Happy Birthday to my Dad!!!!
It's Saturday and I just got back from my first teaching class. But more about that later...
This is a long-overdue post from Tuesday
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Craig and I are visiting Beni Suef today. We’re checking out St. Mark school for the possibility of having a teacher here. I’m shipping Arabic class to be here! *laugh*
It’s been worth it. We saw classes of children learning at a “language school”. That means all classes except for Social Studies are taught in English. The government has a mandate for Social Studies to be in Arabic. Among other subjects, French and German are taught. So, these kids could know 4 languages before going to University. We me t a brother/sister pair with extended family in Egypt, but their parents are in Italy. So they are here to learn in school and experience Egyptian culture – Italian plus 4 other languages = 5 total!
Kids here want to learn and they need to learn. One thing is for placements tests for admission to University. In the U.S., it’s a new concept to teach students to do well on standardized tests like the Michigan Educational Assessment Program. Sure, there are the ACT/SAT tests, but most intense prep for that takes place outside of school. It’s just accepted here that schools teach for the tests, I think.
Many students asked about my opinion on the U.S./Iraq situation. Maybe they’re more aware/concerned than U.S. students? Not sure about that… My answer was that I prefer peace and I hope that things can be settled through diplomacy.
It’s good to see how children learn, so that when I am teaching adults, I know a bit of their background. I’m also finding that my Arabic classes and tiny understanding of grammar will help me connect the 2 languages and see/hear the difficulties my students will have.
It will be interesting to connect with the church program in Tanta. The priest we are talking with today is very educated and is speaking on many topics. We’ve had tea and snacks a total of 3 times today, plus lunch! Lots of tea. Definitely a tea-drinking culture. In the morning, we were at the school, but now we are at a “retreat center”. It’s mostly empty now, but is busy at certain times during the year.
“Real” chocolate doesn’t seem to exist here for Egyptian-made foods. Only the candies imported from England taste like chocolate. But some of the items are pretty good. My current favorite is little wafers with chocolate between different layers and then covered in chocolate.
For lunch, we had soup and then a type of stew for the main dish. It was a tomato-flavored base with potato, peas, and carrots in it. We also had spicy slices of potato as a side dish and bananas for desert. The priest complained that there weren’t any oranges, but the staff didn’t return with them until after we finished eating.
Saturday, March 15, 2003
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Cooking? Me? I haven't really been cooking and the topic of what I've been eating is going to be a future journal topic. But I'll write it to you first and then put it in the journal later this week.
At the flat, the extent of my cooking is PB&J sandwiches and grilled pita/cheese sandwiches. I also do scrambled eggs sometimes in the morning, or corn flakes with slices of banana.
When I eat out, the most recent thing I've discovered is "hamburger with egg". It's a fried egg done in a little circle and served on a bun with a small hamburger. One place I've had it just puts on ketchup and a slice of tomato, but tonight I also had some cucumber and green pepper at a different place.
Yes, I'm trying to eat my veggies every now and then. The vegetables and fruits are very flavorful and fresh here. I've never really liked tomato on things, but they're really good here!
I also get "tamaya" fairly often. It's pretty similar to falafel that you'd get in the states. It comes in half a pita with some shredded leafy green stuff added in. With my tamaya, I sometimes get "fuul" (pronounced like "fool". It's fava beans mushed up and served in a pita with veggies.
That stuff is fairly healthful, although pretty heavy in carbohydrates.
Unfortunately, I've also been eating lots of candy. Weird. I'm not a big candy bar person, but I've just been trying the things we don't have in the U.S. There are probably 100 different choices that fall into that category. There are also good little bakeries all around. Last week, I bought a kilo (2.2 pounds) of baklava (called baklawa or golesh here) for 8LE. So that's less than $1.50 U.S. Is there anywhere in Michigan that you could get it for that price?? *laugh* It was really good too. No, I didn't eat all of it. I shared some with classmates, with people at the office, and with Darren.
