As you can see, my blogs get fewer and fewer as we aren't living the most exciting lives lately. A great deal of time is just spent working. Sigh... However, I have had a few questions which I thought I might as well answer. I know that until I actually came to Egypt, I thought it was going to be like Indiana Jones. People would have monkeys and everyone would wear a robe and turbin. Now, I'm not saying there aren't people wearing robes and turbins, but I haven't seen too many monkeys around.
The strange thing is that Cairo is like Indiana Jones, yet at the same time it's completely modern and civilized. For example, McDonalds is only a short walk away. Oddly enough, we haven't been there yet. We've been to Hardees, Pizza Hut, KFC and Johnny Carinos. They also have Baskin Robbins, Arby's, A & W, TGI Fridays and Chilis. All of these restaurants are pretty standard. There are slight differences, usually a bummer, like the biscuits at KFC are just rolls. The ketchup here tastes different too.
But there are also bonuses. For example, you can have anything delivered. Nobody gets anything themselves. Just the other day, Joe carried the garbage down himself, and the neighbor boy treated him strangely, telling him that there was a man to do that.
One of my students didn't have her uniform pants on. I asked her why and she told me they weren't ironed. Now, having ironed my own pants that very morning, I asked her why she didn't iron them. She shrugged. I asked her who ironed her clothes. She answered, "The ironing boy." People pick up ironing at your door, and return it at your door. Grocery stores deliver. Fast food places like Hardees, KFC, McDonalds all deliver. (We decided this would be very dangerous in the U.S.) You can have your doorman run and get you anything you want, matches, sodas, cigarettes, light bulbs, food, bread, etc., etc.
The thing is that there are a million jobs for everyone. With so many people living in one small area, there have to be a lot of middlemen and women. People look at Joe and I strangely when we go to pick up our ironing or carry our groceries home.
We can get almost anything that we can get at home. Of course, there are little things. For example, they don't have vanilla extract or chocolate chips. (What I wouldn't do for homemade chocolate chip cookies.) You can't find the U.S. brands of junk food like Doritos, Ruffles, etc. They have Pepsi and Coke, of course, but Joe and I have decided they are definitely different from home, as every one has a different taste. There are no diet vanilla Cokes or diet cherry Cokes to be had.
We have found things we love, though. I am getting fat off of the Egyptian sweets that are especially popular during Ramadan. They know us at the sweet store. We are also recognized at the "alley" behind our apartment building as well. It's a very rough alley. We decided we have a love/hate relationship with it. You can get everything there cheap. There are fruit, vegetable, ironing, copy, school supply, cleaning supply, grocery, live produce like chickens (ew!), dry goods, schwarma, koshary, a gym, plumbing, electrical, etc. shops. Anything you need, you can get. It's a rough alley because there are hardly any women and the men are not afraid to stare or comment. The shop owners all recognize us now. You can almost see the dollar signs in their eyes when we approach. We know that they charge us extra, but we figure it's foreigner "tax." At least we're helping out the economy. It's almost fun now to haggle a little bit. Now that we know some Arabic, we aren't so naive either. We know what things should cost and we can read if they have numbers posted. We catch them off guard once and awhile.
We have been invited this evening to go to our nieghbor's/landlord's house for iftar (break fast). It is the meal that is had at sunset. We are looking forward to it. They have very sweet and polite kids. The oldest girl is very kind. She always kisses me on the cheeks when we meet, as they do here. The little boys always stand with us outside the apartment as we both wait for our buses. The older boy always asks me questions like, why did we come here? Why do we like dogs? (They are terrified of Leia.) He's very curious. He always shakes our hand every time we see him. It's cute, and the littlest boy doesn't know much English, so he just stares at us like we are from the moon.
Our doorman is also one of our favorite people. He always smiles at us, and he has a fascination with Leia. He's started giving her his old "aeish" which is bread. He loves to sit and watch us feed her. She loves it, of course. You know Leia and her obsessive-compulsive addiction to food. She gobbles it all up and he just keeps urging us to give her more.
