Well. It has been a while. I’m sorry about that. Life has DEFINITELY gotten busier… and it has gotten busier in a way that makes me want to spend all of my time living my life… not writing about it. When I am not busy living… I am generally busy sleeping… because I haven’t been getting too much of that.
I am sure I will forget to tell you about plenty of the little adventures that I have had. Things like… getting in a fight with a cab driver because he wanted me to pay him 50 piasters (about 10 cents) extra even though he did not take me where I wanted to go… and… I don’t know… my time at the Maadi Grand Mall… which locals call the Not So Grand Mall (personally…. I found it delightful in a all-things-tacky kind of way).
Instead, I think I will focus on the things that I think will occupy the majority of my time when I am here. As I have now been here for almost two months… I think I may FINALLY be in a place where I can begin to understand what my time might look like.
I have been teaching for four weeks now and I think I am finally getting a handle on things. I have 83 11 and 12 year olds… this consists of 3 classes (Yellow, Blue and Green), 4 Ahmed’s, 4 Omar’s, 3 Mohameds, 3, Abdels, 3 Ali’s, 3 Mariams, 3 Youssefs, 3 Marawans and 58 other names that sound ALMOST the same…. Like Rhana, Rana, Rna, Rania (all pronounced differently), Amira, Amr, Ayah, Amir, Nada, Nagham, Nadine, Nour, Nouran… it is a TOTAL disaster. Add to the mix that they all have about 6 last names… example: Donia Hesham Mohamed Yehia Abou Huseen… and the fact that I, a crazy westerner, wrote their names in my grade book as their first and LAST last name (Donia Huseen) but they write their names as their first and FIRST last name (Donia Hesham)… I am still trying to sort out who is who.
The good news is: they speak truly remarkable English. Also, I am pretty sure that 98% of them would list high school musical, Hannah Montana, Zack Efron, the Jonas Brothers and Camp Rock as their top 5 favorite things on the planet, so we have that in common… and I LOVE them. I mean… some are adorable. Some are brats. Some are unbelievably obnoxious. Some are brilliant. Some are MISERABLY slow. But I am just completely in love with all of them. I find myself smiling when I should be yelling…. And making silly faces when I should be somber… oops!
Teaching is an unbelievably huge amount of work. I mean, I knew that it would be… but still. I have to be completely engaged and running the show for the entire class period (which is an hour right now… but will be an hour and a half after Ramadan) or the class will go crazy. So…. That means planning so that they never have a single free moment. They have to be working while I am checking their homework or they go crazy. They have to be working while I am writing the assignment on the board, or they go crazy. Each of the classes is exhausting. Very fun… I get SUCH a kick out of running the classroom… and when they are jumping out of their seats to raise their hand to answer a question…. I burst with pride…. And when the teachers next door get annoyed because my class is yelling out the correct answer in unison…. I cant suppress my smile… but like I said… it is exhausting. And when I go home at the end of the day… and I spend an additional 3 hours grading their homework and entering their grades…. That is exhausting. And when I spend an additional hour making worksheets and planning activities…. That is exhausting. I worry that I will burn out…. But as for now…. Honestly… I love teaching. I like lesson planning. I like leading the class. The only part I don’t really like is grading.
The school itself is not great. Everything breaks all of the time and that makes planning difficult. I made a bunch of worksheets that I couldn’t print…. So I had to wing it in class and make them write down the questions. The next day, to be prepared, I printed everything at the McIntosh’s house and brought it to school to make copies. They won’t let us make the copies… they have copy girls. So I gave them the copies… and asked for them ANY time during the day. That was two days ago. I still haven’t received them. As for class rooms… I don’t have one. The kids stay in place and I travel to them. So…. Anything that I want hung in the class room… like rules, or vocabulary words, or grammar chats… I have to make three of. Which I did…. And then I hung…. But NOTHING will stay on the damn concrete walls. And the rooms are always loud because we have all of the windows open to try and get some circulation in the room because there is no air conditioning.
The people are all really sweet. Then again… I learned today that the entire Egyptian staff calls me “the angel”… because apparently I look like one. None of the other English teachers have nicknames. Then again… I think I am the only one that speaks to, smiles at, or waves to the Egyptian staff (my contact with them is pretty much limited to smiling and waving and “thank you” because I don’t speak Arabic and they don’t speak English).
I have not really been able to do much beyond teaching…. Which is frustrating because I did have so many other plans for how I wanted to spend my time here…. But at least I enjoy it.
When I am not teaching, I am usually tutoring three wonderful home schooled American girls (I teach them pre algebra, pre cal and SAT math…), hanging out with the McIntosh’s, or hanging out with/ beginning to train for a marathon with Nathan, my fake brother, and Cameron, one of the Youth interns for the church. Nathan is the fake adopted son of the McIntosh’s…. and because I am the fake adopted daughter… the two of us have decided that we are fake adopted siblings. Cameron is a girl from Alabama that has quickly become my closest friend here in Egypt. She and I get along unbelievably well and just kind of “get” each other in a really comforting way. It has been an incredibly huge blessing getting to know her… especially after my trip to Hurghada with the teachers… which I will have to write an entire separate entry on…. But later…. Because writing this took long enough.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
It kind of depends on the moon.
I've started work! Well... kind of. School won't start until the 21st of September, en-shala.
You probably need a little background. "en-shala" which is translated "God willing" means exactly that. Egyptians say it at the end of just about everything. And it can mean anything from "hopefully" to "absolutely... that is the plan... only God could stop us" to "probably not slash i have no intention of doing what you want but if God wills it than maybe it will happen" to "i really have no clue what I am talking about, but you are American and want an answer so I'll give you one, throw en-shala onto the end, and hopefully you will understand that i have no knowledge or authority and everything is subject to change."
Ok, see you at 3, en-shala.
You're water will be running tomorrow, en-shala.
I know how to get to your apartment, en-shala.
This bag costs 45 LE (Egyptian Pounds), en-shala.
I recieved my first schedule for our work year today. It has on it things like holidays, but apparently the holidays are all subject to change depending on the moon. The ministry of Education should let us know with a day or twos warning. The ministry has not yet released the days of the mid year break... so... as of right now.... I have a set curriculum that has to be taught and a list of materials that need to be covered.... but no idea about how many weeks I will have to teach them in.
We have gone into school each day this week and have been assigned our grades. I am teaching Primary 6... which is 12 year olds.... so I guess it is pretty similar to the seventh grade. I am actually pretty pumped about it. I am already getting wierdly excited about some of the assignments that I am going to give them and about putting on my super mean tough face for the first few weeks. The first book I have to teach them is King Solomon's Mines and I have set the first set of vocab words... I chose an adventure theme. The words are things like... adventure, passenger, dangerous, ... i am SUCH a nerd.
The school is a little on the shanty side. There is no AC... which I'm not going to lie... is a little painful... and everything is currently under construction. I went to the restroom today and realized that there was no door nob on the inside. TOTAL disaster for about 10 min.... I was COMPLETELY locked in and just had to sit there yelling for someone to come. Eventually this Egyptian man (who spoke no English) came in to do some construction but he freaked out when he heard me call out. He apologized and ran out of the bathroom, embarrased that there was a girl in there, and not realizing that I was yelling at him to OPEN the door... not leave the room. Eventually some of the other teachers had to use the bathroom and they came and let me out.
