happy birthday mom. :)

cairo-kinda-christmas :)

 

Luther comes home tonight at 11:00pm-ish.  I have my staff Christmas party (pt.2/3) and I’m SO sick!  Stuffy, runny nose, coughing, chills…  I called in sick once this week and came back only to have a complete relapse.  I lost my voice and that means no Christmas caroling for awhile. L  I also have this swollen, itchy ear and putting in large dangly Christmas earrings is probably not the best idea..but I received these AWESOME red Christmas ball-earrings in an extra special xmas care package (thanks mom!)  So ear infection or no ear infection- the Christmas ball earrings will be making their grand Egypt debut at the staff party. J

Christmas is quickly approaching.  Although the majority of the population here in Egypt is Muslim, they will welcome ANY excuse to eat and shower their children with gifts.  So- if you are looking for a country that appreciates a good ‘ol commercialized Christmas – Egypt is it. (This is ironic, considering there are many cathedrals here who claim to be built on grounds where Mary and Joseph stayed while fleeing Egypt/looking for shelter for the birth of their child)  So, in true commercialized form, santa is EVERYWHERE.  You can also buy artificial Christmas trees here (I would imagine they are mostly for foreigners) and Christmas decorations and lights. 

The country does their seasonal best for expats such as myself…

The British, Swiss and German embassy held Christmas bazaars (ie: craft shows) but I wasn’t able to attend them.  Luther and I did a bit of decorating from what we were able to buy in Maadi but since the decorations here are kind of scary looking (cheap…old…cheezy) I took the liberty of making some of my own. So here is our home.  The ‘store’ stuff is luthers, and the crafts are mine. J  This is what being an elementary school teacher is all about.




picture wall

                    

stencil lamp

 

 

 

 

Of course, in tropical/desert countries where evergreens aren’t available; the next most ‘christmassy’ plant u can find is…….POINTSETTIA PLANTS!!! They are everywhere!!!  The flower shops along Rd. 9 and in Maadi are FILLED with beautiful red and white pots of plants.

The Christmas crafts on the elementary school floors of the school are also being stuck up on the bulletin boards. You can hear the classes rehearsing for the concert.  It’s quite exciting. :)

charity.

A few days ago, we had an unexpected knock on the door.  While we have no one from the school (both Luthers and mine) that lives in our block, we could only assume it was either our ‘bowahb’ (doorman) or the amazing Egyptian-American woman who lives on the ground floor with us.  She has rescued us MANY times, to teach us how to use appliances, lend us matches and translate strange looking letters and bills.  Actually, just last week she invited us to her apartment with her family to have an amazing Egyptian-American thanksgiving. BEST OF BOTH WORLDS. Imagine roast turkey with Egyptian style stuffing.  Get this, she even cooked lamb because she remembered Luther is a huge fan. It was AMAZING!  It was not her at the door though. (Or her attractive Egypt-air pilot son) J  It was a woman who had lived in the apartment block for over 20 years and explained to us that a family of 12 has just moved in upstairs.  They are Syrian refugees who were a middle class family in Syria but escaped to Cairo when things got dangerous.  They are now living with nothing. No blankets, food, money, clothing etc.  She told us they are currently making money by selling baked goods and Middle Eastern dips (mezze) but it is not enough to cover for kids, mothers, grandparents and 2 small babies.

I have seen this family and they are very sweet.  We bought some food from them (AMAZING BABA GHANOUSH!!) and have given money to supply milk and food for the babies and children.

The woman came in for tea and INSISTED we call her 'mama'. She found out Luther was going away and has since called 3x to make sure i am okay. :) 

Anyway, this family is very close to home. They are literally, our neighbors.  If you plan on giving a charitable donation this year for Christmas, please consider sending some cash home with Luther and I to help these people out.  They have been through hell and will accept ANYTHING.  This is not giving money to some organization and hoping it goes somewhere helpful.  I will actually be able to see these children wear clean socks. J

 

dinner = baladi bread, baba ghanoush and meat filled syrian perogies :)

 

cairo-crazy

Things around here have been quite crazy.  This is for many reasons:

1.)    Luther left for Portugal to attend his grandfather’s funeral in Lisbon.  I have had the house to myself which I would LOVE under normal circumstances but I have to say the house feels MUCH emptier when u are alone without a dog L.  Also, we don’t have many things on our walls to make our place feel ‘home-ey’ so the apartment feels cold, empty and lonely.  Luther and I have skyped once or twice but it’s hard because he is catching up with family he has not seen in years.  So in his absence, I have taken this opportunity to crank the heat, put on sweatpants, look crappy and catch up on  ‘project runway’ and ‘glee’ episodes.  Also, mom has provided me with some magazines and CDN. Kitkat bars that have kept me in good company.