We will report back on our iftar dinner. I'm sure it will be excellent. I told them I'm a vegetarian, and when we were talking to the landlord yesterday, he thought I was nuts. It's extremely rare to be a vegetarian in Cairo, extremely. I am basically a freak. Okay, not really, but it is completely uncommon and most people don't understand it, unlike in the U.S. where it is extremely common.
We'll see how it goes. We hope all is going well for everyone at home. We are wishing everyone well.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
Friday, Oct. 29 again
Well, we just got back from our iftar dinner/breakfast (depends what culture you come from, I guess). The food was great. Of course, Emily's vegetarianism caused us more problems. (sarcasm) It is really rather amusing. The idea of not eating any meat is a difficult concept for Egyptians to understand. Anyway, they had several traditional Ramadan dishes. Some are difficult to explain, but many of the more common dishes contain a combination of squash, cabbage, rice, or lamb.
After dinner, we watched some t.v. and talked as best we could. The daughter has to translate a lot of what we say, but the landlord and his wife do speak some English. The youngest boy really came around and actually started talking to me. He wanted to show me the English words that he was learning in school. Nothing difficult. Stuff like book and pen. I have found that really young kids are usually the best teachers when trying to learn another language.
We did have a bit of a problem though. When it came time that we thought we should leave, I used taking out the dog as an exit. However, as soon as I said this, the oldest boy begged us to stay and the mother reiterated this by asking us to return after we take out the dog. We finally complied, but then they all said good-bye, which we naturally understood as good night, or see you some other time. We got Leia and took her outside where we began to contemplate whether or not they want us to come back. Within a couple of minutes, we ran into the dad who was returning from running an errand and asked us, "Where are you going?" We told him, "Taking the dog to go toilet." We were really confused now. We came back upstairs to our apartment and spent the next 15 minutes contemplating whether it is better to return and be annoying or not go back and be rude. We concluded that being annoying is better than being rude. We went back next door and as soon as the boy answered the door it became obvious that they didn't expect us to return. They invited us it, but due to Emily's quick thinking, we told them that we had only returned to say thank-you to the dad who we missed due to his errand running. There are many instances similar to this one where they insist or beg you to accept some type of service when in reality, they do not want to do it for you. I do not think this will be the last time we are in a confusing situation like this.
After dinner, we watched some t.v. and talked as best we could. The daughter has to translate a lot of what we say, but the landlord and his wife do speak some English. The youngest boy really came around and actually started talking to me. He wanted to show me the English words that he was learning in school. Nothing difficult. Stuff like book and pen. I have found that really young kids are usually the best teachers when trying to learn another language.
We did have a bit of a problem though. When it came time that we thought we should leave, I used taking out the dog as an exit. However, as soon as I said this, the oldest boy begged us to stay and the mother reiterated this by asking us to return after we take out the dog. We finally complied, but then they all said good-bye, which we naturally understood as good night, or see you some other time. We got Leia and took her outside where we began to contemplate whether or not they want us to come back. Within a couple of minutes, we ran into the dad who was returning from running an errand and asked us, "Where are you going?" We told him, "Taking the dog to go toilet." We were really confused now. We came back upstairs to our apartment and spent the next 15 minutes contemplating whether it is better to return and be annoying or not go back and be rude. We concluded that being annoying is better than being rude. We went back next door and as soon as the boy answered the door it became obvious that they didn't expect us to return. They invited us it, but due to Emily's quick thinking, we told them that we had only returned to say thank-you to the dad who we missed due to his errand running. There are many instances similar to this one where they insist or beg you to accept some type of service when in reality, they do not want to do it for you. I do not think this will be the last time we are in a confusing situation like this.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Saturday, October 23
Ramadan has proved interesting. From my point of view, (which is most likely not the point of view of Muslims), the day revolves around the iftar or "break fast." When the evening prayer comes on at 5:18 everyone stops what they are doing to eat. They are very serious about eating right when the prayer starts. The streets are almost empty. It's very weird because the streets of Cairo are always packed.
So far, I have had iftar with two Muslim families and it has been great. They serve lots of great food, and the meal is always followed by sweets. We didn't like the sweets at first, but then we discovered that they were liquid sugar and very delicious. We are having to keep ourselves from going to buy them. Joe's favorite is the kanafa. It's like shredded wheat but then it's soaked in honey and sugar. Usually it has some sort of cream or nuts with it. It's very good. It's pure liquid sugar to your bloodstream.
