Bahariyah and the Black and White Deserts

One of the things I love about this experience (living and working in Egypt) is that I'm being exposed to things that I didn't even know existed a year ago.

Two weeks ago, during our Eid Break, I traveled with 30 colleagues to Bahariyah, an Oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert. I thought the desert was nothing more than endless sand, and huge spiders. Fortunately I was wrong about both!

I didn't see any spiders. I'm still grateful.

I also had no idea that parts of the desert look like another planet, it felt like I was walking on the moon.

We drove by bus for 5 hours, arrived at the International Hot Springs Hotel and switched to Four Wheel Drive jeeps for the rest of our trek. Late afternoon we [by 'we' I mean our Bedouin guides] were setting up camp in the middle of no where, next to these big white rocks.


We ate a hearty turkey dinner (it was, after all, American Thanksgiving), and danced with our Bedouin hosts around the camp fire. There's nothing to do in the desert after dark, and so by 9pm we were all safely wrapped in our camel hair blankets, in our tents.


In a middle of the night trek to the 'ladies washroom' (the big rock beside our camp) I looked up. I cannot describe how amazing the stars were in the desert. Stunning.

Early the next morning we set off for more exploration and driving. The following nights were spent at various hotels, enjoying the fun-loving company of my colleagues, and some much needed sleep, reading for fun, and day-dreaming time.

As luck would have it, I ended up with three friends with the one driver whom we have nic-named “Mr Independent.” We were 8 jeeps in total, numbered, and were supposed to stay in order. When we were off-roading in the desert, he would be the 2nd last to leave, and the first to arrive, because he had taken his own crazy, crazy path, at one point causing a panic attack from a fellow passenger. I will never forget looking out the window and seeing THE SEVEN OTHER JEEPS heading North, back to the road, while we continued on our merry way East to climb an impossibly steep gravel hill to beat the other drivers. I wish my Arabic were better, so I could have asked him why he was doing this.

Back in Cairo, I enjoyed a short week without students, 'teaching virtually' (which we've deemed "virtually impossible" in this country) and cleaning my classroom. One week remains until Christmas, and after much deliberation I've decided to head to Canada for the break. Our 8 day Quarantine was lifted, and in theory people have somewhat relaxed about Swine Flu. My Mask-wearing students haven't gotten the memo yet!

I leave you with a few favs from the desert...

100 days and counting!

[Swine flu came to AIS this week. We sent our entire grade 8 class home on Sunday afternoon, after one student reported a confirmed case. For the record, 8th graders do not follow instructions via email any better than they do in person. I'm just saying. E-learning is so far a disaster in the making.]

Tomorrow, November 26, will mark 100 days of living in Cairo and 'working' at AIS. I have seen students for 39 of those days.

For once I do not feel like I am living my life counting down to another significant event, or waiting for something else to happen. If you know me well, you know this is extremely unusual.

There are days where I don't even feel like I live in a different country, and then I open my “Egypt eyes” and I see that in fact everything is different.

Just like with life anywhere, at any time, there are good days and bad. Recently my mom summarized my experience to a colleague as “frustrating.” Perhaps because she bears the brunt of my bad news, this would appear to be the case. I have days of amazing inefficiency where I think “this country needs Shannon in charge.”

As the weather has cooled off, so too have the people - they're less charged and excited, and more patient with my non-existent arabic, or the fact that I still cannot effectively give a taxi driver directions (in any language) to my apartment.

Just after a series of really bad, exhausting days where I didn't think I was going to make it, my mind flicked a switch and I thought “hm, I could do this for a while.” I'm not sure how long it takes for a place to become your home, but maybe it's around the 100 day mark? Rhythm, language learning and becoming familiar with my surroundings has a lot to do with it. So does making new friends.

I love teaching middle school French way more than I ever expected. Teaching high school was great too, but right now I find their innocence refreshing. We seem to play a lot, and they seem to enjoy themselves.

I am thankful for my 4 Grade 8 French students, who help me with my Arabic homework, and who have taught me so much about Egypt from the eyes of 13 year old RICH kids. One of the little guys recently said to me “Mees, promise you will never go in metro again. There are bad people on metro.” I fail to tell him that I use the metro often and have had zero problems. Rich Egyptians don't take the metro, and see it as a status thing.