 

As for dinners alone, to the shock of many…I have only ‘otlobbed’ (‘take-out’ website) ONCE! (Yesterday I cracked and got pizza.  Today MAY be a Korean/sushi night…)

 

2.)    The craziness of politics in Cairo has forced the school to cancel once and have 2 ‘early’ dismissals. (2:30 instead of 2:50) This is mostly to beat the traffic that the protests cause. Most JK/SK parents opt to keep their kids home and most buses going anywhere through the city would have another 1-2 hours stacked on an already 1.5 hour long drive.  While most events are happening in Tahrir square, many have slowly trickled into other areas of Cairo. One serious incident took place in Nasr City; where Morsi’s headquarters are located.  I believe this protest made the news.

Another area is on the Nile corniche, a very popular street that runs along the Nile and a 10 minute drive from my apartment. This is a street that I take to and from work every day and it just so happens the Egypt Court of Law is smack dab in the middle of it.  So things have gotten a bit crazy over there as well. Driving past, we see a large tent city and food carts, and a TON of riot police.  No actual protests though J we are home by the time things get ‘riled’ up.

The last two nights though, protests have found their way in Maadi.  One night I went to sleep to chanting and a few gunshots. I’m sure they were weren’t directed at anyone, but still. Last night a co-teacher said people marched past her apartment. Some schools have been shut down today, including 2 Canadian schools.  Not ours. :P

Anyway, the big day comes on the 15^th, when the referendum is released.  Stay tuned…

There is talk that if things get ‘crazy’- the Christmas concert will be cancelled. I REALLY hope not!  I just spent 3 periods and a recess making leis for grade 2’s rendition of ‘mele kaliki maka!’

 

 

intimidating graffiti of cairo

careful! speeding banana cart!!

 

 

scents of cairo...

Dear Cairo,

Please go back to smelling like fresh fruit and freshly-baked baladi

Burning garbage is not as pleasant to wake up to.

However, the streets are cleaner.

I am torn as whether or not i prefer burning garbage smells but a clean walk to work..or walking through trickling 'mystery juice' to get fresh bread.


Every morning i wake up and walk to work.  I am reminded of those 5 line poems that depict the  senses of the body,  and begin to conduct one inside my head.  Sometimes the poem is a beautiful serenade to the sights, sounds and smells of egypt. Other times, the poem is..well....'mystery liquid'

:)


 

tahrir-craziness

It has been quite a long time since I’ve written.  I’m sitting in ‘Costa Coffee’ which some will recognize as a European franchise similar to starbucks.  Its close to where Luther is tutoring so I’m killing some time here before heading home.  He put a whole chicken out to thaw but at 7:30-8 when I get home theres no WAY I’m cooking that entire thing lol.

I felt compelled to write even though things have been quite busy.  Things in Ciaro (specifically, tahrir square) have gotten kind of crazy.  So just so everyone knows, most locals don’t venture near  tahrir square on protest days because everyone knows that it is the extremists who cause the trouble for everyone.  So unless you feel like getting into a fight for no reason, people just carry on with their lives outside of the square. Luther and I have no reason to go down there and its about a 40 minute drive from where we live.  Normally we pass through when going to tutor in Dokki but we have been going around it lately just to be safe.  On Wednesday I took a cab through it and it was kind of cool to see.  Lots of burning flags and yelling but most people were grabbing koshari and shawarma (awesome Egyptian fast food) Clearly, one cannot protest on an empty belly!  My cab driver was explaining to me that its harmless right now because the people who are peaceful choose to protest early in the evening and the extremists come out at night.

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened. On thursday, a few kids were absent but it was more because of the traffic that protest days cause (most main streets in cairo run through tahrir)- the kids would end up being an hour or more late for school.

Today the entire faculty was called down and reminded about safety/seclusion procedures and evacuation instructions.  The returning teachers tell me its nothing to worry about and just make sure you have some water and canned stuff just in case.  They also said its not uncommon to cancel school on days because the commute could be another 2 hours longer than it has to.  So that being said, school is cancelled on tuesday afternoon! :) 

Luther and i are going to go to egyptian wal-mart tomorrow (carrefour) and stock up on stuff...plus we have no groceries and having been living on OTLOB for a few days now (some of the things we have ordered...indian...korean...japanese...subway...hardees...- its a terrible addiction! but an incredibly convenient and cost effective addiction!)

hmm...what else...

OH- there was 2 flaming cars on the cornishe (road that runs along the nile) on the bus ride home on thursday.  That’s it.  I don’t even know if it had to do with the protests or if it was just…crazy cairo traffic lol

p.s. that reminds me…on Thursday- our bus HIT someone. He was OK..but not such a pleasant sound to hear..

cairo-ed out :P

Winnipeg is expecting 15-30 cm. of snow this weekend.

I wish i was there. :( OK- when i tuned into the radio and heard what a skating rink the roads are i felt a bit better.  Driving down pembina at 7 in the morning on a bed of ice was not my idea of a good time.

