All the pictures from my trips to Israel and Japan are now uploaded. You can find them here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Sara.Keough
and you can still find pictures from Egypt at my Flickr site :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/getlosttraveling/
Though I might be moving my favorites to the other site.
Stay tuned for updated Spain pictures and my Swedish adventures!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Last Egypt post :(
Well my time in Egypt is officially over. This will be my last post about Egypt. It’s still not really sinking in that I’m finished with everything, even though I packed up my whole apartment and am in another country. I decided to make a list of things that I’ll miss and definitely not miss.
Things I’ll miss
~Otlob.com: call me ridiculous, but there is something extremely convenient about being able to just log in and order food instead of calling a place directly to do it. A few clicks and you have a meal!
~Pub 55 and Friday’s/Fusion: our frequent weekend hangouts. They put up with a lot from us, and I’ll miss hanging out in those places.
~My friends: I feel like this is an obvious one.
~Some of my students: While I’m not going to miss actually teaching the kids, they were adorable and I’ll miss their smiling faces.
~The conversion rate: I was living a pretty good life with my pay, and still managed to save a lot of money.
Things I won’t miss
~Dust/sand storms
~Call to prayer: not to sound closeminded, but the reason I won’t miss this one is because there was a speaker projecting the call to prayer directly outside our apartment, so we got it full blast four times a day.
~The flies
~The heat
~The garbage everywhere
~Crazy taxi drivers/ Egyptian men
~Teaching
~Slow internet (my internet in my hostel in Tokyo is RIDICULOUSLY fast!)
As you can see, my things I won’t miss list a lot longer, which is one of the main reasons I’m coming back. Well, that and I feel as though I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to.
My flight to Tokyo was interesting to say the least. I got to the gate and through security just as they had begun loading the plane. I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise anyone if I said that I was the only white person on the flight. I think there was a Japanese tour group on the flight as well, and a handful of Egyptians. I was the only person that was clearly not one of those two groups. People kept giving me odd looks as we were boarding, and one of the flight attendants even asked me what my nationality was and questioned my reasons for being on this flight. We took off pretty well and were on our way when a half an hour into the flight they announced that one of the passengers was sick and they were turning around and heading back to Cairo so the doctors could check them out.
At this point I should probably mention the craziness that as erupted in Egypt due to the swine flu. First of all, they killed all the pigs in Egypt as a precaution, even though we all know that pigs don’t spread the disease and the likely hood of any of those pigs carrying a strain of the virus was slim to none. Secondly at the airport, there are tons of people wearing face masks and they stop everyone getting off the flight so they can keep track of the foreigners in the country. People around Cairo were wearing face masks as well. Egyptians are prone to panic, and swine flu was no exception. People were scared out of their mind, and if you mentioned to them that you were leaving the country, they would exclaim that you couldn’t leave now because of the disease. ‘You’ll get the disease and die!’ I’ve heard that several times. They listen to rumors like crazy, one of them being that the Israelis were sneaking into their country just to spread the disease, or that the face masks don’t really help at all but instead make it worse, or even that the pigs were all contaminated. Everyone is convinced that Egypt is the only safe place in the whole world, but the swine flu IS coming so we need to be careful.
Anyways, they turned our plane around and went back to the airport. There we sat on the runway for two hours as they paraded about nine doctors – all wearing facemasks – to the back of the plane, just to discover that all the passenger had was a stomach flu. People all over the plane started putting on facemasks and the pilot announced that this doctor visit was ‘for our safety’. I didn’t need to be told it was a swine flu emergency, you know when the facemasks come out, that’s what the panic is. I was going out of my mind with boredom, and I just rolled my eyes at the crazy Egypt ways. This whole ordeal put our flight THREE HOURS behind schedule for a stomach flu. Though I suppose I should have been surprised that we even took off on time.
Malesh Egypt. Malesh.
Pete was in Egypt last week, and it was good timing because not only did he take a lot of my stuff back with him, but we also went to a bunch of important places. It was a nice send off for me to see all the historic places one last time before I left. We went to so many places, and I had a blast having him here. I hope he had fun as well, Egypt is a big culture shock when you compare it to America. Also there isn’t much to do once you get past the big things – pyramid, museum, sphinx, Nile. A week is more than enough time in Egypt.
But in a week I’ll be back in Chicago! I’m excited to be back in the states. Right now I’ve got some Tokyo exploring to do :)
Things I’ll miss
~Otlob.com: call me ridiculous, but there is something extremely convenient about being able to just log in and order food instead of calling a place directly to do it. A few clicks and you have a meal!
~Pub 55 and Friday’s/Fusion: our frequent weekend hangouts. They put up with a lot from us, and I’ll miss hanging out in those places.
~My friends: I feel like this is an obvious one.
~Some of my students: While I’m not going to miss actually teaching the kids, they were adorable and I’ll miss their smiling faces.
~The conversion rate: I was living a pretty good life with my pay, and still managed to save a lot of money.
Things I won’t miss
~Dust/sand storms
~Call to prayer: not to sound closeminded, but the reason I won’t miss this one is because there was a speaker projecting the call to prayer directly outside our apartment, so we got it full blast four times a day.
~The flies
~The heat
~The garbage everywhere
~Crazy taxi drivers/ Egyptian men
~Teaching
~Slow internet (my internet in my hostel in Tokyo is RIDICULOUSLY fast!)
As you can see, my things I won’t miss list a lot longer, which is one of the main reasons I’m coming back. Well, that and I feel as though I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to.
My flight to Tokyo was interesting to say the least. I got to the gate and through security just as they had begun loading the plane. I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise anyone if I said that I was the only white person on the flight. I think there was a Japanese tour group on the flight as well, and a handful of Egyptians. I was the only person that was clearly not one of those two groups. People kept giving me odd looks as we were boarding, and one of the flight attendants even asked me what my nationality was and questioned my reasons for being on this flight. We took off pretty well and were on our way when a half an hour into the flight they announced that one of the passengers was sick and they were turning around and heading back to Cairo so the doctors could check them out.
At this point I should probably mention the craziness that as erupted in Egypt due to the swine flu. First of all, they killed all the pigs in Egypt as a precaution, even though we all know that pigs don’t spread the disease and the likely hood of any of those pigs carrying a strain of the virus was slim to none. Secondly at the airport, there are tons of people wearing face masks and they stop everyone getting off the flight so they can keep track of the foreigners in the country. People around Cairo were wearing face masks as well. Egyptians are prone to panic, and swine flu was no exception. People were scared out of their mind, and if you mentioned to them that you were leaving the country, they would exclaim that you couldn’t leave now because of the disease. ‘You’ll get the disease and die!’ I’ve heard that several times. They listen to rumors like crazy, one of them being that the Israelis were sneaking into their country just to spread the disease, or that the face masks don’t really help at all but instead make it worse, or even that the pigs were all contaminated. Everyone is convinced that Egypt is the only safe place in the whole world, but the swine flu IS coming so we need to be careful.
Anyways, they turned our plane around and went back to the airport. There we sat on the runway for two hours as they paraded about nine doctors – all wearing facemasks – to the back of the plane, just to discover that all the passenger had was a stomach flu. People all over the plane started putting on facemasks and the pilot announced that this doctor visit was ‘for our safety’. I didn’t need to be told it was a swine flu emergency, you know when the facemasks come out, that’s what the panic is. I was going out of my mind with boredom, and I just rolled my eyes at the crazy Egypt ways. This whole ordeal put our flight THREE HOURS behind schedule for a stomach flu. Though I suppose I should have been surprised that we even took off on time.
Malesh Egypt. Malesh.
Pete was in Egypt last week, and it was good timing because not only did he take a lot of my stuff back with him, but we also went to a bunch of important places. It was a nice send off for me to see all the historic places one last time before I left. We went to so many places, and I had a blast having him here. I hope he had fun as well, Egypt is a big culture shock when you compare it to America. Also there isn’t much to do once you get past the big things – pyramid, museum, sphinx, Nile. A week is more than enough time in Egypt.
But in a week I’ll be back in Chicago! I’m excited to be back in the states. Right now I’ve got some Tokyo exploring to do :)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Taxi Cab
Time is quickly winding down, and getting away from me even faster! This past week was suppose to be our last week of teaching, but last Thursday the Ministry of Education decided that we needed an extra week of school. So we have an additional week of school that kids are probably not going to show up for. I doubt that many of the kids are going to be coming for several reasons. One, I gave out their review packets on Tuesday and they're pretty comprehensive. I automatically lose kids due to this as most parents like to watch their kids study or something. Also, the week is all half days. Every time we have exam review, the kids drop off more every day. Usually they combine our classes with the kids that are left. Midterm time, I think I only had ten kids from each class. It'll be a nice way to segue into no longer teaching! I'm a little sad to be leaving my kids, but I'm not sad to be done with teaching. Its been a good experience, but I'm glad to be done with it. I've always loved kids, and I enjoy the actual teaching aspect. But I don't enjoy the discipline aspect (though that might be tough for me because I have 93 kids to control),the never ending homework/paperwork, parents, or even the aspect of being in charge of what these kids learn. I know I've done a good job this year, and I'm ok with the idea of being done with this.
But I would be remiss if I didn't write to you about taxi cabs. I keep meaning to write an entry about the experience of riding in a Egyptian cab. Now with the review sessions this week, and my exam written and nothing left to do until the exams are over, there have been a few more trips to Starbucks during down time. The experience of riding a taxi cab in Egypt is unlike one you've had in the States. Here are a few things you'll always need to remember:
1) Before you get in the cab, know how much you are going to pay for the ride. NEVER ask the driver how much it costs. He WILL rip you off if you give him the chance to. There are no working meters in regular cabs, so there is no set fee for any place you go. You can do two things A) barter before you get into the cab so you both know or B) decide how much you will pay and do not waver when he demands more. Don't let how long the ride is be a factor either. Many drivers assume you don't know where you are going, so they'll take the long way to get more money.
2) Have an idea of where you are suppose to be going. A lot of cabs will drive aimlessly asking people on the street for directions. It helps if you know where you are going so you can help. Also, there is no such thing as Mapquest or GPS directions for cars. they are outlawed here (because the President of Egypt doesn't want people to be able to find him) so a lot of people have no idea where they are going.
3) Learn at least 4 words in Arabic - right, left, straight and here. These are the most important words that you need in a cab, even if they are the only words you'll speak.
4) Try to have a backup place near where you are going. For example, we frequent a Friday's by the Nile on the Cornish road. However, many drivers don't know this, so we also know that next door there is a restaurant called Grande Cafe. One of the two usually gets a response.
5) Have a sense of humor. Cab drivers here can be overly friendly, overly creepy, overly mean or overly agitated. If you try to stay positive, then things won't seem so bad.
That being said, I know I've been ripped off many times here, and leered at by drivers. But all in all, I've always gotten to where I need to go.
Less than a month left! AHH!
But I would be remiss if I didn't write to you about taxi cabs. I keep meaning to write an entry about the experience of riding in a Egyptian cab. Now with the review sessions this week, and my exam written and nothing left to do until the exams are over, there have been a few more trips to Starbucks during down time. The experience of riding a taxi cab in Egypt is unlike one you've had in the States. Here are a few things you'll always need to remember:
1) Before you get in the cab, know how much you are going to pay for the ride. NEVER ask the driver how much it costs. He WILL rip you off if you give him the chance to. There are no working meters in regular cabs, so there is no set fee for any place you go. You can do two things A) barter before you get into the cab so you both know or B) decide how much you will pay and do not waver when he demands more. Don't let how long the ride is be a factor either. Many drivers assume you don't know where you are going, so they'll take the long way to get more money.
2) Have an idea of where you are suppose to be going. A lot of cabs will drive aimlessly asking people on the street for directions. It helps if you know where you are going so you can help. Also, there is no such thing as Mapquest or GPS directions for cars. they are outlawed here (because the President of Egypt doesn't want people to be able to find him) so a lot of people have no idea where they are going.
3) Learn at least 4 words in Arabic - right, left, straight and here. These are the most important words that you need in a cab, even if they are the only words you'll speak.
4) Try to have a backup place near where you are going. For example, we frequent a Friday's by the Nile on the Cornish road. However, many drivers don't know this, so we also know that next door there is a restaurant called Grande Cafe. One of the two usually gets a response.
