Fun Facts About the Nile

I often have to remind myself that I live next to one of the largest geographical features in the world. The name comes from the Greek word Neilos, meaning river valley. The Nile River is the largest in the world, beating out it's nearest competitor the Amazon.

There are two major tributaries to the Nile, the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile flows through Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt. The Blue Nile flows through Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Barundi. Together they form what we know as the Nile, which stretches for roughly 4,200 miles.
The amount of water that flows through the river on an average day is enormous. Take into consideration Niagra Falls. On an average day it passes about 13 billion gallons of water. The Nile passes about 79.5 billion gallons on an average day.

Here in Egypt most of the people, 95%, live "along the Nile". Meaning that they use the water from the Nile in some way to sustain themselves. If you see a geographical map the Nile river looks like a lush green snake slithering through the desert.

It is things like these that really amaze me about being here. Not to mention I also live in the biggest city in Africa, but that is another future fun fact. Years from now when I have my children at the table I can tell them stories about when I lived in Africa along the Nile.

Swiftly Go My Days

A little update for school. I am loving where I am right now. Teaching is good, life is good. I have had to work very hard these first couple of weeks, but it is starting to ease up a little. I have a little more free time than other teachers so I have taken it upon myself to be checking on "MY" classes all the time. I follow my ninth grade to every class that I can to make sure that they get there on time. It is begining to work, only one person was late to class this week as opposed to about ten last week.

It is hard for these students to understand the concept of personal responsibility. Holding that to be true, you can imagine how hard some other aspects of school are for them. If they are late it is not their fault, if they are talking in class it is not their fault. I had a class that was left in my room unattended for an entire period. They kicked a soccer ball around and put marks on my walls and went through my desk. Needless to say when I got in from PE and saw that my room had been torn up I was angry. I had the entire class stay for detention. They had to write an apology letter. They did, however no one claimed responsibility and only one person bothered to tell me the truth. So they stayed with me everyday until they told me the truth and admitted what they did. They just could not understand that even though the administration messed up and left them alone that it was their responsibility not to tear up my room. "But, they left us alone, what were we going to do?" uhmmmm how about not kick a soccer ball around the room? Sheesh!

I have been holding detention in my room everyday during lunch for two reasons. One reason is that there is not room enough for all of the detention students anywhere else. The other is that most of them are mine anyways and I want to show them that when they misbehave I will be following them every step of the way. Not only am I the teacher, but I am the one you answer to when you make a mistake. I have been really hard on "MY" classes, but in the same respect I have explained to them and shown them why I have done this. I need them to understand that they are "MY" class even when they are not in my class room. I work hard to teach them and have them do the right thing. When you work hard at something it has worth to you. Therefore all my students have worth to me and are "MY" classes and when they misbehave in other classes it still affects me. I am here for them all of the time, be it good or bad. Most of the kids are starting to get it.

Ramadan starts in about a week. Every school day will be shortened to get out at 2 instead of 3. That will be kinda nice, but the class periods will be so short then that it will be difficult to get much done. Looks like it will turn out to be more of a project month than anything else. In case anyone one is wondering Ramadan is about a month long and is a time when all Muslims are expected to fast from sun up to sun down, if they are not old enough, not pregnant, not sick,.... you get the idea, then they don't have to or make it up at some other time. Fasting means, no food, no water, no cigarettes, nothing. So most people wake up early and eat a bucket full of food and than fast all day. Around three or four most people are getting home from work or school and take a nap until nine or so. Then they will stay up eating and such until the early morning hours. Then they sleep for a few more hours and then get up to eat and then go to work/school again. It is a crazy month. I think I am going to try and keep with the custom. I almost do it now anyways. I eat a very little bit in the morning and then don't have anything but water until about four at night. If I can stretch that out a little then I will be within the limits.
Arabic classes are going well. I am learning new things everyday and picking up little bits of conversation which is nice, but i am still not at the level to hold a conversation with anyone. We get off for October 6th because of the anniversary of the "victory" over Israel. I think my roomate and I are going up to Alexandria to stay the weekend with a teacher freind. I'll take lots of pictures.