Not such a great couple of days.  Its been wicked awful because of luthers mid-terms, reports being due and 4 'late-bus' days in row where i don't get home until 6.

On a lighter note, the school held its annual egypt cultural day.  The field was set up and the arabic teachers hosted a large concert with the kids singing, dancing and parading around the field dressed in egyptian attire (gallabeias, pharoahs, bedouins etc..)  I even decked out in a jangle dress.  Luther came to visit as well.  It was the first time he saw the school.

Check it out on Heritage International Schools 'FACEBOOK' page:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Heritage-Canadian-International-School-Egypt/218640688193402?fref=ts


I'm kinda missing home right now.  The thought of peering outside and seeing a blanket of white would be amazing.  Not to mention, its hard to think of getting into the christmas spirit when:

1.) christmas isn't such a big deal here (y'know...with the whole 97% muslim population an'all)
2.) view outside in july: sunny and hot with lots of sand...view outside in december: sunny and hot with lots of sand

So i'm thinking of what to put on my bulletin board at school that doesn't have any type of blatent christmas-ey theme (even though the school celebrates christmas. I'm simply anticipating my laziness for AFTER christmas when i can still get away with a 'winter' theme for a few more months before i have to change it again.)  So...winterey-not-religeous-yet-seasonal..= PENGUINS! :)

MAYBE some snowmen thrown in there. we'll see ;)

On that note, i'm going to start thinking of christmas gifts. please send your requests my way. 

No requests for magic lamps with genies though.  Those are hard to find. :) Ditto with magic carpets.




 

Halloween in cairo

Well, Halloween in Egypt has OFFICIALLY passed. (although tonight, many embassies are holding their Halloween parties.  I know a few staff members who claim the Swiss embassy holds the best Halloween party in all of Cairo and will be going tonight.  Last night was my “BIG” night out- and I got home in somewhat of a panic of how I was going to manage a good costume with NOTHING on hand.  I didn’t wanna do my school-teacher ‘snow queen’ costume with snowflakes pinned to my white skirt.  Its Halloween!  I mean, I’m used to having props, costumes, and professional grade make-up and prosthetics at my disposal.  So I pulled out my street make-up, went into the kitchen and started scavenging.

The result:

shoot zombies in the head to kill them

My eyes have never seen so much sephora make-up in their lives, my face was pale with white ‘highlighting’ shimmer powder and baking flour and the best part: my blood!! (Or should I say: crystal light mix and dish soap) I was so pleased with the result. I consider myself a ‘hallo-genius’ Not many people could have thought of this master idea.  And trust me, ketchup is NEVER the answer for a quick fake blood recipe. It just looks like you attacked a sloppy joe.

Oh, in case you didn’t know, we went as the sheriff and zombie from HBOs ‘walking dead’ series

We were supposed to attend the CDN embassy Halloween party but by the time we got ready it was too long of a cab ride and I was not planning on setting foot on the metro looking like that (let us not forget, most Egyptians do not celebrate Halloween, and even if they did, the walking dead on the metro near tahrir square does not sit well with me..) 

I should add, many egyptians have adopted the traditions of the holiday and on halloween night we saw many masked faces and devil horns walking around the neighbourhood.  Not trick-or-treating, just scaring people, having fun and yelling 'hahhhpee halloweeeeeen!' in naturally awesome egyptian accents.

In 6th of october, where my school is- halloween is celebrated with trick or treating because the area is so heavily populated with western expats with children and Egyptians and their children. 

ANYWAY, We decided to go to the ACE club in Maadi which is about a 4 minute walk from our apartment.  Luther and I met up with some friends we have made around the neighborhood and made our way to the ACE (Association of Cairo Expatriates)

The place was just FILLED with all sorts of costumes, from jesus to a rubix cube. 

I would have to say, I have happily gotten Halloween out of my system.  I am okay with not going ‘all out’ because I got to carve a pumpkin (which we made a delicious stew with), decorate my school and ended up having an awesome costume that a lot of people recognized and I got to party with awesome friends from all over the world.

fellow teacher creatures :)

happy halloween everyone!

My gift to Luther: 2 bags. one says 'trick' and one says 'treat' - you had to pick ONE.  So he picked 'trick' and found a box of his favourite western cereal- 'trix' .  I let him open the other bag (treat) because it was BACON. Something you cannot find so easily in Cairo...

my gift was trick-or treating in our apt.!! I  got good chocolate like twix and dairymilk!! And tickets to Cairo Operas production of the Magic Flute in November!!

Halloween. Egypt-style :)

Halloween at the school has passed with great success!

On wednesday our kids came dressed up and we had a big parade around the hallways.

It was such a great time, and the students loved dressing up.

Here are some pictures of the day..



grade1

ms. allis room

monster craft!

entries for monster contest

hmmm...monster?

grade 2

 

handful of witchies :)

snow queen and devil!