I do not get a classroom... I really only have a cubicle. At this school the kids stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers move around. So... I will be going to three classrooms a day and spending the rest of my time in my cubicle in a room that I share with all of the other English teachers. It is kind of nice to know that we will have that shared space so that we can lean on each other for support. This is definitely going to be a challenge.
I am really looking forward to school starting (and Ramadan ending) so that I can get into a normal sort of routine. I am not going to be able to do all of the things that I want to do... I am going to have to start being more selective about the things that I get involved in... but right now it is just a little difficult feeling like I am waiting for my "real life" to start.
Ok. Must run. I feel certain that I have left a lot out... every day here something wierd and adventurous happens. You all know I love it a little too much.
You probably need a little background. "en-shala" which is translated "God willing" means exactly that. Egyptians say it at the end of just about everything. And it can mean anything from "hopefully" to "absolutely... that is the plan... only God could stop us" to "probably not slash i have no intention of doing what you want but if God wills it than maybe it will happen" to "i really have no clue what I am talking about, but you are American and want an answer so I'll give you one, throw en-shala onto the end, and hopefully you will understand that i have no knowledge or authority and everything is subject to change."
Ok, see you at 3, en-shala.
You're water will be running tomorrow, en-shala.
I know how to get to your apartment, en-shala.
This bag costs 45 LE (Egyptian Pounds), en-shala.
I recieved my first schedule for our work year today. It has on it things like holidays, but apparently the holidays are all subject to change depending on the moon. The ministry of Education should let us know with a day or twos warning. The ministry has not yet released the days of the mid year break... so... as of right now.... I have a set curriculum that has to be taught and a list of materials that need to be covered.... but no idea about how many weeks I will have to teach them in.
We have gone into school each day this week and have been assigned our grades. I am teaching Primary 6... which is 12 year olds.... so I guess it is pretty similar to the seventh grade. I am actually pretty pumped about it. I am already getting wierdly excited about some of the assignments that I am going to give them and about putting on my super mean tough face for the first few weeks. The first book I have to teach them is King Solomon's Mines and I have set the first set of vocab words... I chose an adventure theme. The words are things like... adventure, passenger, dangerous, ... i am SUCH a nerd.
The school is a little on the shanty side. There is no AC... which I'm not going to lie... is a little painful... and everything is currently under construction. I went to the restroom today and realized that there was no door nob on the inside. TOTAL disaster for about 10 min.... I was COMPLETELY locked in and just had to sit there yelling for someone to come. Eventually this Egyptian man (who spoke no English) came in to do some construction but he freaked out when he heard me call out. He apologized and ran out of the bathroom, embarrased that there was a girl in there, and not realizing that I was yelling at him to OPEN the door... not leave the room. Eventually some of the other teachers had to use the bathroom and they came and let me out.
I do not get a classroom... I really only have a cubicle. At this school the kids stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers move around. So... I will be going to three classrooms a day and spending the rest of my time in my cubicle in a room that I share with all of the other English teachers. It is kind of nice to know that we will have that shared space so that we can lean on each other for support. This is definitely going to be a challenge.
I am really looking forward to school starting (and Ramadan ending) so that I can get into a normal sort of routine. I am not going to be able to do all of the things that I want to do... I am going to have to start being more selective about the things that I get involved in... but right now it is just a little difficult feeling like I am waiting for my "real life" to start.
Ok. Must run. I feel certain that I have left a lot out... every day here something wierd and adventurous happens. You all know I love it a little too much.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Meeso and Me
It is kind of funny how the more I have to write about, the less I want to write. Finding time and energy for this kind of discipline is a little bit more difficult than I would have expected.
Life has definitely gotten a little crazier. I met all (except for two) of the other teachers. I instantly bonded with one of the girls, a 28-year-old lawyer-turned-travel-bum who has spent the last few months hanging out in Cambodia and Thailand before she decided to live in Egypt for a while. Two of the other American girls are a little more similar to me in that they are both fairly-recent graduates looking for some life experience to help guide their understanding of what should come next. I have not spent much time with them but they both seem like nice girls. There are two Scottish girls who both taught at the school last year and decided to stay on for another year. I did not bond with them as well as I would have thought considering the time that I have spent in Scotland. Neither of them were big fans of Glasgow, which I think was what caused our friendship to go awry. Like my roommate, one of the Scottish girls is a recent convert to Islam and they have kind of bonded over that. The last of the teachers that I have met was another girl from America. She is also a new Muslim convert and moved here to learn Arabic and I guess immerse herself in a more Muslim culture. The other two teachers arrived after our little teacher get-together and I guess I will meet them tomorrow.
I feel like I have been very fortunate in the friendships that I have been accumulating. They are definitely very diverse. The interns from the church have been amazing and have included me in several of their meals as well as some of the youth activities. I think I am going to be helping out with both the junior high and high school youth groups. It has been awesome getting to know them and having such an awesome group of young Christians to spend time with. Beyond the interns, I have also spent a couple of evenings hanging out, talking and watching movies with Josh, my “good conversation” friend. It seems that we have a lot in common academically and we have been able to have some good international, political, you know… whatever… conversations over a beer or a martini. It has been really nice to have someone to just have good, chill conversation with.
Lisa, the 28-year-old teacher, is hilarious. I am fairly certain our lives could not be more different, but we have great banter and get along really well. She doesn’t really hold anything back and I don’t really get offended… and I am definitely not afraid to share my opinion…so it works out well. The night that we met she wanted to go downtown to find a place that we could get a glass of wine (most restaurants do not sell alcohol). We got into a cab and started heading into the city. The tricky part was that our cab driver did not really understand where we wanted to go… a rooftop bar called Nomad that was located at the top of the King Hotel. We kept saying, “King Hotel” and he kept saying, “No, Sheraton… 4 stars!” and we would say “No, King Hotel.” And he would say… “Sheraton!” Other than that, he spoke no English. And we spoke no Arabic. So we would get into this funny pattern of me shouting in English, German, Spanish, French… really any words that I knew that I thought might help. Then Lisa would start shouting in Russian, Cambodian, etc… then our cabby shouting back in Arabic. It pretty much ended in the three of us laughing a lot until the cab driver pulled over and we found a man on the street who spoke English. I feel like a total failure for not knowing Arabic. I am extremely excited about beginning classes. Anyway… we did eventually get where we wanted… and the view was fantastic… and so was the wine.
The next day Lisa called me to see if I wanted to go to the pyramids with her. I did. So we met up and walked over to Road 9 to get some coffee before we headed out. While we were there we discovered that the pyramids were going to be closing early because of Ramadan and decided to post pone our pyramid adventure for a day. Instead we went over to the Maadi House (the country club for Embassy people) and met up with Sheryl, Becky and Ryan. Lisa and I ended up swimming for a while and then having a few beers with Ryan. Later that night the three of us met up with Ryan’s friend Joe that he had met in some hostel in Alexandria. Suffice it to say that Ryan and Lisa will be my going out and drinking friends. I am DEFINITELY the most mild of the three of us. I think they really get a kick out of me because I am obviously very comfortable with them and have a blast going out… and then I will be like, “Sorry guys… I have to go… I am helping out with youth group.” They think (correctly) that I am super innocent… but I think they also kind of enjoy it. Like I said before, I feel very fortunate to have such great diversity in my friendships here.
