Well that was fun!

For the past 11 days I was host to four Very Important People from Canada: The Marcus' (my parents!) and the Bakers. These people have been friends for a very long time, and have created a lot of mischief together, but perhaps nothing as far-away and foreign as Cairo.

If you know my dad, you know that it was amazing just to get him here. When I signed up for this gig, he said "I won't come visit." The night I flew out he changed his mind.

The biggest highlight for me was seeing Cairo through their fresh eyes again. It reminded me how far I've come in terms of familiarity with this city and with my understanding of the Egyptian way of life. Of course I still have a very long way to go too!

We hired "Mostafa the driver" and his '87 Peugeot station wagon for most of our transportation needs, but I still managed to lose the Bakers at least once to the only taxi driver in Cairo who couldn't find the Nile.

Our brave travelers were at my mercy, only occasionally reminding me that they were here for a holiday, not an olympic competition in site-seeing. All four tried stuffed pigeon, and countless other dips and sauces. Meals were a high light of the trip. In one day we visited all 3 pyramid sites: Sakkara, Dashur and of course Giza.

Hugo, Marilyn and Sally all took their turn "riding" a camel while I took videos and snapped away. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Executive Director! :)


The favourite for all was a 4 day cruise on the Nile from Aswan to Luxor. We sat in the 38 C heat, and when absolutely necessary we left the boat to explore an old temple or the High Dam. The Nile is a source of life and energy for this country, and that was seen so clearly from the deck of the Jazz Mervat.

Visitors are always welcome here in Cairo, and although I can't guarantee as much of my attention as these four got last week, I can guarantee a million memories and about that many laughs as well.

Dashing in the Degla ... UGH

Clicking "submit" on a 5k race registration last Wednesday night seemed like a good idea.

At the time.

It's not like I've been running 5k's lately... but it's like riding a bike, right? Anyone can run 2 circles around the desert and enjoy themselves.

And besides, someone had to come in last. Why not me?

Of course there were a few details left off the registration form, which I think were ...pivotal...

1. Despite leaving Ma'adi in buses at 10am, we did not run until 12:15. - that's the heat of the day, for those of you that didn't know.

2. We had to hike up hill for a kilometre to get to the race site.

3. The course itself had several hills and climbs

4. Cairo is experiencing unseasonal warms (at least to this poor Canadian) of 28 C.

5. I caught a virus on Thursday, thus participating in this event with a red, runny nose and sore throat. And the lung capacity of a ... mosquito (? do they have small lungs???)

So employing Monique's trick of "run when they can see you," I managed to walk most of the hilly course, finishing the 5k race in, wait for it...

FORTY-TWO MINUTES!

Now I'm not a real runner on a good day, but that, my friends is 12 minutes off my best time. 11 minutes off my triathlon 5k.

I'm signing up for a gym membership this week. Next year, the Degla Dash is GOING DOWN.

Weekend fun: a visit to the Citadel and Mohamed Ali mosque

We left Ma'adi (something we should do more often!) to visit the Citadel on Saturday. It was a frigid 10 C, and we didn't stay out long. Not much else to say, so for once, just some fun pics.









And at the end of the day, we stopped by the Souk on Road 9 for a $3 supply of fruits and veggies. How much did you spend on your produce this week???

The dog bite

I was all set to write about an amazing Art experience I had the other night, but a dog and his teeth got in the way of that. I will post about the Art show another night. This is especially for Cathy, so she doesn't worry about me :)

Today while walking to meet some friends and go to a birthday party I was hosting, I was bitten by a large, slobbery black dog. I did nothing to provoke it, and did not see it coming. Stray dogs are everywhere in Cairo, and usually harmless. Incidentally, I was the second AIS teacher to have this happen this week.

At the end of the street, I happened to run into my pastor, Paul-Gordon, and his wife Lynne. They drove me to Corrina's house, where I could check out the wound and see if I needed treatment.

Corrina and I decided we needed a second opinion, and headed to my dear friend Emily's house, who works as a RN with the American Embassy. She insisted (rightfully so) that I obtain a shot for Rabbies. Off to the hospital!

Corrina, my life-saver, sat at the hospital with me for over an hour, going to the pharmacy to buy my vaccine for me, filling out papers, and just keeping me calm. The Dr and nurse spoken enough English to get the job done, (and to tell me that I had high blood pressure and should calm down a bit). The total cost for the visit (including the vaccine) was under 250 LE which is about 50 Dollars. I'll see about reimbursement from the Health Insurance company next week...

And of course, you really all just want to see a picture of my bite. I have a feeling it'll be pretty colours in a few days.

In the end, we showed up almost 2 hours late for the birthday party, but happy to be in the company of friends who could love me and laugh with me. I wanted desperately to take pictures at the hospital, but was also worried about not behaving 'properly'...