                                        



            

 

EID (aye-eed) mubarak!

EID MUBARAK!  A much needed 5 day holiday in occuring here in Egypt. 

Once again the streets are dead until dusk when everyone rushes home to break their fast.  Traffic is at its absolute worst at this time.  At around 8 or 9 when people have feasted, the streets, markets and malls open up again.  This particular EID has alot of gift giving.

So the rumours of the EID traditions of 'slaghtering animals in the street' is hardly true.  Well, they ARE true but CERTAINLY not as graphic as we were warned.

Basically, if one wants to participate in CLASSIC traditions, they will bring a sheep home from the butcher shop.  The butcher shop is quite a sight around this season.  They have flashing twinkling christmas lights around it and meat hanging everywhere.  The butcher shops around the time of EID  also turn into a bit of a farmyard with random animals fenced in in the front.  You come in, pick your live animal, take it home in a truck and haul it up your apt. to the roof where it sits (quiet happily, i should add- being fed and fattened up) until it is killed for the feast. 

Anyway, while some egyptians choose to slaughter their own animal, there are many wagons trotting around with butchers yelling out their service (so, if you have a sheep and do not want to kill it or have no idea how to prepare it, they will gladly do it for you)

Throughout the week i haven't seen anything crazy.  Just really brightly lit, flashing butcher shops, wagons with men and boys covered in blood happily calling out their services and my personal favorite:

The toy shop window. 

 




Okay, so EID sheep are treated very much like turkeys around Thanksgiving.  They are characterized, cute and somewhat of an icon.  We see commercials with eid sheep, and we do crafts at school with cottonballs and sing songs about wooly sheep- and then we go home and promptly slaughter them :P

Many egyptians choose not to participate in this because:
 1. its gross.
 2. its ALOT of meat even for a large family
 3.its 'old-school' and most egyptians would much rather buy nicely sliced pre-packaged lamb from the large supermarkets


Also, its customary to take the blood of the sheep and smear it on family doors, windows, shops and cars for good luck.

No lie.  We have seen this EVERYWHERE around egypt. Even if you don't have a sheep to kill.  We have not been hit yet but this is another old tradition that doesn't not have much room in modern maadi.  Its more in the older parts of the city.

Luther and I had sushi on our first night of EID. The next night we ordered indian.  He got his sheep, i got my chicen and we both got our curry fix. :)

  

A word from Luther...

Power of the Students…

 

 

“Do not come closer or we will throw stones at you” was one comment shouted by a student protestor as I walked up to the chained, car blocked, human barricaded gates of the AUC campus. I was not worried about my safety – this was a very “peaceful” protest, although dramatic action was taken and some people were injured when they tried to leave campus by climbing fence, in fact, one colleague of mine juped the fence to get to his assistant work he needed to complete! Background: a couple of weeks ago, the student union and a large supporting group of students began their protest against the 7% tuition increase implemented this year, and to be added for the next two years equalling to a (aprox. Cumulative) 25% hike over three years. It has been a while since I have written and there has been so much that has happened. To be honest, the details of the protest are not important, what is important is how I went to campus and found that my right to an education had been taken from me along with the access to an institution that had I paid for.

When I realized what was happening (this was the second protest, the first one, a week back, consisted of a human chain that most people broke through and did not cause much of a disturbance on campus) I became frustrated but waited patiently to see if the gates would be opened. After 2 hours of waiting, I decided to hitch a cab and go back to Maadi where I could study from home and await any communication from the university. Sure enough, a few hours later, the AUC sent an email out to the community notifying that it was suspending operations until further notice. Let me tell you that I was not very happy about all this. Myself, along with the other graduate students immediately began communicating on the matter and the possibilities of outcomes. Would the semester be cancelled? This was our biggest fear. In order for the AUC to keep their accreditation, there are a certain amount of credit hours that must be held for classes. Would they lose accreditation? Not knowing of the outcomes, the Egyptology department was driven to keep things going and try and do everything possible to keep the semester alive. After a week and a half of not having classes, the possibility of a cancelled semester was looking more like a reality. Although there were no official classes, I was going all over the Cairo to meet for classes arranged by professors and the students. My week consisted of: waking up in the morning, checking email, and IF there was a class – I would take an overcrowded metro then usually pay for a cab from the metro stop to the coffee shop or place.

I was so pissed off about the situation. First of all, I came all the way to Cairo for graduate school and DID NOT want to be held back longer. Also, it was very difficult to remain focused on school and classes with such a large disruption. Granted, yes, for most of the time of the protest – I was at home in my PJ’s studying or doing my readings for classes. However, it was almost impossible to be in the same mind-set when the routine of a grad student is thrown such an enormous curve ball – I can only duck so low! Anyway, I somehow managed and was able to memorize some hieroglyphics and study for a mid-term. An agreement was finally reached between the student movement and the administration and classes begun again last week. In order to fulfil accreditation requirements, most classes are now required to hold make up classes, which luckily for my faculty will be held in the form of field trips! I look forward to going to Saqqara, Dashur, Giza, Bubastis, Tanis, and the Museum with my profs!

