For those of you within reasonable driving distance of Albion, check out:
Salman Rushdie to Present Isaac Keynote
Salman Rushdie is speaking on Thursday night!! This is apparently causing lots of issues/questions on campus, so there are pre-Rushdie sessions, too:
Albion College Muslims Offer Perspective On Rushdie Visit
Interesting stuff...
Saturday, April 19, 2003
I just got back from a performance at my church of the "Combined Churches Choir". People from different English-speaking churches around Cairo get together for this traveling group. They're good!!! The music to go with them is on tape, but their voices area amazing. The only song I recognized was "I Lift Your Name", but they were all really good.
One called "My Holy Cry" really struck me, so I want to share the lyrics:
I'm poisoned by the lies this world's been feeding me.
It's no longer an avoidable reality.
Self-centered living never leaves a heart at peace.
I must cut my ties with this world, repent, and turn and flee.
I cry out to You Lord. Will you answer me?
Holy Spirit, flow; come and set me free.
I lift my eyes to see Your face.
Lord, I worship You on high and in Your grace,
I seek Your will. This is my holy cry.
The decadence around me wants to put my soul to death.
And I know full well this compromise
Has caused my soul's distress.
I'm hearing hatred raging like a lion's roar.
Lord, I am for peace, but what they speak is only war.
-----quite a song, eh? Comments???
Our minister and one of the women from our church who is in the choir both asked me if I wanted to sing with them next year, when I told them how wonderful it was... Is that weird, or what? I'm guessing that they really need male voices, since out of a group of about 70, only about 20 were guys. They only perform at Christmas and Easter, so I have awhile to think about it and with me in Tanta, it would be difficult (bordering on impossible) to do, but I might look into the possibility.
After that, I watched a bit of soccer on TV. The 2 big Egyptian teams were playing each other, so I looked at the TV in a coffee shop to see the end.
Arabic is going well, but I've devoted time to it today that I wish I could have given to my teaching course. I need to look things over tonight and then spend most of tomorrow on a lesson plan (for Monday), meeting with my classmates, and working on an assignment (for Wednesday)
----Thinking about fun things…I got to chat with my good friend Mike for about 30 minutes last night on MSN Messenger. Among other things, he told me that I should think about making one main “pictures” page with the links to all my different photos. It’s an idea I had been thinking about, so when I have a bit of time, I’ll try to add that. Maybe on Tuesday?
But now, it’s time for some email and studying…
One called "My Holy Cry" really struck me, so I want to share the lyrics:
I'm poisoned by the lies this world's been feeding me.
It's no longer an avoidable reality.
Self-centered living never leaves a heart at peace.
I must cut my ties with this world, repent, and turn and flee.
I cry out to You Lord. Will you answer me?
Holy Spirit, flow; come and set me free.
I lift my eyes to see Your face.
Lord, I worship You on high and in Your grace,
I seek Your will. This is my holy cry.
The decadence around me wants to put my soul to death.
And I know full well this compromise
Has caused my soul's distress.
I'm hearing hatred raging like a lion's roar.
Lord, I am for peace, but what they speak is only war.
-----quite a song, eh? Comments???
Our minister and one of the women from our church who is in the choir both asked me if I wanted to sing with them next year, when I told them how wonderful it was... Is that weird, or what? I'm guessing that they really need male voices, since out of a group of about 70, only about 20 were guys. They only perform at Christmas and Easter, so I have awhile to think about it and with me in Tanta, it would be difficult (bordering on impossible) to do, but I might look into the possibility.
After that, I watched a bit of soccer on TV. The 2 big Egyptian teams were playing each other, so I looked at the TV in a coffee shop to see the end.
Arabic is going well, but I've devoted time to it today that I wish I could have given to my teaching course. I need to look things over tonight and then spend most of tomorrow on a lesson plan (for Monday), meeting with my classmates, and working on an assignment (for Wednesday)
----Thinking about fun things…I got to chat with my good friend Mike for about 30 minutes last night on MSN Messenger. Among other things, he told me that I should think about making one main “pictures” page with the links to all my different photos. It’s an idea I had been thinking about, so when I have a bit of time, I’ll try to add that. Maybe on Tuesday?
But now, it’s time for some email and studying…
Friday, April 18, 2003
I went to a really good Tri-lingual Good Friday service tonight. Arabic, English, and Sudanese. Very energetic! Good music and such a variety of people.