Thursday Lisa and I went to the pyramids with Ibrahim, my amazing tour-guide Egyptologist friend. Honestly, I don’t think I will ever get over how cool they are. It was insane. Egypt is insane. I am in love with this country. We did the whole camel ride thing when we were at the pyramids. My camel’s name was Meeso. I think I would have enjoyed the camel ride a lot more had I not been wearing a skirt…. The carpet was a little rough on my legs…. And I’m pretty sure I flashed the Sahara… but when I was in the middle of the dessert looking out on the pyramids juxtaposed against the sprawling city of Cairo none of that really seemed to matter. The world is an unbelievably cool place. After the pyramids Ibrahim took us out to Memphis to see the largest remaining statue of Ramses. It was gorgeous. On the way we stopped in the Egyptian countryside at this beautiful restaurant for my first traditional Egyptian meal. I had this unbelievable bread with all of their crazy dips and some skewered beef, chicken and lamb followed by fresh dates for desert. It was all really delicious.
Yesterday I walked to church for the first time by myself. I was a little terrified I was not going to get there considering I had an incredibly vague understanding of where it was located… but I made it there in about 15 minutes. Brilliant. This week was “Kick Off” week and there were several tables set up for people to sign up to get involved in a number of things. In addition to the booths, the service consisted of the testimonies of members as well as some explanations of different ways that we can get involved. The service also discussed some of the changes for this year and the character that the church wanted to portray to the community of Maadi. I do not know that I have words to describe how meaningful this experience was for me. It seemed as if all of the vague prayers that I have had for myself for the year following my graduation from college as well as the specific prayers that I have had for myself from the moment that I have arrived in Cairo were the same exact prayers of this church community and the body that this church is aiming to create is the picture of what I have been looking for. It is a little insane to know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am beyond excited.
Life has definitely gotten a little crazier. I met all (except for two) of the other teachers. I instantly bonded with one of the girls, a 28-year-old lawyer-turned-travel-bum who has spent the last few months hanging out in Cambodia and Thailand before she decided to live in Egypt for a while. Two of the other American girls are a little more similar to me in that they are both fairly-recent graduates looking for some life experience to help guide their understanding of what should come next. I have not spent much time with them but they both seem like nice girls. There are two Scottish girls who both taught at the school last year and decided to stay on for another year. I did not bond with them as well as I would have thought considering the time that I have spent in Scotland. Neither of them were big fans of Glasgow, which I think was what caused our friendship to go awry. Like my roommate, one of the Scottish girls is a recent convert to Islam and they have kind of bonded over that. The last of the teachers that I have met was another girl from America. She is also a new Muslim convert and moved here to learn Arabic and I guess immerse herself in a more Muslim culture. The other two teachers arrived after our little teacher get-together and I guess I will meet them tomorrow.
I feel like I have been very fortunate in the friendships that I have been accumulating. They are definitely very diverse. The interns from the church have been amazing and have included me in several of their meals as well as some of the youth activities. I think I am going to be helping out with both the junior high and high school youth groups. It has been awesome getting to know them and having such an awesome group of young Christians to spend time with. Beyond the interns, I have also spent a couple of evenings hanging out, talking and watching movies with Josh, my “good conversation” friend. It seems that we have a lot in common academically and we have been able to have some good international, political, you know… whatever… conversations over a beer or a martini. It has been really nice to have someone to just have good, chill conversation with.
Lisa, the 28-year-old teacher, is hilarious. I am fairly certain our lives could not be more different, but we have great banter and get along really well. She doesn’t really hold anything back and I don’t really get offended… and I am definitely not afraid to share my opinion…so it works out well. The night that we met she wanted to go downtown to find a place that we could get a glass of wine (most restaurants do not sell alcohol). We got into a cab and started heading into the city. The tricky part was that our cab driver did not really understand where we wanted to go… a rooftop bar called Nomad that was located at the top of the King Hotel. We kept saying, “King Hotel” and he kept saying, “No, Sheraton… 4 stars!” and we would say “No, King Hotel.” And he would say… “Sheraton!” Other than that, he spoke no English. And we spoke no Arabic. So we would get into this funny pattern of me shouting in English, German, Spanish, French… really any words that I knew that I thought might help. Then Lisa would start shouting in Russian, Cambodian, etc… then our cabby shouting back in Arabic. It pretty much ended in the three of us laughing a lot until the cab driver pulled over and we found a man on the street who spoke English. I feel like a total failure for not knowing Arabic. I am extremely excited about beginning classes. Anyway… we did eventually get where we wanted… and the view was fantastic… and so was the wine.
The next day Lisa called me to see if I wanted to go to the pyramids with her. I did. So we met up and walked over to Road 9 to get some coffee before we headed out. While we were there we discovered that the pyramids were going to be closing early because of Ramadan and decided to post pone our pyramid adventure for a day. Instead we went over to the Maadi House (the country club for Embassy people) and met up with Sheryl, Becky and Ryan. Lisa and I ended up swimming for a while and then having a few beers with Ryan. Later that night the three of us met up with Ryan’s friend Joe that he had met in some hostel in Alexandria. Suffice it to say that Ryan and Lisa will be my going out and drinking friends. I am DEFINITELY the most mild of the three of us. I think they really get a kick out of me because I am obviously very comfortable with them and have a blast going out… and then I will be like, “Sorry guys… I have to go… I am helping out with youth group.” They think (correctly) that I am super innocent… but I think they also kind of enjoy it. Like I said before, I feel very fortunate to have such great diversity in my friendships here.
Thursday Lisa and I went to the pyramids with Ibrahim, my amazing tour-guide Egyptologist friend. Honestly, I don’t think I will ever get over how cool they are. It was insane. Egypt is insane. I am in love with this country. We did the whole camel ride thing when we were at the pyramids. My camel’s name was Meeso. I think I would have enjoyed the camel ride a lot more had I not been wearing a skirt…. The carpet was a little rough on my legs…. And I’m pretty sure I flashed the Sahara… but when I was in the middle of the dessert looking out on the pyramids juxtaposed against the sprawling city of Cairo none of that really seemed to matter. The world is an unbelievably cool place. After the pyramids Ibrahim took us out to Memphis to see the largest remaining statue of Ramses. It was gorgeous. On the way we stopped in the Egyptian countryside at this beautiful restaurant for my first traditional Egyptian meal. I had this unbelievable bread with all of their crazy dips and some skewered beef, chicken and lamb followed by fresh dates for desert. It was all really delicious.
Yesterday I walked to church for the first time by myself. I was a little terrified I was not going to get there considering I had an incredibly vague understanding of where it was located… but I made it there in about 15 minutes. Brilliant. This week was “Kick Off” week and there were several tables set up for people to sign up to get involved in a number of things. In addition to the booths, the service consisted of the testimonies of members as well as some explanations of different ways that we can get involved. The service also discussed some of the changes for this year and the character that the church wanted to portray to the community of Maadi. I do not know that I have words to describe how meaningful this experience was for me. It seemed as if all of the vague prayers that I have had for myself for the year following my graduation from college as well as the specific prayers that I have had for myself from the moment that I have arrived in Cairo were the same exact prayers of this church community and the body that this church is aiming to create is the picture of what I have been looking for. It is a little insane to know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am beyond excited.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Four wheel drive.... CHECK.
I think I made a few new legitimate friends today. That is pretty exciting.