Great news! We are living the high-life. We now have a maid. I didn't want to get one at first. I thought it would be money we didn't need to spend, and that we didn't need it, but man, was I wrong! The maid did an awesome job. She lifted rugs, moved furniture, scrubbed the floor, cleaned the windows, etc., etc., etc. I never do all that. I told Joe I'm a bad woman! As soon as I saw the apartment after she cleaned it, I decided it is very much worth it. The price tag for five hours of work - 30 L.E. which translates into 5 U.S. dollars. You cannot beat that. Thank you, Egypt. It's great to live somewhere where it is economical to have these services. I've started tutoring a student in English so we are getting some extra income from that. It makes it much easier to justify the maid.
Other than this, we have just been taking it easy. We're getting close to the end of our first term of school. It seems like time is flying. Before we know it, the beginning of the new year will be here.
So far, I have had iftar with two Muslim families and it has been great. They serve lots of great food, and the meal is always followed by sweets. We didn't like the sweets at first, but then we discovered that they were liquid sugar and very delicious. We are having to keep ourselves from going to buy them. Joe's favorite is the kanafa. It's like shredded wheat but then it's soaked in honey and sugar. Usually it has some sort of cream or nuts with it. It's very good. It's pure liquid sugar to your bloodstream.
Great news! We are living the high-life. We now have a maid. I didn't want to get one at first. I thought it would be money we didn't need to spend, and that we didn't need it, but man, was I wrong! The maid did an awesome job. She lifted rugs, moved furniture, scrubbed the floor, cleaned the windows, etc., etc., etc. I never do all that. I told Joe I'm a bad woman! As soon as I saw the apartment after she cleaned it, I decided it is very much worth it. The price tag for five hours of work - 30 L.E. which translates into 5 U.S. dollars. You cannot beat that. Thank you, Egypt. It's great to live somewhere where it is economical to have these services. I've started tutoring a student in English so we are getting some extra income from that. It makes it much easier to justify the maid.
Other than this, we have just been taking it easy. We're getting close to the end of our first term of school. It seems like time is flying. Before we know it, the beginning of the new year will be here.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Monday, October 18
After I spent a couple of days recovering from my cold, Joe and I visited the Old Cairo section of the city. We went to the Coptic section. The Coptic section is the Christian section of the city. It is likeOrthodoxy. Many of the sites have a history dating back to the 3rd century A.D. The whole area lies within an old Roman fortress of Babylon. We know the Babylon that everyone knows about was in Iraq, but they call this area Babylon for some reason. We visited the Hanging Church which was suspended between two of the Roman fortress towers. A section of the Nile ran beneath it. You can still look down and see where the Nile would have been.
We then walked around the cemetery behind the church. It was very interesting to walk through and to see the mausoleums and statues. We even looked in one mausoleum and saw coffins, one of which looked like a child's. It's always interesting to wander through a graveyard.
We went to several churches. At Saint Sergius Church we looked down under the alter where the Holy Family is said to have sheltered in a cave during their flight into Egypt. There really wasn't a lot you could see, though. It is, however, the oldest church in Cairo. Interestingly, the church used to be at ground level, but the ground level has changed, so you have to walk down steps to see the church now.
We went to a convent, St. George's church, St. Barbara's, and the Ben Ezra synagogue. The synagogue was of course guarded and you had to pass through a metal detector. Some guy gave us a "special" tour where we looked down a well, and he made a claim about Moses being there. We thought he was trying to tell us that it was where Moses was taken out of the river. We have our doubts, though. He could tell us anything for a few pounds.
It was nice to get out and be a tourist for a day. We bought some cool old-fashioned black and white prints of Cairo. They were 100-200 years old. (Copies, of course) They were really interesting. Pictures of people, the market, felucca boats on the Nile, etc.
We tried fasting for the first three days. We never did it exactly right. We either drank some liquids or we ate our breakfast a little late after sunrise. It was hard, though. I think maybe we decided today to eat after school. With being sick, it's been difficult. That's an excuse, though. It's really hard, especially when you can't even drink water. I was feeling very tired and grouchy! I'm thinking for my students benefit maybe I should eat. They may like me more.