SICK SICK SICK! My first trip to a Cairo clinic..

Alright, I should also add that I have been fighting a crazy cold these last two weeks which has not helped with my motivation and frustration with “Cairo”. My chest cold has now turned into a sinus infection that causes me to sneeze and go threw boxes of Kleenex by the day! Im serious, I sneeze every minute – this makes things very awkward in lectures and sometimes causes me to step out of class and really release the gunk!

Finally, once campus opened again, I went to the campus clinic. I was in and out in 20 minutes with a diagnosis of Rhinitis and three prescriptions – Clairton, amoxicillin, and nasal spray! The best part was I walked in and out without paying a cent – even for the drugs! Gotta love an expensive university. I am feeling better now, although im almost out of the drugs and still sneezing and sniffing now and then…might do another trip. Due to the pollution and environment, people say that it usually takes you longer to get better than it does back home. 2 Weeks and still counting… J

I am feeling better though, and classes are back – it feels like life is back to normal again (or whatever normal in Cairo consists of..haha). It is time for me to stop procrastinating on learning this hieroglyphic vocabulary and get back to work. By the way – I am writing this as I am looking out the window in this brightly sunlit library. I am writing to the view of a desert in the background, palm trees in the foreground, and a mosque in the distance that looks as if it was just placed in the desert sand. Despite all that has happened these weeks… I really do love Egypt.

اليقطين/ pumpkin

ITS NOT AUTUMN WITHOUT A اليقطين !!! (pumpkin)

Inspired my moms package, i decided to decorate as best as i could for the season that i love so much but do not have the opportunity to enjoy in this climate.  I have seen a few live pumpkins around the markets which carry eastern european groceries so i will be buying one soon. :)

Being on the halloween committee at the school has really helped out.  I am in charge of the elementary grade festivities  (1-3) so i'm really excited to get involved with the kids. :)

The school will have its party on the morning of Oct.24, beginning with a prade around the school and then some games.  Its a half-day, so the kids will be let out at noon and then we are on a week long break to celebrate 'Eid' (more on this later..)

In the days leading up to our big party, i have a few awesome things/contests/activities planned.  But of course, i will not disclose them on the world wide web... ;)

I will also be keeping my costume idea on the down-low, for those who are curious..

So, thanks to mom, the house has a bit of autumn warmth to it.  It also helps that Luther found a 'pumpkin spice' candle at metro market (the local grocery store) and bought every one he could find.  I also found some stuff at the market.

I have also been tipped off that there is a costume/party shop somewhere around a mall that is about 20 minutes from here.  It MAY be worth checking out.  In the meantime however, here is 'Autumn in apt.3 on Rd.221'....

the white/communication board :)

ceramic pumpkin
 

Our Thanksgiving potluck was also this weekend.   A fellow teacher and I made perogies (which were not as good as gidos but we ARE in egypt...) and I made apple crisp, Luther brought cheese sauce (a la dads awesome veggies with cheese sauce) and his fresh beetroot salad with feta.  It was a success and our food went in a snap (perogies did not make it for the stragglers!) 

perogy party

our thanksgiving contribution

feast (or about 80% of it- the rest was on another table!)

We didn't have pumpkin pie, but we had pumpkin TART which was awesome. (I'm still going to make some kind of pumpkin-ey dessert. i haven't quite had my filling of pumpkin)

Some of the yummies that were eaten at the staff dinner (there was about 35-40 of us!)
*turkey (duh)
*cranberry sauce
*candied squash
*marshmellow sweet potatoes
*mashed potatoes
*stuffing (3 kinds)
*gravy
*cheese and veggies (luther!)
*bannock
*pasta salad
*greek salad
*cornbread
*meatballs
*perogies (yours truly with ms.ashley)
*beet salad (Luther!)
*rice
*roasted veggies
*veggie pot pie

and more but i can't remember..
dessert consisted of dozens of cupcakes, 4-5 fruit flavoured tarts, and my apple crisp :)

It was nice to visit the teachers who dwell on the 4rth floor (secondary) and see how they are because i NEVER go up there unless i am visiting the library (which RARELY happens)





Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  It was wonderful.

oh! That reminds me! EID is coming up and for those who do not know, it is a weeklong holiday where muslims celebrate the story of abrahim willing to sacrifice his son for God.  The traditions are very similar to Easter or Thanksgiving where there is much worship, giving thanks for family and friends and lots of feasting.  Its customary to purchase an entire animal and feast on it throughout the week.  My students tell me that it is usually lamb, goat or cow.  To follow the muslim law of giving to those who are less fortunate, many will purchase another animal to give to the poor.  If you are not as wealthy, you give what is left of your animal at the end of the week.

