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!!

Jet Lag Part TWO

So where do I start in describing the strange night I had Thursday Sept 24, my second, jet-lag-filled day back? (See part 1 for the day at school)

Off we went to Lucille's, a burger restaurant with the improbable accolade of "best burger in the world". Our resrevation was made by D. our one male teacher. A. goes in to explain that a reservation was made earlier for 7 people and instantly the host says, "ah yes, Mr. D . . " Seems our Mr. D. is famous! We look (and listen) around, there are quite a few Americans and other non-Egyptian patrons. Dinner is lots of fun. It is so good to see these folks again after having been gone for a month. They have been through a lot together including the 5 women and 1 man sharing a 4 bed (yes I meant to write BED) apartment! More than one of them mentions to me in asides that it will be "OK if you freak out cuz we all did pretty much." Yeah . . . thanks.

After dinner we walk along Road 9 where the restaurant is. This is in the middle of our neighborhood, Ma'adi. This road is filled with shops and I stop to buy a small lamp. I "barter" down the price by 5 Egyptian pounds. I guess I need practice but it is OK - the lamp costs about 5 dollars in American. Now I can read without having to turn off the overhead light. That is all the lighting we have in any room in this apartment.

Off we go to the Metro. The well-lit stucco building is spacious yet rustic. We purchase a small yellow ticket and slide it into the slot at the turnstile. Good thing I stuck mine back into my pocket since we find out later that it needs to be put back in the turnstile in order exit the train station too!

The train is dirty - with dirt. I mean dirt, dirt - as if it were a giant clubhouse for fifth grade boys. Not too crowded - it is only 9PM after all - early!! The windows are all open . . . or missing. Either way there is quite a breeze blowing through the car - a warm, warm breeze. The windows also have pull shades made of wooden slats! We can imagine that they provide shade from the blistering sun while still allowing air to come in, or perhaps they keep some dust out?

The train ride is long - about 20 minutes. Even with jet-lag and not knowing the area by map I can tell we are not heading for the Corniche near where I live. That would have been a very short train ride.There are not too many characters on the train. As is the case everywhere we go there are mostly men in the crowd. If there are any women they are traveling with another woman, a child, or a man. We cannot remember seeing a woman traveling alone. We have heard that the first car in a subway is for women but someone else says it is the middle car. Next time we will be sure to look. Tonight I am glad we have two local males and our own Mr. D. with us.
The one charcater worth mentioning is Sparkler Man. Sparkler Man comes aboard our car shouting something in loud, and what I take to be aggressive, Arabic. I find little comfort in the fact that he is wearing nothing to indicate that he is a fanatic - he is wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans. I keep my eyes averted and watch what the others on the train do. They are all quiet but keep their eyes on him. They are smiling in amusemnt, so OK. I think if any of them leave the train on the next stop I am so out of here. Then he takes out a fist full of blue paper packages about the size of . . .well, sparkler wrappers, and pulls out a sparkler. And lights it on fire!! All the time he is going on with his loud Arabic, the locals are smiling patronizingly and I am wishing for the next stop which doesn't come and doesn't come! In order to prove some point he is making Sparkler Man rubs the lit sparkler on his face and down the front and arms of his shirt repeatedly. I do not know which I find more disturbing: that he may burn his skin or that he may set the packs of sparklers on fire. Strangely, the worry for each of these possibilitiies seems to cancel each other out and I start to watch the whole show with everyone else in amazement. I hear familiar Arabic words in his shouting and it dawns on me that he is SELLING sparklers! Apparently rubbing them over his body is a selling point. "Buy these sparklers - see you can rub them over your body!" maybe it is a new advertising method showing people things they might never have thought of before for each product like, "Look at these chocolate chip cookies. Pile them on top of each other and use them as a perfectly safe stepladder!" Suddenly we are at our stop and off we go - so many things to see that I almost instantly forget about Sparkler Man.

We get off the train and go up some stairs. Much of what we see or do reminds me of the old subway stations in Boston just with lighter more beige color schemes.The train staircase opens onto a HUGE rotary in the center of Cairo!! Now I am truly speechless. Wow! Billboards abound - I mean everywhere - this is where the movie 5th Element got its cityscape ideas!! There is the tall cylindrical Cairo Tower covered in colored lights, and the Egyptian Museum, and . . . just everything. And LOTS of noisy traffic.