We love our Ramadan schedule, though. Today we finished school at noon. We had to stay until 2 anyway, but it wasn't bad because there were no students. It will be hard to adjust back to normal school.
I will post some pictures from our weekend for you to see.
We then walked around the cemetery behind the church. It was very interesting to walk through and to see the mausoleums and statues. We even looked in one mausoleum and saw coffins, one of which looked like a child's. It's always interesting to wander through a graveyard.
We went to several churches. At Saint Sergius Church we looked down under the alter where the Holy Family is said to have sheltered in a cave during their flight into Egypt. There really wasn't a lot you could see, though. It is, however, the oldest church in Cairo. Interestingly, the church used to be at ground level, but the ground level has changed, so you have to walk down steps to see the church now.
We went to a convent, St. George's church, St. Barbara's, and the Ben Ezra synagogue. The synagogue was of course guarded and you had to pass through a metal detector. Some guy gave us a "special" tour where we looked down a well, and he made a claim about Moses being there. We thought he was trying to tell us that it was where Moses was taken out of the river. We have our doubts, though. He could tell us anything for a few pounds.
It was nice to get out and be a tourist for a day. We bought some cool old-fashioned black and white prints of Cairo. They were 100-200 years old. (Copies, of course) They were really interesting. Pictures of people, the market, felucca boats on the Nile, etc.
We tried fasting for the first three days. We never did it exactly right. We either drank some liquids or we ate our breakfast a little late after sunrise. It was hard, though. I think maybe we decided today to eat after school. With being sick, it's been difficult. That's an excuse, though. It's really hard, especially when you can't even drink water. I was feeling very tired and grouchy! I'm thinking for my students benefit maybe I should eat. They may like me more.
We love our Ramadan schedule, though. Today we finished school at noon. We had to stay until 2 anyway, but it wasn't bad because there were no students. It will be hard to adjust back to normal school.
I will post some pictures from our weekend for you to see.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Friday, October 15
Ramadan kareem! Apparently, that is the greeting during Ramadan. Literally translated it means Ramadan generous. The response is something like Allah is more generous. Something like that. So far, Joe and I have determined that during Ramadan pretty much nothing is open. Today was the first day. It's a Friday, so it's the holy day anyway. It's always quiet but today we couldn't figure out where all the millions of people had gone to. I asked my students yesterday and they said that they spend the night eating with family.
In case you're not aware, Ramadan is the month where Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown. It is very strict fasting. The students told me that they can't drink water. People can't smoke. The girls told me they can't even wear lipgloss. If I understand correctly, the purpose is to get past the physical and to a more spiritual level. They fast as a remembrance to the prophet Mohamed's fast. As you can tell, I don't have it all figured out yet.
Joe and I are going to try to do the fast, maybe not every day, but we want to at least try it. I want to know what my students are going through. I tried today to not eat anything until sunset. I cheated and had a few drinks, but didn't eat anything. It was hard! I started to think that I wouldn't assign much homework to the kids this month because I don't really think they'll be able to focus much.
Here's the great part, though. Our school schedule changes. We only go to school from 8-2 on Sun, Tues, Thurs and 8-12 on Mon. and Wed. We think it will be great. I guess everyone comes home early to sleep before they eat at the iftar (evening meal).
We're pretty bored tonight, though, as there's not much to do. We ended up going to the grocery store and buying the English/Arabic version of Monopoly. Don't worry, I beat Joe as usual.
I hope all is well in the U.S. We are eagerly awaiting the upcoming elections!
In case you're not aware, Ramadan is the month where Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown. It is very strict fasting. The students told me that they can't drink water. People can't smoke. The girls told me they can't even wear lipgloss. If I understand correctly, the purpose is to get past the physical and to a more spiritual level. They fast as a remembrance to the prophet Mohamed's fast. As you can tell, I don't have it all figured out yet.