This morning I woke (at a slightly more reasonable time than yesterday) and went over to the McIntosh’s house (I swear they have to be getting sick of me… luckily they insist otherwise and I am just selfish and needy enough to believe them…). After some emailing and some coffee, Sheryl and I went and picked up Becky (the woman who I met my first day who has already acted as another surrogate mother for me) and her son, Ryan, a student in his final year of college who is studying abroad in Cairo, and we all went to Carrefour, a French grocery store/Wal-Mart that has grown into this massive American-style mall in the middle of Cairo.
The journey over was comical and made me thankful for four wheel drive. One of the most remarkable things about Cairo is that you can be in the middle of the city… and then all of a sudden the buildings stop and surrounding you in a 200 meter diameter is dessert… and then the city starts again. In the desserty parts there are mounds and rocks and valleys and plateaus…. And the road is little more than tread-marks from the vehicles in front of you. The tread mark road doesn’t really matter though. It is really just a suggestion as to where you should go. The road was too windy for us at one point so we just cut over the mounds in the middle. It was bumpy. It was hilarious. The picture that I took does not do it any kind of justice.
When we got to Carrefour I felt like I was in America. There was a Starbucks and McDonalds and a Chiles. At least I know where I can get a good margarita should I need one. I’ll spare you any further descriptions of this experience. Suffice it to say that I was entirely too comfortable there.
After our delightful shopping experience Ryan and I made some tentative plans to meet up and he promised to introduce me to some of his American University in Cairo friends. We traded numbers. He has already called…. Friend number one…. CHECK.
When we got home I entered into spy training with Rachel, the McIntosh’s 10-year-old daughter. I cannot do much… but I do know the secret code to punch into my pretend lap top in order to have chocolate chip cookies shot at my face. Praise the Lord.
At six I went over to one of the other church family’s houses and helped out with the junior high youth group. There were almost 40 kids and they were all pretty amazing. So precious. We hung out, played silly games, had a snack, sang a little, listened to a talk and then broke up into small groups. I think I am definitely going to want to spend more time with them. I fell particularly in love with one little sixth grade girl from Holland. It was great to feel involved in something but I feel like this also helped solidify my standing with the Interns…. So….. friends two through six….. CHECK.
After all of this I ended up chatting on the phone with Josh, the guy that I smoked shisha (spelling? I don’t know…. The crazy Egyptian pipe) and had martinis with my second night in Egypt. We made some plans to hang out tomorrow. So….. friend number seven…. CHECK.
Ramadan is in full swing which means lethargy during the day and general craziness during the night for 90% of the Egyptian population. I still have not had to deal with the inconveniences that I have heard that it creates… but I am interested in seeing the effect that this will have on my daily life.
I guess this is all for now… I know you are all wishing I would go into more detail…. Maybe tomorrow I will detail everything that I have to eat. And the number of times I use the toilet. Thanks for reading.
This morning I woke (at a slightly more reasonable time than yesterday) and went over to the McIntosh’s house (I swear they have to be getting sick of me… luckily they insist otherwise and I am just selfish and needy enough to believe them…). After some emailing and some coffee, Sheryl and I went and picked up Becky (the woman who I met my first day who has already acted as another surrogate mother for me) and her son, Ryan, a student in his final year of college who is studying abroad in Cairo, and we all went to Carrefour, a French grocery store/Wal-Mart that has grown into this massive American-style mall in the middle of Cairo.
The journey over was comical and made me thankful for four wheel drive. One of the most remarkable things about Cairo is that you can be in the middle of the city… and then all of a sudden the buildings stop and surrounding you in a 200 meter diameter is dessert… and then the city starts again. In the desserty parts there are mounds and rocks and valleys and plateaus…. And the road is little more than tread-marks from the vehicles in front of you. The tread mark road doesn’t really matter though. It is really just a suggestion as to where you should go. The road was too windy for us at one point so we just cut over the mounds in the middle. It was bumpy. It was hilarious. The picture that I took does not do it any kind of justice.
When we got to Carrefour I felt like I was in America. There was a Starbucks and McDonalds and a Chiles. At least I know where I can get a good margarita should I need one. I’ll spare you any further descriptions of this experience. Suffice it to say that I was entirely too comfortable there.
After our delightful shopping experience Ryan and I made some tentative plans to meet up and he promised to introduce me to some of his American University in Cairo friends. We traded numbers. He has already called…. Friend number one…. CHECK.
When we got home I entered into spy training with Rachel, the McIntosh’s 10-year-old daughter. I cannot do much… but I do know the secret code to punch into my pretend lap top in order to have chocolate chip cookies shot at my face. Praise the Lord.
At six I went over to one of the other church family’s houses and helped out with the junior high youth group. There were almost 40 kids and they were all pretty amazing. So precious. We hung out, played silly games, had a snack, sang a little, listened to a talk and then broke up into small groups. I think I am definitely going to want to spend more time with them. I fell particularly in love with one little sixth grade girl from Holland. It was great to feel involved in something but I feel like this also helped solidify my standing with the Interns…. So….. friends two through six….. CHECK.
After all of this I ended up chatting on the phone with Josh, the guy that I smoked shisha (spelling? I don’t know…. The crazy Egyptian pipe) and had martinis with my second night in Egypt. We made some plans to hang out tomorrow. So….. friend number seven…. CHECK.
Ramadan is in full swing which means lethargy during the day and general craziness during the night for 90% of the Egyptian population. I still have not had to deal with the inconveniences that I have heard that it creates… but I am interested in seeing the effect that this will have on my daily life.
I guess this is all for now… I know you are all wishing I would go into more detail…. Maybe tomorrow I will detail everything that I have to eat. And the number of times I use the toilet. Thanks for reading.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Good morning, Egypt
Well. I just skimmed over yesterday's post to make sure I am not repeating. I noticed the wrong "there" at the bottom. It should have been "their". I am SO sorry.
Yesterday was pretty low key compared to the last few days. I fell asleep at about 9:00 p.m. the night before so I woke cheerfully at 4:30 in the morning with the sunrise. Egypt "falls back" early in terms of day light savings in order to shorten the fasting time for all of the Ramadan observing people (which is 90% of the population). But yea.... the sun rises at 4:30. And I have a window that stretches the length of the entire wall facing the East. So that is lovely.
A little later in the morning I went over to the McIntosh's house for a manicure and pedicure. Apparently you can have a woman come to your house and groom you (mani, pedi, waxing... etc.) for a ridiculously inexpensive rate. Lovely. I'm getting so so spoiled.
I am still struck every time I buy anything here. Everything is so inexpensive. I went down to Road 9 for the first time yesterday. Road 9 is the shopping road of Maadi. I feel like I've heard so much about it since I've been here... it is apparently the hoppin place to go. Well. It was hoppin. Kind of like everywhere else in Cairo, it was pretty filthy, but so full of personality that I cannot help but love it. I got a copy of the McIntosh's house keys, some cleaning supplies, and most importantly, some craft supplies! Home is not home without a craft drawer.
Last night I went to the home of a married couple from the church. They (like everyone else here in Cairo) have an amazing story that brought them here. They had invited all of the church youth interns over for dinner and the interns, in turn, invited me. I am always blown away by the hospitality of the people here. I have yet to eat a meal alone in my apartment.
After dinner I went home and finally got my pictures hung. I cannot begin to describe the difference that the addition has made in my comfort at home.
