Christmas in Egypt.... and a Root Canal!

Christmas in Egypt = a Root Canal

I spent my Christmas here in Egypt at my villa. Santa did not appear at my house this year. Boo hoo. But I did get a Christmas round of golf played in 72 degree sunny weather. My 75 was my low round at Dreamland this year. I thought about Leo who we lost last week . Leo always asked about my golf game. I’ll miss him dearly.  A few photos of my golfing exploits......

Teeing off of the first hole at Dreamland  

Teeing off on the brutal 18th at Dreamland. 465 yard par 4 

A great victory in the International School Scramble

So despite the great round of golf I countered that with a trip to the dentist for my root canal. I had a previous one about a month ago and while not a pleasant experience it was not god awful. So I expected much the same. No anxiety this time. When the injection didn’t go smoothly I should have known this time it would be different. I seriously was opening my mouth as wide as possible. Some people would claim I have a big mouth but Dr. Khalid kept telling me to open wider. All assortment of tools were taking turns in my mouth and what I thought would last a half hour became one and a half hours. Between getting scolded to open wider please, and having his assistant talking nonstop and laughing in Arabic it wasn’t the greatest of times. Not to mention it hurt. I sat there thinking about Christmas times of my youth as the elevator music played different Christmas songs in my Egyptian dental office. I thought, “Ok, for anyone who would like to see me suffer this Christmas they have hit the jackpot”. Little did I know that this was only visit two out of four total visits. I staggered out of the office with a reminder from Dr. Khalid. Please take a painkiller as it may hurt when the numbness wears off. Thanks. Aint Christmas grand? 

Despite no snow here in Egypt, (I stand corrected, we DID have snow just last week for the first time in recorded history!)

(Believe it.. snow on the Pyramids!)

 and 70 degree temperatures, one can’t get away from Santa Claus, Christmas trees, snowmen, stockings, and endless Christmas music. I ask my Muslim friends whether or not they celebrate the holiday here. They almost all say YES. Yes??? I wonder. But it is not a Muslim holiday. But they explain in a way I don’t understand that it still is a holiday that they celebrate. Yes, ten percent of the population is Coptic Christian but I still don’t understand. I’m sure someone will be quick to enlighten me. Yesterday my landlord’s wife came over with a beautiful Christmas cake and a meal for me. That sustains me not to mention many emails from loved ones and a few phone calls. All is good this Christmas. Can you pass me another pain pill? They are right over there on the table. Thanks.

Frosty??? Come on, get real!

Where is this???? Oh yeah... Egypt!

The Pyramids of Giza...Hurghada, Thanksgiving in Jordan.... and more....

It's been a while since my last update. We finally saw the great Pyramids. The GREAT Pyramid and the "lesser" ones.  How those aliens managed to put those things together is beyond me.  It surely must have been the aliens because it's inconceivable that those monstrous edifices could have been so perfectly put together by humans. Almost 500 feet high. Perfectly square (four inches off.... sorry). Perfect alignment with magnetic compass directions. Each block weighing two tons. Over two million blocks. The Pyramids are awe inspiring. However when a member of your party is bending over painting the rocks with her own brand of internal paint it takes the luster off of the proceedings. The worst of it was her sudden attack of “Mummy Tummy”  forced her to visit the Pyramid toilets. She was humbled in a way that she had never been when faced with the quality of those toilets. Somehow she and we managed to get home before she had any more “painting” to do. So….. a brief visit and when Stephanie is healthy we will hopefully have a triumphant return.

Matt and Stephanie going up Giza plateau

The mysterious Sphinx in line with Khafre's Pyramid (not the Great one but only 50 ft shorter...)

The Sphinx and its paws from side

Looking up from the base of the Great Pyramid

http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_2.htm

Our diving group decided to go the Hurghada for a weekend to dive. On a good day it is about a five hour drive to Hurghada, a resort town on the Red Sea that is renowned for it’s weather and coral reefs. We had a seven hour trip and got there about 11. So far so good. (If you like seven hour car rides…. Egyptian ones at that). The diving at Hurghada was as advertised and in contrast to Dahab we did boat diving. It was all great as long as you didn’t get a “Sinus squeeze”. I had one. Not fun. Makes ones head feel like the top half is ripping off. Quite painful. Luckily I was exempt from another one. It does make one wonder however if snorkeling with it’s thirty second prep time vs an hour with climbing into a tight wet suit, putting on an awkward BCD (Boyancy control device), carrying a 50 pound air tank, getting on a weight belt, not to mention ones mask and flippers, is a better option. Sure you go deeper diving. But the fish are the same. The coral is the same, and one floats along blissfully buoyant. The jury is out.