This morning, I went to the regular service at my church and heard a good message. Talking about how other religions admire Jesus for his acts, but don’t recognize him as the Son of God. That’s all well and good, but if you don’t believe that part, then your kinda missing the point. If you don’t believe in the crucifixion and rising from the dead, then you’re lacking the most important bit!
Not much today, beyond the Church services, Frisbee, and making some molasses cookies. *yum* I asked my mother for the recipe and when she wrote back, she told me that one of our neighbors brought these cookies over when I was born. That’s a new story for me to hear!
So…looking back at the week.
Monday night, I got to party!!! It was my friend Annie’s birthday and some friends of ours had moved into a new flat, so they had a combination birthday/housewarming. There were about 50-60 people there. Of that group, less than 10 were “Westerners”. The rest were Sudanese. Fun!
Guess what kind of music we listened to and danced to? American R&B/Rap – Usher, P Diddy, etc. *laugh* I was the white boy out there trying to dance with people who can seriously move! I caught one woman laughing at me, but some of the guys thought I had potential!
Tuesday I visited Tanta!!! That’s where I’ll be living, starting at the beginning of June. Then, it’s 2 years and about 8 months after that! It should be alright, but definitely a culture shock after being in Cairo. Where I’m living in Cairo, I see KFC, McDonald’s, Dominos, etc everywhere – it’s really Western. I also see more BMW’s and Mercedes here than I did back in Royal Oak.
That won’t quite be the case in Tanta. It’s still a couple of million people, but more conservative and not as influenced by the West.
Guess where I’ll be living when I first get there?
An old people’s home! *laugh* 15 old grandpas/grannies and me! Why???? It’s right across the street from where the director of the English program lives, near where we will have the classes, and they want me to be “safe and comfortable”.
There will be someone to clean for me and I’ll be able to have my meals there so that will give me more time for teaching. The people we talked to on Tuesday don’t know me, so I think they’re going to be overprotective at the beginning. I’ll just take it slow and show them over time that I’ll be alright.
After awhile, I might move into a flat on my own. We’ll see…
The current plan is that I’ll finish up my teaching class in mid-May, have about a week to do some intensive Arabic study and then move to Tanta after that. In the long run, being in Tanta will be really good for my Arabic, but right now I still need to study/learn a lot in preparation for going.
Wednesday’s teaching preparation never quite came together, so my lesson was rough. Oh well, I still got a “pass” on it and it’s a reminder that I need to keep working hard.
Wed. night and Thurs. night, I had Arabic tutorial. Wednesday’s went alright and Thursday went really well. I’ve been frustrating for my tutor with not having time to study enough, but she said that she was encouraged by these past couple of days. Me too!!
Alright, that finally gets me caught up on what’s been going on!
This morning, I went to the regular service at my church and heard a good message. Talking about how other religions admire Jesus for his acts, but don’t recognize him as the Son of God. That’s all well and good, but if you don’t believe that part, then your kinda missing the point. If you don’t believe in the crucifixion and rising from the dead, then you’re lacking the most important bit!
Not much today, beyond the Church services, Frisbee, and making some molasses cookies. *yum* I asked my mother for the recipe and when she wrote back, she told me that one of our neighbors brought these cookies over when I was born. That’s a new story for me to hear!
So…looking back at the week.
Monday night, I got to party!!! It was my friend Annie’s birthday and some friends of ours had moved into a new flat, so they had a combination birthday/housewarming. There were about 50-60 people there. Of that group, less than 10 were “Westerners”. The rest were Sudanese. Fun!
Guess what kind of music we listened to and danced to? American R&B/Rap – Usher, P Diddy, etc. *laugh* I was the white boy out there trying to dance with people who can seriously move! I caught one woman laughing at me, but some of the guys thought I had potential!
Tuesday I visited Tanta!!! That’s where I’ll be living, starting at the beginning of June. Then, it’s 2 years and about 8 months after that! It should be alright, but definitely a culture shock after being in Cairo. Where I’m living in Cairo, I see KFC, McDonald’s, Dominos, etc everywhere – it’s really Western. I also see more BMW’s and Mercedes here than I did back in Royal Oak.
That won’t quite be the case in Tanta. It’s still a couple of million people, but more conservative and not as influenced by the West.
Guess where I’ll be living when I first get there?
An old people’s home! *laugh* 15 old grandpas/grannies and me! Why???? It’s right across the street from where the director of the English program lives, near where we will have the classes, and they want me to be “safe and comfortable”.
There will be someone to clean for me and I’ll be able to have my meals there so that will give me more time for teaching. The people we talked to on Tuesday don’t know me, so I think they’re going to be overprotective at the beginning. I’ll just take it slow and show them over time that I’ll be alright.
