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.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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.
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