Optical illusion... two dolphins or strange new sea creature

Thanksgiving coincided with a U16 (under 16 years of age) soccer tourney that I volunteered to help with in Jordan. We took 14 boys to Amman Jordan to compete with five other teams. It’s always interesting to go to other countries so this was fun. At least some of it was. Jordan is one of the “stars” of the Mideast. The country is modern, stable, has good roads, is clean, and doing well. Petra is the biggest tourist attraction but we were confined to trips to Kings Academy, the hotel, the mall, and back and forth for five days. Thanksgiving was in the middle of this trip. I was the only American along so it was no concern to the others but I am used to my “feast” on Thanksgiving. 

On our first night we were given “Chuckwagon” sandwiches to eat with fries and cole slaw. Not exactly what I lean towards for dinner on any night but I am a team player. Chuckwagons are the name that my old college roommates coined at McElroy dorm in Mankato Minnesota. I digress but when we started at the dorm and had the “All you can eat plan”, we were in heaven as 19 year old young men. A heavily breaded patty that was a chicken based substance deep fried called Chuckwagon, was our first meal at the dorm. And our second. And third. After a week of Chuckwagon sandwiches (maybe it was two weeks….. or two months)we had had enough. Heavy on sodium, flavorings, and deep fried crust. So…. Back to the Ocean Hotel in Amman. Chuckwagon, no problem. At least we were promised a nice buffet meal the next night. Thanksgiving. So after a good first day of games we sat down for dinner. No buffet seemed to be there. (we had missed the buffet at lunch at Kings Academy so were HUNGRY) They told us the food was on it’s way. Thanksgiving in Jordan! Drum roll…… Chuckwagon with fries and cole slaw. AGAIN . Even the teenage boys couldn’t eat it. They all ordered KFC to be delivered to the hotel. Humbles a person. 

Anyway we finished the tourney. We tie or win our last game and we are in the championship game. We were scoreless and time expires. But it doesn’t. Ric (head coach and our new housemate) tells me it should have ended but it goes on even after extra time has finished. So with five seconds to go we get called for a handball in the goal area. A penalty kick ensues. They make it. We drop down from being in the championship game to fourth. The kids are shattered. The team from Lebanon that was seconds from not going to the championship game wins the game and goes on to win the title. Life is hard. We win the sportsmanship award and they rebound. By the way try chaperoning 14 boys for five nights in a hotel. Ric was amazing to be able to keep those boys together. I did what I could to support him. We somehow did it. Combat pay should be coming to us. Not. At least we finally were able to return to Cairo.  Or so we thought. Have you ever heard of a Sandstorm? Perfect timing. On the way to the airport the wind came hard, the sky got dark, a dirty “Brownout” took place. One couldn’t see ten feet in front. The flight of course was delayed. Canceled. Eight hours later we sit here waiting to get back to Cairo. Everyone that goes to the Middle East must experience a sandstorm. Now instead of chaperoning 14 boys in the hotel for five days we chaperone them in the airport for ten hours. They are good kids but if one knows anything about Egyptian kids they are “High Energy”. A Thanksgiving weekend to remember.

The team in front of the Roman Amphitheater

We are the orange team... the Lynx

Is this what we've come to? Having to use one's Smartphone while on the bottle!

A pleasant journey with a sandstorm? Not pleasant....

So that is the end of this blog with one footnote... Minnesota where I bode from jokes that the mosquito is the state bird. Now I am in Egypt. I can truly say that the Egyptian mosquito is the foulest bug I have yet encountered. It buzzes the same way, it looks similar, yet it differs in certain respects. First of all the Minnesota mozzie lazily flies along until destroyed by a slap from a hand. No problem. The Egyptian mosquito is like a house fly. Quick and fast and hard to hit. When they do sting however it hurts something fierce only matched by the severe itching that comes after. We thought our mozzies were the king. They are nothing. These guys can't be slapped or found sitting for more than a nano second. They sting fiercely and itch like hell. Our slaps out of frustration are harder too which can hurt when slapping ones cheek. 