After awhile, I might move into a flat on my own. We’ll see…
The current plan is that I’ll finish up my teaching class in mid-May, have about a week to do some intensive Arabic study and then move to Tanta after that. In the long run, being in Tanta will be really good for my Arabic, but right now I still need to study/learn a lot in preparation for going.
Wednesday’s teaching preparation never quite came together, so my lesson was rough. Oh well, I still got a “pass” on it and it’s a reminder that I need to keep working hard.
Wed. night and Thurs. night, I had Arabic tutorial. Wednesday’s went alright and Thursday went really well. I’ve been frustrating for my tutor with not having time to study enough, but she said that she was encouraged by these past couple of days. Me too!!
Alright, that finally gets me caught up on what’s been going on!
Thursday, April 17, 2003
I’m a putz. I had plenty of time to study my Arabic today, but I didn’t do it! *shakes head*
Instead, I read more in “The Count of Monte Cristo”. What a great adventure/mystery. I highly recommend it.
But now it’s story time for me. To tell a story, that is. This is the story of my new #2 “Small World” experience. It’ll make more sense to the Albion crew, but should be ok for everyone.
Let me start out by saying that I went to Albion College from 1993-97 and each year, there were 1,500 students on campus.
So…
I’m at my teaching class on Monday evening. We were there late b/c it was the evening when we observed some “real” teachers doing their stuff. We watched 2 classes and at the break between the 2, I was waiting to get a cup of tea…
My friend Mark and I were standing there and I say to him,
“Wow, that woman over there looks really familiar, but not from here – I think I know her from somewhere else.”
Mark gave me the typical, “oh…she just has one of those faces” responses, but I’ve had enough coincidences in my life, so I don’t accept that.
So, I went over to talk with her…
We started chatting about where she was from and she that she was American and that she had been living by Detroit (Plymouth) until that last year.
“Yeah, but that’s not it – tell me more”, I said.
Her response?
“Well, I went to Albion College…”
*jaw drops*
It turns out she graduated in 1995 and was in the choir. Her name was Heather Berlin. Anyone remember her?
She’s been working here for about a year or so and is taking Arabic classes where I am doing my teacher training course. *laugh*
What are the odds?
Well, I have a pizza on the way, so I should go.
Instead, I read more in “The Count of Monte Cristo”. What a great adventure/mystery. I highly recommend it.
But now it’s story time for me. To tell a story, that is. This is the story of my new #2 “Small World” experience. It’ll make more sense to the Albion crew, but should be ok for everyone.
Let me start out by saying that I went to Albion College from 1993-97 and each year, there were 1,500 students on campus.
So…
I’m at my teaching class on Monday evening. We were there late b/c it was the evening when we observed some “real” teachers doing their stuff. We watched 2 classes and at the break between the 2, I was waiting to get a cup of tea…
My friend Mark and I were standing there and I say to him,
“Wow, that woman over there looks really familiar, but not from here – I think I know her from somewhere else.”
Mark gave me the typical, “oh…she just has one of those faces” responses, but I’ve had enough coincidences in my life, so I don’t accept that.
So, I went over to talk with her…
We started chatting about where she was from and she that she was American and that she had been living by Detroit (Plymouth) until that last year.
“Yeah, but that’s not it – tell me more”, I said.
Her response?
“Well, I went to Albion College…”
*jaw drops*
It turns out she graduated in 1995 and was in the choir. Her name was Heather Berlin. Anyone remember her?
She’s been working here for about a year or so and is taking Arabic classes where I am doing my teacher training course. *laugh*
What are the odds?
Well, I have a pizza on the way, so I should go.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
I’m so far behind! It’s been a week since I made a proper entry in here, with details and everything… Terrible!
I’ve already written a bit about my trip to the pyramids last week, but here’s some more about that. I had no idea what I wanted to do there, other than “see them”, so I just went and did whatever struck me. Of course, I got pestered by guys wanting to do horse rides, so I went with one.
It was alright, but it took me a long time to get the feel of the horse. My guide also took great humor in making the horse go faster than I really wanted to go! *laugh* This included the time that we were going along at a good gallop and I fell off the horse! *laugh* Fortunately, I managed to miss all the rocks that were around me and just land on the sand!
We didn’t get right down on the pyramids plateau, so that will be a future trip. Instead, we went along the edges, to some of the smaller pyramids, and got a decent view of the Sphinx.
I was sore! After all the riding, my butt was sore for days!