I will be celebrating 100 days in this country by heading for the Eid break to Bahariyah, an oasis at the edge of the Black and White dessssssert (still can't spell that dumb word right...). We will be bedouin camping for one night, and then heading to a hotel for relaxation and enjoyment. I am looking forward to catching more sun, sleeping in, and reading for fun. Christmas music on my MP3 player is in there too, but desert Oases and Christmas Carols don't seem to go well.

Salam. Peace out. Love from Cairo.

To my dear Arabic teacher...

I forgot to tell you that I have a Masters degree in Second Language Education. I forgot to tell you that when we learn 2nd languages we have to consume a lot of language before we produce it. It's a well known fact about language learning.

I can't write your language yet, and it frustrates both of us. I keep failing your tests, but you haven't given me the chance to show you that I CAN read your words, and sound them out, if you would just stop rushing me and interrupting me to tell me that I obviously didn't do my homework.

I also forgot to tell you that more than reading or writing I really, really, really, need to know how to speak to people on the street. People on the street don't ask me the months of the year, or what the weather is like in August. Furthermore, putting a picture of rain to illustrate winter is a cultural lesson, not a language one.

People on the streets of Cairo ask me how many camels it will take to marry them. They charge me too much for things, (of course with the exception of Mohammed the fruit man) and I must learn quickly to argue with them, in their language. I need to know the arabic equivalent of “What are you staring at ???”

Did I also forget to tell you that I'm a bit of a pretentious snob who thinks she knows everything when it comes to teaching languages???

Sincerely,
Your worst student.

PS. I actually like your class a lot, and tonight for the first time the words you wrote on the board looked like words - not hieroglyphics. I might not be aware that I am actually learning. I'll come back next week, I promise.

Arabic classes are going well...

...but Mohammed the fruit man was a bit surprised when I ordered a half kilo of Chairs instead of Zucchinis.

Really, one letter??? Korsi = chair. Korsa = Zucchini. I'll never make that mistake again.

School closure - the biggest loser!

So for once this country and our school have done something that somewhat resembles organization and planning. On November 12 we received official notification that school will be closed for three days after our November Eid holiday. This makes me a big loser in both our potluck pool and the bus pool. (I'll be checking into a gambling rehab facility for the break...)

Now according to the Ministry officials here in Egypt, they're not actually closing our school. Instead, they mention in the newspaper, "e-learning may be the answer." [yes, but WHAT is the question???] So our students may not come to school but we will still teach them via computers.

I was trained a few weeks back on a virtual classroom program, so that I could train other teachers. In typical fashion, the virtual classroom hasn't worked on another computer since this night of training!

We will send student work packages home, go to work every day, and hope against all hope that this only lasts 3 days. The rumours are strong, however, that the government will say "you should stay closed, because there's only 12 days until your Christmas vacation." We should start again on January 10, but we also think the goverment might say "public schools in Egypt are on holidays at the end of January - no school for you." For now, 3 days to clean my classroom and time to run on the treadmill in the school gym.

Stay tuned!

yallabina!

As I was finishing my Masters at U of T this Spring, and preparing to move to Cairo, I declared 2009-2010 as my "working holiday," meaning that I would work and get paid, but relax a bit more, do some traveling, read for fun and rest. I loved my studies at U of T, but it was tiring.

Of course I'm completely incompetent at saying no, and at knowing my limits, so I am now signed up for 2 nights of Arabic lessons a week. (On top of my other work and committee involvement).

Some of you know that I bought a self-teaching program before I left. I'm the worst self-teacher I know. (The ironies of this are great, I understand, since I am a TEACHER). But, I learn better when I have accountability and when someone is explaining stuff to me.