5) Have a sense of humor. Cab drivers here can be overly friendly, overly creepy, overly mean or overly agitated. If you try to stay positive, then things won't seem so bad.
That being said, I know I've been ripped off many times here, and leered at by drivers. But all in all, I've always gotten to where I need to go.
Less than a month left! AHH!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Israel, the three sea vacation: Red, Dead, Med :)
So I just got back from a fantastic vacation in Israel. It was Orthodox Easter this weekend, so everyone got Thursday, Sunday and Monday off of school! Five day weekend! For this weekend, a few of us - Erin, Lisa and Erin's boyfriend Joe - decided to take full advantage of our time off.
We got up on Thursday morning and took a bus to Taba, Egypt which is a city right on the border. It was a long bus ride - about six hours. We then had to walk to the border to cross it. The problem with this is the same thing that is the problem in all of Egypt...its complete chaos. Egyptians have no sense of lines or order, so its basically a mad rush to get to the front. We were in line for what seemed like forever to just get a stamp in the passport that says we left Egypt. Which by the way, tells people I was in Israel, and now i can't visit another Middle Eastern country (except Israel, Jordon and Egypt and maybe another one) until my passport expires and I get a new one. Just the way of the Mid East, they don't want people to go to Israel apparently. Then, we walked over to the Israel side of the border where we had to go through customs. That part was extremely smooth, and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief that there were lines and technology keeping us together.
After crossing the border, we got in a cab and headed for Eliat which is a town on the Red Sea, right by the border. We had considered trying to catch a bus to go up to Jerusalem that night, but after the border crossing we had all just about had it. We found a really nice hostel/motel and dropped our bags off. Then we headed off to go to an Irish Pub! You cannot even begin to imagine our joy at drinking beer on the patio of the bar, with people dressed in whatever they want, no honking horns every three seconds, just enjoying the clean air. It was great. We stayed at the pub for a while and then headed back to our hostel where we all pretty much were wiped out and went to sleep.
The next morning, we headed over to the bus station for another ridiculously long bus ride, this time to Jerusalem. The bus was about five hours long this time, but we drove by the Dead Sea and some other scenic places. We also picked up a lot of people from the side of the road.
Oh a quick funny story from the trip. When we were in line for customs, there was a very tall guy that was dressed in running gear and looked like he was practically an Olympiad. We were joking that he was running around the world while we waited in line and speculated about the things he was carrying. When we took our cab to Eliat, we saw him walking to town. Then the next day, we saw him on the side of the road and picked him up in our bus! He even stayed at the same hostel as us and we saw him a couple more times, just walking along the side of the road with all of his things. It made us all laugh hysterically every time we saw him.
So once we got into Jerusalem, we knew we had to get into the Old City, which is where our hostel was and is pretty much where all the religious places are. We started walking, but gave up quickly. We got to our hostel after a while, which was also a nice place. They ended up having a tour scheduled for the next day that we signed up for, then we left to go explore the city. We headed over to the Jewish Quarter first to see the Western (Wailing) Wall.
After walking around the Jewish Quarter for a while, we headed over to the New City area for dinner. Most of the places were closed in both areas because of the Jewish Sabbath so as soon as the sun went down, we were already having problems finding open stores or restaurants. We ended up finding a bar where we could again get a good drink and some food (Its hard living in a dry country :)). Afterwards I went shopping in the touristy streets that we kept referring to as the Khan after a similar area near us. They are small streets that are pretty much alleyways filled with little shops. There were quite a few closed shops because of Sabbath, but it was interesting to see a lot of the things. There were a lot of religious things in the shops, from every religion. While I was in a shop, there was a procession down the street. I had forgotten that it was Orthodox Good Friday, and there were people heading down to the church. The shops all closed up soon after that, so I went back to bed.
The next day we got up early for our tour and already there were people lined up around the edges of the Old City. We were waiting to be picked up right by Jaffa gate, which is an entrance into Old city, and there were people lined up outside, there were people lined up by the entrance to the Khan. There were police everywhere just holding people back. The church bells had been ringing early that morning as we
got up. It was officially their Easter and people were out in full force. We all got coffee and waited for our guide. He couldn't drive up to meet us because of the police presence, so we had to walk down to meet him. It was a minibus full of people, most were older couples. The first stop was Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. We couldn't go up into the caves themselves, but the views were amazing. After that, we went to Massada which is the site of King Herrod's palace and the site of a battle between the Romans and Jewish people. The castle is at the top of a mountain that we had to take a cable car up to. We walked down later, but we collectively decided that it was way too much walking. The top of the mountain is actually at sea level, which is pretty weird. The site is pretty much just ruins that you can walk around observe, but its nice to be able to walk within them. We were there for about two hours, and the sun was beating down on us. After our walk down the mountain, we were all pretty exhausted and overheated. Thankfully, the next stop was the Dead Sea!
We hadn't expected to be able to be able to go in the water so none of us had brought bathing suits. But we made do with t-shirts and shorts. No one wanted to miss out on being able to float. The mud there is suppose have healing qualities, so people were slathering it on themselves. The experience of floating was so weird. I can't even explain the feeling of curling up in a ball and bouncing around on the water. We stayed there for a while and then headed over to Jericho for lunch. Jericho is actually in Palestine territory on the West Bank, so we have to go through a lot of security to make sure no one on our bus was Israeli. After lunch we saw the Mount of Temptation, Tree of Zaccharus, Hirsham Palace and the Mount of Olives. Then they took us back to our hostel where we all kind of felt like we should take a nap. But we pushed through and made a trek to the Christian Quarter to see the Church of the Holy Sapulchre which is the church that was built over the area where Jesus was crucified and buried.
It is believed that this is where Jesus is buried, so there were tons of people there fawning over the tomb. Especially since it was Easter weekend.
The next day we went to the Holocaust Museum, which was pretty interesting. And depressing, but mostly interesting. Afterwards, we went to Bethlehem to the church that was built over the cave where Jesus was supposedly born according to Orthodox tradition.
It was crazy busy there, and again we had to go through ridiculous checkpoints because of it being in West Bank territory. When we got back to Israeli territory we took a cab straight to Tel Aviv which was gorgeous. It is right on the Mediterranean sea, and it probably one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. We spent the night there relaxing and the next morning headed back.
One of new favorite countries. Everyone was so friendly, and happy, and I wish I was still there right now.
But the good news is that school is almost over. 4 weeks til Pete is here, 6 weeks until I'm in Tokyo and 7 weeks until I'm back in Chicago.
We got up on Thursday morning and took a bus to Taba, Egypt which is a city right on the border. It was a long bus ride - about six hours. We then had to walk to the border to cross it. The problem with this is the same thing that is the problem in all of Egypt...its complete chaos. Egyptians have no sense of lines or order, so its basically a mad rush to get to the front. We were in line for what seemed like forever to just get a stamp in the passport that says we left Egypt. Which by the way, tells people I was in Israel, and now i can't visit another Middle Eastern country (except Israel, Jordon and Egypt and maybe another one) until my passport expires and I get a new one. Just the way of the Mid East, they don't want people to go to Israel apparently. Then, we walked over to the Israel side of the border where we had to go through customs. That part was extremely smooth, and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief that there were lines and technology keeping us together.
After crossing the border, we got in a cab and headed for Eliat which is a town on the Red Sea, right by the border. We had considered trying to catch a bus to go up to Jerusalem that night, but after the border crossing we had all just about had it. We found a really nice hostel/motel and dropped our bags off. Then we headed off to go to an Irish Pub! You cannot even begin to imagine our joy at drinking beer on the patio of the bar, with people dressed in whatever they want, no honking horns every three seconds, just enjoying the clean air. It was great. We stayed at the pub for a while and then headed back to our hostel where we all pretty much were wiped out and went to sleep.
The next morning, we headed over to the bus station for another ridiculously long bus ride, this time to Jerusalem. The bus was about five hours long this time, but we drove by the Dead Sea and some other scenic places. We also picked up a lot of people from the side of the road.
Oh a quick funny story from the trip. When we were in line for customs, there was a very tall guy that was dressed in running gear and looked like he was practically an Olympiad. We were joking that he was running around the world while we waited in line and speculated about the things he was carrying. When we took our cab to Eliat, we saw him walking to town. Then the next day, we saw him on the side of the road and picked him up in our bus! He even stayed at the same hostel as us and we saw him a couple more times, just walking along the side of the road with all of his things. It made us all laugh hysterically every time we saw him.
So once we got into Jerusalem, we knew we had to get into the Old City, which is where our hostel was and is pretty much where all the religious places are. We started walking, but gave up quickly. We got to our hostel after a while, which was also a nice place. They ended up having a tour scheduled for the next day that we signed up for, then we left to go explore the city. We headed over to the Jewish Quarter first to see the Western (Wailing) Wall.
After walking around the Jewish Quarter for a while, we headed over to the New City area for dinner. Most of the places were closed in both areas because of the Jewish Sabbath so as soon as the sun went down, we were already having problems finding open stores or restaurants. We ended up finding a bar where we could again get a good drink and some food (Its hard living in a dry country :)). Afterwards I went shopping in the touristy streets that we kept referring to as the Khan after a similar area near us. They are small streets that are pretty much alleyways filled with little shops. There were quite a few closed shops because of Sabbath, but it was interesting to see a lot of the things. There were a lot of religious things in the shops, from every religion. While I was in a shop, there was a procession down the street. I had forgotten that it was Orthodox Good Friday, and there were people heading down to the church. The shops all closed up soon after that, so I went back to bed.
The next day we got up early for our tour and already there were people lined up around the edges of the Old City. We were waiting to be picked up right by Jaffa gate, which is an entrance into Old city, and there were people lined up outside, there were people lined up by the entrance to the Khan. There were police everywhere just holding people back. The church bells had been ringing early that morning as we
got up. It was officially their Easter and people were out in full force. We all got coffee and waited for our guide. He couldn't drive up to meet us because of the police presence, so we had to walk down to meet him. It was a minibus full of people, most were older couples. The first stop was Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. We couldn't go up into the caves themselves, but the views were amazing. After that, we went to Massada which is the site of King Herrod's palace and the site of a battle between the Romans and Jewish people. The castle is at the top of a mountain that we had to take a cable car up to. We walked down later, but we collectively decided that it was way too much walking. The top of the mountain is actually at sea level, which is pretty weird. The site is pretty much just ruins that you can walk around observe, but its nice to be able to walk within them. We were there for about two hours, and the sun was beating down on us. After our walk down the mountain, we were all pretty exhausted and overheated. Thankfully, the next stop was the Dead Sea!
We hadn't expected to be able to be able to go in the water so none of us had brought bathing suits. But we made do with t-shirts and shorts. No one wanted to miss out on being able to float. The mud there is suppose have healing qualities, so people were slathering it on themselves. The experience of floating was so weird. I can't even explain the feeling of curling up in a ball and bouncing around on the water. We stayed there for a while and then headed over to Jericho for lunch. Jericho is actually in Palestine territory on the West Bank, so we have to go through a lot of security to make sure no one on our bus was Israeli. After lunch we saw the Mount of Temptation, Tree of Zaccharus, Hirsham Palace and the Mount of Olives. Then they took us back to our hostel where we all kind of felt like we should take a nap. But we pushed through and made a trek to the Christian Quarter to see the Church of the Holy Sapulchre which is the church that was built over the area where Jesus was crucified and buried.
It is believed that this is where Jesus is buried, so there were tons of people there fawning over the tomb. Especially since it was Easter weekend.
The next day we went to the Holocaust Museum, which was pretty interesting. And depressing, but mostly interesting. Afterwards, we went to Bethlehem to the church that was built over the cave where Jesus was supposedly born according to Orthodox tradition.
It was crazy busy there, and again we had to go through ridiculous checkpoints because of it being in West Bank territory. When we got back to Israeli territory we took a cab straight to Tel Aviv which was gorgeous. It is right on the Mediterranean sea, and it probably one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. We spent the night there relaxing and the next morning headed back.
One of new favorite countries. Everyone was so friendly, and happy, and I wish I was still there right now.
But the good news is that school is almost over. 4 weeks til Pete is here, 6 weeks until I'm in Tokyo and 7 weeks until I'm back in Chicago.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Egyptians Celebrate Like No One Else
I went to two celebrations this weekend that illustrate the fact that Egyptians have a completely different idea of celebrating than anyone else.