We begin what turns out to be a brisk and harrowing 20 minute walk through speeding traffic I mean SPEEDING traffic. Every patch of grass around this busy rotary is being used by couples and families for sitting and talking and eating. It is late at night, warm, and even little children are out enjoying . . . .the city rotary?! We walk around the rotary, under an overpass, through a crowded micro bus station. It is astoudingly crowded here with many people piling in and out of micro busses that fill an underpass area. Not too much further it starts to get pretty smelly and the ground is pretty dirty and we are in some sort of market area? where people have stands set up and many local families have gathered. We continue to walk. MORE traffic and more death defying street crossings. Our guides bravely go before us and slow traffic with their raised arms (sort of). When I say death defying I mean it. I get the EXACT same feeling as when I was a kid and the bar to the roller coaster is locked in place and the car is rolling forward - no turning back!

We arrive at a highway that runs along the Nile so this is the Corniche just miles down from where we started. It is VERY crowded. We are wondering if a soccer match just got out? Ususally there is a lot of honking but tonight it is insane. Finally one guide makes us to undersrand that there is a wedding. Oh! We get it now! Well it wasn't until later that we realize there are MANY wedding parties driving by this area. So, you get married and then you and your wedding guests hop in your cars and drive along this area honking the whole way. You are joined by a whole bunch of other couples doing the same thing. The car for the bride and groom either has bouqets of flowers decorating the front and back hoods of the car with a ribbon running from front to back OR christmas lights blinking all over the car. I do not mean a string of christmas lights but the big recatngular patches of lights that you can get to put over bushes. They blink - all blue, al green, and look very cool.

Like I said the sidewalk is jammed as if a sporting event just got out. Many other people than the wedding-type people are her too. There are vendors selling everything: candy, grilled corn, bags of nuts, something that looks like popcorn . . . on a string?? (what that was I do not know), things in paper cones at the end of a stick (again, do not know). One man had blocks of ice set out with drinks for sale on top. People call out to us "Wellllcome. welllcome to eeegypt!" One man asks to have his picture taken with us, he insists. There is a stone wall along the sidewalk and on the other side a steep rocky embankment about 20 feet above the Nile. Every inch is covered with men, women in head scarves and flowing robes, and small children. The littlest ones are held, some of them sit straddling their mom's shoulder and hanging on to her head as she balances the baby while holding the back of his pants. Some children that can barely walk are balancing along the tops of the stone wall! Yikes! people are also sitting togetether on the sloping stone bank.It is quite festive and very friendly. All I can think is Man! we do NOT use our riversides enough in the US. But of course, this warm weather is what makes it all possible.

More brides and grooms go by and it seems they are heading down the steps to the Nile. People cheer as they make their way through the crowds. We look out on the water and see boats all over. After descending a staircase we find ourselves on the docks below. Their are boats about the size of the Nantucket Harbor Launch tied up and taking follks out for rides. They have a frame for a top built for them but the frame is covered in colored lights. Out on the river these all look like children's toys. There is music playing too. We wait just a moment while our Egyptian friends speak with a boat owner and then we are off!. There is a small generator on the bow to run the lights and an outboard in back. The man running the boat plays Egyptian music. The first song starts with a chicken clucking! Aparently it is popular because the 12 year old girl who has joined us with her mom knows all the words. She is coaxed into dancing for us and we move the table that is in the center of the boat. It is strange but even though this girl has her head scarf on, and very modest clothes covering her wrist to ankle, she dances belly dancer style. One hand behind her head and the other outstretched with a lot of movement in the wrist.Plenty of hips. Hmmmm. I just can't figure it all out. She is very cute and clearly enjoys the dancing. We all join in and have so much fun!

King Farouk's castle and Anwar Sadat's home are pointed out to us. The expenisve hotels loom over us and we see many boats like ours passing us. It is amazing. We are all pinching ourselves. I think of home, home, home of course being on a boat - whishing I could share this with my boys or friends. But there are new friends beofre me and we are all dancing and smiling.