Arabic is no longer an interest, it is a necessity. Consider the following situation:

Electricity man arrives at the door to collect for October. He collected last month for August and September, and I paid him. Tonight he said in very broken English "you pay 3 months." I say the one Arabic word I know off by heart "La'a" [NO]. He pulls out electricity bills from June and July, and insists that I pay them. We're both pantomiming a ton at this point. Waving your hands and shaking your head is universal. I say "I no live here June July. I no pay." (Honestly, people understand pidgeon versions of their foreign language better, it's been proven.) The landlord was eventually called, and he eventually agreed to pay for June and July. I'm embarrassed to admit that we probably quibbled over about $10, but it was the principle of the matter!

Anyways, I wish I could have been a better guest to his country by at least greeting him and knowing my numbers in Arabic. Hopefully 4 hrs a week of small group tutoring will help some.

Someone suggested I post a question here, to get you to respond. So here it is:

If you were learning Arabic as a foreign language, what would your first priority be? What words and phrases would you want to learn???

Yallabina! Let's go!

It has come down to this...

This morning walking to church I enjoyed a refreshing breeze and a long sleeved shirt after a heat wave moved through Cairo at the beginning of the week. We're enjoying seasonal norms of 25 C, as opposed to 40 C last Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes it hit me, as it did this morning, "I live in Egypt." That's a loaded statement now.

Courtney and I had some friends over for dinner the other night, and this was the result of full stomachs and the company of good friends.

In case you can't read the title, it is the "School Closure Potluck Pool." Rumours and speculation are so strong in Egypt about once again closing the International schools that we have started a pool for the date and the method by which we will find out. We have a break at the end of November, and the idea is that we'll be closed after that, until after Christmas. C'mon November 22!

Last weekend our Church hosted a Dinner Charity Auction for 450 people. It was amazing the amount of people who bought tickets and came to support various Egyptian Charities. The Church itself only has about 100 people, so I'm not sure where everyone came from. The evening was complete with a cash bar and black jack tables. I love being Anglican!


We had a table of "young adults" (starting to take issue with that phrase - as one person at the table put it "I'm not all that young any more, and I'm not sure I'm an adult"...). We talked a lot about why people come to Egypt and what we were all doing there. There seems to be three main reasons. 1) specifically for interest in their job. 2) Interest in the Middle East and Egypt.
3) Interest in living somewhere other than your own country.

I had to admit that I was in the third category. I was put to shame by some of the others, who have studied Arabic and Middle Eastern studies in University, and who really want to be specifically in Egypt. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, and it's a fascinating place. It's just that before January 28, 2009, I had not really thought much about Egypt as a living, current place. It was just boring history to me.

Now that I'm here, my interests still lie more in the way people live currently than they did in history. I wonder much more often about the people around me - how they live now, and how they interact with one another. It also frustrates me that I have few opportunities to interact with Egyptians, and many language and cultural barriers prevent this from happening. I will have to keep looking for ways to make that happen that are appropriate and safe.


I try to get out on Saturdays to explore somewhere new; last weekend I was in Old Cairo, tomorrow I hope to join some people from work on a tour of Zamalek, a small island region in Cairo with lots of little shops and galleries. The above picture is the inside of the first Mosque built in Cairo; it was built large enough to hold the Muslim army (3500 men) for prayer.

Routine, glorious routine

[it says at the top of this blog: "pictures, lots of pictures." when/if I get the internet to cooperate for more than a few minutes at a time I will keep my promise. No one loves pictures more than I do, I promise.]

We finally had a week of school here in Cairo, and it felt so good to be back in the classroom, doing something that fortunately I still enjoy, even after 3 months off!

Routine feels good, and I am at the mercy of a strict teacher bus schedule. No more rolling out of bed 10 minutes before work and sprinting to beat Mr. Buwalda to the front doors of Durham. Bus leaves at 7am, and returns around 5pm. It makes for a longer day, but so far I've managed to leave my work at school. Most days after school there is time to play ball hockey or ultimate with other teachers or run or swim before heading home. I'm enjoying this kind of schedule a lot.

I am now teaching middle school, all of my work until this point in my career has been in high school. It's been a steep learning curve, to say the least. Some of the finer points of management seem silly to me, like the detailed, step-by-step directions I need to give more often; but I'm also loving that I can get away with being so much more juvenile. We spent 10 minutes on Friday guessing how many fingers I was holding up, after learning 0-10. They never got sick of it!