First, my friend Erin's birthday is this coming Tuesday, so we celebrated it this weekend. Now, an Egyptian birthday is a bit different from they way anyone else might celbrate it. We began the same way that anyone else might, with a dinner out. Ours was a little upscale, this one was at the Four Seasons. Fantastic dinner, really expensive. After that we headed over to a club called After 8, which is just a small little night club in Cairo. You have to reserve a table to stay there, but really you can bring as many people as you want. The place is ALWAYS packed. One of the girls came only to the club and brought a cake with her. She sercretly gave it to the waiters there (we've done this before) and they brought it out around 1 in the morning. They also supplied 2 sparklers per person and some sort of firework to set off when the cake arrived. Then they play a Happy Birthday song, which is played everywhere for birthdays here. I'm not sure where it comes from but its about 3 minutes long and its like regular house/techno music. Its fun to dance to :) Lots of fire, lots of music, lots of dancing. Basically, that's Egypt.
I also went to a wedding this weekend. The director of the school's middle son was married to a pretty foreign girl (not sure where from, maybe Scotland..more on that in a minute). Now, Egyptian weddings aren't really weddings persay. There isn't really a ceremony, just a reception. We were told that the wedding started at eight, but we should show up between eight-thirty and nine because it wouldn't begin on time. Nothing on Egypt begins on time...which is very annoying to someone like me who likes to be on time for things. So we arrive there around 8:30, and lo and behold, the reception hall isn't even set up yet!! We were there for about a half hour until it was finished being set up. Then we sat inside, but the events didn't begin for ANOTHER twenty minutes or so. They said they needed to wait for as many people as possible to show up before they began. Then, finally, we all went out into the hallway. We were in the Nile Hilton on the second floor. Half of us stayed at the top of the stairs, and everyone else went to the bottom. There were two camera men as well, one at the top, one at the bottom. The two of them followed them around all night, projecting things on a screen in the reception area. The groom waiting at the bottom of the stairs as the bride slowly descended with her father. A man playing bagpipes accompanied them - which is why I thought she may be Scottish. On the landing in the middle, the groom and his father walked up and waited. There was a brief conversation (I wonder what they talked about!) and then the couple walked down the stairs with the two fathers walking behind them. They walked to a larger area of the ground floor where everyone followed and about a dozen men with tambra drums (hand drums) and a few other instruments played. Then there was a mini dance party where the bridal party danced to the music. There was a procession around the stairs after the dancing and then the bride, groom and the music brigade walked back up the stairs. At the top they continued to play while they waited to get in. Everyone else was let in before the bride and groom, and then they were announced in. After the introduction, there was dancing. And more dancing...and more... Finally, around midnight, they brought food to the tables. There were several traditional Egyptian dishes but I don't know what any of them are called. There wasn't a lot of food on the table though (as it was a family style type of set up), so we weren't sure if we should eat a lot of a little. Maybe an hour after appetizer dishes were put out, they brought out the wedding cakes (I say cakes because instead of one multi-tiered cake, there were several single layer cakes on many different level platters) and showed the bride and groom cutting the cake. Then, they proceeded into a separate unseen room and showed the bride and groom cutting a huge leg of meat as well. There was a HUGE buffet of food and deserts. Also, Egyptians don't drink with their meals - and I'm not referring to alcohol, I'm referring to anything. While there were bottles of water on each table, we only got other drinks inbetween food. One round of juice (which was odd) and one round of soda. There was no alcohol at this wedding whatsoever, which is normal for Egypt.
All in all, it was a interesting night - just very confusing foodwise.
First, my friend Erin's birthday is this coming Tuesday, so we celebrated it this weekend. Now, an Egyptian birthday is a bit different from they way anyone else might celbrate it. We began the same way that anyone else might, with a dinner out. Ours was a little upscale, this one was at the Four Seasons. Fantastic dinner, really expensive. After that we headed over to a club called After 8, which is just a small little night club in Cairo. You have to reserve a table to stay there, but really you can bring as many people as you want. The place is ALWAYS packed. One of the girls came only to the club and brought a cake with her. She sercretly gave it to the waiters there (we've done this before) and they brought it out around 1 in the morning. They also supplied 2 sparklers per person and some sort of firework to set off when the cake arrived. Then they play a Happy Birthday song, which is played everywhere for birthdays here. I'm not sure where it comes from but its about 3 minutes long and its like regular house/techno music. Its fun to dance to :) Lots of fire, lots of music, lots of dancing. Basically, that's Egypt.
I also went to a wedding this weekend. The director of the school's middle son was married to a pretty foreign girl (not sure where from, maybe Scotland..more on that in a minute). Now, Egyptian weddings aren't really weddings persay. There isn't really a ceremony, just a reception. We were told that the wedding started at eight, but we should show up between eight-thirty and nine because it wouldn't begin on time. Nothing on Egypt begins on time...which is very annoying to someone like me who likes to be on time for things. So we arrive there around 8:30, and lo and behold, the reception hall isn't even set up yet!! We were there for about a half hour until it was finished being set up. Then we sat inside, but the events didn't begin for ANOTHER twenty minutes or so. They said they needed to wait for as many people as possible to show up before they began. Then, finally, we all went out into the hallway. We were in the Nile Hilton on the second floor. Half of us stayed at the top of the stairs, and everyone else went to the bottom. There were two camera men as well, one at the top, one at the bottom. The two of them followed them around all night, projecting things on a screen in the reception area. The groom waiting at the bottom of the stairs as the bride slowly descended with her father. A man playing bagpipes accompanied them - which is why I thought she may be Scottish. On the landing in the middle, the groom and his father walked up and waited. There was a brief conversation (I wonder what they talked about!) and then the couple walked down the stairs with the two fathers walking behind them. They walked to a larger area of the ground floor where everyone followed and about a dozen men with tambra drums (hand drums) and a few other instruments played. Then there was a mini dance party where the bridal party danced to the music. There was a procession around the stairs after the dancing and then the bride, groom and the music brigade walked back up the stairs. At the top they continued to play while they waited to get in. Everyone else was let in before the bride and groom, and then they were announced in. After the introduction, there was dancing. And more dancing...and more... Finally, around midnight, they brought food to the tables. There were several traditional Egyptian dishes but I don't know what any of them are called. There wasn't a lot of food on the table though (as it was a family style type of set up), so we weren't sure if we should eat a lot of a little. Maybe an hour after appetizer dishes were put out, they brought out the wedding cakes (I say cakes because instead of one multi-tiered cake, there were several single layer cakes on many different level platters) and showed the bride and groom cutting the cake. Then, they proceeded into a separate unseen room and showed the bride and groom cutting a huge leg of meat as well. There was a HUGE buffet of food and deserts. Also, Egyptians don't drink with their meals - and I'm not referring to alcohol, I'm referring to anything. While there were bottles of water on each table, we only got other drinks inbetween food. One round of juice (which was odd) and one round of soda. There was no alcohol at this wedding whatsoever, which is normal for Egypt.
All in all, it was a interesting night - just very confusing foodwise.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Egyptian Mother's Day
This Saturday is Mother's Day in Egypt. It hasn't really been explained to me WHY its not the same day as American Mother's Day, but I do know it is on the same day every year instead of the first Sunday of the month. Egyptians, btw, do not have a father's day. I suppose in this culture, every day is Father's day.
The interesting thing about Mother's Day here is that they not only give their mother's presents, but i recieved some as well. Not that the parents of my students think I have children or anything, it just seems to be a common thing here. I got a lot of nice things, and some not so nice, but the thought was there. Its a very sweet gesture, but a very odd idea. Even when the mother's talked to me yesteday they wished me a Happy Mother's Day. I suppose the idea is that I mother them in the classrooms.
Here's what I got:
- Two plates with Egyptian drawings on them
- a nice bowl made of silver and wood
- a set of six cups
- two different perfumes
- a shirt
- a candle holder
- two candles
- a picture frame
- chocolates
I was very appreciative of these, and many of them will be coming back to the states.
Yesterday was our school Bazaar. It was a nice day off of work (kind of, we were required to be there at three) in which we just walked around to the different booths and watched our kids perform. A lot of people were there, and I spent a lot of time telling parents about how their kids are doing in class. I also received a lot of my gifts listed above here. The kids were fun, and it was nice to see them outside of their uniforms. The little booths that were set up to sell things were nice, though there were two booths with pets that were very sad. Egyptian pet store standards are significantly lower than American ones, and this booth was no exception. They had all kinds of animals, and they were all squeezed into cages. There were two very large guinea pigs in a cage meant for a hamster. They could barely move. It made my heart hurt just to see them.
I'll post pictures up soon (though some are on Facebook if you want to see)
EDIT:
I received a lot more gifts today.
- four coffee mugs
- about five assorted pictures in frames (one of which is gigantic)
- some fake flowers
- a barbie doll
- two clocks
- two sets of earrings
- two necklaces
- a set of three glasses
It was like my birthday :)
The interesting thing about Mother's Day here is that they not only give their mother's presents, but i recieved some as well. Not that the parents of my students think I have children or anything, it just seems to be a common thing here. I got a lot of nice things, and some not so nice, but the thought was there. Its a very sweet gesture, but a very odd idea. Even when the mother's talked to me yesteday they wished me a Happy Mother's Day. I suppose the idea is that I mother them in the classrooms.
Here's what I got:
- Two plates with Egyptian drawings on them
- a nice bowl made of silver and wood
- a set of six cups
- two different perfumes
- a shirt
- a candle holder
- two candles
- a picture frame
- chocolates
I was very appreciative of these, and many of them will be coming back to the states.
Yesterday was our school Bazaar. It was a nice day off of work (kind of, we were required to be there at three) in which we just walked around to the different booths and watched our kids perform. A lot of people were there, and I spent a lot of time telling parents about how their kids are doing in class. I also received a lot of my gifts listed above here. The kids were fun, and it was nice to see them outside of their uniforms. The little booths that were set up to sell things were nice, though there were two booths with pets that were very sad. Egyptian pet store standards are significantly lower than American ones, and this booth was no exception. They had all kinds of animals, and they were all squeezed into cages. There were two very large guinea pigs in a cage meant for a hamster. They could barely move. It made my heart hurt just to see them.
I'll post pictures up soon (though some are on Facebook if you want to see)
EDIT:
I received a lot more gifts today.
- four coffee mugs
- about five assorted pictures in frames (one of which is gigantic)
- some fake flowers
- a barbie doll
- two clocks
- two sets of earrings
- two necklaces
- a set of three glasses
It was like my birthday :)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tme moving quickly
I know that I haven’t written in a long time, but that’s mostly because nothing really exciting has been happening. We’re back in school these days, and time is flying by quickly. I can’t believe that in less than three months I’ll be leaving here! We don’t have much time left for teaching either. I wrote out an outline for the rest of my lesson plans for the year, and I was shocked to find how little time I have to teach. Not only do we only have about eight weeks left of school (the last few weeks are grading and wrapping up loose ends, no teaching after May 4th). But two of those are review weeks. So that only leaves about six weeks of teaching and that’s not much time to get the information in. Its just crazy to think about!
Besides school, I have been having fun. A few of us rented a felucca boat for an hour on the Nile. A felucca boat is pretty much a big sailboat, but a little less sophisticated than ones that most people own. It has a sail, a rudder and seats. No steering wheel or anything like that. But still lovely to ride on (especially since it comes with a driver! Ha!). The weekend we did that was beautiful and very warm, and the ride was just relaxing. Its getting windy here (sandstorm season is almost upon us), and that always helps move that boat along.
Last night we had what we all referred to as ‘second thanksgiving’ which was great. Everybody brought a dish to share, and we enjoyed a nice feast. There were about eight people all together, and about half of us brought desserts. We all ended up full though, so it worked out for the best – even if we were all sugared up for a while. Lately we’ve done a lot of hanging out on people’s roofs and playing cards. And Jenga! I’ve gotten a lot better at both of them. Its been really relaxing and I’m really going to miss everyone here. Don’t worry about me staying though, pretty much everyone is leaving after the school year ends.
Ok, I'll try to keep updating :) sorry about the long down time!
Besides school, I have been having fun. A few of us rented a felucca boat for an hour on the Nile. A felucca boat is pretty much a big sailboat, but a little less sophisticated than ones that most people own. It has a sail, a rudder and seats. No steering wheel or anything like that. But still lovely to ride on (especially since it comes with a driver! Ha!). The weekend we did that was beautiful and very warm, and the ride was just relaxing. Its getting windy here (sandstorm season is almost upon us), and that always helps move that boat along.
