School's Out!

I officially finished my first year of teaching, in Egypt nonetheless.

As much as I gripe about this school and its contract- breaking ways, I really had a good year in the classroom. How many people can say they actually looked forward to going to work everyday?

The kids were the funniest, cutest, most innocent things ever. Look at them!

First day of school!

Just before Christmas!

In their caps and gowns!

They really grew up this year. They learned to read, they learned to be tolerant and patient, they learned to be responsible.

Even though English was their second language, you would never know by how confident they were. They learned everything a kindergartner would learn in the states. They could tell you rhyming words, antonyms, and story summaries. They could tell you about evaporation and the different types of matter. They could add and subtract.

What. a. year. 

Aswan

The furthest I have traveled in Egypt was to Aswan. The trip entailed a train ride that was about 10 hours each way, maybe 11 on the way back actually. The train wasn't always moving but, with derailments always a possibility, making it to my destination in one piece gives me no room to complain. So was it worth about a day's worth of discomfort? Um, yeah.

Aswan is a nice mix of Egyptian and Nubian culture. Coming from the hustle and bustle of Cairo, Aswan was like going to the Caribbean when you're used to New York City. No one is in a rush and everyone is in love with Bob Marley.

We went to Elephantine Island and visited Animalia, a museum nestled in a house run by one man. He took us through the history of Nubia and the life of Nubians. We had lunch on the terrace and tried not to cringe while we ate bread that was baked on a disc that was just learned was made of cow dung. The rooftop terrace felt like a tree house and the homemade lunch was just what we needed.

We went to the Nubian Museum which puts the Cairo Museum to shame (though that's not exactly hard) with its state of the art facilities and realistic model displays. We also hit up some ruins and the botanical gardens. I think we made the most of our time there. As much as we did, we mostly relaxed- on feluccas, riverside, in ancient temples.

Men's side of the boat.

Women's side.

Botanical garden.

Something really old.

Siwa Oasis

Siwa is one of those places that is still well preserved and not overrun by tourist, despite its unearthly gorgeous springs. You have to really want to go to Siwa to go to Siwa. People visiting Egypt don't typically opt to sit on a bus for 8 hours to trek to see more desert.

It is, obviously, more than just desert. Siwa has a culture all its own as a result of being isolated till about the 1980s. They have a local language, Siwi, and their own culture and traditions such as their dress, food (dates and tea are their specialty), and a history that once (and may still) accepted same-sex marriage and relations between men. The women are kept at home, for the most part. When they are out in public, they are under drapes of fabric- completely covered in the sweltering heat. They make Cairo seem extremely liberal.

The oasis town has been hurting for years as a result of the sharp decline of tourism in Egypt. We ran into only one other pair of visitors when we were there. Still, shopkeepers are not aggressive like they are elsewhere. They will invite you in for tea and try to convince you how amazing Siwa is.

We had only a short amount of time but made the most of it with a day and night desert excursion. We visited a natural cold water and hot water spring. We swam in this gorgeous lake in the middle of a vast desert. It was the clearest, cleanest water.

At night, we slept in the desert. No tents, just mats.

Wine Tasting in Alexandria

Egypt is probably one of the last places you would expect to find a winery but nestled behind steel gate doors is a very respectable vineyard and bottling facility.

The whole way up to Alexandria, we asked ourselves, "What's the catch?" A free catered bus ride to Alex, an amazing buffet lunch, tour and tasting for free. There has to be some stipulation. But there was none. Sure, it would be nice if you picked up a few bottles of wine on the way out but there was no heavy soliciting.

The grounds were beautiful and the weather perfect. The vines were still barren but you can see all the work that goes into making wine- something you seldom think about when you grab the 3.99 bottles of wine of the shelves at Trader Joe's.

Pictures to come!

Black and White Dessert

One of the perks of living abroad is the push to turn a regular weekend into a travel adventure. We were off on Friday morning into the barren dessert for a two day/one night camping and sightseeing excursion.

The road was paved most of the way and the ride was quite comfortable though there wasn't much to see driving out there. Just a lot of desert, and more desert. The landscape did change frequently though, maybe every ten minutes- from rocky, pebbly desert to whitish sandy desert to black rock covered desert and so forth.

When we got there, there wasn't much to do but walk around in the desert. Just like any camping adventure, you have to entertain yourself and, hopefully, have good company around to help with that. We listened to music around the campfire and were treated to delicious food.

Even though it was a short getaway, any escape from Cairo is refreshing and helps you push through another workweek. It was back to the grime, smog, and commotion Saturday night. Everything I owned was covered in sand but there's nothing like still finding sand in your bag two weeks later and realizing it's time to get out of the bubble again.

Ain Sokhna

After struggling through a mid-year workweek, I was off to the closest thing to paradise in Egypt- Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea. It was less than a two hour drive away but it felt like we were on a different planet. There was no car honking, no smog, no dust, no yelling. Actually, there weren't even people there. We were alone in this beach resort, summer homes of the wealthy. This time of the year is too cold to swim but warm enough to sit out on the beach. The gentle, unassuming sun even gave 2/4 of us pretty bad sunburns. I, of course, was sparred.

It always baffles me how beautiful blue water can sit right up next to a dry barren desert. Isn't it ironic? (cue music)

Cairo Flea Market

The Cairo Flea Market is a monthly market held in Designopolis (what a name!) in the 6th October. I've been eyeing it for a while- carefully examining the pictures on their Facebook page. It looked promising enough so I booked a driver for the day and headed out. 