But no rest for me. It was an early morning on Friday, as Darren had made plans to go with some Sudanese friends to the Burkesh Camel Market. Thousands of camels bought and sold, several days each week. Friday is one of the main days, so things were busy. It took awhile to get there and several busses, but we made it. *grin* The Sudanese guys were named Iha and Amel. Two of Amel’s uncles are camel merchants, so we went to see them while we were there. They let us touch the camels, get lots of pictures, and all that fun “tourist” stuff, without really having to be a tourist!
Here’s a bunch of recent pictures:
Username: jpics
Password: easy
pics of Alex at:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290375505
and the Pyramids:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290375445
...and I haven't even sent out the mass email yet for:
Camel market pics:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290365449
It’s late now, but Thursday will be a quiet day. That means I might have time for more journal writing.
I still need to write about the party on Monday, my “small world” story, and my visit to Tanta! So much to say!!!!
I’ve already written a bit about my trip to the pyramids last week, but here’s some more about that. I had no idea what I wanted to do there, other than “see them”, so I just went and did whatever struck me. Of course, I got pestered by guys wanting to do horse rides, so I went with one.
It was alright, but it took me a long time to get the feel of the horse. My guide also took great humor in making the horse go faster than I really wanted to go! *laugh* This included the time that we were going along at a good gallop and I fell off the horse! *laugh* Fortunately, I managed to miss all the rocks that were around me and just land on the sand!
We didn’t get right down on the pyramids plateau, so that will be a future trip. Instead, we went along the edges, to some of the smaller pyramids, and got a decent view of the Sphinx.
I was sore! After all the riding, my butt was sore for days!
But no rest for me. It was an early morning on Friday, as Darren had made plans to go with some Sudanese friends to the Burkesh Camel Market. Thousands of camels bought and sold, several days each week. Friday is one of the main days, so things were busy. It took awhile to get there and several busses, but we made it. *grin* The Sudanese guys were named Iha and Amel. Two of Amel’s uncles are camel merchants, so we went to see them while we were there. They let us touch the camels, get lots of pictures, and all that fun “tourist” stuff, without really having to be a tourist!
Here’s a bunch of recent pictures:
Username: jpics
Password: easy
pics of Alex at:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290375505
and the Pyramids:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290375445
...and I haven't even sent out the mass email yet for:
Camel market pics:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290365449
It’s late now, but Thursday will be a quiet day. That means I might have time for more journal writing.
I still need to write about the party on Monday, my “small world” story, and my visit to Tanta! So much to say!!!!
Monday, April 14, 2003
I found my funny!!!! *laugh*
That's either a quote or a paraphrase from a movie, but I have no idea what.
Anyone???? Help me out here!
A crisp 10 piastre note to the first person who can tell me...
At any rate, I feel like my old self again, even though I didn't know until today that I wasn't feeling like myself. Basically at class and with my classmates today, I was cracking jokes and acting like my usual, cynical self. *grin*
Must sleep now, for on Tuesday morning, I go to visit Tanta and get a glimpse of what the next 2 1/2 years will hold for me.
Plus, it's story time! Most Albion folks remember my #1 "This is a small world" story from Australia, right?
Well, I now have a good #2 that comes in fairly close behind. Sorry, but it'll only make sense to the Albion-related folks. Hopefully I'll post that story on Tuesday night or Wed.
That's either a quote or a paraphrase from a movie, but I have no idea what.
Anyone???? Help me out here!
A crisp 10 piastre note to the first person who can tell me...
At any rate, I feel like my old self again, even though I didn't know until today that I wasn't feeling like myself. Basically at class and with my classmates today, I was cracking jokes and acting like my usual, cynical self. *grin*
Must sleep now, for on Tuesday morning, I go to visit Tanta and get a glimpse of what the next 2 1/2 years will hold for me.
Plus, it's story time! Most Albion folks remember my #1 "This is a small world" story from Australia, right?
Well, I now have a good #2 that comes in fairly close behind. Sorry, but it'll only make sense to the Albion-related folks. Hopefully I'll post that story on Tuesday night or Wed.
Saturday, April 12, 2003
Thanks to my friend Care for the inspiration in renaming this journal. I think it's more appropriate than just the general "J travels", eh?
I've been feeling a bit whipped today. The combination of:
-not enough sleep
-too much sun
-being way too active
-not drinking enough water
over the past 3 days finally caught up with me on Friday night through most of the day on Saturday. I was really sick on Friday night and slept on-and-off for 16 hours before finally dragging my tail out of bed at 1:30pm Sat. afternoon to go meet up with my classmates to talk about an assignment we have due on Monday.
