Checkin' in from New Hampshire

Well, I have a web-related job again and lots to write about. Maybe I'll start posting every so often. I was told to "start blogging again (expletive removed)". *laugh*

More to come, but not over the weekend. I'll be out and about walking and hanging out with folks at the ReEnergizeNH event.

I feel wonderful tonite!

Yes, I'm quoting Clapton! (but that's how I feel...and also happened to hear a cover of the Clapton song in an Egyptian movie tonight)

Big day with the last of my exams and my final time in my classrooms. *sniff* I also ran around Tanta on errands, saying goodbyes, trying to get some photos printed, etc.

The only downer was an email waiting for me when I got back. *sigh*

Months ago, I applied for a volunteer program called "The Climate Project" which is a program to get Al Gore's word out about the environment. They wanted people to be trained as presenters of his message and then do talks. I thought my skills/interests were perfect for it. Unfortunately, the folks at the program seem to feel otherwise. *frown*

They emailed today to say that I will _not_ be invited to the training sessions, but that I can host some small group discussions about a DVD of "An Inconvenient Truth, and Al Gore’s award-winning documentary". So...don't be surprised if I invite you to a showing in January!

I'm disappointed, but at least I know the situation now. I had been really looking forward to the possibility of going to these training sessions and then traveling around a bit to make presentations. Now, I just need to swich gears and put my energy in a different direction.

First exam = finished

Got back from a great weekend around Fayoum.

Fun with friends last night, then tonight gave an exam and said goodbye to a group of students. *frown*

I'll try to write this week b/c Internet access will be a bit unpredictable after I move on Thursday.

American Football!

So, would you believe I got to watch the first half of the Lions game LIVE on TV on Thursday?

*laugh*

Yes, really!!!

I'm thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I'm off to Cairo in a few minutes, but wanted to give you a bit to think about while I'm gone. In getting ready for Thanksgiving and my return to the US, I've been thinking a lot about how blessed I am.

I have friends/family scattered all around the world who love/care about me and I feel the same way about them. Some of you, I haven't seen in years (or years and years) but that doesn't matter. I'll see many of you soon and work to get to know each other better again.

For the past 4 years, I've been in a wonderful country surrounded by fantastic people who have tried to help me with almost anything I have needed. There were difficult times, but I always knew that I had people to turn to.

I love this place and I'm going to miss it.

Enjoy your time with loved ones!

Oh...I can't forget this: Tanta in the news! (from the Christian Science Monitor)

Back in Tanta...

Good weekend with friends in Cairo for my Going-Away party and MCC meeting. Wow, am I going to miss people here!

I also attended a 2-day conference on teaching and a lecture by William Dalrymple. The lecture was very intersting and MCC was nice enough to buy his book, From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East, which I'm now reading. It's about travels all around ancient monasteries and Christian spots. Dalrymple is an amazing writer!

A Better Blog?

If you're reading this, then you got your invitation to read the Blog and made it over whatever hurdles Blogger put up. It's now "private" and inaccessible unless I invite people.

As you may have noticed, one recent post from this week has been heavily edited (including the deletion of 3 pictures). In addition, I removed nearly a dozen other pictures that I had uploaded with Picassa and to Flickr.

Some of the discussions I mentioned in a previous post are happening. Continue to pray for understanding and forgiveness.

I've hurt people

It seems that I have hurt some people in Tanta with the things I have written in this Blog and some of the pictures have put up.

I hope that they will forgive me and I hope that they will talk with me about the problems they see. I won't say more than that at this time, but I will tell you more personally. If you're in Tanta and understand what I am writing about, please call me to discuss this or talk with me face-to-face.

So...this is the last post for awhile, at least until I can talk with people. Instead of writing anything new, I will be going through what I have put up in the past, to see where the problems could be.

I know it is painful for those people, but this is also very painful for me. It feels like with this one mistake, I've erased all of the work I've done in Tanta. This is a very difficult situation for me right now because I don't know who I've hurt or how, really. I need their help to help me learn and understand.

I hope we (people in Tanta and myself) can all learn from this.

Clowns Without Borders

I want to bring an organization to your attention. Awhile back, I met 2 people in Cairo who were visiting to share their clowning abilities.

Well...they're coming back soon as part of Clowns Without Borders -- "no child without a smile". Give if you can.

Great weekend with Tons of Friends! (heavily edited)

(several pictures removed, out of respect for people shown in them)

What a fun time! Early Friday morning (7.15am), my friends Amber and Ben arrived from Cairo. From the train station, we had the good fortune of meeting up with a priest who was going to the same village we were, so he offered us a ride. There were 4 of us, so we squeezed into his big station wagon, along with 3 other men. I recognized the priest, but my Egyptian friend was the one who made the connection -- it was her family's home in the village that we were heading for...

The short ride was OK for me, but Amber, Ben, and my friend had to deal with the gas fumes coming into the back of the car. Thankfully, we were able to clear the air by opening a couple of windows...

Once in the village, we met my friend's parents and started our day. We had lots of tea, a lovely lunch, and 2 nice walks around the fields. On the walks, we saw lots of my friend's extended family -- a cousin, uncles, 2nd/3rd uncles and cousins, etc.