Strangely enough, I have yet to eat anything with date in it. There are little deserts with date, but I haven't felt like them. I'm really on a chocolate kick right now. (that's "shocolat" in Arabic -- seriously)
At the flat, the extent of my cooking is PB&J sandwiches and grilled pita/cheese sandwiches. I also do scrambled eggs sometimes in the morning, or corn flakes with slices of banana.
When I eat out, the most recent thing I've discovered is "hamburger with egg". It's a fried egg done in a little circle and served on a bun with a small hamburger. One place I've had it just puts on ketchup and a slice of tomato, but tonight I also had some cucumber and green pepper at a different place.
Yes, I'm trying to eat my veggies every now and then. The vegetables and fruits are very flavorful and fresh here. I've never really liked tomato on things, but they're really good here!
I also get "tamaya" fairly often. It's pretty similar to falafel that you'd get in the states. It comes in half a pita with some shredded leafy green stuff added in. With my tamaya, I sometimes get "fuul" (pronounced like "fool". It's fava beans mushed up and served in a pita with veggies.
That stuff is fairly healthful, although pretty heavy in carbohydrates.
Unfortunately, I've also been eating lots of candy. Weird. I'm not a big candy bar person, but I've just been trying the things we don't have in the U.S. There are probably 100 different choices that fall into that category. There are also good little bakeries all around. Last week, I bought a kilo (2.2 pounds) of baklava (called baklawa or golesh here) for 8LE. So that's less than $1.50 U.S. Is there anywhere in Michigan that you could get it for that price?? *laugh* It was really good too. No, I didn't eat all of it. I shared some with classmates, with people at the office, and with Darren.
Strangely enough, I have yet to eat anything with date in it. There are little deserts with date, but I haven't felt like them. I'm really on a chocolate kick right now. (that's "shocolat" in Arabic -- seriously)
Sunday, March 09, 2003
More music in my ears as I type. Right now, I’m listening to a band or a guy called “Gomez”. Has anyone heard of them? No idea where they’re from. Either the U.S. or U.K. probably. Over the past couple of days, I’ve also been listening to Robbie Williams, Morcheba, and Jennifer Paige. It’s all good stuff that my friend from Arabic class gave me.
It’s 10:30pm and I just got back from worshiping with a church in Orlando, Florida.
Confused?
Well, here’s the story. There’s an evangelical Egyptian Arabic-language church here in Cairo that has several thousand people in its congregation. They have so many people involved that they have services almost every night of the week and they fill up! Probably over 1000 people at each service. On Sunday nights, they offer headphones and someone is translating everything into English.
Tonight, they went one big step further and connected with a live audio/video link with a church called Northland in Orlando. One of the pastors from here flew there and a pastor plus a few people for the worship band came to Cairo. Over the past few days, they have been doing services for specific groups like youth and Sundanese. There was a projector and a big screen showing us the congregation/preachers in Orlando and they had the same so that they could see/hear us. It was quite a production!
Quite an interesting mix of America and Egypt. We sang contemporary songs in English and Arabic at the same time! Or at least we tried… There were only a few native English-speakers in the audience. I went by myself, but I saw Juan, Cathy, Julie, and Sherrie from the Presbyterian volunteer group, so I sat with them. They were joined by a few Egyptian friends, so it was quite fun to chat before/after the service.
The pastor who was here from Florida looked and sounded far too much like George W. *laugh* All kidding aside, he related a story about someone at their hotel here in Cairo asking him if he was the President. Weird…
There were 2 different sermons/messages given and one of themes was peace. That’s not surprising, I suppose. The messages also helped me to continue thinking about Grace and doing good acts. It’s been something I’ve thinking about the past few days.
I’ve come to a decision of sorts, or at a least a statement to make.
Grace and forgiveness is available to everyone. We just need to give up our earthly “selves” and bow down to the Lord. If we ask for Grace and forgiveness, it will be given to us. “Doing good things” has no direct connection with this. It’s not necessary in order to receive Grace.
But, “doing good things” is a way of saying thank you to God! *smile* It’s also one way of spreading His good will to others.
I surprise myself sometimes with the thoughts that run through my brain and get processed. These previous couple of paragraphs are a new understanding for me.