I wanted "excitement in Egypt" but not this kind.

As always, I leave you with a picture !

Missives From Middle School

[Photo credit from AIS website - I don't stalk my students!]

Consider the following story from last period...

5 grade 7 boys crowd my desk during last period, looking at the new pictures I put on my bulletin board, of my family.

S1: Miss, is that your son?
Miss: No, that's my nephew.
S2: Oh that's right, she's not married. Don't worry miss, you're still young. [where did THAT come from???]

S3: Miss, show us a picture of your family.

[Miss seizes the opportunity to reinforce previously learned French terms, and grabs a family photo.]

Miss: Voici ma mère. Voici mon père. Voici mon frère, mon frère, et mon frère.
S3: Wow, you have big family.
Miss: Mon frère Jared et mon frère Paul sont des jumeaux. Do you know what jumeaux means?
All 5: No.
Miss: I'll say it a different way. Paul a 29 ans. Jared a 29 ans. Ils sont des jumeaux.

S5: (And I don't make this stuff up!) Oh I get it, they're Married!

S4: No you idiot, it means they are twins! Why don't they look the same? This is impossible. If they are twins they must look the same.

S2: It must be different in Canada!

(did I mention that I don't make this stuff up???)

At this point I realized the conversation was beyond my control, and I sent all 5 sweet young men to their seats, where I attempted to steer the train-wreck we call 5th period into some semblance of order.

And that, my friends, is why teaching Middle School is hilarious.

Garbage City and the Cave Churches: A different side of Cairo

Last Saturday, still jet-lagged and exhausted from flying across the ocean, I joined some friends to explore what is infamously known as "Garbage City."

Garbage City is a slum near the citadel in Cairo. Most Egyptians (my students included) simply looked at me in disgust and said "why on earth would you go there???"

It is as gross as it sounds, and lives up to its name. There is garbage everywhere, and the smell is unbelievable. However, through the winding, filthy streets, you arrive at beautiful cave churches that you would never otherwise find.

This area is populated predominantly by Coptic Christians, who make up about 10% of Egypt's population. My friend and guide for the day, Dena, explained that Coptics are not persecuted as much as they are discriminated against. It is difficult here for Arabic Speaking Coptics.



There were many people coming to the churches to pray last weekend after a shooting in Upper Egypt (south of Cairo) on Coptic Christmas Eve. We met a friend of Dena's who explained to us that many people are once again afraid.

Many of you read about the mass slaughter of 20 000 pigs in the Spring of 2009, due to a misunderstanding of the poorly-named "Swine Flu." The pigs were present in Garbage City to eat scraps, and aid in composting the perishable food. Because the pig is also an unclean animal in Islam, this was seen by many as further discrimination against Copts.

Garbage city is also a place of new life and new hope. After touring the cave churches we walked back through the piles of garbage to tour the Association for the Preservation of the Environment, or APE as it is known. Incidentally, one of this year's speakers at Calvin's January Series was directly from APE, speaking about garbage in the streets of Cairo.



APE has several initiatives to train young men and women in trades; the idea is that if women are educated and have a job they will not be given away for marriage as early as they normally would. Young men are taught to be carpenters or other valuable trades.

Upon arriving in Cairo, I was very uncomfortable with putting everything in the garbage, including paper, glass and plastic bottles. And although I am still uneasy about this, I understand that even garbage and recycling works differently in a developing country. My trash is a source of income and a job for other people. I can make their job easier by pre-sorting, but all the garbage goes to one place, where people then sort and re-use or recycle what is good.

I teach children from wealthy families and I live in a wealthy suburb of Cairo where it is easy to forget that this is a 3rd world country with rampant poverty. Visiting garbage city reminds me once again that I am privileged and also responsible for so much, and I will continue to find ways that I can play a respectful role in the development of this country.

Back in Cairo, Happy 2010

Within hours of being back, I had a taxi driver try to kiss my hand, and then try to charge me double for my short trip.

It's good to be back in Cairo...

My trip to Ontario was everything it should have been - family, babies, cold air, snow, friends and delicious home-cooked baking and food. It was also reaffirming: by the end of 2.5 weeks, I was quite ready to return to Cairo, to my own bed, my own students and my life here.

I was reprimanded by more than one of you, my dedicated readers (honestly, I didn't think I had any...) about my lack of blogging. Someone even suggested that my New Years Resolution be to write more often. Having arrived back to find that I do in fact have an Internet connection in my apartment(Shokran, Mohamed Ibrahim!), my only Resolution is to keep posting to the blog.

Tomorrow we are going to Garbage City, so I'm sure I will have pictures and some stories to explain exactly what that is, and why it is an important part of Cairo.

For now, some pics of the visit home:



The ever-growing Marcus family. The next time we do this picture, there will be one more!