Thursday, March 31

Ah, a short week. Gotta love 'em. The weekend is here again. We spent the evening moving from coffee shop to coffee shop. Joe and I have become quite the coffee shop connoisseurs. That's pretty much all people do here. You go out, drink a coffee or fruit juice for an hour, two hours, maybe even three, and you talk. When we first moved here, it was very difficult for us to sit over a drink or a meal for a long while. We were used to getting waited on immediately, getting our food as quickly as possible, and then paying the bill as soon as we finished. However, Egypt is more European in style. You lounge. No one tries to get you out the door so that they may have a free table to seat more customers. They don't even care if all you order is one drink. I suppose we've gotten used to it, and now we enjoy hanging out and simply talking. We won't be able to adjust to the rush of the U.S.!

The funny thing is, that we find ourselves hanging out with a lot of teenagers. That's what they do here on the weekends. They (and the cell phones that are perpetually attached to them) hang out at cafes. They sit around and talk. I'm telling you, they are so much more innocent here. We know that there are some "bad" things that teenagers do here, but that boils down to boys drinking or smoking some hashish. We've never seen any of this, though. For the most part, we've decided they are much more wholesome than the average American teen.

Another interesting anecdote from our outing tonight. We've become regulars at a cafe just around the corner called the Grand Royal. The menu there cracks me up. They have a "cafe latex" (aka cafe latte), a "clobe sandwich" (aka club sandwich), and other interesting items. You really do see a lot of interesting spellings in this town. There's something to be said for phonetic spelling. The thing is that when they translate Arabic words into English, they may spell them a variety of ways. There's no clear spelling because in Arabic they don't usually write vowels, so when they go to write it in English, the vowels (and sometimes the consonants) are up for grabs. You'll see a street spelled, "Sawra, thawra, thowra" or a different street - "nozha, nuzha" etc. Maybe this is only interesting to me, as an English teacher. You'll forgive me, I'm sure. My caffeine is beginning to wear off, so I'll have to be off to bed.

Joe's look-out post. 

The stones used to build Fort Qaitbay were originally a part of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Fishing boats near the fort. 

Sphinxes are a dime a dozen in Egypt. 

The amphitheater actually seemed a little small. I think I read it was used initially for small music performances, etc. 

If you stand exactly in the spot where Joe is standing, your voice is magnified back to you. 

The Roman Amphitheater 

Sunday, March 27

Today, Joe and I celebrated Easter in the traditional way. We went on a one-day trip to Alexandria. No Easter eggs for us, but at least we have today and tomorrow off. We had a pretty good day. We checked out the Roman Amphitheater and Fort Qaitbay. It was a fort built by a sultan, but what is there now was mostly redone by Muhamed Ali. It sits where the old Pharaos lighthouse used to be. I really don't know all that much about these places, but they were something to see and an excuse to take a train ride to somewhere. Alexandria is always a breath (literally) of fresh air and the Mediterranean is beautiful. The only problem is that they don't seem to see as many foreigners so we get more stares and "Hi, what's your name?" Enjoy the pictures and I hope everyone is having a great Easter.

Tuesday, March 22

Well, the opera was an adventure. It was okay, but I think there are probably better staged productions. The actual opera complex is nice. The theater is simple. I was a little disappointed because the opera which is supposed to be in Italian was translated into Arabic. I would have liked to have heard it in its original form. Now, I think Joe has a different take on it. I think his comment was, "They just keep singing!" He started out okay in the first act, but when he realized there were four, he just started slumping in his seat. He did stay awake, though, unlike the guy snoring behind us.

We went this weekend to "The International Fair." I put it in quotes because it wasn't exactly what we pictured. Our principal said, "There are booths from everywhere in the world. You can buy all sorts of stuff from the booths, etc., etc." We pictured a fun fair with all sorts of trinkets and items to buy. Nope, basically it was industrial-type stuff. Dental chairs, car parts, tiles, toilets, etc. We were a little disappointed, but at least it was a nice day to walk around. I guess it was only 4 LE which is 67 cents.

We are just finishing out this week before our four-day weekend. We are thinking we may skip the prom. I know it's horrible to skip the prom at a small school like this, but we have to pay for it, and I have nothing to wear. I suppose they'll forgive us.

The highlight of our week has been the care package we received from Joe's family. It only took 3 1/2 months, but we got our Christmas package! Tons of goodies. We are baking chocolate chip cookies, courtesy of the ingredients that they sent. You can't find chocolate chips here, so we are thrilled to get ahold of some. (And vanilla extract!) I know the teachers are going to love us at school tomorrow.

We are thinking often of home. Can't wait to visit everyone this summer. Officially, we will arrive in Waterloo at 10:55 July 8th.

Friday, March 18

It's been a pretty good week. Joe and I only had a four-day week at school. We took some of the students to another school in Alexandria for a "sports day." Our principal managed to scrap up some teams, nevermind that they had never played together before or played the sport before. It didn't matter too much since most of the schools in Egypt are about the same. It's not like there are organized sports. The students go to clubs, kind of like country clubs, to play sports. Our school doesn't have teams or after school practice or anything. Joe might try to start up a soccer team next year, though.

The students pulled it off for the most part. The important thing is that they had fun. The girls basketball team we got together didn't even know how to play. Ah, well, no one seemed to mind. At least Joe and I got away from the school for a day, and we rode along on a short trip to Alexandria.

We might go to the opera on Sunday. I've always wanted to see one - Le Nozze di Figaro. I called today and the best tickets are only 25 pounds, that's just over 4 dollars. Weird. Other than that, we are considering going to the prom next week. I'll have to find something to wear. I'm sure if we go it will be an experience.

