the end which is supposedly a very big deal!! Yay me! When he let go he folded his arms across his chest and showed me that he was doing that. At the time I just thought he was tired of dragging me around but I was supposed to notice that I was being set free! A graduation of sorts. I was also supposed to notice that divers cross their arms this way and do not swim with their arms but this got away from me too. So, I looked like a spazz I am sure! But hey! I was distracted by all the pretty colors!!!

Later I went snorkeling on my own which was plenty cool enough for me and I saw a white tipped shark!! I totally did an underwater “Scooby-Doo” Rut Ro!! And turned away as fast as I could! But then turned back with my friend K. to see if we could see it again! I told her that I saw a big fish – let’s go find it – which is TECHnically true! She was not amused when she found out it was a shark. Luckily some other divers saw it too so my sighting was confirmed! It was about 6 feet long!! (I think maybe even longer but who knows?! In reality it could be the size of a cat!!)

There were divers all around and back on the beach we could hear many languages – Russian – Dutch – more that I could not identify. But it was by no means crowded! All-in-all my first adventure scuba diving was great! Now if only my ears would unplug!!  :  )

We spent the rest of the time reading and enjoying the sights of camels with tourists passing by!! I collected heart rocks and sent good wishes to all on ACK of course and my family. Wish you were here thoughts and love. And we were swarmed by a group of little girls (mostly veiled meaning they wore scarves on their heads) selling Bedouin beaded jewelry. It was fun for the most part but boy were they persistent! I thought of them as the Egyptian female version of the Artful Dodger and his clan – we all kept an eye on our things when they were around even though the little ones assured us “we no take”. They argued amonst themselves in the harsh guttural language about who could offer their wares to us and then would turn to us and sweetly ask “please Madame will you buy? Pretty!” It was very entertaining . . . and a little sad too but compared to Cairo these Egyptians have quite the life!

So, Dahab in the evening was fun. THE sidewalk along the beach turned into a strip of souvenir shops and lively, rustic (think Robinson Crusoe!!) restaurants all along the coast. I think we walked about a mile on it and got to a lovely little authentic Italian restaurant. Had a great meal and good conversation and then to bed.

The next morning I woke before the sun rose. At 5am. I had not set my alarm but had planned to get up if I woke up in time. It was soooo quiet. I walked to one of the lounge chairs on the beach right at the edge where the water was lapping. It was cool and I pulled up the hood of the jacket from K. and snuggled back to watch the moon and stars (which we cannot enjoy in Cairo). It was beautiful – that deep indigo right before sun rise and the stars seem so bright and white.

I had just had the thought – Am I stupid to be on this beach alone? In the dark? When I heard a deep voice say Sabb el Khair! Which is “good morning” and I jumped a mile and he jumped a mile!! It was the young man who had been sweeping the walkway (early riser!) when I exited the room. Yikes!! We laughed!! I was a little nervous talking to him (such an American!!) but we had a nice – English to Arabic pantomiming conversation! He lives in Ismailia and hasn’t been home since June and will go home for the Eid holiday. He has three teenage sisters. He loves Egypt and Mubarak and thinks Obama is a good man. He wanted to know if Amercia loves Egypt and I told him “yes”. I did not have the heart to tell him that Egypt in particular is not really on the radar of most Americans (like most of the other countries in the world). I think Americans should be reminded that Egypt is an Arab country that does LOVE America and that is a good thing. A small but strong thread of positive feelings here in the “Middle East”. So important to us all!!! I told him as much as I could about myself. He started to act incredulous at one point and I realized I had told him I had two HUSBANDS instead of two SONS!! When we got that straightened out with me rocking an imaginary baby – he made the sign for “Thank God!” and we LAUGHED! The sign for “thank God” is to kiss the front and back of two fingers and then wave them up to the sky – I think Big Pappi does it when he hits a homer. So, that was a nice way to start the day. Mohammed had to go back to work but not before introducing me to the hotel’s dog – Jack – who barked at every early morning jogger who went by. M. told me it was because jack was a “man”. And I said “It figures”. I had seen Jack the night before curled up on one of the chairs on the patio – pretty sweet life for a dog in Egypt let me tell you! Mohamed also told me the cat was named Bob. Good to know.

The sun rose shortly after our conversation and it was beautiful. I had just had the thought – I wish I had a cup of tea – when I felt a slight tap on my hood. There was M. with a tray and a cup of tea and a container of sugar – no milk – just how I like it. Did I mention I was reading the Alchemist? I know, I am late getting to it. A. gave it to me on the drive to the Sinai! So really my new word for the week is maktub!