It is 5 degrees back home right now.... 85 here... Ok, I'll stop complaining... till next time. 

A side trip.... Austria and Poland

We had a week off for Eid, a major Muslim holiday. Many left the country and travelled to various spots around the globe. We took the opportunity to visit Austria and Poland where we had relatives and friends. It was fall, there promised to be colors and trees and decent weather. We were excited to leave the sand behind. This entry will be more of a "Travel Journal" and less "Insights Journal". Hopefully not too boring. Nothing worse than reading a moment by moment diary..... we all live a diary........

After flying to Vienna we took a train to Wels, two hours west near Steinbach, our destination. My dear friend Horst still lived in the family home and property there and it is a beautiful village nestled in the northern edge of the Alps. At Horst's property are meadows, forests, and a stream running in front of the house. The mountains rise behind and the summits can be reached after a two hour vigorous hike. I looked forward to all of it as well as seeing old friends. In Austria things are clean, well kept, and beautiful. One can not go to Austria and not fall in love with the place. The Alps are stunning. After  a cloudy, misty and cool first day it looked like going up Mittagstein would be out of the question the next day. But lo and behold a spectacular day awaited us. Brandy and Autumn our school colleagues that we cajoled into coming to Steinbach with us were breathing hard, winded, and asking how much further. I told them we had done well. We were ten percent of the way up the mountain. On and on we went as the day kept getting better. Finally the ridge was in sight. We were graced with views that one cannot replicate with pictures.

We reached the summit and took and break as we basked in the sunshine and perfect weather. It was truly a moment that makes one feel lucky to be alive.

Not only were we hiking up mountains in Austria but we were invited to share music making in the family home of Sepp, Horst's good friend. There we were treated to Austrian hospitality at it's finest. Coffee, pastries, and folk music made by his family and relatives. This happens on a weekly basis and more. They play wonderful "sessions". Beautiful music and great companionship. Look below to see photos of our session. Guitar, zither, accordion. 

Horst on bottom, Sepp on left, Johannes Johanna on top picture.

After a trip a few kilometers away in the morning at the Almsee we were off to Poland to visit with Donna's cousins and relatives. The Almsee again must be seeing in person in it's splendor but these pictures must suffice.

We above all thank Horst. An amazing man who has designed and built a new addition to his house (taking the old hayloft and building a workshop and music room in addition to a guest room).He also was the perfect host making everyone feel welcome and took care of our every need. Bravo Horst. You are the best!

So many more pictures could be posted. Perhaps I will make an Austrian album on Facebook but we press on to Poland. Poland... a country I had never been to and one I had a mental image of being "Eastern block, poor and rough around the edges". I couldn't have been more wrong. Poland with the number two economy in the EU (European Union) behind Germany is a thriving, modern country. With an updated infrastructure one feels it is a vibrant country with a strong economy. A big surprise to myself considering the state of the world economic state of affairs. We were met by Darush in his Mercedes SUV. Wish I could afford one of those.....He had a busy day of meetings which he cancelled in order to take us for a tour of "sites" near Krakow. First a trip to 

Auschwitz-Birkenau. 

We didn't spend enough time there.  Very sobering, sad, and horrifying. I have over the years pondered how this could possibly happen in a "civilized world". After visiting Dachau in 1978 I was first introduced to the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. Since then I have read many books and my personal antenna was alert regarding the Holocaust. It is happening today in places around the world as I write these notes. Things have changed in Poland and Europe but sadly elsewhere in the world horrors continue. The "museum" helps to keep memories alive. Forces one to be awake and sensitive, humble. Helps engage one to think about what they can do to help. Darush's grandmother risked her life to bring food to the edge of the camp to give to prisoners. It meant a lot to him to show us this site. We then continued on...... next the Linert cemetery. There we saw the grave of Donna's grandfather's brother who died in battle in the second world war. Later we went to two famous Catholic shrines. Pope John Paul II's birthplace and the church of the Black Madonna, a pilgrimage that many Poles and others continue to take every year. Every day of the week hundreds come to see the Black Madonna. We were there on a rainy night. It was cold and wet and there were hundreds there filing in and praying. Devout people. In August many walk for two weeks to get to the church.