Sunday, March 13

We have been doing the usual. On Thursday, we spent the day at a teaching conference, which is always a little boring, but at least we didn't have to go to school. It was held on the Cairo University campus. The day was pretty uneventful except for when we skipped one of the sessions and went to look for the campus bookstore. A guy sent us to some building, and Joe went in to an office to ask where the bookstore was. He was in there for a while, so Tom and I were beginning to wonder what he was doing. I stepped inside, and some guy had Joe by the arm. He looked like a little kid who had just gotten in trouble. The funny thing was that you could tell that Joe was trying to walk away and the guy was still holding on to him. He wasn't letting Joe go for anything! He kept on talking to us, and walked us out into the entry. He still had a hold of Joe! He told us he was from Canada (he was of Middle-Eastern decent). He seemed so excited just to have North Americans in the building. It was so funny to us the way he wouldn't let go of Joe. He was holding on tight. People here are so much more touchy. You definitely wouldn't hang on to someone like that in the States. I think they would get pretty irritated with you.

We went this weekend to see the movie The Grudge. You know Joe; he's got to go see every horror movie that ever existed. He's still creeped out by the scary Japanese ghosts. It was funny because even one of the teenage boys in the theater had to get up and run out because he was scared.

Other than that, the weekend was quiet. We went out to our principal's club tonight after school. It's a swanky country-type club. It was nice; we had dinner and sat around. It's always a little awkward because the American teachers sit together and talk and all the Arabic teachers and administrators sit together and talk. Joe and I are actually starting to pick up more and more Arabic, though. It's definitely slow-going, but we are proud of ourselves because we can now write short sentences.

Sunday, March 6

The beginning of another week. What will it bring us? Joe was telling someone tonight what we eat here. How do I describe it? We've been eating a lot of fuul and tamaya. Fuul is basically refried beans, but not the Mexican variety. They are made from the fava bean (I think that's what they call it.) We order it in a pita, and you can get it mixed with "salsa," (Egyptians' concept of salsa, mind you) eggs, etc. Tamaya is basically falafal, if you're familiar. It's chickpeas ground up and mixed with some spices, then deep-fried. Mmm... It's good. They serve it up in a pita with some shredded lettuce, tomatoes, tahina (sesame butter), and cucumber. Surprisingly good for something that sounds not so good. We also like to order mussaka which is eggplant and other vegetables in some kind of red sauce. Not much of an explanation, I know.

I have begun to feel like there's not much to eat around here. When we first got here, I didn't know where to begin with the food. None of the ingredients or menu items even seemed remotely familiar. Then, for awhile, I was really cooking. Now, though, it feels like there's nothing else to make. I'm not much of an Egyptian cook, and I'm not all that excited about their cuisine. Besides, we can order up Egyptian food for dirt cheap. A tamaya sandwich is about 60 piastres, which amounts to 10 cents. It's cheaper to eat out.

Thank goodness for our coworkers, Tom and Betsy. They have a connection at the embassy commissary, and tonight they gave us our "haul." Four boxes of tofu (count 'em, four), a huge vat of salsa, two boxes of curry sauce, sauerkraut for Joe's bratwurst (yes, he's in heaven), and Pam cooking spray (now I can stop dousing everything in oil). What would we do without Tom and Betsy?

Other than my report on food, there's not much to report. I vowed when I saw it that I would report on it - we actually saw two boys rolling tires down the street as a form of entertainment. Actually, the one boy was pushing one of those (now) old-fashioned toys which is basically a wheel attached to a stick. I have never seen this, except in movies. I have only read about kids rolling tires down the street in "To Kill A Mockingbird." When was that book written? We wanted to say, "There are better toys out there," but maybe this is all the boys had. It's almost unbelievable the things we see here sometimes. What will we see next?

Thursday, March 3

Ah, the weekend. It's finally here! I can't believe it is already March. Where is the time going? The weather has turned wam again. The days are pleasant, but windy. When we leave the windows open, the counters and floor get coated with a fine layer of dust. The breeze we get is just awesome, though, so we put up with a little dust.

It's been a difficult week at work. The seniors are stretching their wings so to speak. Let's just say I attempted to break up my first fight. I seem to think I'm as tough as senior guys. I forget that I'm not working at a middle school anymore. I survived, however. Maybe next time I will actually think first. The funny thing is that the guys are always getting into "tiffs" here, but they never actually fight. You will not see them actually hurt each other. It's always some big show. They act like they are going to fight. Then, they lunge at each other, and then all their friends pull them apart. The next minute you turn around and they're hugging each other, and they're best of friends. It's not like the States where I had eigth-graders trying to beat the pulp out of each other. There are temporary flare-ups, but it's like they get it out of their system and move on. They probably thought it was the craziest thing that a woman would even attempt to stop a fight. (For some reason this makes me smile.)

Good News!!! Joe got his first delivery from "The German Butcher.com." Joe is one happy man. He ordered frankfurters, bratwurst, and pork chops. Now, he'll have to see if they're any good. He's very happy to find a source for his pork products, though. The guy who runs the site is German. Who knows how he gets his pork products. You get online, make your order, and they deliver it for free. I think the total for everything came to less that 10 bucks. Not too bad.

Once again, appreciate everything you have in America. Pork, shortening, taco seasoning, alcohol, good, cheap peanut butter, good movies, the list goes on and on. One thing being overseas does is it helps you to appreciate everything you have at home. It gives you perspective. If only we all had perspective and appreciation for what we have.