Luther and I may drop by Alexandria for a night or two. :)  He is not sick anymore.  Now, he is just tired and overloaded with information about when make-up days for lectures are.  He has recieved some awesome news about  a lecture coming up but i will let him explain it because i am completely clueless about that type of thing...










 

Maadi (mah-dee)

On the street where we live... :)

http://maadi.nassya.com/location/index/tag/10

A site to promote the area we live in.  Check it out!  Here are some of the pictures of our home.


                              



             
 

an interesting bus ride home...

So far, on the ride to and from work i have encountered:

The pyramids (everyday at sunrise)

*men selling everything on the street from fresh bread (appealing) to ciggerettes (not so appealing) to 'mystery meat' (down right UN-appealing)

*fruit trucks with no safety cords, cages, or even buckets for that matter.  There is fruit (i think it was guava) flying all over the street

*TOO many billion-car pile-ups

*men on THEIR bus staring and taking pictures of us sitting inside our bus.

*sisha smoking and driving...

*donkey-cart traffic

*flatbed trucks of all shapes and sizes carrying animals of all shapes and sizes (alive and not-so-alive)

and here is something that happens at LEAST 4 comutes a week...you are passing out after a long ride, smell something funny, look up and are greeted with this:

photo courtesy of ms meghan the PE teacher :)

 

ah-choo.

sinus infection in cairo...

 

 

Luther has a terrible sinus infection.  Luckily the majority of it happened when the AUC was shut down due to student protests. But as you can see, we are flying through kleenex boxes like theres no tomorrow. 

 

CRAP! i forgot my...

EASY BUTTON!!!

STICKERS!!


WHY DID I NOT REMEMBER THESE THINGS?!!!!??

I will be stocking up on these items when i come back for christmas :)

Also, ANYONE who gave me a notepad/book/stickys/pens of ANY kind- i am forever in your debt.  The paper here SUCKS. the pens are TERRIBLE. and WORST OF ALL.....- they don't have cute flowers or inspirational sayings on them. '

Also, arabic is written right to left- so all notebooks open "backwards" (this is a common error made with grade 1s and 2s- they write english from the right side of the paper)

After being in school for a few weeks..here are some pictures of my 'school' life...

some essentials

bulletin board - week 3

 

 

P.S.

I heard Winnipeg is bracing itself for snow. 

We Cair-ans are still kickin' it in our 'ship-ships' (flip-flops) Although, there is a nip in the mornings (a +27 nip) ;)

 

Brown paper packages tied up with strings..these are a few of my favorite things..

Happy Thanksgiving (CDN)/Armed Forces Day (EGP) everyone! :)  We have just finished up a busy week at the school (pep rallys, interim reports were due, PD days and after-school activities are up and running) and while many of my friends have booked a train to scubadive in alexandria; i opted to stay in cairo and just chill.

Most people are celebrating Thanksgiving next week because there are more staff around.  Luther and i will be attending the large Thanksgiving Dinner next saturday.  I will be making apple crisp (mom- i need that apple crisp recipe!!) :)

Best part of beginning a (much needed) long weekend? PARCELS!!! from WINNIPEG!!

So thanks mom. :)

I got it from school (30LE to accept it) and it was most likely tampered with because the seal was with Egyptian tape.  However, they go through everything here, for safety and whatnot.  Its a good thing they didn't take anything though.  I needed my CDN living magazine fix!

In the package were lovely autumn-ish items that will never be found here in Cairo.  Teaching about leaves changing color here is completely pointless :P
Mom is also very adament on making sure i am keeping up with current events.  Prince william caught cheating!  Bachelorette drama! Lindsay Lohan getting crazy again!  TABLOID MAGAZINES!!  ENGLISH ONES!!

Thank you mom for supplying me with a nice dose of literary 'crap' that i will be rummaging through this weekend. :)

After opening the package i treated myself to 'Lucilles' - a great burger spot on Road 9 (kind of like an 'osborne village' of maadi.

Also, a big hello to everyone in Winnipeg who has been keeping in touch and reading.  There are more than i thought! 

Congrats to Teresa on her new place
A big hello to caroline and grandma
And lots of hugs to Luthers Family.

xoxo

p.s. luther is apparently attempting a haircut today.  I- however, will be growing my hair out like a crazy blonde amazon woman until i return to winnipeg for christmas.  I should probably book my appt. with fran ASAP...

parcel for ms.ali

thursday evening

            








 

My AUC Experience

So Ally passes me her PC (I am a Mac user just to make it clear) and says, "You have not posted anything on the blog, and we have been here for a month!" As a result, here I am a month later writing about my experiences in the far off distant land of Egypt. Well, let me tell you that Egypt is very much romantisized in plenty of literature - especially that of Egypt's history. No pre-reading on Cairo can prepare you for its busy overcrowded streets, smog filled air, and maze designed malls. However, somehow we have been able to manage and adapt to the arabian world. We not only stop at the local street vender for our fruits and vegetables, but we also are now able to walk around in the palm tree filled streets in 33 degree weather without breaking a sweat (this was unbearable before). The climitization of our bodies is a clear indicator that Cairo is beginning to feel like home.

