Thursday, May 25

We are down to five teaching days before finals! Yeah! The month of May has seemed to drag on, but we are finally getting there. I can't wait. I feel like the baby is going to come out really hyperactive or always screaming and yelling, because it seems like she's always subjected to constant noise, screaming, singing, and shouting from the students at school. I have one boy who always says hi to my belly and tries to play her music on his headphones. I have another boy who comes to greet her every morning and claims that he will marry her. At any rate, the baby will definitely recognize my loud "teacher" voice.

Today was a pretty easy day since the seniors decided they would have a skip day. We are pretty sure that Joe introduced this idea to them. He mentioned it in class and all of sudden they were secretly trying to plot it. We knew about it the first day they came up with it, of course. They also don't realize that I can understand simple Arabic, so they were discussing it in class the other day. They were asking in Arabic who was coming tomorrow, so I said, "Yeah, who's coming tomorrow?" They all tried to cover up like they were talking about something else, but I knew better. We spent the day today with the twelve or so kids who came, watching movies, playing games, etc. At least Joe and I didn't have to work too hard.

We went tonight to the ACE Club which is the British club/bar here in Cairo. They were having a fundraiser for our friends, Tom and Betsy. All entrance fees and a percentage of drinks will go to Tom and Betsy. They are also having a raffle with some pretty cool prizes like a hot air balloon ride in Luxor, six nights in Indonesia, etc. It's been amazing the way the foreign community has pulled together for Tom and Betsy.

Cairo is getting hot these days. I have to say I'm getting a bit overheated. It's also a good time of year, though, because the flowers are really blooming. We have a beautiful orange-reddish tree that blossoms just outside our apartment at this time of year. It's such a contrast - the lush, beautiful flowers in Maadi amidst the desert surroundings. I guess it really makes you appreciate color.

We tried a bit of Egyptian culture the other night with some fresh roasted corn on the cob. The poor people here set up little fires on the corners and roast corn. It makes me think of home because it smells a bit like campfire, and of course, it's corn! I was told it was only 50 piastres which is like 8 cents, but I think they ripped us off because we're foreigners and charged us a whole pound. We could afford it, so we didn't mind at all. It was kind of fun standing and waiting for them to roast a piece of corn for us. They wrap it in its husk and then you're on your way. We're not sure, but we think we live in a really popular area for corn. There are at least five corn sellers set up in our neighborhood alone.

Tomorrow, Joe and I will go to the senior dinner on a restaurant/boat on the Nile. We'll see how that goes. There's not much that we participate in these days, especially not trips. We figured we should go and spend some time with our seniors before they graduate. They are a pretty cool bunch of students. Hopefully, it will be an enjoyable time.