Last night we had what we all referred to as ‘second thanksgiving’ which was great. Everybody brought a dish to share, and we enjoyed a nice feast. There were about eight people all together, and about half of us brought desserts. We all ended up full though, so it worked out for the best – even if we were all sugared up for a while. Lately we’ve done a lot of hanging out on people’s roofs and playing cards. And Jenga! I’ve gotten a lot better at both of them. Its been really relaxing and I’m really going to miss everyone here. Don’t worry about me staying though, pretty much everyone is leaving after the school year ends.
Ok, I'll try to keep updating :) sorry about the long down time!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Camping in the White Desert
Those of you that know me personally probably know two things about me. One: I have never been actual camping. Girl scouts, yes, but never out with friends in a real forest or something. And two: I have absolutely no desire to go camping. But lo and behold, the other girls I hang around here do have a desire to camp. They also enjoy it tremendously and have done it before. When I told them I've never been, their response was to tell me that they're making me go.
The day after we got back from Spain, Wendy found a overnight camping trip in the White Desert. I wanted to see the white desert, I just wasn't sure about the camping aspect of it. But when push came to shove, I decided it was better for me to go than to not. So a group of us got picked up at 7am, not really knowing what happens next. We got into a mini-bus and asked how long it would take to get to our first stop.
"Four hours" was the driver's reply.
Everybody settled in for the long drive, a bit uncomfortably. There wasn't much room to stretch out, and the driver took the bumpiest roads possible. It was a bit hard to sleep, and four hours felt like forever. You think driving through cornfields can be boring, try driving through sand.
After the trip finally was over, we got out at a motel in the middle of a tiny town. As soon as we got there, they asked for our passports, which we all handed over. As soon as we did, we began to joke about this seemed like a horror films that begin with tourists being dropped off in the middle of nowhere. The passport situation ended up being something that involved leaving the motel, so Lisa, my roommate, went with the guys to safeguard them. When she didn't come back for almost an hour, our horror story began to feel a little more real. Fortunately, she came back with the passports and we got on the road soon enough. we took a truck that had five seats in the back of it, and accompanying us was not just the driver and our tour guide, but also a police escort. Apparently all American and British tourist - no matter how large the group- need a police escort in the desert. We found this odd, but we went on our way.
The first stop was in the Black Desert, which is filled with bits of black rock. I think they are black onyx but I'm not completely sure. Our driver had a good time off roading, which threw us around a bit in the back. Egyptians aren't so big on the whole seatbelt issue, so through out the day we were flying around our seats a bit. It only made the trip more exciting though. After getting out and taking a few pictures, we headed over to the Crystal Cavern, which wasn't nearly as impressive as we thought it was going to be. It was basically just a small crevice that sparkled a bit. We got back into the car and finally headed over to the White Desert. The White desert is pretty intriguing. It isn't the normal sand dunes - or well, it begins that way. They're really cool looking :
But the rest of the day was spend setting up camp. We didn't have to do anything, which was nice. Set up and tear down were all done by our three escorts, while we sat around. Our food was delicious and cooked all over the fire. There was chicken, rice and a goulash of some sort. We brought our own beverages, and they provided some water as well. While we ate we threw our bones to some desert foxes. They moved wicked fast and the guide warned us not to leave our shoes out because the foxes will steal them. After dinner, we all sat around the fire and some of the other camps that were nearby had their escorts come over as well. They had some drums and broke out singing a bit as well. It was a good time. The night got really cold though as soon as you got away from the fire. We had blankets as well as sleeping bags and you were still freezing. I was not sold on this part. This morning was relatively boring, packing up and spending the day driving back.
The whole experiance was good, but I still prefer my bed and indoor plumbing. Ha. Nothing has changed.
The day after we got back from Spain, Wendy found a overnight camping trip in the White Desert. I wanted to see the white desert, I just wasn't sure about the camping aspect of it. But when push came to shove, I decided it was better for me to go than to not. So a group of us got picked up at 7am, not really knowing what happens next. We got into a mini-bus and asked how long it would take to get to our first stop.
"Four hours" was the driver's reply.
Everybody settled in for the long drive, a bit uncomfortably. There wasn't much room to stretch out, and the driver took the bumpiest roads possible. It was a bit hard to sleep, and four hours felt like forever. You think driving through cornfields can be boring, try driving through sand.
After the trip finally was over, we got out at a motel in the middle of a tiny town. As soon as we got there, they asked for our passports, which we all handed over. As soon as we did, we began to joke about this seemed like a horror films that begin with tourists being dropped off in the middle of nowhere. The passport situation ended up being something that involved leaving the motel, so Lisa, my roommate, went with the guys to safeguard them. When she didn't come back for almost an hour, our horror story began to feel a little more real. Fortunately, she came back with the passports and we got on the road soon enough. we took a truck that had five seats in the back of it, and accompanying us was not just the driver and our tour guide, but also a police escort. Apparently all American and British tourist - no matter how large the group- need a police escort in the desert. We found this odd, but we went on our way.
The first stop was in the Black Desert, which is filled with bits of black rock. I think they are black onyx but I'm not completely sure. Our driver had a good time off roading, which threw us around a bit in the back. Egyptians aren't so big on the whole seatbelt issue, so through out the day we were flying around our seats a bit. It only made the trip more exciting though. After getting out and taking a few pictures, we headed over to the Crystal Cavern, which wasn't nearly as impressive as we thought it was going to be. It was basically just a small crevice that sparkled a bit. We got back into the car and finally headed over to the White Desert. The White desert is pretty intriguing. It isn't the normal sand dunes - or well, it begins that way. They're really cool looking :
But the rest of the day was spend setting up camp. We didn't have to do anything, which was nice. Set up and tear down were all done by our three escorts, while we sat around. Our food was delicious and cooked all over the fire. There was chicken, rice and a goulash of some sort. We brought our own beverages, and they provided some water as well. While we ate we threw our bones to some desert foxes. They moved wicked fast and the guide warned us not to leave our shoes out because the foxes will steal them. After dinner, we all sat around the fire and some of the other camps that were nearby had their escorts come over as well. They had some drums and broke out singing a bit as well. It was a good time. The night got really cold though as soon as you got away from the fire. We had blankets as well as sleeping bags and you were still freezing. I was not sold on this part. This morning was relatively boring, packing up and spending the day driving back.
The whole experiance was good, but I still prefer my bed and indoor plumbing. Ha. Nothing has changed.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
New place to view pictures.
 |
| Spain |
Flickr was giving me attitude, so I switched. I'll upload some of the pictures the other girls took in spain, but these are the only ones I got before my camera died.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Spain has come and gone...
I'm back from my vacation! It was a great time had by all, and I really enjoyed the culture and thought the comparisons to Egypt were interesting. But anyway, here is a detailed account:
First of all, Wendy, Erin and I flew out of Cairo at 4:30 in the morning, which was just fun in itself. It seems like half the flights out of Cairo are at ridiculous hours, but I digress. As another example of how backwards Egypt can be, they had security before you check in for your flight, which makes absolutely no sense. As we walked though security, we had to hand over our passports so they could check to make sure we were authorized to leave. You see, if you are married to an Egyptian, you need permission from your husband to leave. So they checked us against what I assume is some sort of master list of marriage licenses. While the three of us waited, it seemed like ten men walked through with no problem what so ever. It was a bit frustrating. Besides that, there wasn't really anything exciting about our flight. We got into Madrid a bit late, and got lost on the Metro on our way to Erin's cousin's place. After a lot of confusion, we managed to get to Laura's apartment, and proceeded to sleep through most of the day after a quick dinner/lunch. Laura, by the way, has a dog named Sasha that is ridiculously cute. We spent a lot of time in Madrid playing with the dog.
The next few days we borrowed a tour book from Laura to just tour the city on our own. Erin had an interview that was impossible to get to without a lot of help from random Spaniards. But we had much more sucess with our self tours of the city. We saw, just to name a few, the Royal Palace, Prado Museum, Plaza de Toros, Temple of Debod, Plaza Mayor and a bunch more. Food wise, we did pretty well with our Tapas meals. We don't get pork products in Egypt, so we all jumped at the chance to get some ham, chirzo sausage and bacon. I think i ate more ham in the last few days than I have in the last several years. When we first got to Spain, the three of us were all about finding Sangria as well. We were disappointed to find that it is more of a summer drink, so many restaurants didn't have it. But we managed to search hard enough to get a few pitchers on our trip.
Our last night in Madrid we went out with Laura to see some Flamenco dancing and then out to her boyfriend's place for a party he was having. It was nice meeting some locals, and a lot of them knew English well enough for me to converse with them. I felt bad about not knowing any Spanish, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I also broke my camera this night by dropping it. I had to buy a disposable one the next day. I'll have to buy a new one here in Egypt.
The day after the party, Wendy, Erin and I went to Barcelona by bus. It was a long ride, and they showed two movies - 'The Italian Job' and 'National Treasure'. Unfortunately, they were dubbed over in Spanish, but I've seen them both several times so I just watched it while listening to my iPod while I dozed in and out. The hostel we stayed at was a lot nice than I had been expecting. There were lockers for everyone and free breakfast! The room we stayed in was for 20 people, so it was a bit hard to sleep sometimes. It was still very good for the price we paid (13 euros a night), so i wasn't one to complain.
Our first day in Barcelona, we bought tickets for a tour bus since we didn't have our handy book like we did in Madrid. It was a great idea, for it was one of those buses that let you get on and off whenever you wanted. We were able to spend the whole day just touring major sights, and being able to drive past some that we didn't feel like getting out for. One of our first big stops was Sagrada Familia which is Gaudi's dream church. We didn't go in, but we did hang around outside of it for a long time and then went and got hot chocolate and churros (which were delicious). It was a bit cold and rainy, we stayed inside until we were dry and warm enough to get back on the bus. After that, we went to Park Guell, which is another Gaudi artistic area, but this time its a park designed by him. We walked around for a long time and then sat at the top (its built into a hill) of the park in a cafe and had another pitcher of Sangria. The rest of the day was just riding around and then going out that night. The next day we ventured over to the Picasso museum which was really interesting. I absolutely enjoyed it there and even bought a print of my new favorite Picasso! We tried to go to the Chocolate Museum next, but unfortunately it was closed. We walked around for a long time before we had to collect our luggage and head to our overnight train back. The train was interesting because though we had been told we would get sleeper cars with beds, they had us in chairs - eight to a room. Though I slept( I apparently have a new found talent for sleeping anywhere), the other girls did not. we got back with no problems to Laura's place, where we slept some more and then did a little bit more touring before packing and heading out by ten the next morning.
Our flights were crap on the way home (and really showed us why Alitalia went bankrupt), but we did have a seven hour layover in Rome that we took full advantage of. Erin's friend of the family Jim Pratt is a Jesuit priest that lives at the vatican. He picked us up from the airport and took us to the Vatican for the time in between. It was pretty cool walking around and getting a bit of a behind the scenes tour of where he works and lives. He even opened a bottle of wine in his office and we all sat having a glass before we had to get back to the airport. One really cool thing is that my great uncle Dick is a Jesuit monk, and Jim Pratt was able to look him up in a book that he had that lists all of the Jesuits in the US. I was excited.
But now I'm back in Egypt where I have to unpack and do laundry all day. Fun! It was a great trip, and I hope to have pictures up soon!
First of all, Wendy, Erin and I flew out of Cairo at 4:30 in the morning, which was just fun in itself. It seems like half the flights out of Cairo are at ridiculous hours, but I digress. As another example of how backwards Egypt can be, they had security before you check in for your flight, which makes absolutely no sense. As we walked though security, we had to hand over our passports so they could check to make sure we were authorized to leave. You see, if you are married to an Egyptian, you need permission from your husband to leave. So they checked us against what I assume is some sort of master list of marriage licenses. While the three of us waited, it seemed like ten men walked through with no problem what so ever. It was a bit frustrating. Besides that, there wasn't really anything exciting about our flight. We got into Madrid a bit late, and got lost on the Metro on our way to Erin's cousin's place. After a lot of confusion, we managed to get to Laura's apartment, and proceeded to sleep through most of the day after a quick dinner/lunch. Laura, by the way, has a dog named Sasha that is ridiculously cute. We spent a lot of time in Madrid playing with the dog.