Darush and Donna in Wadowice

We ended our day going back to Darus's house to have dinner with his family. They prepared a huge fabulous Polish meal. His mother and father (who at 71 is one of the leading theatre critics in the country and still teaches at the university), his wife and two sons. Great people all. Poland and Austria will be seen again. For a longer visit.

Finally back to our Ibis hotel. That in itself was a wonder. It felt straight out of Ikea but I found out that it is a French hotel chain. Completely modern and unique compared to hotels back home. I loved it.

So... after a night train from Krakow to Vienna which was fun (other than waking up every half hour in anticipation of customs officials barking out..Passports! and then in the morning being told they don't do that anymore as it is the EU. Back when I travelled abroad in my twenties in the late 70's that is exactly what happened. Lights put on, and PASSPORTS barked out loudly in the middle of the night whenever a border was crossed), we flew home. Home.... to Cairo. Our home away from home. Back to the hub hub, noise, smells, traffic, rubble, smiling people, throbbing pulse of a city that races along in spite of piles of contradictions. It is our home now but we are also guests. School begins again. Work continues at AIS West. Till next time....                                           

                                    

School at AIS West....and a Wedding!

New Posting folks!

We have become settled. We have finished three weeks of school. Donna teaching first grade with many lively, active bright eyed little cherubs and me teaching grades 1,3,4, and 5 in PE. So far it's been lots of fun for me and I think Donna is enjoying it as well. It is a job with very tough difficult children. Before you read anything more look at the photos of the children and captions.....Looks tough right... we're talking mean spirited and rough kids to teach!

The names are different but the light in their eyes, the laughter bursting forth, and the English they are speaking

is the same. Back home I taught many latino kids that spoke great English and now I am in Egypt with the kids all speaking great English. How kids learn languages so well is beyond me. I can say Salaam Alahi Koom, or Sabbah Achiir, or Shokran or some others. Spelling is all wrong of course. I have figured out the numbers and am quite proud of it. While the kids learn the language fluently I take baby steps and learn numbers and a few basic pleasantries. Makes one feel old, a step behind and disconnected. The people here show smiles and warmth when one tries to speak Arabic so I will continue with my feeble attempts at the language, one of the worlds toughest languages to learn.

This looks too fun.. how about a different picture...

Maybe this looks too fun too. How about one more....

Ok, I give up!!!  ... when certain Americans are nervous about Moslem peoples does this look like people different than us???? I dare one to notice these kids looking any differently than any school back in the states. Having fun, enjoying each other and having a great time in school!

 Soon we will have nine days off for EID. Donna and I will travel to Austria and Poland for a visit with friends. We will leave behind this third world/developing nation for clean streets and basic services consistently offered. This will be welcome. Egypt is a poor country that has an upper class which demands certain basics but has overwhelming poverty in most of the country. When we live in Mena Garden City we are insulated from the realities of this sad state. Our cab drivers are proud of the good life in Sheik Zahed and 6th of October. They look past the garbage everywhere, buildings in disrepair, and rubble all over the place. They see a better life. There is a taste of the comforts of the west..... shopping malls etc. Secular Cairo booms out here.

We live with protests continuing on a weekly basis and certain precautions which we must take. But life is always full of precautions. One uses ones best judgement and proceeds forth. It feels safe here but one must be careful. Not everyone here is tolerant of Americans or western people and it's values, but most Egyptians welcome any people regardless of their background, American, Zambian, Icelandic or whatever. It is a nation that welcomes tourists and people from everywhere and always has. While our housemates came as single young people some families came here as well.....

We were invited to a birthday party from a friend here at school. They brought their young family to Cairo. Our world gets bigger and bigger. Open arms welcome us. We meet new people and make new friends.  At Iris's first birthday party.... an international flavor. Estonian, French, Egyptian, American,Bolivian, Austrian.... Typical grouping one finds here. It's great. Everyone has an interesting and valid perspective on everything and common ground is found on many topics. Iris and her brother Tristen are being raised being spoken to in French, Estonian, and English. No problem!