The students are mostly Arabic, but they speak English quite well. I am supposed to enforce a “no Arabic rule” in my classroom, and after 2 years of language and identity discussions at university of Toronto I am having some ideological issues with this rule. When I realized, however, that the students were talking about me and each other behind my back, I became a big fan of the no Arabic rule.

Here are some of the finer conversations of the week.

[after at least 15 students ask if they can write with blue/black pen]. “Raise your hand if you think Mlle Marcus cares whether you write in blue or black ink.”

Student: “Mees, you can call me Aziz, it's easier to say that Abdel.”
Mees: “Is that your name?”
Student: “No, but it's easier to say.”
[you should know, Aziz is my favourite now... there's something in his little eyes...]

Student: Mees, I need to change classes, I'm the only girl.
Mees: Don't be silly, you're not changing classes. Besides, I'm a girl too.
Student: No, you're a teacher.

and my personal favourite ...

Student: “Mees, are you having a baby?”
Mees: “Do I look pregnant? WAIT, don't answer that.”

Friday and Saturday is my weekend now, which is still a bit weird. Going to church on Friday morning is a nice way to start the weekend - I feel like I should be winding down and getting ready to go back tomorrow, but instead I have another day! Bring on week 2!

Swine Flu Folly [ a rant ]

Yesterday at a meeting with the school doctor, we learned that the school would be taking some pretty amazing preventative measures to fight an H1N1 outbreak, in accordance with the Egyptian Government.

Here are some highlights.

-The school will no longer be using the central air system, because, you see, this is an airborn disease, and our classrooms need "fresh" air from the dessert. If I can't see the field through the haze most days, what does that say about the "fresh" Cairo air we are pumping into our classrooms? Not to mention the noise of the playground most of our windows open to, or the heat, or the bus exhaust from the 100+ buses that are left idling most of the day.

- the bus drivers and the guards at the front gate of the school will be yielding thermal detectors, and are not to let any student or teacher on the bus, nor any visitor in the school, who has a temperature higher than 37.5. When the resources become available, the school is hoping to add forehead thermometer readings to homeroom every morning. Yes, that does mean the kids will be checked twice in about an hour.

-the mandate wouldn't be complete without a nod to Egypt's social class system. In the elementary wing, there are what we call "blue people" (no joke, this is the technical term). They are typically from poorer Egyptian families, and are hired by the school to keep the proper ratio of foreign-local hires. When coming into contact with elementary students, they are to be wearing masks at all times, because, you see, they may take a drug that brings down their temperature but you won't know then if they have swine flu. The same logic is not applicable to foreign hires - no masks for them.

-and last but not least the most frustrating of them all (a government mandate, not the school). Every trip abroad must be followed by an 8 day "in country quarantine" before you can get back to work. SO, no one may leave for our six day break in November, and at Christmas we must be back in Egypt by January 2, not the 10th as originally planned. Incidentally, this has helped me get off the fence about going home for Christmas - not going to happen in two weeks.

As you can tell we're a bit frustrated with all of this, and it's a frustrating way to start the school year (should it actually start in three days ...). Perhaps another day will bring a more cheerful post.

throwing up at the burning bush (and other stories from Dahab)

Sorry for the gross title ... everything is a story, n'est-ce pas?


We ended up extending our trip to Dahab by an extra day because we all entered into total relaxation mode, and saw no reason to return to Cairo and wait for school to start.


Dahab is a resort town on the Gulf of Aqaba, by the Red Sea, on the Sinai Peninsula. It took about an 8 hour bus trip that can only be rivaled by my first trip on Durham's campout. (our bus lost a tire in the middle of the dessert, we had to pay too much money to use the washroom...)

My favourite activity by far was snorkeling, I've never seen such amazing fish and coral reef. It was stunningly beautiful. The first day we snorkeled near our hotel, and the second day we went to the Blue Hole, about 20 minutes away. I'm hooked on snorkeling now, I loved it. I only wish I had a camera like my sister-in-law's that could have done under-water shots. I guess they'll just be ingrained in my mind for a long time...


