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.
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