Earlier in the week, I told my friend that I had one big wish for the trip:
Yeah!!!! My wish came true! (picture of me riding a donkey removed)

Then, once we were back in Tanta, we went out for a nice dinner and back to my place to play games (just Amber and Ben, b/c they were staying the night with me).

Saturday morning, we had a pleasant breakfast together at my apartment and then I showed them around Tanta a bit before their train back to Cairo.

After that, I had just a few hours to get ready for my going-away party. *smile* I knew nothing about who was invited, or any of the plans. My director and everyone kept the secrets very well and I was very surprised by things!

For starters, my director invited 2 of my really good friends who now live in Alexandria and Tanta to the party. Micho and Mina were guys who I spent tons of time with before they moved so it was wonderful to have them with me at the celebration! My friends Mikel and Fady joined us in the car for the drive over.

At the party, I spoke, plus my director, 2 of the other teachers, my boss James, my friend George, and the Bishop. During some of the talks, I laughed...while during others, I cried. Some people were very serious about things, but there was also a "roast" and video montage from my time in Egypt. This solved the mystery of why there were so many recent visitors to my Blog from Egypt -- people were reading it and finding pictures to use in this presentation! *laugh* I will get a copy of it and show people when I get back to the U.S. *smile*

Now, the "roast" part was done by one of my former students and the younger brother of one of my good friends. He likes acting and was also the class clown when I had him as a student! Well...he took my mannerisms and way of dressing and just nailed it! In this pic, you can see the style of sandals I often wear and wrinkled khaki pants with the cuffs rolled up! I never realized people noticed these things or found them so funny! I wish I had video of this, but I'll have to settle for the memories and a few digital pics!

Friends on Friday

I have 2 American friends from Cairo (Amber and Ben) coming to visit on Friday, so I'm trying to get my apartment around. It's clean, so mostly I'm just trying to pick things up and get things looking nice.

Thankfully, the the weather has gotten a bit warmer today. We're planning to go out to a farm in a village outside Tanta for the day. Amber and Ben are coming on a 6am train, so I'm betting they'll be tired at the end of the day -- that means an early dinner and early bedtime.

They'll stay with me Friday night and then go back to Cairo Saturday morning. Then just a few hours after that, James and Linda are coming to Tanta for my going-away party.

Hmmmm....I guess I should prepare some things to say. *sigh*

I hate goodbyes.

New (to me) travel site

Well, maybe other people have known about this site for awhile, but I just stumbled across Wcities Destination Guide which has a nice section on Cairo. It's a nice mix of edited reader-submitted content and writing that comes straight from the company. Look elsewhere for blunt opinions, but I like the style of this one.

They cover major cities in countries around the world. Worth checking out for background information before a trip or to figure what to do and where to stay once you get to your destination.

Traffic Control!

Riding in around with a friend in his car today and saw something truly amazing!

-- an Egyptian police officer actually controlling traffic! *laugh* (and boy, was he)

This was at an intersection near the train station where traffic comes from about 5 different angles and there are also cement barriers in place to move you in the right way. But people still try to do anything they want.

So...a guy with his donkey cart starts coming through the intersection and wants to veer to the left. Apparently, the police officer didn't agree b/c he reached out, grabbed the reigns, and pulled the donkey to the right! Wow!

Now, that's service!

As previously mentioned, I am a proud number of a pre-owned Mercedes-Benz.

Apparently, ownership has it's privileges b/c they offer free road-side assistance for the life of every vehicle...no matter how many owners or how many miles!

-a few gallons of fuel if you run out
-jump-start if needed
-changing your flat tire to a spare

Pleasant Political Surprise!

As I write this (7.20am EDT), CNN is saying that Dems have taken the House, but the Senate is still undecided.

Also, here's a run-down of various ballot measures and their (predicted) outcomes.

Something I've learned

It dawned on me today that one of the things I've learned in Egypt is to appreciate people in "the service industry".

Every day, I interact with guys where I teach who work hard cleaning, making tea, etc. for very little money.

I also see guys sweating it out at restaurants all day, serving food, cleaning up, and all that. These guys are always smiling and people usually seem very thankful for what they do. I think people tend to be "regulars" at places far more here than in the US, so it pays to build a relationship. Or maybe it's just that everywhere I go is small, so servers are bound to remember people if they come in on a regular basis.

Today I thought of this b/c one of my local cafes recently added an oven and now serves up my favorite Egyptian food, fatir!

That pic is from "Boots in the Oven" which also includes a ton of other great shots from Egypt,. (DSL or faster only -- very heavy on the pics).

License Plate in Egypt

Walking home from class today, I saw this license plate in the back window of a car:

BIG 4X4

No big deal, right?

Well, except that it was a MICHIGAN license plate and it appeared to be real, not just some cheap imitation!

Burning trash

They're burning trash in my neighborhood today. *achoo*

So...my alergies are going crazy -- red eyes, sneezing, etc. It took me awhile to realize what was happening. I guess I should shut my windows, but I want them open to get some warm air in here, since the weather is decent today.

Want to work for the United Nations?

Anyone interested in working for the UN or related organizations? It appears they're hiring in some very specific fields (none of mine, unfortunately) and offer very attractive packages.

Hunting on Election Day?

Why, oh why???

"Cheney to go hunting on Election Day". (from CBS News)