The next few days we borrowed a tour book from Laura to just tour the city on our own. Erin had an interview that was impossible to get to without a lot of help from random Spaniards. But we had much more sucess with our self tours of the city. We saw, just to name a few, the Royal Palace, Prado Museum, Plaza de Toros, Temple of Debod, Plaza Mayor and a bunch more. Food wise, we did pretty well with our Tapas meals. We don't get pork products in Egypt, so we all jumped at the chance to get some ham, chirzo sausage and bacon. I think i ate more ham in the last few days than I have in the last several years. When we first got to Spain, the three of us were all about finding Sangria as well. We were disappointed to find that it is more of a summer drink, so many restaurants didn't have it. But we managed to search hard enough to get a few pitchers on our trip.
Our last night in Madrid we went out with Laura to see some Flamenco dancing and then out to her boyfriend's place for a party he was having. It was nice meeting some locals, and a lot of them knew English well enough for me to converse with them. I felt bad about not knowing any Spanish, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I also broke my camera this night by dropping it. I had to buy a disposable one the next day. I'll have to buy a new one here in Egypt.
The day after the party, Wendy, Erin and I went to Barcelona by bus. It was a long ride, and they showed two movies - 'The Italian Job' and 'National Treasure'. Unfortunately, they were dubbed over in Spanish, but I've seen them both several times so I just watched it while listening to my iPod while I dozed in and out. The hostel we stayed at was a lot nice than I had been expecting. There were lockers for everyone and free breakfast! The room we stayed in was for 20 people, so it was a bit hard to sleep sometimes. It was still very good for the price we paid (13 euros a night), so i wasn't one to complain.
Our first day in Barcelona, we bought tickets for a tour bus since we didn't have our handy book like we did in Madrid. It was a great idea, for it was one of those buses that let you get on and off whenever you wanted. We were able to spend the whole day just touring major sights, and being able to drive past some that we didn't feel like getting out for. One of our first big stops was Sagrada Familia which is Gaudi's dream church. We didn't go in, but we did hang around outside of it for a long time and then went and got hot chocolate and churros (which were delicious). It was a bit cold and rainy, we stayed inside until we were dry and warm enough to get back on the bus. After that, we went to Park Guell, which is another Gaudi artistic area, but this time its a park designed by him. We walked around for a long time and then sat at the top (its built into a hill) of the park in a cafe and had another pitcher of Sangria. The rest of the day was just riding around and then going out that night. The next day we ventured over to the Picasso museum which was really interesting. I absolutely enjoyed it there and even bought a print of my new favorite Picasso! We tried to go to the Chocolate Museum next, but unfortunately it was closed. We walked around for a long time before we had to collect our luggage and head to our overnight train back. The train was interesting because though we had been told we would get sleeper cars with beds, they had us in chairs - eight to a room. Though I slept( I apparently have a new found talent for sleeping anywhere), the other girls did not. we got back with no problems to Laura's place, where we slept some more and then did a little bit more touring before packing and heading out by ten the next morning.
Our flights were crap on the way home (and really showed us why Alitalia went bankrupt), but we did have a seven hour layover in Rome that we took full advantage of. Erin's friend of the family Jim Pratt is a Jesuit priest that lives at the vatican. He picked us up from the airport and took us to the Vatican for the time in between. It was pretty cool walking around and getting a bit of a behind the scenes tour of where he works and lives. He even opened a bottle of wine in his office and we all sat having a glass before we had to get back to the airport. One really cool thing is that my great uncle Dick is a Jesuit monk, and Jim Pratt was able to look him up in a book that he had that lists all of the Jesuits in the US. I was excited.
But now I'm back in Egypt where I have to unpack and do laundry all day. Fun! It was a great trip, and I hope to have pictures up soon!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hola Espania!
Our vacation officially starts today! I know there haven't been a lot of post as of late, but there really isn't much going on right now. The past few weeks have been rather boring with several nights out with the girls or sneaky trips (that weren't very secret) to Starbucks during work. There wasn't really too much to do as the last day got closer and closer. In fact, today I turned in all of my stuff for the two weeks after we come back, but I turned it in right when I got into work, so I spent the whole day watching downloaded shows on my computer with a short trip to Carrfour with Erin to grab some Starbucks. I wasn't slacking for you that are worried, I was just prepared and done early.
I won't be available for the next week or so since I am not bringing my computer to Spain. We're staying with Erin's cousin, but I don't plan on using the internet a lot. Feel free to email me, I'll respond when I get back.
I also have to share a quick story. One of the kids I tutor, Mohamed, and I were talking yesterday about my short vacation. He asked me if I was going to the States for my vacation, which led him to mentioning that in a few years he is going to go to University in the States. His dad has recently been looking into what the best University for him to go to is by asking friends or colleagues. Mohamed asked me what I thought the best University was, which made me pause because he didn't understand the sheer volume of choices. Before I could answer, he said "My dad heard that University of Michigan is the best. Is that true?", and I couldn't help but answer, "No, of course not" while making a face of disgust at him. I tried to explain rivalries to him, but I'm not sure that he understood what I was trying to explain to him.
But the point is Dad, I did you proud.
Also, best kept secret in Cairo: Hard Rock Cafe's weekend happy hour. 100 L.E for unlimited beer and unlimited chicken wings from 4-8pm.
I won't be available for the next week or so since I am not bringing my computer to Spain. We're staying with Erin's cousin, but I don't plan on using the internet a lot. Feel free to email me, I'll respond when I get back.
I also have to share a quick story. One of the kids I tutor, Mohamed, and I were talking yesterday about my short vacation. He asked me if I was going to the States for my vacation, which led him to mentioning that in a few years he is going to go to University in the States. His dad has recently been looking into what the best University for him to go to is by asking friends or colleagues. Mohamed asked me what I thought the best University was, which made me pause because he didn't understand the sheer volume of choices. Before I could answer, he said "My dad heard that University of Michigan is the best. Is that true?", and I couldn't help but answer, "No, of course not" while making a face of disgust at him. I tried to explain rivalries to him, but I'm not sure that he understood what I was trying to explain to him.
But the point is Dad, I did you proud.
Also, best kept secret in Cairo: Hard Rock Cafe's weekend happy hour. 100 L.E for unlimited beer and unlimited chicken wings from 4-8pm.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
End of Term
Well, exam day has finally come and gone. I can say that most of us feel relieved, as the kids are very anxious around exams. The next two weeks are for grading the exams and writing up report cards, which should go smoothly (I hope). We all have to help grade the other teacher's exams. Everybody will get a section to grade, and we'll rotate. I'm not sure how efficient it is, but apparently, its the way its done. The best part is that we only have half days for the next week, and possibly less than a half day for the week after. Starting the 27th, we have vacation until February 13th. Everybody will be happy to hear that I finally booked a flight for our break time! Erin, Wendy and I will be traveling to Spain from the 28th til the 5th. We're going to go to Madrid and Barcelona, which I'm excited about because I've never been to Spain.
Not much else going on here. I've been sick for the past week or so with a cold or sinus infection, which has really been draining me. I finally got up the ambition to go to the doctor, but before I went, I happened to talk to our school doctor. She wrote me a prescription which resolved me from going to an office, so I was thrilled. Here, we don't have 'nurses', we have actual doctors at the school. I accidentally confused one of my kids when I asked him if he wanted to go to the nurse once. The doctor came and let me know my mistake, but yet I still don't really think of her as a 'real doctor'. Too many years of nurses that just let me take naps or go home I suppose :)
Oh and tomorrow I'm going to start taking Arabic lessons with Wendy and Erin at their apartment. I'm looking forward to it, if only to be able to say more than directions to a cabbie. i'll let you know how that goes.
Not much else going on here. I've been sick for the past week or so with a cold or sinus infection, which has really been draining me. I finally got up the ambition to go to the doctor, but before I went, I happened to talk to our school doctor. She wrote me a prescription which resolved me from going to an office, so I was thrilled. Here, we don't have 'nurses', we have actual doctors at the school. I accidentally confused one of my kids when I asked him if he wanted to go to the nurse once. The doctor came and let me know my mistake, but yet I still don't really think of her as a 'real doctor'. Too many years of nurses that just let me take naps or go home I suppose :)
Oh and tomorrow I'm going to start taking Arabic lessons with Wendy and Erin at their apartment. I'm looking forward to it, if only to be able to say more than directions to a cabbie. i'll let you know how that goes.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Small Tasks
This week is revision week with our midterm exam on Saturday. The parents really freak about the grades here, I am still getting complaints about the last grades I sent out. I am really not looking forward to the new grading period, but such is life. After this week, we have two weeks for composing our December grades and our midterm grades. Both of which will go on the same report card. The girls that were there last year say that the first week is for grading and then we have about a week of sitting around. its ok though, we get paid for it! Starting the 27th we have a break until February 14th. The kids have a break from their last day of exam to Feb 14th, which I find to be ridiculously long for six year old - but who am I to complain when I get almost three weeks off. Two of the other girls, Wendy and Erin, and I are planning on going somewhere...we just haven't decided yet. Ha. Hopefully we'll get that settled by the end of the week.
I'm hoping to resolve a banking situation by the end of the week as well. I looked into HSBC and they are a global bank, which I'm hoping I can link with my ING account. I'm not sure if that is a pipe dream, but its probably better to keep my money in the bank rather than my nightstand drawer any ways. Either way, I sent them an online application, but I don't know how that will go.
I've also started tutoring two boys that go to a British school in town. One is about the equivalent of fifth grade, the other is about seventh grade. I spend an hour with each of them twice a week, and I get L.E 100 per hour, so that's an extra L.E 400 a week :) Not bad. I'm doing pretty well with conserving my money, I'm hoping not to be completely broke by the time I leave here. Not that I'm keeping money and not having fun. I spend enough, I have a lot of fun, I'm just not broke!
Its getting chilly here. Not cold really, but enough of a chill that you have to wear a jacket. What kinda sucks is that places here really don't have heat. Our school has no heat, my apartment doesn't have heat and there is no heat outside at the moment so the chill is pretty permanent. Its hard to stay warm, so the kids are in heavy jackets, gloves and hats a lot of the time. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a chance to warm up, but there isn't really one.
Oh, and just to let anybody concerned about it know, our water heater is FINALLY fixed! We're finally hooked up to the natural gas line so no more propane tank. We had the whole heater taken apart and put back together this past week, and I'm happy to say that we haven't had issue yet. On the other hand...our internet is seeming to get worse. Ugh...
My New Years and Christmas were pretty tame, but I did skip work on Jan 1st. Best way to ring in the new year!
Happy 2009 everyone!!
I'm hoping to resolve a banking situation by the end of the week as well. I looked into HSBC and they are a global bank, which I'm hoping I can link with my ING account. I'm not sure if that is a pipe dream, but its probably better to keep my money in the bank rather than my nightstand drawer any ways. Either way, I sent them an online application, but I don't know how that will go.
I've also started tutoring two boys that go to a British school in town. One is about the equivalent of fifth grade, the other is about seventh grade. I spend an hour with each of them twice a week, and I get L.E 100 per hour, so that's an extra L.E 400 a week :) Not bad. I'm doing pretty well with conserving my money, I'm hoping not to be completely broke by the time I leave here. Not that I'm keeping money and not having fun. I spend enough, I have a lot of fun, I'm just not broke!
Its getting chilly here. Not cold really, but enough of a chill that you have to wear a jacket. What kinda sucks is that places here really don't have heat. Our school has no heat, my apartment doesn't have heat and there is no heat outside at the moment so the chill is pretty permanent. Its hard to stay warm, so the kids are in heavy jackets, gloves and hats a lot of the time. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a chance to warm up, but there isn't really one.
Oh, and just to let anybody concerned about it know, our water heater is FINALLY fixed! We're finally hooked up to the natural gas line so no more propane tank. We had the whole heater taken apart and put back together this past week, and I'm happy to say that we haven't had issue yet. On the other hand...our internet is seeming to get worse. Ugh...
My New Years and Christmas were pretty tame, but I did skip work on Jan 1st. Best way to ring in the new year!
Happy 2009 everyone!!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!