Ramadan starts today. Walking over to the McIntosh's I could already tell a difference. All of the shops were closed and everyone looks completely lathargic. This should definitely be an interesting month. And a test of my patience. Things in Egypt are already kind of slow and unpredictable. When I arrived last Wednesday the school told me, "We will start sometime next week... we will be in touch." Naturally, it is kind of hard to plan around "sometime next week". Last night I got a phone call saying that we will start "sometime on Thursday". Or maybe "sunday". They will let me know. Haha. At least I know I have some time to play around.
Yesterday was pretty low key compared to the last few days. I fell asleep at about 9:00 p.m. the night before so I woke cheerfully at 4:30 in the morning with the sunrise. Egypt "falls back" early in terms of day light savings in order to shorten the fasting time for all of the Ramadan observing people (which is 90% of the population). But yea.... the sun rises at 4:30. And I have a window that stretches the length of the entire wall facing the East. So that is lovely.
A little later in the morning I went over to the McIntosh's house for a manicure and pedicure. Apparently you can have a woman come to your house and groom you (mani, pedi, waxing... etc.) for a ridiculously inexpensive rate. Lovely. I'm getting so so spoiled.
I am still struck every time I buy anything here. Everything is so inexpensive. I went down to Road 9 for the first time yesterday. Road 9 is the shopping road of Maadi. I feel like I've heard so much about it since I've been here... it is apparently the hoppin place to go. Well. It was hoppin. Kind of like everywhere else in Cairo, it was pretty filthy, but so full of personality that I cannot help but love it. I got a copy of the McIntosh's house keys, some cleaning supplies, and most importantly, some craft supplies! Home is not home without a craft drawer.
Last night I went to the home of a married couple from the church. They (like everyone else here in Cairo) have an amazing story that brought them here. They had invited all of the church youth interns over for dinner and the interns, in turn, invited me. I am always blown away by the hospitality of the people here. I have yet to eat a meal alone in my apartment.
After dinner I went home and finally got my pictures hung. I cannot begin to describe the difference that the addition has made in my comfort at home.
Ramadan starts today. Walking over to the McIntosh's I could already tell a difference. All of the shops were closed and everyone looks completely lathargic. This should definitely be an interesting month. And a test of my patience. Things in Egypt are already kind of slow and unpredictable. When I arrived last Wednesday the school told me, "We will start sometime next week... we will be in touch." Naturally, it is kind of hard to plan around "sometime next week". Last night I got a phone call saying that we will start "sometime on Thursday". Or maybe "sunday". They will let me know. Haha. At least I know I have some time to play around.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
I'll give the shower an A-
Ok, kiddos. I told you I’d keep this thing updated. Last night was good fun and even more good food. I hung out all afternoon at the McIntosh’s house and helped Sheryl make brownies, chocolate chip cookies (from scratch!), queso and guacamole before the shindig. It was so weird realizing how completely normal my life could be living here in Egypt if I wanted it to be.
Anyway. A bunch of church people came over and we all just sat around on the floor upstairs in Sheryl’s “Bedouin” eating area that comprises Egyptian carpets, pillows and lamps all on the floor surrounding the tiled table that was raised about one foot off of the ground. It was completely relaxing and the conversation reminded me overwhelmingly of all of my friends both from high school and at Vanderbilt. There were some slightly inappropriate jokes and a lot of laughter. It was a perfect way to get to know everyone. In the end I ended up with the phone numbers of a couple of awesome Christian Egyptian girls who promised to help me see “the real Egypt” as well as one of the American interns who has promised to take me to the gym tomorrow so that we can have a work out date. Thank the good Lord in heaven for that.
Amidst all of the chaos of our little party, I received a phone call from Mike (the cousin of the oldest McIntosh child’s friend, Zach). Mike was planning a tour of some Mosques around downtown Cairo with this awesome tour guide/Egyptologist, Ibrahim who he had spent the previous day with and thought that I might be interested in joining him. Remarkably, he was right. Also remarkable, he planned for us to be picked up at 7 am the next morning (which was actually today).
After the party last night I went home to my apartment and (after rearranging my room so that my bed was no longer underneath the air-conditioning vent that had a tricky habit of spewing nasty black sludge all over whatever was beneath it) I spent my first night in my apartment. I slept remarkably well, and woke almost cheerfully at six in the morning ready for my first ever shower without a shower curtain and without a spickety-deal that hangs up over my head. All in all, the water pressure was good and the temperature warm. I’d grade the whole experience A-. Not a bad start.
At around 6:50 a.m. I hit the streets of Maadi and walked (for the first time) to an unknown destination (Zach’s house) by myself. I made it there (after stopping into a local bakery to buy myself a large bottle of water… for 2 LE ≈ 40 cents) in about 9 min. and was off for my fantastic Mosque-seeing adventure.
The day was long… we walked from about 7:15 until 1:45 without a break and without lunch in the scorching Egyptian heat. The day was also amazing. Our guide (who I definitely plan on soliciting again) grew up Egyptian in the Muslim school system but is not a Muslim. He knew everything about Egyptian and Islamic culture but remarkably, did not buy into any of it. He gave us the most complete, comprehensive and objective description of the Islamic faith that I could have possibly imagined. He kept telling us, “I’m sorry… I know this isn’t what you usually hear… but I am a historian. I am trained to try and tell it like it is.” I am pretty sure I asked him way too many questions. But then again, so did Mike. The Mosques were absolutely enormous and decadently carved, painted and decorated. Right outside the Mosques were the 5 million homeless men and women and street children mingling with the other countless million stray Egyptian dogs. The housing was all a little shanty with mismatched colors and clothing hanging out the windows in every sort of direction to dry. Carts lined the streets and we battled, along with everyone else, to get through the hectic no-rules traffic that defines Cairo roadways. At one point, we climbed to the top of the only spiral Mosque pier in the world that people are allowed to climb up and, I’m going to be a little cheesy for a minute here, as I looked around at Cairo around me, I realized I was looking at the real Cairo. I saw the palace in the distance. I saw Mosques in every direction. I saw AT LEAST 4,000 satellites. But, unlike in Maadi, all of the people I could see were real Egyptian people. Poor people. Dirty people. There were no villas or SUVs in this part of Cairo. For whatever reason, this was the most alive I have felt since I have been here. I realized that this was the part of Cairo I was looking forward to getting to know. I am so incredibly blessed to have the wonderful Ex-Pat community to turn to… but they are not who I came to Cairo to spend my time with. So…. I guess only time will tell whether or not I will get the experience that I am looking for.
After I got home from the tour Paul and Sheryl McIntosh came over to my apartment and helped me give everything a good scrubbing. They are absolute saints. I think I am going to love my apartment. I definitely love my room. I bought a green rug today from the same store that I purchased my (slightly tacky) beaded turtle key chain from several days ago when I arrived. This place is slowly becoming home.
My roommate is really chatty. Like… REALLY chatty. Very friendly. And very eager to talk about her recent conversion to Islam. She is an interesting person. We have already established a pretty respectful but VERY honest relationship. I am curious to see how things will go.
It is a total mystery as to whether or not these entrees will ever get any shorter than this. I am writing in my room but I won’t be able to post this until I lug my computer over to the McIntosh’s for some free WiFi. And free coffee. Ugh.... I LOVE THERE HOUSE.