We snorkeled that morning at another site in town. We found a restaurant about a 5 minute walk away. You sit at a lounge chair on the edge of the water. Order a drink. Then get up and dive in to snorkel right off your chair practically. It was hard to leave Dahab!! I was looking for Help Wanted signs in every window!

Our trip home brought us up the east coast of the Sinai – closer to Jordan and Israel. Then due west across the dessert mountains and plateaus. We went by an outpost manned by Columbia. Apparently the Camp David Accords state that all the countries of the UN have to take turns doing so. Man! What a LONELY gig! Standing at a little house surrounded by barbed wire in the dessert watching 100 mile and hour traffic go by!! Did I say I am getting used to going 100 mph??

The whole weekend was good stuff!

Geography

Topography

History

Mystery

Fish

Wish

Ahmed

Mohamed

Jack

Bob

Tea

Dahab

Maktub!

So, below are some photos of sandboarding! A day of fun with friends from school and now even more new friends from Egypt as well as other visitors like myself. Guess I shouldn't be calling myself a visitor but that is still how it feels!

Fun day out of the city! Blue sky - fresh air - exercise (going up the dune is a workout!!) and good conversation. A great BBQ lunch too!
Stark beauty and a wild ride through the dessert on 4-wheel vehicles.
The dessert is flat by the way - something I did not know. It is also mostly hard packed - NOTHING like a beach - more like a beach parking lot - also a surprise to me. And then all of a sudden there is a stretch of dune as far as the eye can see in each direction. Then more ocean of flat sand on the other side.

Will have to remember to put photos on in reverse order. For now maybe start at the bottom? Enjoy.

Yup! I'd do this again.

End of day

Sandboarding West of Cairo Egypt

October 2, I felt as though visiting a church was in order. Here I am, separated from all I know living a pretty harsh existence, well at least not a warm and fuzzy one! Each day I see some pretty sad sites outside of the windows of the cars I ride in. So, maybe a connection with the spiritual would reassure me and focus my energy in a more positive direction.

Just an aside, here it is the END of October and I have not been able to even see my blog as the internet access here is soooo minimal! I cannot believe I thought things were tricky only two weeks into this whole adventure! The sad sights from the window of the car only get more shocking as the weeks go by. I am completely pessimistic that I will have terrible visions in my mind forever due to this foray into Africa! But I am only one mind in 80 million. A church would be good to join right now but I do not have the energy to get there . . . and I am not sure what I could contribute to a congregation at this point. It is comforting to know that there is one so close though . . . we drive by it occasionally and I can see the open gates.

The Orthodox Coptic Christian Church is right down the Corniche from my building. Corniche, by the way, is Arabic for “Storrow Drive” (except with WAAAAY more activity like speeding honking cars / mobs of pedestrians crossing / and dirt). So, off I go one morning not even knowing when the service begins but knowing that there are always services on Friday mornings. Fridays being the new Saturdays here in Cairo of course! The three modest domes of the church are visible from the street. They rise above a beige cement wall that has an open iron gate. It sits on the bank of the Nile. As I arrive two buses are emptying out and I see for the first time since I have been here, severely handicapped children. They are lovingly assisted or carried by their families. As I watch them I am trying to remember seeing other people with such needs anywhere in Cairo and I cannot. Why are these people kept out of the public eye? The city is so dirty and ugly – seeing the loving kindness that the children are treated with by their families would only make Cairo a more beautiful place.

The church is completely packed. People are sitting shoulder to shoulder and standing in the aisles all the way up to the alter and in the back. I note my luck in having turned to the right as I entered. All the women are sitting on the right and all the men on the left. Heads are covered with light scarves. I, on the other hand am wearing a merino wool shawl over my head and am too hot. Oh well.

I find an empty spot at the back wall and lean against it. I notice right away that the incense is so thick that the ceiling is almost obscured with smoke. The church is almost bare compared to any of the churches I know from home. It is all beige. The small windows are placed high above our heads and are shuttered letting in only a little light. “Chandeliers” with great big light bulbs illuminate the room. It is a building slightly larger than St. Paul's on Nantucket and also split into three sections like St. Paul's. Unlike any other small church I have been in however, this church has about 6-8 large LCD monitors mounted on the columns showing the scene from the altar. No one misses a thing in this church. The priest is using a PA and the sermon is very loud. So the new technology right up against the old.