I added a few new photos into Flickr today. They are from our Christmas celebration at school. The school has essentially taken that materialistic aspect of Christmas and transformed it into a odd celebration for everyone. Basically they tell the parents to send in a wrapped gift worth about L.E 20 and then Santa hands them out on Christmas Eve. Santa in this case is Ms. Maha, one of the teachers at the school. She was a terrific Santa, but she has to do all of the Kindergarten, Preschool, First grade and second grade classes. pretty much, she is in the costume all day which kind of stinks for her. She was tired at the end. But the kids loved it! One of the funniest things after the kids got the presents was in my next class. Even though there were explicit instructions to BUY BOOKS for the kids, it was obvious that message didn't get through to half the parents. A lot of coloring books instead, and there were a bunch of big gifts too. One parent gave her son Ziad a Spiderman Monopoly game, which he promptly opened in class (of course) and started to pass out the money to the other kids in the class(!), which cracked me and my assistant up.
Tomorrow the two Scottish girls at the school are hosting Christmas dinner, which should be fun/interesting. I find everyone else's versions of the holidays I celebrate incredibly fascinating. Interesting factoid: In Australia, Santa wears shorts and sunglasses, and his sled is pulled by eight Kangaroos.
Merry Christmas!
A few other random things to tell:
- Recently all of Cairo lost their internet connection for the weekend. The reason being that the main source of internet runs through a cable at the bottom of some canal. That cable was severed by a boat, and it hasn't been working up to full capacity since then. This happened last year too, so you would think they would put the cable somewhere were A BOAT COULDN'T RUN OVER IT!
- Our elevator was broken this week, and for some reason, since its been fixed, now has a bell that rings when it hits our floor.
- our water heater is broken AGAIN. I don't know why. Our charade game with the landlord leads me to believe that the gas was not hooked up properly when we got the propane tank refilled. The whole apartment has smelled like gas for weeks, so i think its on too loose. I think it should get fixed tomorrow.
- I'm definately coming down with something, and yelling at my kids to be quiet doesn't help. But its funny because some of my girls get concerned and yell things like "be quiet!" for me when I can't reach full volume.
- There is about a month until break and I have no plans yet. I'm going somewhere...I just don't know where. I'll let you know when I do.
PS: Congratulations to Jamilyn and Sean on their wedding! (thats for 12/26).
Tomorrow the two Scottish girls at the school are hosting Christmas dinner, which should be fun/interesting. I find everyone else's versions of the holidays I celebrate incredibly fascinating. Interesting factoid: In Australia, Santa wears shorts and sunglasses, and his sled is pulled by eight Kangaroos.
Merry Christmas!
A few other random things to tell:
- Recently all of Cairo lost their internet connection for the weekend. The reason being that the main source of internet runs through a cable at the bottom of some canal. That cable was severed by a boat, and it hasn't been working up to full capacity since then. This happened last year too, so you would think they would put the cable somewhere were A BOAT COULDN'T RUN OVER IT!
- Our elevator was broken this week, and for some reason, since its been fixed, now has a bell that rings when it hits our floor.
- our water heater is broken AGAIN. I don't know why. Our charade game with the landlord leads me to believe that the gas was not hooked up properly when we got the propane tank refilled. The whole apartment has smelled like gas for weeks, so i think its on too loose. I think it should get fixed tomorrow.
- I'm definately coming down with something, and yelling at my kids to be quiet doesn't help. But its funny because some of my girls get concerned and yell things like "be quiet!" for me when I can't reach full volume.
- There is about a month until break and I have no plans yet. I'm going somewhere...I just don't know where. I'll let you know when I do.
PS: Congratulations to Jamilyn and Sean on their wedding! (thats for 12/26).
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A Couple Tidbits of Information
I don't have much to tell this time. Nothing too exciting has really happened, but I'll give you a few tidbits.
First of all, I finally ventured over to the Egyptian museum. Two of the other teachers - Wendy and Shana- and I went there on the last day of break. The thing about the museum is that while there is a lot of amazing stuff there, it is not labeled at all. Someone warned me before we went there, and Shana had been in before so she knew better. When we got there, there were plenty of 'doctors' of history or whatever hanging around outside of the entrance. Once we bought our tickets, we were approached and bartered a deal for him to show us around the museum. It ended up being a great idea, because once I was inside I realized we would have just wandered around aimlessly without him. While we didn't really see everything, we hit the high points of the place with tombs, artifacts and King Tut's things. The king tut's stuff was by far the most interesting, and I would definitely take anyone that visited me to see it again. The place doesn't allow cameras so I can't show you what is there, but trust me, it was pretty cool. The tour guide added to it because he was able to describe what everything was. I for instance didn't know how King Tut had died. He fell of a horse and banged up his knee pretty bad. That knee got infected and he developed gangrene which he eventually died from. He was like 19, which is horrifying to me. I'm pretty sure what I was told - I may have misunderstood. If anyone knows differently, let me know.
Exam week is in three weeks. We have our review sheets due on the 30th and the exam due the 31st, so my Christmas holiday will be a little sad. We actually do get Christmas off, but that is more of a nod to our beliefs and traditions as Western culture inhabitants than something school related. We have been told we have the day off, but I heard that the kids actually still have school. The next three weeks are four day weeks, which is pretty awesome. We have Christmas next week, an Islamic holiday on the 29th and then Coptic Christmas on 1/7. I'm pretty sure that's the same thing that many Catholics celebrate as the day that the three wise men arrived at the manger, but I could be mistaken. It doesn't really feel like Christmas here, with it being the desert and all. I think this has taught me that snow is very important to my feelings towards Christmas - it puts me in the mood. Or at least the actual cold. I see Christmas decorations here (not a lot, but they are there if I look hard for them) and yet, I feel like I'm faking or trying too hard when I listen to Christmas music. It feels odd, I just can't explain it. I can't really get my head around the idea that its December.
The oddest thing about our schedule at this time is the fact that after the exam in three weeks (1/12) we have about two weeks until our vacation starts (1/27). The kids aren't in school, but we all have to come for half days and do grading. Last exam, the grading took me one night to finish. There are two girls here from last year, and they said that most of those two weeks are filled with DVDs and gossiping. It seems odd that the school wants to pay us to sit around, but hey, I'll take it. After the 27th, we get two weeks off which most of us are taking to go out of Egypt. I'm not sure where I'm going yet - its still being solidified.
And as the most random part of this entry, I wanted to tell you something funny about television here. American tv is shown here - usually a few seasons behind, like Grey's Anatomy is shown, but only Season Two (so far). But the funny thing is, as someone who has seen many of these episodes, they cut out anything remotely sexual. This is a very prude country, so even just a kiss in the elevator is removed. There are things that most likely make no sense to anyone seeing them for the first time, because seriously whole story lines are cut out. These are sort of expected here, one of those things that you shrug and say "well, its egypt'. But what struck me as funny is that any type of cross dressing is cut out immediately. There was an episode of a Disney show (not mentioning it to save SOME pride) that I saw where two girls dressed up as boys to trick others. I've seen it before, so I remembered what happened. They cut from the girls talking about doing it, to the other people's reactions without showing what they even did! It made me laugh. I didn't expect it.
Oh and also - the term spicy food is almost non-existent here. I ordered fajitas the other day. Not like any mexican resturant I've ever been to. The salsa was more like just chopped tomatoes and onions. Kinda disappointing, when you like the food I do. I'm going to want some hot wings when I get back.
I'll add that to the list:
Things not found in egypt: Hot wings.
Anyway, besides creating worksheets for the next century, I don't have much going on. Let you know some more later.
First of all, I finally ventured over to the Egyptian museum. Two of the other teachers - Wendy and Shana- and I went there on the last day of break. The thing about the museum is that while there is a lot of amazing stuff there, it is not labeled at all. Someone warned me before we went there, and Shana had been in before so she knew better. When we got there, there were plenty of 'doctors' of history or whatever hanging around outside of the entrance. Once we bought our tickets, we were approached and bartered a deal for him to show us around the museum. It ended up being a great idea, because once I was inside I realized we would have just wandered around aimlessly without him. While we didn't really see everything, we hit the high points of the place with tombs, artifacts and King Tut's things. The king tut's stuff was by far the most interesting, and I would definitely take anyone that visited me to see it again. The place doesn't allow cameras so I can't show you what is there, but trust me, it was pretty cool. The tour guide added to it because he was able to describe what everything was. I for instance didn't know how King Tut had died. He fell of a horse and banged up his knee pretty bad. That knee got infected and he developed gangrene which he eventually died from. He was like 19, which is horrifying to me. I'm pretty sure what I was told - I may have misunderstood. If anyone knows differently, let me know.
Exam week is in three weeks. We have our review sheets due on the 30th and the exam due the 31st, so my Christmas holiday will be a little sad. We actually do get Christmas off, but that is more of a nod to our beliefs and traditions as Western culture inhabitants than something school related. We have been told we have the day off, but I heard that the kids actually still have school. The next three weeks are four day weeks, which is pretty awesome. We have Christmas next week, an Islamic holiday on the 29th and then Coptic Christmas on 1/7. I'm pretty sure that's the same thing that many Catholics celebrate as the day that the three wise men arrived at the manger, but I could be mistaken. It doesn't really feel like Christmas here, with it being the desert and all. I think this has taught me that snow is very important to my feelings towards Christmas - it puts me in the mood. Or at least the actual cold. I see Christmas decorations here (not a lot, but they are there if I look hard for them) and yet, I feel like I'm faking or trying too hard when I listen to Christmas music. It feels odd, I just can't explain it. I can't really get my head around the idea that its December.
The oddest thing about our schedule at this time is the fact that after the exam in three weeks (1/12) we have about two weeks until our vacation starts (1/27). The kids aren't in school, but we all have to come for half days and do grading. Last exam, the grading took me one night to finish. There are two girls here from last year, and they said that most of those two weeks are filled with DVDs and gossiping. It seems odd that the school wants to pay us to sit around, but hey, I'll take it. After the 27th, we get two weeks off which most of us are taking to go out of Egypt. I'm not sure where I'm going yet - its still being solidified.
And as the most random part of this entry, I wanted to tell you something funny about television here. American tv is shown here - usually a few seasons behind, like Grey's Anatomy is shown, but only Season Two (so far). But the funny thing is, as someone who has seen many of these episodes, they cut out anything remotely sexual. This is a very prude country, so even just a kiss in the elevator is removed. There are things that most likely make no sense to anyone seeing them for the first time, because seriously whole story lines are cut out. These are sort of expected here, one of those things that you shrug and say "well, its egypt'. But what struck me as funny is that any type of cross dressing is cut out immediately. There was an episode of a Disney show (not mentioning it to save SOME pride) that I saw where two girls dressed up as boys to trick others. I've seen it before, so I remembered what happened. They cut from the girls talking about doing it, to the other people's reactions without showing what they even did! It made me laugh. I didn't expect it.
Oh and also - the term spicy food is almost non-existent here. I ordered fajitas the other day. Not like any mexican resturant I've ever been to. The salsa was more like just chopped tomatoes and onions. Kinda disappointing, when you like the food I do. I'm going to want some hot wings when I get back.
I'll add that to the list:
Things not found in egypt: Hot wings.
Anyway, besides creating worksheets for the next century, I don't have much going on. Let you know some more later.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Egyptian politics and prices
On holiday this week, one of the other girls and I have just really been exploring the Cairo area. We had her friend Amr take us to Coptic Cairo which is where there are old churches and even a synagogue for us to look at. The churches were all Greek Orthadox, but they were interesting to look at.
Afterwards, Amr explained to us that there had been cops where he had tried to park. They didn't want us to park close to the churches but Amr told them that we were from the American Embassy so they quickly changed their tune. He explained that as Americans, we have sort of a free pass when it comes to cops. They tend to bend over backwards for foreigners and let things go that native Egyptians would be arrested for. He also explained that bribes are extremely prevalent here. If you are able to pay off cops instead of getting a ticket or arrested, you do so. Amr said that a trip to get your drivers license involves paying bribes to everyone you interact with. Even the guy that just signs a form need to be bribed.
Also, Amr bought Shana and I ice cream bars. The woman tried to tell him that we had to pay more for them since we were foreigners, but since he ended up paying, she allowed him to pay "Egyptian Price". This is completely normal. Everywhere we go that does not have posted prices will charge "Egyptian Price" and "Foreigner Price". When we buy things, we always have to work ourselves down to Egyptian price, and it generally helps to have one of the local friends with you when you shop.