Joe and I are going to try to do the fast, maybe not every day, but we want to at least try it. I want to know what my students are going through. I tried today to not eat anything until sunset. I cheated and had a few drinks, but didn't eat anything. It was hard! I started to think that I wouldn't assign much homework to the kids this month because I don't really think they'll be able to focus much.
Here's the great part, though. Our school schedule changes. We only go to school from 8-2 on Sun, Tues, Thurs and 8-12 on Mon. and Wed. We think it will be great. I guess everyone comes home early to sleep before they eat at the iftar (evening meal).
We're pretty bored tonight, though, as there's not much to do. We ended up going to the grocery store and buying the English/Arabic version of Monopoly. Don't worry, I beat Joe as usual.
I hope all is well in the U.S. We are eagerly awaiting the upcoming elections!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Monday, October 11
So, not much has been going on. I have just a few random stories to share. First, Joe and I saw our first American movie this past weekend. We saw "The Village." It was wonderful to just escape into an American film. It almost felt like we were in America. Then, tonight Carly insisted that Kelly and I go to "Mean Girls." So I have seen two movies in one week!
While Joe and I were at the mall, we watched some Egyptian high school boys trying to ice skate at the skating rink. It was hilarious. They were crashing into each other and wobbling around. They could barely stand two seconds before falling hard. We wanted to show them how it's done. I'm sure that ice skating is not something they practice much.
I've had my second cab driver ask me if I have a baby. I think maybe it's common. The taxi driver was so excited to have us in his cab. He wanted to know where we were from, and then of course, he had to ask about Bush. We get asked about Bush a lot, so we have to play along and make the conversation light-hearted. They all want to make sure we say Bush is bad. (Sorry, Dawn, we are forced to comply.) This taxi driver was particularly excited about us, though. He went so far as to tell Joe that he was my honey, I think, or he said that Joe looked like honey. At any rate, he told Joe that he had a cute face and I'd done well to marry him. He had to shake our hands and tell us "salam" (peace) as we left.
The third interesting incident is that Joe has been on a search for brains. We find this kind of amusing, as he goes around to shops asking the butchers, "Ante mukhkh?" which can be literally translated to mean, "You have a brain?" Why is he looking for brains, you might ask. He wants to dissect sheep brains in his psychology class because they are studying the parts of the brain. He hasn't been successful so far, though. I'm not too disappointed because I'm not that excited about having three brains in my refrigerator. We did go to a butcher's shop, though, which was more disgusting than I like to remember. Even Joe said it was gross! The butchers were just hacking away at all the carcasses, and there were piles of meat and organs everywhere. I won't continue.
So, other than our search for brains, its been a calm week so far. Ramadan starts on Wednesday, so we'll have to fill you in on that. We will let you know how the search goes!
While Joe and I were at the mall, we watched some Egyptian high school boys trying to ice skate at the skating rink. It was hilarious. They were crashing into each other and wobbling around. They could barely stand two seconds before falling hard. We wanted to show them how it's done. I'm sure that ice skating is not something they practice much.
I've had my second cab driver ask me if I have a baby. I think maybe it's common. The taxi driver was so excited to have us in his cab. He wanted to know where we were from, and then of course, he had to ask about Bush. We get asked about Bush a lot, so we have to play along and make the conversation light-hearted. They all want to make sure we say Bush is bad. (Sorry, Dawn, we are forced to comply.) This taxi driver was particularly excited about us, though. He went so far as to tell Joe that he was my honey, I think, or he said that Joe looked like honey. At any rate, he told Joe that he had a cute face and I'd done well to marry him. He had to shake our hands and tell us "salam" (peace) as we left.
The third interesting incident is that Joe has been on a search for brains. We find this kind of amusing, as he goes around to shops asking the butchers, "Ante mukhkh?" which can be literally translated to mean, "You have a brain?" Why is he looking for brains, you might ask. He wants to dissect sheep brains in his psychology class because they are studying the parts of the brain. He hasn't been successful so far, though. I'm not too disappointed because I'm not that excited about having three brains in my refrigerator. We did go to a butcher's shop, though, which was more disgusting than I like to remember. Even Joe said it was gross! The butchers were just hacking away at all the carcasses, and there were piles of meat and organs everywhere. I won't continue.