An older woman standing near me decides to take me under her wing. She offers me a seat every time one becomes vacant but I smile and wave it off – making sure that someone else takes it. The women are in constant motion! They are checking on their kids or other more elderly women traveling with them. They switch seats or trade standing for sitting with the people they are with. This is a long service – in all I will be here for over two hours. I have arrived late and they will still be going strong when I leave.

I understand only a single word during the entire service, something like maktaba – book – I think. However, I do recognize the tradition of giving a sign of peace when it comes. Each person turns to the next and with both hands holds their neighbor's right hand in theirs. Then they kiss their own fingertips. It is intensely personal and I feel awkward immediately but there is no way out – much more awkward to not share the sign of peace so I am thrust into this intimate ceremony. I am immediately overwhelmed by homesickness ! wishing for all the familiar hands I would love to hold today.

I am still not sure if this is a special day or not but there are a LOT of children! I mean every other person is holding a baby or entertaining a little one. Babies dressed like mini-popes ! complete with little white triangle hats with the gold embroidery cross and fringe (gotta have the fringe!). Other babies are dressed very much like they are there for a baptism complete with tiny pierced ears and little gold bracelets. I have since asked other Copts what this could have been but they keep telling me it was probably just a regular service. The little pope babies stare wide-eyed at us all over the shoulders of their moms – the white triangle hats dotting the crowd in front of me.

The women start to take their shoes off. I think – Wow! everyone's feet hurt just as much as mine. But then I realize they are headed to communion and it seems even the babies are required to have their shoes off too. So, it is communion and all the barefooted women make a swarm of bodies on the way to the alter. Cannot quite call it a line. I am too hot and tired by now so begin moving toward the door – not an easy task!! I finally notice that the men are not going to communion and that at the altar they have taken their places as photographer/videographer of their wife as she goes to communion with the baby! So, lots of photos at the communion rail. There are FILM videographers – using big heavy machines I have not seen in a looong time. I take a last glimpse and exit the church and realize that the communion is given with a spoon. I am not sure if they are dipping in to get a host or to get some wine but do realize that everyone is taking whatever it is off the SAME spoon! Including the babies! Oh lord, may the power of prayer take hold here . . . .Can you say Swine Flu?

On my way out a women asks me to buy a raffle ticket for the church. I can see that I so not have enough money to buy one. I only have a very small bill which I try to give her just as a donation but she just says - “Maybe later.” Darn not knowing the language!

I walk to a side of the building I have not seen. The service is on loud speaker outside so that it can be followed by the coffee clutches everywhere. There is a gate and it opens on to a very crowded outdoor cafe setting. More people all sitting at tables and chairs talking and drinking coffee while listening to the service. There is a concession stand and it is doing a brisk! Business! Next to the concession stand is a gift store – they sell Holy Mary Extra Virgin Olive Oil! I smile. They also sell the little pope outfits – cheese – jam – olives – post cards and a few other items. Interesting.

I leave thinking - “the coffee must be good here” I mean, a lot of people are drinking it and they must need to have good coffee. I look out at the Nile and marvel at the incomprehensible view before me. I think of all the humans throughout time who stood where I am now. The belief systems that have traveled here – changed this place and the beliefs that change people. I wonder if and/ or how I may change . . . and how I may stay the same.

Day Before School Opened 10 2 2009

Here is my room the day before school opened!
We are three days in and the words for the experience are:
chaos, shock, delight, frustration, love, fatigue, excitement, sweat, creativity, and just like pandora's box . . . a little bit of hope to light the way.

Random Egypt Stuff

Here's some random Egypt stuff:

There are high cliffs around the city. We can see them in the distance from the 20th floor apartment.We can also see the silver domes of the Citadel and the Mohamed Ali mosque next to it. On the less polluted days it appears VERY shiny. I ask our resident Egyptologist what type of geography that is and they remind me that this area was the ocean once. Those cliffs are the beach. We are living where the bottom of the ocean was! She says that we can find sea shells in the dessert! Cool!

Walking through a neighborhood I see the windshield wipers pulled up off the window. I wonder if a prankster has gone through and popped them all up. NOPE! That is done when a car is left parked for a while so that the blades do not MELT on the windshield. Of course!

We are going to the Egypt vs. Italy under 20 FIFA match on Thursday. No sunglasses allowed. I do not know why but if I figure it out I will let you know. And of course going to a game with 100,000 people should be pretty exciting too.! (See blog update Egypt 4-italy 2!)

Some elevators have no doors. They just go once you are in and you can see the wall sliding by.