I shall tell you about Cairo another time - Ally made it clear that information about my experiences at the AUC is imperitive in this post. So here goes... Where do I begin? My first day on campus during orientation week was overwhelming. As the large air conditioned bus pulled into the gated campus after a one hour commute in Cairo traffic to the "New Cairo" campus - I felt my blood rush with excitement. Security at the AUC is intense - first you must pass through the gated walls with armed security and then you must pass through metal dectectors and bag scanners before being permitted to enter the campus. It was at this point that I became emotional and shed a slight tear of joy. Here I was, in the midst of an american university, in Cairo, to be taking Egyptology. What adventures would await me? What challenges lie ahead? Granted, I am at the AUC to study, so although I was excited to study in Egypt, I also knew that this was going to be a challege.

The $400 million, 260-acre AUC campus is beautiful. Its outdoor courtyards with palm trees and arabic architecture mixed with modern makes it the perfect environment for academia to flourish. There is a large library that is modern in architecture and has an airy feel that provides refuge from the overcrowded loud city. Once in this library, your brain is able to turn to your studies and focus entirely. The space however is only one benefit to the library, its real gem lies on the third floor where you will find the "Rare Books Library". This library is home to some of the rarest books known to the field of Egyptology, and the examintion of some of these books require the archival process of using white gloves in a well ventelated room. I should note that one must pass through another set of security before being allowed access to both the main floor library and then another on the third floor rare books. Without an activated sudent card, access to this wonderful database is restricted.

There are many buildings on campus including a large gymnasium and an outdoor olympic size pool that is free to use by all students at anytime. It also has a large gardenspace that is filled with date trees, palm trees, and other exotic flowers unknown to North America. Although this space is beautiful, it is usually empty because it is in an open area and can be quite hot during the day. I must tell you now about the location where I will spend the next two years of my life. The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Hall is much like any another with regular class rooms consisting of white boards, overhead projectors, and a lecture desk for the professors. All of my classes are in a regular sitting setting with desks and not in a lecture hall setting.

These are all boring details - the interesting bits come from my classes. One of the classes I am taking is the History of Ancient Egypt with Dr. Sabahhy, where we examine the historiography of Ancient Egypt and look at reasons for historical change. Another class I am taking is Art and Architecture of anceint Egypt where we look at the art as a source and examine it for information on Egypt's past. So far, we have looked at pottery from periods such as the Neolithic Period and how it reflected early sun religion in Egypt. Geography of Ancient Egypt is also interesting. In this class we look at geographical reasons that provided the ancient Egyptians with their way of life - which was in some way restricted because they did not travel out of Egypt, but at the same time gave them everything they needed to survive. My last class is Hieroglyphics where we study the language of the ancient Egyptians in order to be able to read ancient hieroglyphic texts.

All of these classes are very interesting to me. They are of course, prerequisites for my Masters and the "A" average required in them has been pressure that motivates me on the weekends when I struggle through my hieroglyphics. I should tell you that there has been times that I am in class and when I see an artifact that I am familiar with, I get excited to find out more on it. I still cant believe that I am studying Egyptology in Egypt! Sometimes as I wander through the library, I see books that I have used in my undergraduate thesis that I had to interlibrary loan - just there for students to read.

I am sure that I have bored you enough with all this jargon on my classes - but I will definatly be informing you on more cool things that I learn in class. Tomorrow, I have my first field trip to an excavation site to the ancient site of Saqqara where Ptolemaic remains have been found and is currently being taken out of the ground!! Im really excited about all of this, and although I have a killer cold that causes me to cough up tons on gunk - I am going tomorrow if it kills me!

on campus

 

we know you were waiting for this post...

So now that i have a morning to myself (luther is sleeping. he has an awful cold) i figure i would update the blog.  Everyone keeps asking me when i'm seeing the pyramids.

So one morning, a large group of teachers (and a masters student!) climbed into 2 taxis to take us to Giza and experience 'Egypt'.

Giza is quite an interesting place.  Its not quite Cairo but its not quite outside of the city either.  You literally enter through a gate and go through an instant transition of car traffic to camel traffic.  The site isn't organized through the government so its a huge free-for-all for taxis, tou guides, food vendors, horse and camel tours, souvineers etc... 3 taxis full of young people are like fresh meat to these people.  Luckily, we had organized a guide/driver through a friend we had made in our travels earlier.  Driving up to the pyramids we had people banging on the windows demmanding us to buy their goods and ride their horses or camels.  There were children hanging off the car yelling at us.  The taxi drivers swerved a bit and yelled at them in Arabic to get them away.  When we got up to the site, we got our tickets (50%student discount!!!) and trudged through the sand, past the cheesy (yet alluring..) souvineers and landed smack dab in front of the largest pyramid in Giza.