Finally I write about our Egyptian wedding we went to. Donna's assistant Nahla told us we absolutely HAD to come to her wedding. She said Egyptian weddings are special events. So instead of going to Dubai for a conference we went last night to her wedding. We stayed at the Fairmont Towers on the Nile which we found out is rated #2 out of 175 hotels in Cairo. It is a beautiful place and we stayed on the tenth floor overlooking the Nile. The Pyramids were out in the distance with their perfect symmetry and the city spread out in front of us. On the 26th floor on the roof they have two swimming pools, a hot tub and a whirlpool. It was as advertised. The wedding was a fun rollicking time. Drums, tamborines, cymbals, flutes and horns were all played as Nahla and her husband walked into the reception area. Everyone clapped and danced. Fun! Then there was a dance and wouldn't you know it Nahla saw us and grabbed us out onto the dance floor while everyone danced around us clapping. It was great.

The two hour commute to go twenty miles wasn't so fun however! The next morning it took twenty minutes to go the same distance. DO NOT get caught up in a Cairo traffic jam.... perhaps with gas costing 75 cents per gallon everyone thinks they can afford a car amongst the 20 million people living in Cairo! Yes, 75 cents per gallon. Crazy. Cars from the US,  France, Germany, England, Sweden, Italy, Korea, Japan, Malaisia, China, and even cars made in Egypt from twenty years ago are what fill the roadways.... So, now we have four days of school and then ten days off. We will be going as said to Poland and Austria and will hopefully have more fun adventures.

We are Certified!.... also......... dogs, cats, and change.....

We are back from Dahab! Home of the infamous Blue Hole fatalities... (seriously, look it up). We had no clue what getting certified as scuba divers meant but we thought OK, when in Rome do as the Romans do. (or Egypt do as the Egyptians do...) They all dive here at this school and so down to Dahab we went. Little did we know that the oldest person they ever trained was an old man of 56. Wow, OLD! (Wait a minute, I AM 56). Five days later after about eight dives we staggered out of the ocean as certified scuba open water divers. We had to learn about thirty different skills and Donna and I did our best to not embarrass and make fools out of ourselves. Here is a picture of us at the bottom and some of the fish that we saw. Can you pick us out?

Lion Fish and others....this is a small sampling and that's the truth! Amazing fish and coral everywhere. Reality trumps fantasy here.

So while in Dahab we were face to face with Egypt today. A country whose tourist trade has been decimated. Walking down the beautiful Dahab boardwalk, a mile of amazing shops, restaurants, diving shops, and hotels amidst a beautiful backdrop of mountains and surf it was sad to see the drastic drop in tourism. There were people but normally they said there was a throng of lively activity that would go deep into the night. Now, our group (24 from our school) was the biggest activity they had seen in months. We felt safe and comfortable. Friendly people. But upon leaving Dahab in our van we sat while police with automatic weapons took our passports for twenty minutes amidst high security. A reminder that all is not "back to normal" by any means in Egypt.

"Do you have correct change?" No one it seems has any change in Egypt right now. Shopkeepers dig into their own personal wallets to come up with change or go to a neighboring shop to come back with a five pound note. Small change is almost impossible to come by. It brings about some funny situations as they talk to their friends, go to their wallets, or dig into their "secret" cash reserve. It happens time and time again. It's a wonder that things get bought and sold. But somehow it all works out.

As far as the cats and dogs well.... somehow it seems to work out for them too. Zillions of cats and dogs everywhere in Dahab and in Egypt in general. At breakfast in the morning one must shoo them away constantly. At dinner I looked the other way and turned around to see a cat on the table eating my fish. Spray bottles are the general mode of repelling them but many pay little heed to water spray. They come back with a vengeance. They are for the most part friendly animals and crave attention but it does conjure up images of mass sterilization. So.... a few photos of our trip to Dahab and our horrible, crazy ride home from the airport. People thought I was a bad driver. I am a Saint. Truly. Come to Egypt and take a ride... you will see.

The Sinai with gulf of Aqaba on right

The Dahab strip at night

From our diving spot on beach. Life is tough!

My fun compadres:Donna, Lucie, and Brandy

Loading our tanks for the day

The girls replicate what the Egyptian men do daily.... ride in the back of the truck.

Dahab.... Paradise.. small sleepy magical village.

Windsurfing with Saudi Arabia in distance.

Back to airport. Would we see this at home?

Our awful ride back to Cairo with the familiar sights on the road.

Yes, isn't it great to be back in Cairo!

Let's instead hold onto our images from Dahab and the Sinai.....