I'm feeling soooooooo much better now. I just took it easy tonight and watched Top Gun on my computer.
At some point, I'll get around to posting the pictures from the camel market. That was Friday's big trip...
It's been great to hear from so many people lately. I've been getting lots of emails and I found out that my good friends Matt and Jen will be having a little boy in August! *smile*
I've been feeling a bit whipped today. The combination of:
-not enough sleep
-too much sun
-being way too active
-not drinking enough water
over the past 3 days finally caught up with me on Friday night through most of the day on Saturday. I was really sick on Friday night and slept on-and-off for 16 hours before finally dragging my tail out of bed at 1:30pm Sat. afternoon to go meet up with my classmates to talk about an assignment we have due on Monday.
I'm feeling soooooooo much better now. I just took it easy tonight and watched Top Gun on my computer.
At some point, I'll get around to posting the pictures from the camel market. That was Friday's big trip...
It's been great to hear from so many people lately. I've been getting lots of emails and I found out that my good friends Matt and Jen will be having a little boy in August! *smile*
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
Well, I taught this afternoon.
(much to my surprise!) *grin*
One of my classmates was sick today, so she couldn’t make it in. So, I was given the “opportunity” to fill in for her. *laugh* I joke because at first, I didn’t know how to react when they asked me to help out. The first thing I thought was, “no – are you crazy? I don’t have any time for preparation and I need to do handouts and…”
But right away, my instructor told me that it was really just an opportunity for me to have a bit of unofficial/unobserved/ungraded practice. I’d just be up there on my own and doing what I could but I wouldn’t get a grade for it or anything. She added that I should “have fun”, so I decided to go for it.
I felt a bit unprepared while teaching and the lesson didn’t feel as good as some I’ve done, but my classmates who were observing me said that it looked great to them and the students were into it. I’m really glad that I was able to do this. I definitely wouldn’t do one of my graded lessons with so little preparation, but this let me find out what areas are really coming naturally to me now. Giving instructions, monitoring the students, and changing from one task to another just work out ok for me now…
As a treat, one of my classmates brought in a poppy seed cake that she made. I don’t need to take any drug tests soon, so I tried it. Very yummy!
Speaking of food…my friend Lisa asked me about what food you can find and here’s the answer I gave her:
Many N. American and European items are available in Cairo. There's a chain of "supermarkets" that carry all sorts of crazy things. They just added Quaker granola bars and Quaker Oats to the shelves 2 weeks ago. Pretty expensive, though. $8 U.S. for a small box of granola bars or a medium-sized tube of oats.
Most things, I try to buy the Egyptian version that is similar. I could pay way too much money for imported Kellogg's Corn Flakes, but it's much cheaper to get the local "BiscoMasr" Corn Flakes.
However, with all that said, it's random little things that don't exist. For instance, you can get cake mix in vanilla, orange, and chocolate flavors. That's it. There's Jello, but for some bizarre reason you can't get Lime (not that I care). Only Strawberry and Cherry, plus Mango
I guess there's an even bigger supermarket somewhere in the rich/ex-pat part
of town, but I haven't been there yet.
UPDATE: The quest for shoelaces continues. I haven’t looked in a couple of days, but I need to get out there tonight and check out the situation. *grin*
(much to my surprise!) *grin*
One of my classmates was sick today, so she couldn’t make it in. So, I was given the “opportunity” to fill in for her. *laugh* I joke because at first, I didn’t know how to react when they asked me to help out. The first thing I thought was, “no – are you crazy? I don’t have any time for preparation and I need to do handouts and…”
But right away, my instructor told me that it was really just an opportunity for me to have a bit of unofficial/unobserved/ungraded practice. I’d just be up there on my own and doing what I could but I wouldn’t get a grade for it or anything. She added that I should “have fun”, so I decided to go for it.
I felt a bit unprepared while teaching and the lesson didn’t feel as good as some I’ve done, but my classmates who were observing me said that it looked great to them and the students were into it. I’m really glad that I was able to do this. I definitely wouldn’t do one of my graded lessons with so little preparation, but this let me find out what areas are really coming naturally to me now. Giving instructions, monitoring the students, and changing from one task to another just work out ok for me now…
As a treat, one of my classmates brought in a poppy seed cake that she made. I don’t need to take any drug tests soon, so I tried it. Very yummy!