The other highlight would be riding a camel, which was a hilarious experience. We opted only for a two hour trek, which is plenty long enough, believe me. My camel was rather stubborn, doing it's own thing too often. Megan's camel was the eater, stopping at every sight of green - thankfully it was the dessert, so there wasn't too much green stuff around.


On the last night in Dahab we forewent sleep and left at midnight for Mount Sinai. After a 2 hour bus ride, we began our climb. It was very different than I expected, there were people and camels everywhere! We had to pay careful attention to the camels, so as not to get pushed off the side of the mountains on the way up! It was a hot, sticky, 3 hour climb, but upon arriving at the top we were instantly freezing. We sat huddled under sleeping bags and towels and awaited the main attraction: sunrise. It was amazing. And when it started I couldn't get over how quickly it actually rose. It was hard to have a "moment" because there were people yelling and talking everywhere. We took the stairs of repentance down again, which was rougher than the path going up, but without camels.

Upon arriving at St. Catherine's Monastery, where the burning bush is supposed to be, I got violently ill, and yes, I did throw up by a tree. Probably wasn't the burning bush. The stomach flu continued all the way home, during the 6 hour Egyptian bus trip (driving 140km/hr in the dessert, speeding up on corners, and very, very bumpy). I'm feeling slightly better today.

Dahab's a great place to escape the busy-ness of Cairo, and I can see that we'll be returning there in the next few years. We've been assured that school is indeed starting on October 3, so next week I will actually go in to work for a few meetings and some planning.

Paris je t'aime

Some highlights from a week in France, via point form and pictures.

-seeing John and Alexandrine. It had been 3 years since I'd seen Alex, and about 1.5 since I'd seen John. I hope to see much more of them now that we're on the same side of the world, in countries that share the Mediterranean sea.

-speaking lots of French, and learning new expressions. This includes getting my foot in my mouth more than once, but that's not always unique to the French language ...


-helping John show Paris to his family. I felt like a teacher again, but it was fun to be an expert.


-attending a three day, bilingual French/American wedding. I've not had so much champagne in such a short period before. But champagne helps me speak coherent French (or so it felt like at the time...)



-meeting John's friends, and recognizing that he still continues to choose his friends well :) (why yes, that is a backhanded compliment to myself!). It is fun to be able to invite people to visit me in Egypt, and also to receive invitations to return again to France.


-going off completely on my own for two days to Strasbourg. Believe it or not I've never traveled by myself, and I found I quite liked it. At the beginning of my séjour in Egypt, it was a good confidence-booster. Hopefully I'll travel some more.

-arriving "home" again in Cairo, and knowing exactly how to not get ripped off by a taxi driver, and being able to give directions to my apartment. It's amazing how far I've come in 4 weeks.

One last thing to add, which did not make me as happy. Upon returning I found out that they've delayed our start AGAIN, now for the 3rd of October (or maybe the 7th???). I really just want to work, that is what I came here to do, and I'm getting tired of waiting for something that may never happen. There are rumours of further dates, but I don't even want to name them at this point, that's how frustrating this is.

Some pictures to accompany previous post...

I broke down and am paying 75 cents to use the Internet cafe near our house. Soon, and very soon, I should be able to do this from my living room. Sigh, how spoiled I am.


This is in Coptic Cairo. Last Friday we walked around here at dusk, and although we enjoyed the empty streets, we could not get in to see most of the amazing sites. Another time, perhaps when the heat breaks. Courtney, enjoying her Hibiscus juice. It's SO strong and sweet, that every time you take a sip, you add water, and by the end of the glass it is almost palatable.


This is the hanging church in Coptic Cairo. It is called "hanging" because it is built on very old Roman pillars, and appears to be hanging. It is a misnomer :)




This picture is solely for my dear sister-in-law Melanie, first to see if she's reading my blog, and second to point out that yes, all the linens I'm buying are in fact, 100% Egyptian Cotton.

Garbage day on Road 233, Ma'adi. You can't necessarily see it, but there is a little boy perched on this garbage truck, his co-workers are throwing garbage up to him. From what I can tell there is no set day or time for this to occur. Basically whenever they want to pick up garbage they do.



