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!