Anyway. A bunch of church people came over and we all just sat around on the floor upstairs in Sheryl’s “Bedouin” eating area that comprises Egyptian carpets, pillows and lamps all on the floor surrounding the tiled table that was raised about one foot off of the ground. It was completely relaxing and the conversation reminded me overwhelmingly of all of my friends both from high school and at Vanderbilt. There were some slightly inappropriate jokes and a lot of laughter. It was a perfect way to get to know everyone. In the end I ended up with the phone numbers of a couple of awesome Christian Egyptian girls who promised to help me see “the real Egypt” as well as one of the American interns who has promised to take me to the gym tomorrow so that we can have a work out date. Thank the good Lord in heaven for that.
Amidst all of the chaos of our little party, I received a phone call from Mike (the cousin of the oldest McIntosh child’s friend, Zach). Mike was planning a tour of some Mosques around downtown Cairo with this awesome tour guide/Egyptologist, Ibrahim who he had spent the previous day with and thought that I might be interested in joining him. Remarkably, he was right. Also remarkable, he planned for us to be picked up at 7 am the next morning (which was actually today).
After the party last night I went home to my apartment and (after rearranging my room so that my bed was no longer underneath the air-conditioning vent that had a tricky habit of spewing nasty black sludge all over whatever was beneath it) I spent my first night in my apartment. I slept remarkably well, and woke almost cheerfully at six in the morning ready for my first ever shower without a shower curtain and without a spickety-deal that hangs up over my head. All in all, the water pressure was good and the temperature warm. I’d grade the whole experience A-. Not a bad start.
At around 6:50 a.m. I hit the streets of Maadi and walked (for the first time) to an unknown destination (Zach’s house) by myself. I made it there (after stopping into a local bakery to buy myself a large bottle of water… for 2 LE ≈ 40 cents) in about 9 min. and was off for my fantastic Mosque-seeing adventure.
The day was long… we walked from about 7:15 until 1:45 without a break and without lunch in the scorching Egyptian heat. The day was also amazing. Our guide (who I definitely plan on soliciting again) grew up Egyptian in the Muslim school system but is not a Muslim. He knew everything about Egyptian and Islamic culture but remarkably, did not buy into any of it. He gave us the most complete, comprehensive and objective description of the Islamic faith that I could have possibly imagined. He kept telling us, “I’m sorry… I know this isn’t what you usually hear… but I am a historian. I am trained to try and tell it like it is.” I am pretty sure I asked him way too many questions. But then again, so did Mike. The Mosques were absolutely enormous and decadently carved, painted and decorated. Right outside the Mosques were the 5 million homeless men and women and street children mingling with the other countless million stray Egyptian dogs. The housing was all a little shanty with mismatched colors and clothing hanging out the windows in every sort of direction to dry. Carts lined the streets and we battled, along with everyone else, to get through the hectic no-rules traffic that defines Cairo roadways. At one point, we climbed to the top of the only spiral Mosque pier in the world that people are allowed to climb up and, I’m going to be a little cheesy for a minute here, as I looked around at Cairo around me, I realized I was looking at the real Cairo. I saw the palace in the distance. I saw Mosques in every direction. I saw AT LEAST 4,000 satellites. But, unlike in Maadi, all of the people I could see were real Egyptian people. Poor people. Dirty people. There were no villas or SUVs in this part of Cairo. For whatever reason, this was the most alive I have felt since I have been here. I realized that this was the part of Cairo I was looking forward to getting to know. I am so incredibly blessed to have the wonderful Ex-Pat community to turn to… but they are not who I came to Cairo to spend my time with. So…. I guess only time will tell whether or not I will get the experience that I am looking for.
After I got home from the tour Paul and Sheryl McIntosh came over to my apartment and helped me give everything a good scrubbing. They are absolute saints. I think I am going to love my apartment. I definitely love my room. I bought a green rug today from the same store that I purchased my (slightly tacky) beaded turtle key chain from several days ago when I arrived. This place is slowly becoming home.
My roommate is really chatty. Like… REALLY chatty. Very friendly. And very eager to talk about her recent conversion to Islam. She is an interesting person. We have already established a pretty respectful but VERY honest relationship. I am curious to see how things will go.
It is a total mystery as to whether or not these entrees will ever get any shorter than this. I am writing in my room but I won’t be able to post this until I lug my computer over to the McIntosh’s for some free WiFi. And free coffee. Ugh.... I LOVE THERE HOUSE.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Desserts and camels are cool but I can't drink the water
Well. Hello from Cairo. I'll try to make this a little less painfully long than the last one.
I have been in Cairo for a little more than two days now and I am pretty sure I am in love. I mean... I am pretty much covered at all times in a layer of sweat and general grime... but kind of like when you are at camp... it doesn't seem to matter.... because so is everyone else.
I arrived at the airport a little after 11 am on Wednesday and was a little terrified about going through customs. In San Antonio, when I checked in at the airport the little check in man told me that I would never be allowed into the country without a return ticket. He printed a fake return itenerary for me and told me "good luck" about purchasing my visa once I got into the city. PERFECT.
As it turned out.... the customs man took a liking to me and gave me a visa without even looking at my passport. You've got to love being a girl sometimes.
When I got out of the airport (which took a total of about 10 minutes) I met up with two Arabic men (who spoke no English) and one South African/Kiwi/English/French/Spanish/married-to-an-Egyptian-man woman named Boni (she had a hard time sticking to a nationality) who all worked for the school. They took me out to the car that we would be taking to my apartment. After strapping all of my luggage to the top of it with a slightly shanty-looking orange rope, we realized that other cars had parked in front of, behind, and on both sides of the car. Tricky. Luckily, our driver was a magician. Or the car was a harry potter car. Or something. I don't know. All I know is that the only place another car was not parked was in the caddy-corner diagonal spot in front and to the right of us... and somehow.... our driver fit through the three foot hole that was open between all of the other cars and got us out of there without hitting anything. I think that was when I knew I was in love.
We drove throughout New Cairo, and New New Cairo and Boni told me about the history of certain deserty spots and highways and such. It was amazing to me that the whole city is about the same height.... which is tall. There aren't really sky scrapers.... but everything is about 7 stories. And every roof has about 25 satellites on top. And it just goes on and on FOREVER. Like.... significantly larger than any US city in terms of scope.... and then add in the fact that every building is 7 stories high. And then in the middle of all of the buildings will be a dessert field. Or a plateau. And on any given street you'll see a donkey. In the middle of down town. It is pretty freaking awesome. Oh. Wow. Actually.... as I write this I am listening to the Muslim Call to Worship that rings out throughout the city.
My apartment is actually pretty nice. It has a kitchen, bathroom, large living room (with a TV and phone) as well as three large bedrooms. I found it a little comical that no one prepared it for us until we got there..... the moment we arrived... the two men from the school and my new door man came up and proceded to replace light bulbs.... and fix the hot water... and put a peep hole in the door.... hang curtains.... etc. It was so great that they helped with all of that.... but I just kept thinking.... why didn't you do this BEFORE I got here? Apparently this is how things are done in Egypt.
My roommate, who I met the next day, is a 25 year old Australian girl named Sarah. She came to Egypt a few years ago and fell in love with Egypt and the Islamic faith. She is a recent convert and will participating in her first Ramadan starting on September 1st. I am sure that this will be an incredible learning experience for me.... so.... I guess I am looking forward to that.