I just thought you would find that interesting.
Afterwards, Amr explained to us that there had been cops where he had tried to park. They didn't want us to park close to the churches but Amr told them that we were from the American Embassy so they quickly changed their tune. He explained that as Americans, we have sort of a free pass when it comes to cops. They tend to bend over backwards for foreigners and let things go that native Egyptians would be arrested for. He also explained that bribes are extremely prevalent here. If you are able to pay off cops instead of getting a ticket or arrested, you do so. Amr said that a trip to get your drivers license involves paying bribes to everyone you interact with. Even the guy that just signs a form need to be bribed.
Also, Amr bought Shana and I ice cream bars. The woman tried to tell him that we had to pay more for them since we were foreigners, but since he ended up paying, she allowed him to pay "Egyptian Price". This is completely normal. Everywhere we go that does not have posted prices will charge "Egyptian Price" and "Foreigner Price". When we buy things, we always have to work ourselves down to Egyptian price, and it generally helps to have one of the local friends with you when you shop.
I just thought you would find that interesting.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Exam Week, ugh.
I feel like everytime I sit down to write, I'm about to write an essay of events that have happened. Honestly there are days I walk around and think about what I should write in here, but I think it might be a bit of overkill. I'll put things in headings for you to easily stop and come back.
School
So this week was Exam week, which means plenty of tears for me. The week before all we did was go over EVERYTHING they have learned in the past month. They have a monthly exam, so we have about three weeks of material to cover. I had to write the exam, the review worksheets and outline. Everybody has the same responsibilities so don't feel bad for me. Its what we have to do, because it changes from year to year what people cover. I've looked through old lesson plan books, and some of them are on point with me, but others are not. It depends on the teacher I suppose and the way they get through the material.
The teaching itself is frustrating some days and others its exciting because you know that they understood what you tried to teach. I'm getting really good with the names, there are still a few I stumble over pronunciation wise, but most of the kids laugh and tell me the right way. They are helpful when it comes names and assisting in class, but when they get upset they revert to Arabic, and I have to remind them that I don't understand them and to speak in English. I haven't given the grades yet, but I know it will result in tears because these kids are OBSESSED with getting 'full marks' or basically 100%. One point off, and they go ballistic. Its not something I'm looking forward to.
The Apartment
Our apartment has been under construction since the day I got here. There are workers coming in to install some sort of gas line, and my roommate and I just try our best to stay out of their way. The problem comes when they tear holes in our walls and then leave dirt, rocks, concrete, putty or anything else just laying around the area. It takes forever to clean up, and we never know when they might be coming back or anything. You learn to shrug and say "Well, its Egypt" and hope it'll be over quickly. They'll be away for weeks, and then show up for two days in a row. The last guy that came here broke our toilet and a screen in the window. Besides that, the apartment itself is fine. It's remarkably safe, and I feel better being on the sixth floor. My roommate is gone home for the next week (we have a week long holiday next week), and while I normally get uncomfortable being alone, I feel ok with the apartment. Don't get me wrong, I'll miss having someone else around, but our door can't be opened unless you have a key and we have a doorman. And we're on the sixth floor. So all those things combined make me feel safe.
Life in General
I wanted to make mention of the food here. Mostly, american food is prevalent - burgers, pizza, etc.. but there are a few foods that the girls eat daily. One is called Kosheri (I'm trying to spell that phonetically, I'm not sure of the actual spelling) which one the girls described to me as a bowl of carbs. It has macaroni and rice and other pasta, plus chickpeas and a tomato sauce of sorts. Its a relatively big bowl of stuff for only two pounds (which is like forty cents). We also get sandwiches of sorts. Its actually more like a pita pocket. The guy at the store opens the pita and we point to the tray of stuff we want, he puts it in, wraps it and hands it to us. Then we give him one pound for one sandwich (About twenty cents). The fillings can be anything from refried beans,tomato and scramble egg, feta/cucumbers/tomato, eggplant/tomato/potato or even just mashed potatoes. I've tried the eggplant one and the feta one and they are both delicious. The place that sells all this stuff is literally around the corner from our school and people go there pretty much everyday.
I also don't think I've mentioned that Egyptians HATE giving change. You pretty much have to have exact change for taxis, the shop we eat at, and they love you if they don't need to give you change at the restaurants.
Oh and speaking of taxis, I have to say one of the oddest things I have experienced is getting a cab that has no idea where its going, so it stops and asks people on the street where they are going. Its kind of funny, but frustrating at the same time.
Ok, I think thats enough :)
Miss ya!
School
So this week was Exam week, which means plenty of tears for me. The week before all we did was go over EVERYTHING they have learned in the past month. They have a monthly exam, so we have about three weeks of material to cover. I had to write the exam, the review worksheets and outline. Everybody has the same responsibilities so don't feel bad for me. Its what we have to do, because it changes from year to year what people cover. I've looked through old lesson plan books, and some of them are on point with me, but others are not. It depends on the teacher I suppose and the way they get through the material.
The teaching itself is frustrating some days and others its exciting because you know that they understood what you tried to teach. I'm getting really good with the names, there are still a few I stumble over pronunciation wise, but most of the kids laugh and tell me the right way. They are helpful when it comes names and assisting in class, but when they get upset they revert to Arabic, and I have to remind them that I don't understand them and to speak in English. I haven't given the grades yet, but I know it will result in tears because these kids are OBSESSED with getting 'full marks' or basically 100%. One point off, and they go ballistic. Its not something I'm looking forward to.
The Apartment
Our apartment has been under construction since the day I got here. There are workers coming in to install some sort of gas line, and my roommate and I just try our best to stay out of their way. The problem comes when they tear holes in our walls and then leave dirt, rocks, concrete, putty or anything else just laying around the area. It takes forever to clean up, and we never know when they might be coming back or anything. You learn to shrug and say "Well, its Egypt" and hope it'll be over quickly. They'll be away for weeks, and then show up for two days in a row. The last guy that came here broke our toilet and a screen in the window. Besides that, the apartment itself is fine. It's remarkably safe, and I feel better being on the sixth floor. My roommate is gone home for the next week (we have a week long holiday next week), and while I normally get uncomfortable being alone, I feel ok with the apartment. Don't get me wrong, I'll miss having someone else around, but our door can't be opened unless you have a key and we have a doorman. And we're on the sixth floor. So all those things combined make me feel safe.
Life in General
I wanted to make mention of the food here. Mostly, american food is prevalent - burgers, pizza, etc.. but there are a few foods that the girls eat daily. One is called Kosheri (I'm trying to spell that phonetically, I'm not sure of the actual spelling) which one the girls described to me as a bowl of carbs. It has macaroni and rice and other pasta, plus chickpeas and a tomato sauce of sorts. Its a relatively big bowl of stuff for only two pounds (which is like forty cents). We also get sandwiches of sorts. Its actually more like a pita pocket. The guy at the store opens the pita and we point to the tray of stuff we want, he puts it in, wraps it and hands it to us. Then we give him one pound for one sandwich (About twenty cents). The fillings can be anything from refried beans,tomato and scramble egg, feta/cucumbers/tomato, eggplant/tomato/potato or even just mashed potatoes. I've tried the eggplant one and the feta one and they are both delicious. The place that sells all this stuff is literally around the corner from our school and people go there pretty much everyday.
I also don't think I've mentioned that Egyptians HATE giving change. You pretty much have to have exact change for taxis, the shop we eat at, and they love you if they don't need to give you change at the restaurants.
Oh and speaking of taxis, I have to say one of the oddest things I have experienced is getting a cab that has no idea where its going, so it stops and asks people on the street where they are going. Its kind of funny, but frustrating at the same time.
Ok, I think thats enough :)
Miss ya!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Yesterday our little teaching family got together for a nice Thanksgiving dinner. We had to work on the actual day of Thanksgiving, but two of the girls, Erin and Wendy, invited everyone to their apartment with the promise of turkey. There are a bunch of Americans that work here, which isn’t always the case, and everyone was craving some turkey so it became very exciting for everyone. It turned out great, everyone brought something – mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, stuffing, corn pudding, gravy, chips, mac and cheese, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple crumble, apple pie – everything was delicious, and the school ended up paying for our turkey. Our supervisor Boni and our boss Mohamed came (as did his wife Laura), and most of the girls from the school were there also. It was nice seeing everyone out of work mode, and into a party mode. The two girls from Scotland came, as did the girl from Austraila. It was all of their first Thanksgiving to which one of the girls said “Its like Christmas with out the presents and the baby Jesus! Its all about the food, this is great!” (which btw, she has converted to Islam, so that makes a bit more sense). It was funny, because they then also brought balloons, not knowing what types of decorations to bring. It was nice though, and gave it all a very festive feel. This was a lot of our first Thanksgivings away from our families, and I’m really glad that we were able to make it special.
Tomorrow is exam day for English classes, which should be not so much fun. The grading part is going to be horrendous, but at the same time, the end of next week is the beginning of our week long break! Whoo! Classes are going well, they seem to be beginning to listen to me. I’m a tough teacher…Erin and I are the hard asses of the group. We’re probably the most disciplined of the teachers or at least expect the most discipline. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
Tomorrow is exam day for English classes, which should be not so much fun. The grading part is going to be horrendous, but at the same time, the end of next week is the beginning of our week long break! Whoo! Classes are going well, they seem to be beginning to listen to me. I’m a tough teacher…Erin and I are the hard asses of the group. We’re probably the most disciplined of the teachers or at least expect the most discipline. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
Friday, November 21, 2008
This is going to be a long one...
So this week was interesting, and the last 24 hours have been packed with stuff. I'm going to keep the school stuff out, but it still leaves a lot. I'll try to keep it less detailed, but its going to be long no matter what.
The little things first. I did my first load of laundry this week, which was a blast (not). We have a washing machine in our bathroom that is pretty tiny, but it gets the job done if you have a few items. The problem is that i don't necessarily trust the water here...as you shouldn't...so I feel like washing my clothes in it is kind of backwards logic. The flip side of that coin is that once the clothes are clean, we have to hang them outside to dry. My roommate and I both have lines outside of our windows in order to hang our clothes, but our apartment is on the sixth floor so its a little nerve wracking. I'm pretty sure that at some point, I will drop clothes down there and never see them again. I didn't this time, thankfully, but the air is so full of dust, sand and whatever that it probably makes them just as dirty as when they were being washed in the first place. Its a problematic cycle. But then again, I never really feel too clean in general, dirt is everywhere. Its just a state I'll have to live with until I leave. The upside is that I think everyone feels the same way.
Thursday night (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday, I'm not sure if I've mentioned that before), I went to a bar downtown Cairo called Mojitos. Bars are not really prevalent in Egypt. Its against Islamic beliefs to drink alcohol, so most resturants don't sell it. I went to Chili's with Erin and they had 'margarita' on the menu, but they really just meant 'slushie'. Any way, I went to this bar for the first time, but its where most of the girls go on the weekend. Its at the top of the Hilton, and there is another bar at the bottom of the Hilton called Latex, which just is weird. I think they pick English words that they think sound cool, but don't really know what they mean. The signs outside of all of the bars say you have to be over 21 to get in, but they don't check IDs at all. We asked a guy there (who happened to be 18 and IN the bar), and he said that its really more about the IDEA of not letting people in, but they generally don't care. The bar seems to operate on the 'idea' of rules. It doesn't have a closing time, just whenever the manager feels like closing is the time they start kicking people out. But even then, people hang around. This is standard in Egypt. I'm pretty sure people just do what they want and ignore you if you say something different. Also at the bar, their alcohol choices are limited. I asked for a Jack Daniels and Coke and the waiter almost bit my head off. They didn't have Jack, they had Captain. The had limited liquors and like three beers, the only one recognizable being Heineken. I'm going to be drying out a bit here I suppose, but I guess the trade is worth it.