So, other than our search for brains, its been a calm week so far. Ramadan starts on Wednesday, so we'll have to fill you in on that. We will let you know how the search goes!
Friday, October 08, 2004
Thursday, October 7
It feels like it's been forever since I wrote. We've been a little bit busy, but in fact, we haven't had much to talk about. We spent Tuesday night at our first open house for the parents at our school. It was very interesting getting to meet the parents of our students. We had just sent out progress reports and our principal told us not to discuss grades with the parents. Yeah, right. We were amazed at how concerned and interested the parents were. Some were upset that their students were not receiving enough homework. Many were concerned that what we were doing for their child was not enough for them to pass the S.A.T. test. Others complained that the classes were too big. Most of the parents were kind and involved. It went pretty well and we have a feeling we will be hearing from many parents by e-mail.
Otherwise, we had a holiday yesterday. Our simsaar who helped us find this apartment finally showed up, so we did have to pay him. First he wanted a full month's rent. Then he dropped quickly from 1700 L.E. to 1000 to 600. We finally agreed to pay him 400 L.E.
We decided not to go for a long weekend. We were going to go to Alexandria for a few days, but in the end we decided to save a little money and only go for a day trip. We don't have our work visas yet, so everything is six times more expensive for us. We are pretty sure the school is trying to save a few bucks by not getting us our residence visas.
As for Alexandria, it was interesting. Joe says it was like Italy. I think it was much more Islamic. The climate reminded us very much of how Italy would be. It was breezy and almost cool. The sun was warm, but not too harsh. It was a little frustrating that it was difficult to find a beach where the girls could sunbathe. We drove by many beaches where men were out frolicking about in the waves, while their women remained fully clothed on the beach. That's when I think it must be miserable to be a woman in this country. We eventually drove out to Montazah Park. It was a really lovely park with lots of vegetation. There is a palace there that was pretty cool, even though we couldn't go inside.
The highlight of my day was the taxi driver who picked us up in the park. Many taxi drivers will ask where you're from, and when they find out we're from America the reaction is always interesting. He was very excited, and proceeded to tell us how good our Arabic is. He took us to where these guys were cutting down dates from the trees. He jumped out and got a bag for us, washed them off, and showed us how to eat them. They are a weird fruit. Kelly says they're kind of like coconut but sweeter. I say they're starchy because they make your teeth feel funny. Anyway, he was sweet. He played Arabic music for us and asked us if we were married. When he found out I was married to Joe he wanted to know if I had a baby. I think that's a common and even polite question around here.
We then went to the Biblioteca Alexandria. It was really cool, even for those of you who aren't book-nerds like me. It was huge and modern. The architecture was interesting. As Joe pointed out, the windows are designed to let natural light fall on the 2,000 reading desks. We had fun looking at the antiquities museum, manuscript museum, and just the general library. We went to a fresh fish restaurant and then headed home. It was overall a pretty good day. We will have to go back to see the ampitheater and Greco-Roman Museum sometime. It's a pretty easy 2-3 hour train ride.
The people on the train today were very nice. During our first trip, the security guard was very attentive, making sure we got on the right train and that we all got to sit together. There was a man on the train who made sure we knew how to work the window shades. He helped us turn our seats around, and he made sure we got off on the right stop. Very nice. Then on the way back, we met some Englishmen who were towel salesmen. They gave us a bunch of free towels. Very nice, also.
I know you may be wondering about the terrorist attacks in Taba. We were far from there. It is very close to the Israel border, not anywhere we will be going.
We're hoping to relax these next couple of days to store up some stamina for the school days ahead!
Otherwise, we had a holiday yesterday. Our simsaar who helped us find this apartment finally showed up, so we did have to pay him. First he wanted a full month's rent. Then he dropped quickly from 1700 L.E. to 1000 to 600. We finally agreed to pay him 400 L.E.
We decided not to go for a long weekend. We were going to go to Alexandria for a few days, but in the end we decided to save a little money and only go for a day trip. We don't have our work visas yet, so everything is six times more expensive for us. We are pretty sure the school is trying to save a few bucks by not getting us our residence visas.