Our stove is run on gas. And the gas tank is RIGHT IN THE kitchen. We turn the knob on the top to light the stove then turn it off later. I am not amused.

The twin sister of a woman I met in a coffee shop on Nantucket meets me for coffee. She tells me she absolutely does eat all the vegetables and fruits that she can find regardless of the warnings. She washes them all and then soaks them for an hour in vinegar. I might try this. We both agree that vinegar is more agreeable than the bleach/water solution. She also gives me the best tip for using taxis. Just get in, tell them where you are going, when you arrive get out of the taxi and and the driver what you think is fair. That eliminates all arguing over price. On the way home I try it and it works! I hope we can go to find the karaoke bar she has heard about! Fun!

I go to Carrefor - the BIGGEST Walmart type store I have EVER EVER been in and it is CROWDED!! Good lord !! 18 million is a lot of people!! They were ALL at Carrefor the day we went. I get separated from the group and shop on my own. I am very slow since I am so busy averting my eyes and trying to figure out the 10 digits and the price of EVERYTHING. Then I resort to just buying what I see the mommy type people buying of each item. It seems to work. Now I have my hairdryer ( mine from home blew up!) and a decent tea mug. It's the little things . . .

When anyone wants your attention they make a psssssst noise. It is very strange and when I first heard it I was inclined to ignore it as it sounds sort of like maybe harassment is next. I am slowly getting used to the idea to respond.

Our doorbell is a chirping bird! It would be easy to miss as a REAL bird. Many doorbells are the same BUT we never expected it to be the noise of the alarm for a backing up vehicle! We notice this in our 15 passenger van on a school trip! So, if you are in a parking lot and hear birds chirping - watch out for a backing up truck!!. . . . Makes sense.

Next entry HAS GOT to be about school and education and what it means to teach here. But for now I cannot begin to write it down. I am scrambling to put it all together for the start of school. I found out yesterday that each classroom will have a matron assigned to it. These women are from the lower class. Sort of like a nanny for each room I am imagining. The matron will sit outside the door of the classroom and wait for any student who may need to use the bathroom. She will bring them to the bathroom and back. She will also escort the children to get their lunch and then again outside to the buses. And . . . .well, the rest I do not know! Strange!

My head is still realing. I have been here one week and two days!

FIFA 2009 Egypt 4 - Italy 2

Soccer!

Had a great time at the FIFA Under 20 World Cup Soccer match last night, Thursday October 1, 2009 under an almost full moon. Where to start?

The four Fifth Grade boys came with us and they are so adorable, smart, personable, . . . and full of beans!! All the other teachers are jealous as they should be . . After meeting at a Kentucky Fried Chicken (of all places!) in Ma'adi we got into the 15 passenger bus and were off. Traffic was thick but we eventually arrived at the stadium and parked - the parking was only half full when we arrived and there were no lines at the gates. Of course, the men go in one line to have their bags checked and the women go in the other line to have theirs checked by a woman. We have to wait as they need to find a female guard to check ours. When we say no problem (mafeesh mish mishkayla) they still refuse. So we wait. Good thing, as we realize that we are at the wrong gate. The kids have already gone through -darn! - we suck at chaperoning. Seems like we should get them back with us, but the turnstyles only turn one way so we send some adults through and they get some guards to escort them from one side of the entrance way to the other (through four wraught-iron gates). Whew! We are all together again, we WON'T get fired!

The stadium is BIG and of course there is a frieze/decoration along the top of all the ancient pharonic sites. But a stadium is a stadium and I feel very much at home. Everyone is pleasant and smiling. There is no alchohol so there is no drunken mis-behavior either - nice! But I would LOVE a cold one - oh well.

There are so MANY children here. Mind you we arrive at 7:00 in order to get good seats - about 20 rows above the 30 yard line! The seats are sold by section only so first come first served. A son of one of my co-workers has taken us under his wings, ordered our tickets, spoke to the driver constantly on the phone to get us to the correct gate, helps us find out seats, and later even treats myself and the kids to sodas and chips etc.. This is all very Egyptian - he is so nice! To us adults and especially to the children. But, back to the children at the stadium - the Egypt vs. italy game STARTS at 9:30 pm and there are plenty of little kids - toddlers etc.. Everyone - I mean everyone helps the children. As they go up and down the stairs and get their seats complete strangers automatically give a hand or advice as children walk by and need direction. I observe this all night and actually, everywhere I go in Egypt. What I am trying to say is that everyone is well behaved. (Except later I find out some guys in back of us were swearing all night and the boys asked an Egyptian teacher if we should ask the men to stop swearing but they were told to leave it alone. I think I would have asked if I had known.) Actually the boys feel very free to speak with any and all adults in front of them. At first I feel like they are too bold and I have the urge to tell them not to talk with strangers. For instance, they tell the first two groups of men that sit in front of them that they are too tall and that the boys cannot see (all unbeknownst to me since it is in Arabic). So . . . they move to other seats!! yeah, THAT would happen at Foxboro! Finally, as the stadium fills, and there is little option to have the people in front of us move their seats, a group of older men sit down and do not move. OK, we allow the boys to stand.