This morning, Erin, Anna (an American teacher at my school) and I went to church at Maadi Community Church, which is a non-denominational Christian worship space that caters to foreigners. Website is here: http://www.maadichurch.net/Home/tabid/77/Default.aspx if you want to check it out more. It was interesting, and obviously nothing like a Catholic Mass. But it was comforting, and felt more like a group bible study than anything else. It was all in English, and half of the worship were upbeat songs that we would or have sung at LifeTeen Mass at St. Elizabeth Seton at home. Everyone gets into it, people around us were raising their hands and doing motions along with people on the stage. It was like being at YLC (Youth leadership conference directed at teens for those of you that don't know). I think all of us had a good time. At the end, it was odd being able to understand all of the conversations going on around us. In the classroom, the kids speak in Arabic to each other so I'm use to tuning them out since there is no point to listening. But here, everyone spoke English. It was something that just seemed to remind me how adapted I've gotten to this environment. We met up with Anna's roommate Shana (another teacher from America) for lunch and got some breakfast type foods at a deli nearby.
More food that is impossible to find:
Pancakes (though Erin and I heard rumors of a place that has them. We're trying tomorrow)
French Toast
Bacon - I didn't know this, but Egyptians don't eat pigs. There are no pork products whatsoever. They do have beef bacon, but its just strange.
Later in the day, Erin, Shana, Debbie (another girl from the school, she's from Scotland) and I went to Giza to see the pyramids and ride camels. It was pretty amazing. Debbie has been there before, so she knew of a stable we could rent the camels from that wouldn't rip us off. We arrived there after about a half hour cab ride, and proceeded to wander a bit while Debbie tried to remember where the stables where. There are so many stables in the area, but most of them rip of tourists. I have been told before that you shouldn't go to the pyramids without an Egyptian man, because otherwise they'll charge you ridiculous prices. One girl went with a local guy she was dating and they charged them 40 pounds for the ride, but said if she came by herself, they would have charge up to 200 Euros. Its crazy. We knew Debbie's stable would charge us a good price...if only we could find it. Fortunately, we happened to run into her contact while we were wandering around and he took us to the barn. The pyramids themselves were closed by this time, but we rode up next to them in the desert and took picture in the vicinity of them. And we rode camels to do it. The scariest part of riding a camel is the fact it needs to be sitting in order for you to get on or off. When it stands or sits down, its terrifying. Well, to me at least, but I'm pretty sure I heard yelps from the other girls as well. We had two boys leading our camels, and two men from the stables rode up with us to explain things we saw and I'm assuming to keep us safe. They were pretty funny, and took some great picture for us. We also saw a lot of dead horse and camels on our travel, which we turned into a game. Ten points for camel or horse, five for a dog, three for a cat and none for a donkey because that is just sad (these are the rules that were explained to me, almost verbatim). The point totals ended up being like 30-40-30-53 or something like that. Mostly horses, which is sad at first but they aren't fresh. Its mostly skeletons or looks fake, so its not as sad. People were whizzing by us on four wheelers and dune buggies but most people were on horses, speeding up the sand. It was pretty cool to see. The ride itself was all about the scenery and photo ops, of which I took advantage of. It was the perfect day, not too hot and not too cold. The worst part was all the dust, everywhere. My hair felt so grimy afterwards.
On our way back to the stable, we went through the town and passed this small field and/or play area. There was a car parked with its doors wide opened, and about four guys on horses near it. The car was blasting music, and the horses were actually dancing. Seriously one of the oddest things I have ever seen, but also really fun. It was too dark to take a video or picture, but the horses looked like they were having a blast. We saw two more guys on the way back as well dancing on their horses, but the car with the music just added to the strangeness of that. Our guides said that it isn't that odd, sometimes they have parties where people bring their horses to dance. There are even horse dancing competitions, which they had pictures of in the stable. I took picture of those, but they don't even begin to illustrate the randomness that horse dancing looks like.
After we were done and paid (40 pounds each with ten pound tip for everyone, so really 50 pounds each. Awesome), we went to get food at KFC. Don't judge. The KFC was directly across the street from the entrance to the "Light and Sound Show" that plays at the pyramids in 5 different languages, but it is like eighty pounds to get in. We sat on the third floor of the restaurant (very small floors, so three is more like one normal sized KFC at home. And there was a Pizza Hut on the second floor. ) and while we were sitting there, the show started. We figured out how to get on the roof, and were able to kind of watch some of the show and hear most of it. It was neat to see the Sphinx lit up, since we couldn't see that on our ride. We watched for a while, but it was hazy so we left. It was a long day, but fun!
Pictures are up on Flickr from the ride. I uploaded them in the same folder as the previous pictures, just keep clicking till they're new.
Miss you all! Go Bucks!
The little things first. I did my first load of laundry this week, which was a blast (not). We have a washing machine in our bathroom that is pretty tiny, but it gets the job done if you have a few items. The problem is that i don't necessarily trust the water here...as you shouldn't...so I feel like washing my clothes in it is kind of backwards logic. The flip side of that coin is that once the clothes are clean, we have to hang them outside to dry. My roommate and I both have lines outside of our windows in order to hang our clothes, but our apartment is on the sixth floor so its a little nerve wracking. I'm pretty sure that at some point, I will drop clothes down there and never see them again. I didn't this time, thankfully, but the air is so full of dust, sand and whatever that it probably makes them just as dirty as when they were being washed in the first place. Its a problematic cycle. But then again, I never really feel too clean in general, dirt is everywhere. Its just a state I'll have to live with until I leave. The upside is that I think everyone feels the same way.
Thursday night (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday, I'm not sure if I've mentioned that before), I went to a bar downtown Cairo called Mojitos. Bars are not really prevalent in Egypt. Its against Islamic beliefs to drink alcohol, so most resturants don't sell it. I went to Chili's with Erin and they had 'margarita' on the menu, but they really just meant 'slushie'. Any way, I went to this bar for the first time, but its where most of the girls go on the weekend. Its at the top of the Hilton, and there is another bar at the bottom of the Hilton called Latex, which just is weird. I think they pick English words that they think sound cool, but don't really know what they mean. The signs outside of all of the bars say you have to be over 21 to get in, but they don't check IDs at all. We asked a guy there (who happened to be 18 and IN the bar), and he said that its really more about the IDEA of not letting people in, but they generally don't care. The bar seems to operate on the 'idea' of rules. It doesn't have a closing time, just whenever the manager feels like closing is the time they start kicking people out. But even then, people hang around. This is standard in Egypt. I'm pretty sure people just do what they want and ignore you if you say something different. Also at the bar, their alcohol choices are limited. I asked for a Jack Daniels and Coke and the waiter almost bit my head off. They didn't have Jack, they had Captain. The had limited liquors and like three beers, the only one recognizable being Heineken. I'm going to be drying out a bit here I suppose, but I guess the trade is worth it.
This morning, Erin, Anna (an American teacher at my school) and I went to church at Maadi Community Church, which is a non-denominational Christian worship space that caters to foreigners. Website is here: http://www.maadichurch.net/Home/tabid/77/Default.aspx if you want to check it out more. It was interesting, and obviously nothing like a Catholic Mass. But it was comforting, and felt more like a group bible study than anything else. It was all in English, and half of the worship were upbeat songs that we would or have sung at LifeTeen Mass at St. Elizabeth Seton at home. Everyone gets into it, people around us were raising their hands and doing motions along with people on the stage. It was like being at YLC (Youth leadership conference directed at teens for those of you that don't know). I think all of us had a good time. At the end, it was odd being able to understand all of the conversations going on around us. In the classroom, the kids speak in Arabic to each other so I'm use to tuning them out since there is no point to listening. But here, everyone spoke English. It was something that just seemed to remind me how adapted I've gotten to this environment. We met up with Anna's roommate Shana (another teacher from America) for lunch and got some breakfast type foods at a deli nearby.
More food that is impossible to find:
Pancakes (though Erin and I heard rumors of a place that has them. We're trying tomorrow)
French Toast
Bacon - I didn't know this, but Egyptians don't eat pigs. There are no pork products whatsoever. They do have beef bacon, but its just strange.
Later in the day, Erin, Shana, Debbie (another girl from the school, she's from Scotland) and I went to Giza to see the pyramids and ride camels. It was pretty amazing. Debbie has been there before, so she knew of a stable we could rent the camels from that wouldn't rip us off. We arrived there after about a half hour cab ride, and proceeded to wander a bit while Debbie tried to remember where the stables where. There are so many stables in the area, but most of them rip of tourists. I have been told before that you shouldn't go to the pyramids without an Egyptian man, because otherwise they'll charge you ridiculous prices. One girl went with a local guy she was dating and they charged them 40 pounds for the ride, but said if she came by herself, they would have charge up to 200 Euros. Its crazy. We knew Debbie's stable would charge us a good price...if only we could find it. Fortunately, we happened to run into her contact while we were wandering around and he took us to the barn. The pyramids themselves were closed by this time, but we rode up next to them in the desert and took picture in the vicinity of them. And we rode camels to do it. The scariest part of riding a camel is the fact it needs to be sitting in order for you to get on or off. When it stands or sits down, its terrifying. Well, to me at least, but I'm pretty sure I heard yelps from the other girls as well. We had two boys leading our camels, and two men from the stables rode up with us to explain things we saw and I'm assuming to keep us safe. They were pretty funny, and took some great picture for us. We also saw a lot of dead horse and camels on our travel, which we turned into a game. Ten points for camel or horse, five for a dog, three for a cat and none for a donkey because that is just sad (these are the rules that were explained to me, almost verbatim). The point totals ended up being like 30-40-30-53 or something like that. Mostly horses, which is sad at first but they aren't fresh. Its mostly skeletons or looks fake, so its not as sad. People were whizzing by us on four wheelers and dune buggies but most people were on horses, speeding up the sand. It was pretty cool to see. The ride itself was all about the scenery and photo ops, of which I took advantage of. It was the perfect day, not too hot and not too cold. The worst part was all the dust, everywhere. My hair felt so grimy afterwards.
On our way back to the stable, we went through the town and passed this small field and/or play area. There was a car parked with its doors wide opened, and about four guys on horses near it. The car was blasting music, and the horses were actually dancing. Seriously one of the oddest things I have ever seen, but also really fun. It was too dark to take a video or picture, but the horses looked like they were having a blast. We saw two more guys on the way back as well dancing on their horses, but the car with the music just added to the strangeness of that. Our guides said that it isn't that odd, sometimes they have parties where people bring their horses to dance. There are even horse dancing competitions, which they had pictures of in the stable. I took picture of those, but they don't even begin to illustrate the randomness that horse dancing looks like.
After we were done and paid (40 pounds each with ten pound tip for everyone, so really 50 pounds each. Awesome), we went to get food at KFC. Don't judge. The KFC was directly across the street from the entrance to the "Light and Sound Show" that plays at the pyramids in 5 different languages, but it is like eighty pounds to get in. We sat on the third floor of the restaurant (very small floors, so three is more like one normal sized KFC at home. And there was a Pizza Hut on the second floor. ) and while we were sitting there, the show started. We figured out how to get on the roof, and were able to kind of watch some of the show and hear most of it. It was neat to see the Sphinx lit up, since we couldn't see that on our ride. We watched for a while, but it was hazy so we left. It was a long day, but fun!
Pictures are up on Flickr from the ride. I uploaded them in the same folder as the previous pictures, just keep clicking till they're new.
Miss you all! Go Bucks!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
School
The resources at the school are limited. While at home, any of the elementary schools would have a nice computer lab or two, a library full of research material and gigantic amounts of printer paper, our school has barely of these things. We do have a computer lab, but there are about eight computers in it, and one printer. We have one computer in our staff room that sometimes has internet, sometimes doesn’t. We have to wait turns for the computer and the printer, which isn’t a huge inconvenience but when I think back to my schooling, it makes me a bit sad. We hardly ever have printer paper. Most of our worksheets are printed out on old worksheets, and then taken to the one photocopier in the school. When I say photocopier, I not only mean the machine, I also mean the person. We have one woman that does all the copying for us, which is actually a good system. You drop off your worksheet, and then come back the next day and there are 100 copies waiting for you. She generally has printer paper, but occasionally your worksheets have something on the back. I had a worksheet the other day that was printed on leftover Halloween coloring sheets, which ended up being good because my kids love to color.
I’m not trying to sound down about the school, because I do like this school a lot. But when I think about how much my schools had when I was young had, I feel sad for these kids. The standard of living that allow me to live cheaply are also the same ones that inhibit these. Its just a little sad.
I’m not trying to sound down about the school, because I do like this school a lot. But when I think about how much my schools had when I was young had, I feel sad for these kids. The standard of living that allow me to live cheaply are also the same ones that inhibit these. Its just a little sad.
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