The market was a lot smaller than I expected and held in a very upscale retail mall. It was almost too organized and orderly for my taste. I get a certain satisfaction from rummaging through a pile of stuff- looking for something I didn't know I needed. 

Perfectly lined tents housed used clothing, antiques, tupperware, jewelry, etc. The food selection itself was enough to make me forget I was in Egypt. I enjoyed the live music which was heavy with American oldies while I snacked on a hot dog and popcorn in the scorching hot desert sun. 

I walked away with some shirts, bags, a ring, cards, and guava jam. A successful shopping day in my book-not that my shopping list featured any of those items....

Garbage City

The name is not at all misleading. It is indeed a city full of garbage. The men and women sort through rancid, disease ridden garbage that is piled high in the streets and in front of their homes, spilling into their living rooms. It makes you cringe but at the same time, without them, Cairo would be piled high in waste.

We hired a trusty driver and drove on in- windows up and cameras out. In this city of rubbish are three churches (the population is predominately Coptic Christians) built into caves, as well as a recycling center. A.P.E. works with the women in the community, training them to make goods out of recycled materials to empower the women and transform garbage into marketable items.

Outdoor Classroom

Happy Turkey Day!

It's my second Thanksgiving away from family. Better Thanksgiving than Christmas but it still sucks. 

While Egyptians celebrate the commercial side of many American holidays, there's not much to play with when it comes to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving=turkey and where's a turkey to be found in Cairo? Thankfully, my school got us a coveted turkey and fixed us up a Thanksgiving lunch. Aside from the bird and mashed potatoes, it was all Egyptian food. Nonetheless, it was delicious and so thoughtful. 

We GPSers had a little Friendsgiving tonight with chicken and some vegetable sides. To really top it off, we played Apples to Apples- making our own play cards with a little Egyptian twist. 

Spinnin' and Twirlin'

It was a long weekend and I did a lot! Every weekend is a long weekend here. I don't know if I can go back to an American academic calendar.Islamic New Year last week- Thanksgiving this week. I love teaching at an international school!

I revisited a lot of places. Things are definitely more interesting the second time around for some reason. You notice different things. Take it slower. Take less pictures...

From the Mohamed Ali Mosque to Al-Azhar Park to the Egyptian museum to the Khan, I feel like I did everything under the Egyptian sun.

The weekend ended with a traditional Tanoura show- a beautiful display of music, singing, and dancing. Sufi dancers have large colorful skirts and twirl for about an hour. How these men don't pass out is a real head scratcher.

Camping in Ras Mohamed

While the East Coast was being slammed by an awful storm, I was sitting pretty on the beach with the desert as the backdrop. It took years to get there- no exaggeration- with security checkpoints making us pull over about an hour each time. But it was all worth it because it was beautiful, relaxing, and a much needed getaway from Cairo's insanity.

We slept in tents right on the beach and I woke up to the sound of water before I even opened my eyes. We went snorkeling every day- not bad for someone who hasn't even swam before. We passed time with volleyball, Frisbee, and cards.

All of our meals were homemade and delicious and served right on the beach.

Even better, coming home was a much smoother ride thanks to clever strategies that worked better than trying to look Egyptian. 

Classroom Update

Since my life has been taken over by 15 kindergartners, my blog has died. So I decided to take pictures of my classroom a month later because that's all I have going on in my life now. It's Reading Week at our school and we have Dress as a Book Character Day. I'm thinking of going as Dora (if I can find the duds) since we're going to go see the show on our next trip. That'll be another school-based blog update comin' later this week.

My very cozy classroom. 

Temperature is Raising. Keeping track of how many books we read this week!

Art based on literature

We went out to a nice restaurant tonight and I was going to take pictures but no one thinks of snapping pics when you're hungry and food arrives.
We have a short work week this week because of Eid. We will have a sacrifice at school on Wednesday so that will provide an 'I'm definitely in Egypt' moment. A long weekend means getting out of Maadi, finally! Camping on the beach awaits me in a few days. :) 

Kids say the darndest things...

Yahia: "Did your mother make you that tea?"
Me: "No, Ms. Laila made it for me."
Yahia: "Ms. Laila's your mother?!!"
Me: "What?!"

Teaching responsibility:
Kid 1: "If your friend falls down, you must help him."
Kid 2: "If you spill your water, you must clean it up."
Kid 3: "If you see a hungry cow, you must feed it!"
Me: "I suppose so."

Ali: I have a tiger and a bear at home.
Me: Please bring them to school tomorrow so I can meet them.
Ali: Ok, they will try to eat you but I will save you.
Me: Thanks, Ali.

Kids: "Hey, where's Mr. Apple?" (Mr. Amril)

Picnic in the desert

An extra day off meant time to actually relax. Sure enough, I took work with me to the park but at least I was at the park. Al-Azhar Park was beautiful and only about 20 minutes away. Beautifully landscaped, clean, and perched high above the smoggy city.

We ate lunch at a fancy restaurant that clearly only foreigners frequent. At 6 bucks for my sandwich, it's pricey! Sometimes it boggles my mind that such beautiful architecture exists besides some of the most sketchy workmanship in construction I've seen since Vietnam.

We had the place to ourselves since we were earlybirds (10:30) but the place was bustling with Egyptians by the time we left. It's fascinating to watch Egyptian teens (who are probably playing hooky) roll in laughter in the simple pleasure of running down a grassy hill. No rubble, dust, garbage in sight- just flowers and grass and water fountains.

The other fancy restaurant on premises.

Before the bird pooped on the homework I was grading. 

Mohamed Ali Mosque in the background.

Entrance to restaurant.

Leaving the park.