SPAM

I have been having a little trouble with Spam on the blog. Therefore I am enacting word verification. This means that when you leave a comment it will ask you to type in some word. This is to thwart auto spam dealies. It shouldn't be too hard. thanks

Mayumi and I

This picture was taken right after a Felucca ride and about half a second before Yumi pointed at her brain through her nose.

Playing Futbol In Sandals Is Stupid

The other week I was playing futbol (soccer) with the kids in my ninth grade class. We were playing on a cement surface and after consideration i decided to play despite the fact that I was wearing sandals. Part of my toenail is what I payed for that decision. It didn't really hurt too much and it was worth it to play with the kids and get to know them.

Shiesha

Delicious

Here in Cairo and in most of the rest of the Mediteranean and Middle East, it is common to smoke a sheisha while having coffee, drinks, or before and after dinner. It is a nice way for freinds to gather around a common object and enjoy themselves. How does it work? Well, let me explain. The shiesha, or as we call it in the states, Hukia, is basically a large water pipe. You will see the man in the picture putting large coals on top. These coals are placed on a screen that is right above a chamber that holds tobacco. The tobacco has many sweet flavors like apple, cherry, mango, and so on. The coals heat the tobacco but never actually touch it. The smoke then enters the lower chamber and is filtered by the water in the bottom of the chamber. Most sheishas have only one tube coming off of them, but some have more. It is very smooth and sweet smoke, but i have heard that they are far worse for you than cigarettes.

The Other Day On the Way To School

On the way to school this past week we were slowed down along the highway. The truck in the photo had jumped the median and gotten stuck halfway across.

School Days

I have now been teaching, for real, for about a week and i am starting to get a feel for the classes that I have. Most of my kids are good, academically and behavioral. Some you can see the evil in their eyes. I haven't had too many problems yet. I have kicked out three kids and have given four detentions. Detentions are bad for me because there is not a room to put them in at the moment. So if I want to give one then it has to be in my room which means that i have to give up my lunch. I have a desk and white erase boards and a set of class books. The kids still do not have books of their own or lockers.

One of the most etntertaining things is teaching PE. Yesterday I played basketball against some of the eleventh graders. I was actually one of the better players. It felt very strange. I also play futbol and throw the frisbee around. That is all that I have done so far. In a few weeks we will start a unit for American football. It is really funny because a female teacher and I are the head teachers for around 300 students. Everything is up to us.

Life here is still going well. I joined a course at the local community center taking arabic. I am hoping that, according to the five year plan, once I am back in the states wherever i go to grad school will accept arabic as a form of Mediteranean Studies instead of having to take Greek or Latin. Either way it will be nice to have so that one day I can snap on a kid in class and do it in arabic. I haven't been doing much lately, just preparing to teach and going out around town. Hope things are going well in the states.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised...

However, it will be posted on my blog. Today was the first official day. Although most of it was spent doing nothing. I only got to meet with one of my classes, ninth graders. They were pretty cool except for one kid who will be having frequent high volume chats with me. Not much else to say. Hopefully monday i will have met with some of the other students in my tenths grades. On a lighter note, one of the administrators told me to watch out because some of the senior girls having been talking about me. ;)

Fun Fact & A trip to the Bazaar

Last week wednesday i think, I went to a bazaar in the old muslim heart of Ciaro. It was pretty cool. There were lots of shops full of guys trying to sell you stuff. One of the coolest thingsi saw was a man making a backgammon/chessboard out of mother of pearl and various other really really small things. It was beautiful. The best part is that it cost 160LE or about 25US. Very cheap for such a fine made hand craft piece. I also saw some historical markers. I saw a mosque that was 700 years old. I also had a shiesh and some mango juice in a cafe that has been open continuesly for over three hundred years, take that George Web. It was a very nice outing with the girls and I am very glad that i went.

Fun Fact: People live in the city of the dead. As you can see from the photo, most of the tombs are above ground. Or so it seems. The bodies are underground in tombs. The upper portions used to be a place for family to stay for a period of time as they mourned their dead. They still are to some degree. Most are now rented to people who act as caretakers for the area. I must admit, at first it was a little discomforting to see all the people,cars, and satelite dishes in the city of the dead.