The night winds down quickly after the boat ride. A long train back and then a taxi to our buildings. Is this really my first day in Egypt??

Wow!

Jet Lag Part One - School

Jet Lag Day, Thursday September 24

So, I have decided that being at the school is a little like the movie “King of Hearts” without the guy in the tutu (but there still is time).

The school building is BIG! Like a city school building. But very beautiful. It is PINK on the outside with red trimmed windows. Shaped like an ancient Egyptian temple complete with pylons. Wow! Pretty! And tall palm trees around the exterior. It is not a campus with grassy lawns and the concrete wall surrounding the school butts up to the sidewalk. White plaster walls on the inside. Marble hallways. Wood floor classrooms. Smartboards on the bare walls. And Noise! Noise! Noise!.Sanders, jackhammers? ( not sure), regular hammers definitely and just banging in general. We will teach in these conditions. I mean, will we teach in these conditions? (I think so) Only the first floor is done as we are only going to 5th grade and only have partial enrollment. David, one of the teachers, and I go exploring. The first floor is basically habitable – there is one working bathroom with doors, and electricity. No open studs or wiring hanging down for the most part. It seems pretty safe. Up one floor the walls are not truly finished. The stairs are missing a banister. The floors are messay with plaster and some rubble. Up another floor there are no true stairs just rubble – ish stairs. The completely unfinished halls are blocked by plaster board and we cannot get by. There is a doorway opening to the empty elevator shaft!! Note to self – children are NOT allowed to wander in this building! After CAREFULLY decending the non-existent stairs (no handrails either) we go to the ground level floor. The basement is mostly rubble in hallways with the outline of a drama room and the beginnings of the swimming pool. I cannot describe it but the center of the lower level of the building is opened on two sides to the outdoors so the pool will be shaded by the building but mostly will feel like it is “out”side. Interesting. We walk the cluttered halls and in one room see the most unlikely scene. Two men plastering the walls of one of the rooms. Why? Who knows?!

So, on my first day I am completely jet lagged. We meet to discuss grading and I plan to volunteer to be on the committee to make the “report card” template. It's a short meeting. Not much conversation. Then four of us leave to buy rugs. You heard me. We left to buy rugs. We went to a BIG! Rug store and bought – I don't know 10? giant rugs for the classrooms. All colors. Spent about 1 hour and I have no idea how much money. Price tags were not noticed. My rug looks like the pattern from a boardshort. Deep blue/purple with hibiscus flowers outlined in green white and purple. YAY!

Back at school not much else happens. I ask one lady in charge if we could please have water to drink at school and she promises to make it happen. The word “union” floats through my mind and I am amazed it is with fondness! I ask another woman in charge if we could please have some toilet paper and paper towels and hand soap in the bathroom. The teachers have taken to bringing their own bathroom supplies from home and keeping them in their bags for their own personal use. I leave this writing to put some in my box of supplies ready to go the next time I leave for school!! I ask for the key to the library – an impossibly small room for such a large school. After A LOT! Of wandering around the man comes and hands me a key. I open the door and refuse to give the key back. In broken Arabic I explain that he has many keys and I only have one so that I am keeping my key. I have a pack of cigarettes in my box to give him for his troubles. . . . The internet does not work. The air conditioning does not work. The uniforms are in and are cute! Blue and White ginham smocks over navy jumpers and white shirts for the girls, white polos, grey pants, and blue and white stripe sear sucker jackets for the boys. I am nervous that I will look like a slob next to my students! The turf for the soccer pitch is nowhere to be seen but I think it will be fun to use colored chalk all over the cement “field”. Although, it is kind of bright standing on that big white expanse. Blinding actually.

We leave in a mico bus. Seven of us plus stacks of books. Smooshy. It's hot but not as hot as August. I take in all the sights. The desert, the traffic, the trucks piled like Dr. Seuss' Grinch sleigh, the donkey carts trotting slowly along the highway.

I lean toward the window and the hot wind tousles my hair. I sit on the front seat and think of my dog Friday. .