I have already met more incredible people than I think I can handle. Honestly... I cannot believe how many young, fun people there are that live here that want the exact same things I do out of life. Last night I went out with the McIntoshes (my parent's best friends who I will be refering to from this point out as my family) and their friends and two young guys, Zach, who was one of the McIntoshes oldest son's best friends and who will be a Freshman at Uni this year, and his cousin, Mike, who just graduated from Uni and has been visiting Cairo for a little over a week and will leave in a few days. We ordered a pizza, brought some wine, and then took a sail boat down the Nile for dinner. No big deal.
Later that night I went with the boys to their friend's house (a 24 year old guy who graduated from GW in '07 and works for Coke here in Egypt doing CSR related relations...). We had martinis and beer and I smoked my first crazy Egyptian hooka pipe thing. Apparently it is the cool thing to do. It was delightful. Afterwards I tried to go home to my apartment and found that I could not get into the building... I do not have a key to the outer door and I do not yet know what time they lock up at night... kind of tricky. I ended up waking up the McIntoshes (I felt horrible.... they thought it was hillarious) and spent the night at their house.
This morning I walked home, got ready, and walked back from my apartment to the McIntoshes house (about a five minute walk) and we went to church for my first time at the Maadi Community Church and worshipped in the blazing 103 degree Egyptian heat under a tent with people from over 50 different countries.
Tonight Sheryl is hosting a party for every 20-something person that she knows so that we can all get to know one another. The party has grown to who-knows-how-many. 20? I don't even know. Canadian? Egyptian? American? But I am excited. I am so blessed to have her here.
Really.... with the exception of the fact that I live in constant fear that I will slip up and drink the tap water.... everything has been perfect.
Ok. I know this is more than you wanted to know. I promise these will get shorter... there is just a lot right now.... because... you know.... everything I do is new.
I have been in Cairo for a little more than two days now and I am pretty sure I am in love. I mean... I am pretty much covered at all times in a layer of sweat and general grime... but kind of like when you are at camp... it doesn't seem to matter.... because so is everyone else.
I arrived at the airport a little after 11 am on Wednesday and was a little terrified about going through customs. In San Antonio, when I checked in at the airport the little check in man told me that I would never be allowed into the country without a return ticket. He printed a fake return itenerary for me and told me "good luck" about purchasing my visa once I got into the city. PERFECT.
As it turned out.... the customs man took a liking to me and gave me a visa without even looking at my passport. You've got to love being a girl sometimes.
When I got out of the airport (which took a total of about 10 minutes) I met up with two Arabic men (who spoke no English) and one South African/Kiwi/English/French/Spanish/married-to-an-Egyptian-man woman named Boni (she had a hard time sticking to a nationality) who all worked for the school. They took me out to the car that we would be taking to my apartment. After strapping all of my luggage to the top of it with a slightly shanty-looking orange rope, we realized that other cars had parked in front of, behind, and on both sides of the car. Tricky. Luckily, our driver was a magician. Or the car was a harry potter car. Or something. I don't know. All I know is that the only place another car was not parked was in the caddy-corner diagonal spot in front and to the right of us... and somehow.... our driver fit through the three foot hole that was open between all of the other cars and got us out of there without hitting anything. I think that was when I knew I was in love.
We drove throughout New Cairo, and New New Cairo and Boni told me about the history of certain deserty spots and highways and such. It was amazing to me that the whole city is about the same height.... which is tall. There aren't really sky scrapers.... but everything is about 7 stories. And every roof has about 25 satellites on top. And it just goes on and on FOREVER. Like.... significantly larger than any US city in terms of scope.... and then add in the fact that every building is 7 stories high. And then in the middle of all of the buildings will be a dessert field. Or a plateau. And on any given street you'll see a donkey. In the middle of down town. It is pretty freaking awesome. Oh. Wow. Actually.... as I write this I am listening to the Muslim Call to Worship that rings out throughout the city.
My apartment is actually pretty nice. It has a kitchen, bathroom, large living room (with a TV and phone) as well as three large bedrooms. I found it a little comical that no one prepared it for us until we got there..... the moment we arrived... the two men from the school and my new door man came up and proceded to replace light bulbs.... and fix the hot water... and put a peep hole in the door.... hang curtains.... etc. It was so great that they helped with all of that.... but I just kept thinking.... why didn't you do this BEFORE I got here? Apparently this is how things are done in Egypt.
My roommate, who I met the next day, is a 25 year old Australian girl named Sarah. She came to Egypt a few years ago and fell in love with Egypt and the Islamic faith. She is a recent convert and will participating in her first Ramadan starting on September 1st. I am sure that this will be an incredible learning experience for me.... so.... I guess I am looking forward to that.
I have already met more incredible people than I think I can handle. Honestly... I cannot believe how many young, fun people there are that live here that want the exact same things I do out of life. Last night I went out with the McIntoshes (my parent's best friends who I will be refering to from this point out as my family) and their friends and two young guys, Zach, who was one of the McIntoshes oldest son's best friends and who will be a Freshman at Uni this year, and his cousin, Mike, who just graduated from Uni and has been visiting Cairo for a little over a week and will leave in a few days. We ordered a pizza, brought some wine, and then took a sail boat down the Nile for dinner. No big deal.
Later that night I went with the boys to their friend's house (a 24 year old guy who graduated from GW in '07 and works for Coke here in Egypt doing CSR related relations...). We had martinis and beer and I smoked my first crazy Egyptian hooka pipe thing. Apparently it is the cool thing to do. It was delightful. Afterwards I tried to go home to my apartment and found that I could not get into the building... I do not have a key to the outer door and I do not yet know what time they lock up at night... kind of tricky. I ended up waking up the McIntoshes (I felt horrible.... they thought it was hillarious) and spent the night at their house.
This morning I walked home, got ready, and walked back from my apartment to the McIntoshes house (about a five minute walk) and we went to church for my first time at the Maadi Community Church and worshipped in the blazing 103 degree Egyptian heat under a tent with people from over 50 different countries.
Tonight Sheryl is hosting a party for every 20-something person that she knows so that we can all get to know one another. The party has grown to who-knows-how-many. 20? I don't even know. Canadian? Egyptian? American? But I am excited. I am so blessed to have her here.
Really.... with the exception of the fact that I live in constant fear that I will slip up and drink the tap water.... everything has been perfect.
Ok. I know this is more than you wanted to know. I promise these will get shorter... there is just a lot right now.... because... you know.... everything I do is new.
I've never blogged before...
Alright. I guess I'll start with some background.
I grew up moving around the world. I was born overseas to my mom (who was raised an Air Force brat) and my dad (an Air Force doctor) who were living in Ipswich, England. Later, when I was in the sixth grade and happily living in San Antonio, Texas, my parents told me that we would be moving overseas again, this time to Ramstein, Germany. At the time I was furious. I don't think that I could have imagined a time when my greatest ambition would be to bum around the world. Well, despite all of my protests, we lived in Germany for three years, and as I never could have believed but my parents expected, I was horrified when it came time to leave. By then I was 15 years old and had grown accustomed to crossing national borders on a regular basis and dealing with a variety of cultures, currencies and languages. I guess that was when I got my first taste for adventure.
I went back to San Antonio and spent my final three years of high school at Alamo Heights High School, home of the Mighty Mules. I was a cheerleader and an AP student, but that wasn't what I would say defined my time at Alamo Heights. What defined my high school experience was a group of girls who instantly befriended me and introduced me to life as a Christian. I had grown up going to church, but these were the first people I had ever really known who had made their faith their defining priority. I would not say that my transformation was quick, but it definitely stuck. Over the last six years I have changed in just about every way, and I have definitely stumbled more than I'd have hoped, but the main thing that has continued to drive me and that I hope I will continue to pursue beyond anything else is a life that leads me closer to Jesus.