A Day at Ain Suhkna

This past weekend I got to go to Ain Suhkna. It's a beach front town about two hours from Cairo, or about an hour with our driver! We went to go to a fellow teachers family home. When we arrived they were not yet ready to receive us, so we hung out on the beach for three or four hours. It was very hot, but there was a breeze and the water was a nice bath water temperature. It was also very salty. If you look in the background you can see a lot of what look like long black lines on the water. Those are tankers, presumably they are waiting to go through the Suez.

The water was pretty clear up to about three feet and then you lost sight of the bottom. I saw a few fish, nothing bigger than my hand, and one of the other teacher found some sand dollars, but she didn't keep them because they were still alive. Mayumi couldn't make it, so part of my time i spent collecting shells, beach glass, and old coral to give to her on her birthday.

When we got to the house we were greeted by many egyptian women sitting about and the smell of something grilling. All the daedas, (spelling?)servants, were fluttering about getting things ready. We played a few games before eating. I played Pente for the first time with Tom. It was fun to learn, apparently it is a really really old game.

Then we ate. My favorite was Kofta, Jesse and i call them camel turds. They look like a turd and are beef, or camel, ground up with spices. They taste good! For most of the rest of the time we sat around listening to Jesse tell of life on a large pig farm and all the gruesome details that go with that. It was quite entertaining. We got home around ten on Saturday night with school the next day. It was a very nice day, but lasted a long time.

The Citadel

Can you see it through the haze? Most of the time we can see the citadel from our balcony. However, photos don't really capture it well enough for my satisfaction. I may be a little off but, I think it was built circa 1100 by Saladin (spelled wrong?). He was able to band together factions in the area to hold off against the invading crusaders. Soon enough I will go for a tour and get some better info. The best way to see it is to blow it up as your desktop. Then look in the middle. You will see a hill with a rounded object and two spires. That is the Citadel. It looks a lot cooler in real life! Condsidering its about a fifteen minute drive from here, I guess we can see it pretty well.

Mayumi's birthday party

On Sunday night we went to a birthday party for our favorite now three year old, Mayumi. It was a nice party. We had pizza, cake that was wierd and huge, and presents from all her adult freinds. Its too bad she does not yet have freinds her own age, but i think she had a good time.

I can buy a coke with this

A month's pay.

Fun Fact

People don't wear shorts here. Unless you really don't care or you are out in the middle of nowhere, then it's ok. Short sleeves are ok with men and somewhat ok with the ladies. Yes, it makes it hotter, but you are pretty hot anyways so a little more doesn't hurt and it also protects your skin from the sun.

The Tea That Went to Everest Now Goes To Cairo!

I love sport tea, if anyone sends me anything, send me a case of sport tea. HMMM.... maybe if i send this to Alterra I can get them to send me a case? hahaha.

I got my room at school today. MY ROOM! ah... that feels good to say. It is kinda small but i think it will be fine. I have two large windows that face out onto..., you guessed it, the desert. Everything is going well so far. This weekend I think I am getting outside of the Belly of the Beast for a day. The school is trying to set up a weekend trip for the teachers to go to Ain Suhkna. It's a beach front town that is technically along the Gulf of Suez. One of the teachers family has a place there that maybe we can spend a day at.

Jesse and i got our hair cut today which was an adventure. (the picture was taken yesterday) The guy cutting Jesse's hair obviously had not cut his own in some time. My guy must have gone to Cairo Barber School for the Partially Blind. As soon as i got home I did some work of my own. I don't think my hair has been this short in ten years.

on the Nile

me,jesse, mayumi, and the Nile.

On the Nile

I really wanted to post a short video i took with my camera, but it wouldn't work. I hope the photos do justice. These are from the Faluka ride i took about a week ago, since then i have gone on another. They are great, about fifteen dollars US for a two hours cruise up and down the Nile for a group of people. Very cheap!

Tday was fun. Jesse and I went to the center of the city along the Nile. A fellow teacher and freind, Ann, invited us to a concert under the 26 of July bridge. It was nice to be along the Nile, on some grass, listening to good music with good people. All is well and looks to continue that way

Tonight..... I can write...

my arteries harden
as smoke pours from my mouth and life

sweat hangs from my forehead
like ripe mangos bobbing in from the trees

pollen drifting in the breeze
taken from flowers with relative ease

heaven restores you in life
coming with me through the fear the love and the strife