Giza is made up of 3 pyramids and a few museums and temples/burial chambers which are now just piles of rubble.  I am sorry to inform everyone that it is now forbidden to climb the pyramids. :(  We paid extra to go inside of the largest and entered through a tiny hole on the side.  There isn't much to see because the entire room is gutted.  There are no inscriptions inside of it either because it is so old. It is still an amazing thing to experience.  Luther explained the book of the dead to us in Cheops burial chamber standing over his large granite tomb.  It was eery and beautiful.  I drive by the pyamids everyday and am baffled as to how the ancient egyptians managed to build such amazing structures in such heat.  And sand.  Have you ever walked through deep, dry sand?? its exhausting!!  Some of the more interesting things i learned...

Khufus (or some people refer to him as 'cheops') pyramid is the largest pyramid of the three on the Giza plateau.  He began construction while he was in his 20s.

He was also not the nicest guy around.  As described by Herodotus: “Cheops moreover came, they said, to such a pitch of wickedness, that being in want of money he caused his own daughter to sit in the stews, and ordered her to obtain from those who came a certain amount of money." PSYCHO.

Slaves were not forced to make the pyramids.(we all know it was aliens. or angels.)  Seriously though, Khufu actually provided food and clothing. According to Herodotus: “On the pyramid it is declared in Egyptian writing how much was spent on radishes and onions and leeks for the workmen'

The pyramids were covered in smooth limestone before people began tearing it off.  The ancient writer, Strabo, said: “It seemed like a building let down from heaven, untouched by human hands.” It has been calculated that the original pyramid with its casing stones would act like gigantic mirrors and reflect light so powerful that it would be visible from the moon as a shining star on earth.

After a long day at the pyramids, we quickly drove over to the sphinx (yes, THAT sphinx. With the missing nose! His chin is in the british museum somewhere) We took a ton of cheezy touristy pictures and headed for the BEST view is ALLLLL of giza to witness the pyramids at dusk. 

PIZZA HUT!

If you ask them nicely, (and buy lost of pizza) they will take you up to their rooftop where you can perfectly see the pyramids in the sunset. (And catch the overpriced Sphinx light show for free)

On our way home, we had already made friends with our taxi driver and he invited us all over for tea one weekend to meet his family.  More on this next posting...

camel photo-bomb



part-taking in ancient egyptian ritual of taking cheezy sphinx photos

pizza hut + pyramids = an awesome day

 

Welcome to the AUC

AUC

"Have you ever heard of a whirling dervish?" - Mr. Browne in Disneys Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Yes, Mr. Browne- i have seen them. :)

After a rather long day at work Luther convinced me to come out to AUC for his orientation party.  Wow.  This was quite a party. 

He showed me around campus, which was GORGEOUS. I mean, how many people can say they have an open-air hallway with a palm tree growing in the middle of their university??  And a fountain?!

We were directed to a small courtyard where there was dancing (whirling dervish!) Its a style of Egyptian dance where the dancers use skirts to create a beautiful, spinning parachute effect. 

Lots of great live music, lots of free Egyptian cuisine and of course, lots of international students looking for a swell time.  We met a ton of people (most from the US) and most said they were only here for the semester on an arabic language exchange program.  Luther had the chance to meet other students in his faculty (which is quite small- i mean- its egyptology.)  I think there were two. 

The AUC student guides were amazing and super-friendly.  Egyptians are very beautiful people, and are so incredibly welcoming. 

The campus did a great job at introducing everyone to the culture and i picked up some egyptian shwag.  Henna, bellydancing scarves and Luther got a fez.  freaking awesome.

Hopefully his classes will go as successfully as this party did!


im not a fan of figs. egyptians are.

AUC gear



1 month later..

It has nearly been one month since setting foot in the 3inch pile of sand/garbage that is in front of my apt. and i would never have guessed it.  Things are 'in the swing' so to speak and everyone is busy with school prep.

I haven't had time to writ but i will say i am incredibly happy here.  Luther is enjoying his classes and i hope to write again soon.

On that note, i should add that trying to stay as 'ms.ally' was pointless.  I am now 'ms.ali' which is ok with me because more kids remember it.  Its better than being called 'ms.' all the time.

A warning: Anyone that decides to plop a 'baba' on the end of my name gets it :P

 

 

On the ride home on the bus today...we passed a truck full of camels.  Thats right. Camels.

 

Ashley = grade 4 teacher and temorary pharmacist

This weekend has been inturrupted by Pharaoh's Revenge.

Google  it.