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!!