Birthday bashing in Cairo

[Yep, still here, in Cairo. Heat is a much more reasonable 37 C, and believe me, 6 degrees makes a huge difference. Kristin's here, we leave for Germany/Belgium/France on Monday night. School fizzled out today around 2:30 after 4 straight days of doing nothing in an empty classroom. AIS end-of-year procedures are worth an entire other blog...]


My birthday this year, the big 2-7, was celebrated over many days, and in fact will be celebrated once more with a friend in Zamalek tomorrow night! How many people will be able to say, in their lifetime, that they celebrated their birthday in style, on a boat on the Nile river. Well, my mom was able to in March, and now mine too!

Last Wednesday my grade 7 French class threw me a "surprise" party. They of course could not keep secrets, so the only real surprise was that they threw it a day earlier than they had whispered about, so I was completely unprepared for my party. Grade 7 parties involve sugar, cake, more sugar, more cake, and chipsies. (this is the Arabic word for chips). Then we all sit around, the kids spill their drinks, scare Ms. Cooper's baby, and listen to the CD player. The Miss sneaks to her desk to mark.

On Friday the 18th (the actual day of my birthday), I played piano for our weekly worship service at St. John's and then had a lingering lunch with friends.


I threw myself a party this past Wednesday, waiting for Kristin to be in town. It was so nice to have her here, and so wonderful to have all my new friends in Cairo celebrate with me. I brought together groups of friends from Church and School; we took a felucah onto the Nile and hung out for a while. It was a beautiful evening with a beautiful sunset.

All throughout my birthday celebrations, and in these past few days of 'bye-for-now' gatherings, I have been reminded of how blessed I am to be here in Cairo, with many amazing people in my life. Further reflection and wrap-up will happen in another blog, probably after a 5 day time-out at Taizé. For now suffice it to say that I am ready to head home to baby Ella and the rest of my family, but also thankful that I get to come back here for round two in September!