In my senior year of high school, I thought that the way that I needed to pursue my faith was by moving across the world and working as a missionary. My parents were convinced otherwise. Once again, despite my protests, my parents won and I ended up doing what they thought was best, attending Vanderbilt University, with the understanding that once I had my degree I could pursue whatever it was that I wanted. Once again, my parents were right. I had a delightful four years at Vanderbilt that introduced me to a wonderful group of people, provided me with the opportunity to study abroad in Glasgow, Scotland and introduced to me the field of International Development.
Although my parents had hoped that four years of college (and a semester abroad) would replace my need to move across the world and live in third world countries, all it did was better prepare me for what I believe is the incredible adventure that I have in front of me. I do not remember when exactly I decided upon the "one to four year plan," I think it was a few years ago, but the basic gist is that I will give myself one to four years after college to move around the world, involving myself in community initiatives , picking up languages, building a network of international friends and figuring out what role I think that I should have within International Development before I go to more school or commit myself to an agency.
Through research and word of mouth, I determined that the most realistic way for me to accomplish this goal independently from the financial support of anyone else would be for me to learn to teach English as a foreign language. So... I went about getting certified to teach and decided that my first stop on my world tour should be Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was drawn to the city for its large international base, its renowned beauty and the accessibility that it would give me throughout Latin America, an area of the world that I had not yet visited and was excited to learn more about. I had lined up interviews throughout the city with different language institutes and was planning on staying in a hostile for the first week or two until I could find an apartment near whatever job I received. Things were all pretty flexible, but I was not worried.
Three weeks before I was set to leave for Argentina, my parents' best family friends came to stay with us. We had lived with them in England and in Germany and had visited each other around the world for as long as I can remember. Their family had been living for the last two years in Cairo, Egypt. As I sat in my house speaking to Sheryl (my mom's best friend), Sheryl told me, "Amy. You just have to look at Cairo. I know you plan to leave for Argentina in three weeks, but I think that there might just be a reason that your plans are so flexible and that I came to stay with you right now. We have an incredible young international community that I feel like you would fit into perfectly. This is going to be our last year in Cario and we would just love to share that with you." My reaction was along the lines of, "Are you crazy!? I am leaving in three weeks!" but later that day, while looking on international teaching websites working on an essay for my certification, I saw a posting for a teaching position located in Maadi, Egypt, the specific area of Cairo within which Sheryl and her family were living. On a whim I applied. I confessed what I had done to Sheryl and the two of us prayed together. We prayed that wherever I ended up, I would be following God and that he would either open or shut doors in such an obvious way that I would have no lingering doubts about my location. Within two days I had a job offer from the Sakkara School in Cairo, a private Egyptian K-12 that wanted to pay for my round trip plane ticket, provide me with an apartment, and pay me a salary far beyond anything I was expecting. I decided at that time that if Egypt was something that I was even the slightest bit interested in I should do it now, while I had such good friends living near by. I could always do Argentina next year.
So.... Cairo, Egypt = stop #1.
I grew up moving around the world. I was born overseas to my mom (who was raised an Air Force brat) and my dad (an Air Force doctor) who were living in Ipswich, England. Later, when I was in the sixth grade and happily living in San Antonio, Texas, my parents told me that we would be moving overseas again, this time to Ramstein, Germany. At the time I was furious. I don't think that I could have imagined a time when my greatest ambition would be to bum around the world. Well, despite all of my protests, we lived in Germany for three years, and as I never could have believed but my parents expected, I was horrified when it came time to leave. By then I was 15 years old and had grown accustomed to crossing national borders on a regular basis and dealing with a variety of cultures, currencies and languages. I guess that was when I got my first taste for adventure.
I went back to San Antonio and spent my final three years of high school at Alamo Heights High School, home of the Mighty Mules. I was a cheerleader and an AP student, but that wasn't what I would say defined my time at Alamo Heights. What defined my high school experience was a group of girls who instantly befriended me and introduced me to life as a Christian. I had grown up going to church, but these were the first people I had ever really known who had made their faith their defining priority. I would not say that my transformation was quick, but it definitely stuck. Over the last six years I have changed in just about every way, and I have definitely stumbled more than I'd have hoped, but the main thing that has continued to drive me and that I hope I will continue to pursue beyond anything else is a life that leads me closer to Jesus.
In my senior year of high school, I thought that the way that I needed to pursue my faith was by moving across the world and working as a missionary. My parents were convinced otherwise. Once again, despite my protests, my parents won and I ended up doing what they thought was best, attending Vanderbilt University, with the understanding that once I had my degree I could pursue whatever it was that I wanted. Once again, my parents were right. I had a delightful four years at Vanderbilt that introduced me to a wonderful group of people, provided me with the opportunity to study abroad in Glasgow, Scotland and introduced to me the field of International Development.
Although my parents had hoped that four years of college (and a semester abroad) would replace my need to move across the world and live in third world countries, all it did was better prepare me for what I believe is the incredible adventure that I have in front of me. I do not remember when exactly I decided upon the "one to four year plan," I think it was a few years ago, but the basic gist is that I will give myself one to four years after college to move around the world, involving myself in community initiatives , picking up languages, building a network of international friends and figuring out what role I think that I should have within International Development before I go to more school or commit myself to an agency.
Through research and word of mouth, I determined that the most realistic way for me to accomplish this goal independently from the financial support of anyone else would be for me to learn to teach English as a foreign language. So... I went about getting certified to teach and decided that my first stop on my world tour should be Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was drawn to the city for its large international base, its renowned beauty and the accessibility that it would give me throughout Latin America, an area of the world that I had not yet visited and was excited to learn more about. I had lined up interviews throughout the city with different language institutes and was planning on staying in a hostile for the first week or two until I could find an apartment near whatever job I received. Things were all pretty flexible, but I was not worried.
Three weeks before I was set to leave for Argentina, my parents' best family friends came to stay with us. We had lived with them in England and in Germany and had visited each other around the world for as long as I can remember. Their family had been living for the last two years in Cairo, Egypt. As I sat in my house speaking to Sheryl (my mom's best friend), Sheryl told me, "Amy. You just have to look at Cairo. I know you plan to leave for Argentina in three weeks, but I think that there might just be a reason that your plans are so flexible and that I came to stay with you right now. We have an incredible young international community that I feel like you would fit into perfectly. This is going to be our last year in Cario and we would just love to share that with you." My reaction was along the lines of, "Are you crazy!? I am leaving in three weeks!" but later that day, while looking on international teaching websites working on an essay for my certification, I saw a posting for a teaching position located in Maadi, Egypt, the specific area of Cairo within which Sheryl and her family were living. On a whim I applied. I confessed what I had done to Sheryl and the two of us prayed together. We prayed that wherever I ended up, I would be following God and that he would either open or shut doors in such an obvious way that I would have no lingering doubts about my location. Within two days I had a job offer from the Sakkara School in Cairo, a private Egyptian K-12 that wanted to pay for my round trip plane ticket, provide me with an apartment, and pay me a salary far beyond anything I was expecting. I decided at that time that if Egypt was something that I was even the slightest bit interested in I should do it now, while I had such good friends living near by. I could always do Argentina next year.
So.... Cairo, Egypt = stop #1.
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