On other topics…
This afternoon, I got an International Student Identification Card. Yeah – now I get 50% off admission to museums/tourist locations, plus reduced rates on airfare, train/bus tickets, and at some stores/restaurants. I just needed to prove that I am a student and I did that by showing them the receipt for my Arabic classes and my upcoming teaching course. The card cost 52LE but that will quickly pay for itself!
Actually, I’ve already saved 3LE by using it. *grin* After getting the card, I went to the nearest touristy/historical spot. It happened to be the “Nilometer”. Before the building of the Aswan dam, when the water level of the Nile was controlled by nature, this was the measuring stick to see how much rainfall there had been and to predict how good the crops would be.
Now that it is not used, it’s just for tourists to look at. Unfortunately, there isn’t much posted to read about it, but the Lonely Planet guidebook gave some good info. I took some pictures, but they aren’t posted yet.
I’ll get to that in a few days, hopefully.
I haven’t been sending updates when I write in this journal, so hopefully people are still reading. Also, don’t forget to check out the archives, if you haven’t read my writings in awhile.
It’s 10:30pm and I just got back from worshiping with a church in Orlando, Florida.
Confused?
Well, here’s the story. There’s an evangelical Egyptian Arabic-language church here in Cairo that has several thousand people in its congregation. They have so many people involved that they have services almost every night of the week and they fill up! Probably over 1000 people at each service. On Sunday nights, they offer headphones and someone is translating everything into English.
Tonight, they went one big step further and connected with a live audio/video link with a church called Northland in Orlando. One of the pastors from here flew there and a pastor plus a few people for the worship band came to Cairo. Over the past few days, they have been doing services for specific groups like youth and Sundanese. There was a projector and a big screen showing us the congregation/preachers in Orlando and they had the same so that they could see/hear us. It was quite a production!
Quite an interesting mix of America and Egypt. We sang contemporary songs in English and Arabic at the same time! Or at least we tried… There were only a few native English-speakers in the audience. I went by myself, but I saw Juan, Cathy, Julie, and Sherrie from the Presbyterian volunteer group, so I sat with them. They were joined by a few Egyptian friends, so it was quite fun to chat before/after the service.
The pastor who was here from Florida looked and sounded far too much like George W. *laugh* All kidding aside, he related a story about someone at their hotel here in Cairo asking him if he was the President. Weird…
There were 2 different sermons/messages given and one of themes was peace. That’s not surprising, I suppose. The messages also helped me to continue thinking about Grace and doing good acts. It’s been something I’ve thinking about the past few days.
I’ve come to a decision of sorts, or at a least a statement to make.
Grace and forgiveness is available to everyone. We just need to give up our earthly “selves” and bow down to the Lord. If we ask for Grace and forgiveness, it will be given to us. “Doing good things” has no direct connection with this. It’s not necessary in order to receive Grace.
But, “doing good things” is a way of saying thank you to God! *smile* It’s also one way of spreading His good will to others.
I surprise myself sometimes with the thoughts that run through my brain and get processed. These previous couple of paragraphs are a new understanding for me.
On other topics…
This afternoon, I got an International Student Identification Card. Yeah – now I get 50% off admission to museums/tourist locations, plus reduced rates on airfare, train/bus tickets, and at some stores/restaurants. I just needed to prove that I am a student and I did that by showing them the receipt for my Arabic classes and my upcoming teaching course. The card cost 52LE but that will quickly pay for itself!
Actually, I’ve already saved 3LE by using it. *grin* After getting the card, I went to the nearest touristy/historical spot. It happened to be the “Nilometer”. Before the building of the Aswan dam, when the water level of the Nile was controlled by nature, this was the measuring stick to see how much rainfall there had been and to predict how good the crops would be.
Now that it is not used, it’s just for tourists to look at. Unfortunately, there isn’t much posted to read about it, but the Lonely Planet guidebook gave some good info. I took some pictures, but they aren’t posted yet.
I’ll get to that in a few days, hopefully.
I haven’t been sending updates when I write in this journal, so hopefully people are still reading. Also, don’t forget to check out the archives, if you haven’t read my writings in awhile.
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