6:30 Chapel - Leaving Nantucket

Leaving Nantucket was not as hard the second time. But it still was hard, bittersweet. We have a tradition to throw a penny as the boat passes our lighthouse, Brant Point. I took the 6:30 am boat and traveled until noon the following day. Thank goodness for prescriptions and for the cool lounge chairs in Charles de Gaulle aiport where I slept soundly (robbers could have taken anything they wanted!) for at least 2 hours. But here is the story of the leaving - if you are conscious to it - a holy time.

Deep orange sky, scattered purple clouds, black silhouettes of boats all reflected in glass-still water. Along the town dock bright white lights sit atop poles interspersed with the pilings. Now that they are competing with the light of the sun it seems impossible that they could have offered enough light in the dark of night. Nantucket pulled out all the stops to keep me home on Tuesday morning when I left, Casey and I actually, in the Honda, on the 6:30am boat. Tempted as I was by all this beauty to call off the Adventure in Egypt Part Two, we were on the boat when the whistle blew leaving the dock. I thought of all my friends just waking up to that wonderful woeful sound thinking of me, and thinking of me thinking of them, our thoughts swirling above the island together.

We morning departers gathered for our ablutions at the railing. Here is the elderly man and is wife and what looks to be an adult daughter. The women gaze at the scenery and gently put their hands on the man's elbows whenever he seems to be turning away from them. He jitters quietly as if he were a vehicle with the motor left running. His hands worry over the buttons of his cardigan. The women watch the sky turn from orange to yellow. Their faces as quiet as the waters below, only their arms occasionally reaching out to guide their husband, father.

Here comes the artist I know from way-back, I am pretty sure I heard she has cancer. She looks much thinner. We smile at each other as she passes me and finds her place at the rail. This is a sacred time, for silence but our smiles instantly transmit a conversation we do not need to speak - “Hi how are you?” “Not well” “I know, I heard.” “Yeah, it is what it is.” “Yeah, I know, I am sorry. I am a woman too and maybe I will have to suffer this way as well someday – could happen.” “I hope not.” “We have known each other for a long time.” “Yes, we have, we have . . .” In just a look, and a smile, we rekindle all our Nantucket history and without a word turn back to our thoughts.

Here is the young couple (obviously from OFF-island) smiling quietly at each other, leaning in to each other as they speak. “Do you have the pennies?”, “Of course! Two shiny ones.” It is early and they cannot get enough of each other. They are cute together. I look away feeling as if this is too intimate a moment to observe.

I think of my friend who admonishes me each time we leave, “Be sure to throw your penny!” I used to be defiant and NOT throw one just to show that not coming back was just FINE with me. Now I am sure to have my penny ready. She always chose hers and her daughters' so carefully, still does I think. Each one selected for its date/numbers and their relevance to the person throwing it. I am amazed at how sad I am to think of this detail from her life. I hold my penny in my pocket and feel how light it is, and small.

I savor the view with my fellow travelers as we lean against the rail altar. No priest but the sky. No sermons but our own. Brant Point has a large skirt of sand – low tide. Two people walk slowly on the edge, their heads bowed searching for the perfect shell. I long to be with them, find out who they are, how long THEY will stay, tell them, I almost moved to Cairo once, can you believe that?? Two gulls fly by below us, and I watch their backs as their wings lift once, twice, and then glide along above their reflections. I think, what an unusual view.

We say our prayers, and throw the accompanying pennies, to come back. I say mine – to come back to this. This day unchanged, exactly the same, waiting for me, so I will miss nothing, not one moment and so that nothing will arrive after me to mar this picture. I think of the people next to me and wonder if they wish the same impossible wish. The man is not coming back to the same anything ever again. Even though I am a complete stranger I know that is true. And my friend the artist . . . maybe she is not even so hopeful to wish coming back at all. Maybe she is realistic and just gives thanks. And the young couple, do they know to show gratitude? So easy to forget when you are young, in love, and everything seems easy. I am sure that they do not really understand that coming back to an island waiting and the same as it is today will be a miracle.

My penny falls fast. Bright copper sparkling in the last-of-summer sunrise before it slips silently below the waves.