Sufi dancing. One of the dancers spun for over 40 minutes without stopping. We think that if he had stopped, he wouldn't have been able to start again. The whole experience was somewhat over stimulating (1.5 hours of bright colours and crazy music, with drums, talkative Egyptians and heat).

The Egyptian National Museum. Yes, it is pink.

The week that was

With all this time off, I've taken to being a rather lazy tourist. We venture somewhere every day, but sometimes it's not far, and it is almost always followed by a rest, a meal with friends, and a nap or a long time reading a book. Not to mention the sleeping in ! I'm on holidays, something I did not really do this summer when I was in Canada.

Having said that, we've done some fun stuff. Wednesday was probably the most interesting. We began our day with a visit to the National Museum of Egypt, which is a glorified PINK warehouse, with tombs and old stuff everywhere - none of it is labeled.

After our siesta, about 7 of us took a taxi (my favourite taxi ride so far - he drove so fast, and the whole time kept reminding us that he was a coptic Christian, and not a muslim, and that since we were white we must be Christian as well - all this in VERY broken English!)

We arrived at the markets to see Sufi dancing, but were so early that we decided to give ourselves a walking tour. Because it is Ramadan some of the Mosques have relaxed their rules about tours, and we were able to enter a mosque (in bare feet!) and climb a Minaret to see much of the outdoor markets and all the lights at night. It was spectacular. Upon arriving at the top of the Minaret I realized we were looking directly into the Mosque - it had no roof! I guess when you get 7mm of rain a year (if you're lucky) you don't worry about extra construction.

We took some time to tour part of the Kahn (market) before heading in to watch Sufi dancing. I'm not too familiar with what's behind it, but according to Marsha, one man spun for over 40 minutes without stopping. It was full of bright colours and the music was loud, after 1.5 hours I felt completely over stimulated. I learned something about Egyptian culture during the performance, as explained by Janet, who has worked in Egypt for many years: they will not stop talking! And I've been warned that this happens in a movie theatre too - they will talk on their cell phones through an entire film, and shout at people near them. I wonder what this will look like in a Middle school classroom?

I will eventually get pictures on here, but the Internet connection I'm "borrowing" tonite will not allow this to happen. Our internet is arriving, inshallah, soon. ARG.

An unexpected holiday

Greetings! It's been a few days since I've had a chance to post here. In typically Egypt fashion, it will take the better part of a month (inshallah) to get internet at our apartment. So here Courtney and I sit at Hubbly Bubbly, sipping mango juice and getting caught up.

The big news for today was the unexpected temporary closing of our school. At about noon today the school confirmed rumours that the Egyptian government forced a number of International Schools to delay their opening until after the Holy Month of Ramadan. The information is unclear at best, but we believe it is a combination of H1N1 paranoia, and the amount of returning expats from the summer vacation. Like I said, still a bit unclear. I'm getting used to the phrase "only in Egypt." So school will start (inshallah) on September 26 or 27. There was a mad furry of teachers booking holidays to Greece, India, the Mediterranean and other exotic locations.

So, here I sit booking flights to Paris, France, to attend the wedding of John Vanderweide and Alexandrine Blanc. (Can't wait to see you both!) I was so disappointed when I couldn't go, this is just an extra special occasion for me. The rest of the month will be spent bumming around Cairo. I haven't yet seen the pyramids, or visited any other real touristy areas. The goal for the next month: be a tourist! I was definitely feeling the school pressure, so it is also nice to have that alleviated for a bit.

The administrators among you are wondering, how do you make up that time? The school is working on a plan, but I think it will mean extending the school day, and working the occasional Saturday (the second day of our weekend) to get caught up. I'm trying not to think of the long days ahead. For now it's cool.

I've got a whole other note about the "apartment saga" but for now (inshallah) it is over, and Courtney and I are moving in and feeling settled. Last night I cooked at home for the first time since we've been here. Of course you really all just want to see pictures, so here you are.

This is the kitchen, while I'm standing in the living room. I love my island and the open-concept between the living room and kitchen.