The game is awesome. First we see Nigeria beat poor Tahiti 4 zip. Fancy footwork to be seen! Then we see Egypt beat Italy 4-2. Some questionable calls but really a clean game - only one? yellow card I think? I am so glad that I have brought binoculars even though we have awesome seats! (VERY handsome boys playing). So interesting to see all the facial expressions and SWEAT! on the players/ref/and the very enthusiastc fans. The Egyptian star is Afroto # 11 and is 18? I think. The second best player is # 9 but I forget his name. Afroto is talented but completely shut down by Italy. Two players score two goals each VERY exciting. One scores in less than a minute after replacing Afroto - his name is Bogy and scores off a tussle in front of the goal - makes it look easy.

Any Italy throw-in or penalty shot near the Egypt goal causes a strange, painful, and amazing crowd effect. All 65, 000 fans whistle (two fingers in the mouth whistle) loudly. It is PAINful!! Awesome. Seems to work as none were successful and the Italians were talented at getting a good amount of them. Overall the chanting, drumming, singing by the crowd is amazing. Of course, when they sing the national anthem EVERYone sings loudly and boisterously. Lots of pride to be had. And we have lots of fun doing the wave! In the middle of one of the cheers one of the American teachers and I look at each other and simultaneously realize that Inshallah! is in the middle of the cheer! Inshallah means "God willing". We laugh at the strangeness!

There is very little in the way of concessions. There are a couple of items being sold but there is no yelling such as "Get your hot dog heah!". Actually, I knew I was not in Kansas any more when I saw a tray of tea cups! going by! So, when they want to get your attention they make a kissing noise like you would make talking with a bird!! As unlikely as that seems to be able to work it does! And the guys think nothing of walking THROUGH a row! pardon me, pardon me, pardon me, pardon me . . . . all the way down! hmmmm.

Going to the snack stand was interesting. Four deep with people all holding money out and asking for one of the 8 items sold. And sweaty guys on the other side going as fast as they can handing out water (bottle caps removed for safety), soda, snacks etc. I take two of the boys to get snacks and all of a sudden I realize I am the only female there!! Go for it little M. I will wait here. He does and even though he is shorter than the counter he makes it back with the snack. While I stand nearby waiting for him one man goes by and says "take care, it is VERY BIG in there!" Warning me away from the large throng. I smile in acknowledgement! Oh yeah, I'm not going in there - I am right there with ya - buddy. Later, after the game is over I bump into this same man. He says, "OK?" and I nod yes. Who needs to speak the language??

So, of course, there is a guy dressed up as King Tut or Rhamses or someone. Once I teach the Social Studies class I will know. He has a trumpet and a kid playing a drum. I get some video of him and also ask to have a photo with him!! He asks if I am here for Egypt or Italy!! Yikes! Where is my Egyptian flag when I need it?? He's happy to hear I am all for Egypt!

We have a great time on the ride home. People are waving flags out their windows and beeping and in general being crazier than usual. I see a car next to our van with two woman in Hajabbs in the front seats. I usually do not make eye contact with these women> Of course, the boys are yelling Misr! (Egypt!) out the window and I am just about to tell them not to do so (Out of fear of some sort of negative interaction) when the women all of a sudden smile and wave and beep and totally connect with us. Their two teen aged kids sitting in the back seat climb out and sit on the window openings while holding onto the roof and waving their flags. It all sees a little risky but tame enough for me in the stop-and-go parking lot traffic. We are all so surprised and happy to make this connection with these women! We did not expect that they would continue to pull up beside us for the next 20 minutes or so as we travel along home. This includes driving on the highway at - 50?60? miles per hour? with the kids STILL sitting OUTside the car!! yeah, Egypt!

We get home late after dropping everyone off first. I give our driver and co-pilot a pack of Malborros each! Shokran!!