As for Alexandria, it was interesting. Joe says it was like Italy. I think it was much more Islamic. The climate reminded us very much of how Italy would be. It was breezy and almost cool. The sun was warm, but not too harsh. It was a little frustrating that it was difficult to find a beach where the girls could sunbathe. We drove by many beaches where men were out frolicking about in the waves, while their women remained fully clothed on the beach. That's when I think it must be miserable to be a woman in this country. We eventually drove out to Montazah Park. It was a really lovely park with lots of vegetation. There is a palace there that was pretty cool, even though we couldn't go inside.
The highlight of my day was the taxi driver who picked us up in the park. Many taxi drivers will ask where you're from, and when they find out we're from America the reaction is always interesting. He was very excited, and proceeded to tell us how good our Arabic is. He took us to where these guys were cutting down dates from the trees. He jumped out and got a bag for us, washed them off, and showed us how to eat them. They are a weird fruit. Kelly says they're kind of like coconut but sweeter. I say they're starchy because they make your teeth feel funny. Anyway, he was sweet. He played Arabic music for us and asked us if we were married. When he found out I was married to Joe he wanted to know if I had a baby. I think that's a common and even polite question around here.
We then went to the Biblioteca Alexandria. It was really cool, even for those of you who aren't book-nerds like me. It was huge and modern. The architecture was interesting. As Joe pointed out, the windows are designed to let natural light fall on the 2,000 reading desks. We had fun looking at the antiquities museum, manuscript museum, and just the general library. We went to a fresh fish restaurant and then headed home. It was overall a pretty good day. We will have to go back to see the ampitheater and Greco-Roman Museum sometime. It's a pretty easy 2-3 hour train ride.
The people on the train today were very nice. During our first trip, the security guard was very attentive, making sure we got on the right train and that we all got to sit together. There was a man on the train who made sure we knew how to work the window shades. He helped us turn our seats around, and he made sure we got off on the right stop. Very nice. Then on the way back, we met some Englishmen who were towel salesmen. They gave us a bunch of free towels. Very nice, also.
I know you may be wondering about the terrorist attacks in Taba. We were far from there. It is very close to the Israel border, not anywhere we will be going.
We're hoping to relax these next couple of days to store up some stamina for the school days ahead!
Saturday, October 02, 2004
Friday, October 1
I've stolen some pictures off of another teacher's blogspot, so I have new pics included with this blog. Not much has really been going on. We've been busy with school. It was an uneventful week if you don't count the senior boys lighting paper on fire in Kelly's class. Sigh... Children are the same no matter where you go.
Next week only three days of school! We contemplated going to Istanbul or Jordan next week, but apparently we can't get a flight out on a national holiday. Joe and I are still thinking Alexandria is the place to go. We could really use a little relaxation on the beach right now.
We spent the weekend shopping, etc. Joe's been very sad because his PlayStation won't hook up to our old-fashioned T.V. We bought an attachment, but of course it doesn't work. Everything here seems to take a few tries before we can figure it out.
We did a little shopping in the "alley" behind out house. It's this little street that is very Egyptian. You truly feel like you are in another country when you step into this alley. There are so many different shops. Tonight we shopped for vegetables and fruit, got charcoal for the sheesha Joe bought, and made copies. We were very proud because we were able to ask for all of our fruits and vegetables in Arabic.
The week's been quiet, which is just fine with us. I hope all is well at home.
Next week only three days of school! We contemplated going to Istanbul or Jordan next week, but apparently we can't get a flight out on a national holiday. Joe and I are still thinking Alexandria is the place to go. We could really use a little relaxation on the beach right now.
We spent the weekend shopping, etc. Joe's been very sad because his PlayStation won't hook up to our old-fashioned T.V. We bought an attachment, but of course it doesn't work. Everything here seems to take a few tries before we can figure it out.
We did a little shopping in the "alley" behind out house. It's this little street that is very Egyptian. You truly feel like you are in another country when you step into this alley. There are so many different shops. Tonight we shopped for vegetables and fruit, got charcoal for the sheesha Joe bought, and made copies. We were very proud because we were able to ask for all of our fruits and vegetables in Arabic.
The week's been quiet, which is just fine with us. I hope all is well at home.
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