And this is the living room, from the kitchen. Our window looks out to Road 233, a delightful road with lots of little shops and fun things to do. We're close to a lot of other teachers who live in Ma'adi, and there are a few Christian Churches close by too.

Last but not least we have my bathroom, where, due to a unfortunate bacteria, I have been spending a lot of time (sorry, too much information!) We each have our own bedroom and bathroom, which is quite nice.

The reason I call this a saga is that our landlord is not the easiest person to deal with, and I'm trying to figure out what is cultural, what is bad manners, and what is just simply part of someone being a landlord. I'll keep guessing. He does not live in the building, but like every apartment here, there is a baowab who lives downstairs in a very small apartment with his family. His job is to do maintenance for the building, and whenever I want, I can put a bag of garbage outside my door and voila! it's gone within hours. This still makes me uncomfortable, because I'm not used to being picked up after.

Anyways, there are so many more stories and events to tell, but I'll have to spread them out over many posts. I feel like I've gained a world of experience in one week, and I know there's many more to come! I do miss my family, especially my wee ones, but I'm happy to be here, and happy to have some more time to get adjusted.

In closing, I'll also add that when I wrote the date this week I thought a lot about Durham Christian High School and the Dykstra family. A lot has happened in the past year for them, and this week was a reminder of all that changed. The DCHS community continues to be in my thoughts and prayers with the beginning of another school year for them too.

Things I've already learned...

Tonight we had a staff party on a Fellucah (boat) on the Nile. They kept our three boats tied together, and it was nice to mix and mingle with new and some of the returning staff who are back in town. The above shot is one of our Fellucah captains.

The sun sets quickly, and I shot this just before we left the dock. I'll put more pictures up later when I'm on a faster connection.

I'm feeling quite accomplished with myself in the past few days, having successfully taken a taxi to multiple places, almost (fingers crossed still) rented an apartment, bought a cell phone, returned to Duty Free for some "supplies," used the bank, and not managed to get super duper lost! I probably just jinxed it...

My Arabic needs to improve drastically, or it's going to be a long two years. I think I have a new understanding of illiteracy - walking around unable to make sense of signs, directions and not understanding a word people are saying to you. When things settle, perhaps later in the fall, I'd like to take Arabic classes.

I feel safer than I thought I would, but I cannot walk the streets without comments. I'm thankful for my sunglasses, because I am stared at a lot. Sunglasses help me not incidentally make eye contact. I'm learning to walk with purpose, as if I know what I'm doing. Here in Ma'adi foreigners are more common, so perhaps we are not noticed as quickly.

Things move slower here, as shown by the fact that I still do not have a confirmed place to live. I found a gorgeous, relatively inexpensive flat for my room mate and I, and the owner left for a two day holiday in the middle of our dealings. He is *supposed* to be back tomorrow. I remain skeptical.

Tomorrow I will hopefully have a home, and spend some time stocking it in the afternoon. We have another staff party in the evening, and begin working at school on Sunday morning.

I'm here!

Greetings from Hot, Sunny, Cairo!

I'm still a bit dazed, and looking forward to going with Mohammed Ali (no joke) to search for an apartment today. I was whisked away to see one last night, but will not make a decision until I've seen a few others.

People from the school are remarkably friendly and welcoming. We were met by the administrators at the airport, and a welcome team at the hotel. Last nite dinner was at a restaurant overlooking the Nile (gonna take a while to get used to writing that with any ease...) and then a good night's rest.

As far as first impressions go, I'll only say that all the horror stories I read about driving were accurate. I will not, in the next two years, get behind the wheel of a car, no matter the occasion. Whether it was the school bus drivers or a taxi, the only consistent rule of the road is to honk and flash your high beams, ALL THE TIME. If you want to turn, honk. If you want to cut someone off, honk. If you are sitting still in traffic, honk, honk, honk. And then at night, add the flashing headlights. I saw our bus go down side streets (and on sidewalks) that I'd never try to manipulate my car on. Pretty hilarious. And a bit nauseating :)

The next few days are scheduled for apartment hunting and then moving, and every evening there is a social of sorts planned for the new teachers and the orientation team. Business meetings at school start on Sunday.

In other news, I'm happy to add that my nephew Tijs had successful surgery and is recovering well. Can't wait to see his new smile!

Faces...

This peaceful little man will change a lot while I'm gone.


I'm going to miss these freckles a ton!

And of course this little guy is going to create so much mischief that I'll miss out on.

Who am I kidding. I'll miss the whole lot of them, even the grown up ones.

With these pictures in mind, (and in hand too!) I'm leaving for Cairo. Once I get settled in, I hope to have time to post occasional updates and stories and pictures. Thanks for all your well-wishes and encouragement!

28 days and counting...

It is probably time to get this blog rolling...and I've completed almost everything on my "bucket list," so there's not much else to do at this point!

Numbers 4 and 5 (see previous post) are incomplete, and I'm okay with that. Number 4 isn't as important to me as it was when I wrote originally, and that's just the way it is. As for a potty trained nephew, it's happened, but I don't think he's too excited about a "special weekend" with Auntie Shannon. I'm not even sure he knows that I'm leaving. His big sister on the other hand...

I've been in a trance of good byes these days - staff at DCHS, students at DCHS, people at church, special groups from church, etc. Some farewells are short and sweet, others leave me choked up and sad. I tried to say good bye to the staff at DCHS and couldn't get through all the things I wanted to say. I think they know that they will be missed.

Reality has not yet set in, and I've heard it really doesn't until you step out of an airport into 50 degree weather. I even find myself still thinking about life like I'll be living here in September. "I think I should teach that in grade 12 French," or, "that would be a great song to teach the church this fall." Oops!

4 weeks from tonight I'll be on the airplane, headed to Frankfurt. I tend to get restless on airplanes, sometimes a little excitement in the way of turbulence helps that. I'll be taking suggestions for airplane novels and MP3 playlists in the comments section now.

Pics of all the good byes will come too!

A list...

I have a mental list going of all the things I want to do before I leave for Egypt. Some are a given, that is, I've already taken the steps to make them happen, others are wishes, that perhaps some of you can help me with :)

1. Be in the country for the birth of a niece or nephew. This will be the first time I've actually been on Canadian soil when a baby is born in our family. Should happen Mid-April, from what I understand.
2. Teach for a week at Redeemer. (okay, this isn't so much a "wish" as a fact).
3. Complete an entire Sprint Triathlon, all by myself. Goal: finish under 2 hours.
4. Stand on a 401 overpass when a fallen soldier is coming "home". I hope that I won't get this opportunity, but logic and current events say otherwise.
5. Have a special weekend with my nephew. He has to be potty-trained for this to happen, so I'm putting it on my list to help my sister in law!
6. Go to Canada's Wonderland. So long as Melanie's not preggo this summer it'll work out.
7. Sing around the campfire with 120 of my favourite students from Durham.
8. Lead worship at Church with my brother Paul one last time.
9. Finish the Twilight series (please, don't judge me).
10. **

** Number 10 is open to suggestions - what do you think should be on my list of "lasts" before I move to Cairo???

The Decision

I decided late on January 27 to accept a position teaching middle school French at an International school in Cairo, Egypt. This is what happens when I get bored.

Most people, when they get bored, watch TV, or read a new book, or call a friend for coffee. When I get bored, restless and in need of something new, I usually end up trying to find new work. Two years ago I decided to do my Masters degree, because I was bored. Since that is no longer new and exciting, and since it will be finished in 4 months, it was time for a new adventure.

I am still not completely sure how I ended up being offered a job in Cairo, but here we go. It actually all started last July, when my dad told me about an administrator he met at a conference. Many emails and conversations later, and here I am.

Current climate in Cairo: Hot and Sunny.

A New Blog!

This is for my mom...because we all know that in about 4 days she'll be the only one still reading it.

As I prepare to say good-bye to Bowmanville, and hello to Cairo, I thought it'd be fun to start a blog. I lurk on other people's blogs all the time, but this is my first stab at it.

With my newly acquired digital camera, I'll hopefully add lots of pictures of pyramids too.