Speaking of food…my friend Lisa asked me about what food you can find and here’s the answer I gave her:
Many N. American and European items are available in Cairo. There's a chain of "supermarkets" that carry all sorts of crazy things. They just added Quaker granola bars and Quaker Oats to the shelves 2 weeks ago. Pretty expensive, though. $8 U.S. for a small box of granola bars or a medium-sized tube of oats.
Most things, I try to buy the Egyptian version that is similar. I could pay way too much money for imported Kellogg's Corn Flakes, but it's much cheaper to get the local "BiscoMasr" Corn Flakes.
However, with all that said, it's random little things that don't exist. For instance, you can get cake mix in vanilla, orange, and chocolate flavors. That's it. There's Jello, but for some bizarre reason you can't get Lime (not that I care). Only Strawberry and Cherry, plus Mango
I guess there's an even bigger supermarket somewhere in the rich/ex-pat part
of town, but I haven't been there yet.
UPDATE: The quest for shoelaces continues. I haven’t looked in a couple of days, but I need to get out there tonight and check out the situation. *grin*
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
It’s been one year…
Check the entry for April 8, 2002 to find out what happened one year ago.
What a crazy year it’s been! So many changes!
Today was a nice, lazy day. I finished reading _The Two Towers_ and managed to get a bit of sun while doing it! *grin* I slept in until about 10:30, too! But the evening will be busy. George, the Egyptian accountant/assistant at the MCC office is picking me up at 6:30 to go over to his house to meet his family. Dinner? He just invited me today, so I’m not sure what’s happening.
At 8pm, I need to be at my Arabic tutorial, so things will be a bit rushed. But that’s ok.
I’ve been chatting a bit with my aunt Alonna and uncle Michael as I write this. What fun!
Check the entry for April 8, 2002 to find out what happened one year ago.
What a crazy year it’s been! So many changes!
Today was a nice, lazy day. I finished reading _The Two Towers_ and managed to get a bit of sun while doing it! *grin* I slept in until about 10:30, too! But the evening will be busy. George, the Egyptian accountant/assistant at the MCC office is picking me up at 6:30 to go over to his house to meet his family. Dinner? He just invited me today, so I’m not sure what’s happening.
At 8pm, I need to be at my Arabic tutorial, so things will be a bit rushed. But that’s ok.
I’ve been chatting a bit with my aunt Alonna and uncle Michael as I write this. What fun!
Monday, April 07, 2003
Ah, a good day!
Class is finished and I don’t teach again for a few days. So, Tuesday I have “free”! *smile* My lesson went well today, but it was really stressful/difficult for 2 of the other teachers in my group. I feel bad for them.
At any rate, I’m still a “Pass” for my grade and I’m headed for a “Strong Pass”, given my improvement and success in my past few lessons. That’s a bit of a relief!
A few classmates were going across the street to the “Back ‘n Time 60’s Café”, so I went with them for a celebratory Cappuccino! This place must be very new b/c it’s extremely clean. Quite a nice place and not very busy since we were there so early (around 7pm). My friend’s Mocha looked better than my capp, so maybe I’ll go again and get something chocolaty.
I’m back home to eat some of the leftover fish from last night and then I want to go out again in search of shoelaces. I got some better suggestions at class today, so maybe I’ll get the right thing today. After that, I might stop in for some tea/Backgammon.
Now for dinner!
Class is finished and I don’t teach again for a few days. So, Tuesday I have “free”! *smile* My lesson went well today, but it was really stressful/difficult for 2 of the other teachers in my group. I feel bad for them.
At any rate, I’m still a “Pass” for my grade and I’m headed for a “Strong Pass”, given my improvement and success in my past few lessons. That’s a bit of a relief!
A few classmates were going across the street to the “Back ‘n Time 60’s Café”, so I went with them for a celebratory Cappuccino! This place must be very new b/c it’s extremely clean. Quite a nice place and not very busy since we were there so early (around 7pm). My friend’s Mocha looked better than my capp, so maybe I’ll go again and get something chocolaty.
I’m back home to eat some of the leftover fish from last night and then I want to go out again in search of shoelaces. I got some better suggestions at class today, so maybe I’ll get the right thing today. After that, I might stop in for some tea/Backgammon.
Now for dinner!
Sunday, April 06, 2003
Today, my big quest is to find black shoelaces. In my favorite pair of dress shoes, the laces have worn out. My guess is that I can buy them at a shoe store, but we’ll see in a couple of hours if that guess is correct.
Another nice day. One thing about the air being so dry is that laundry doesn’t stay wet for very long, once it’s hung up!
I met up with some of my classmates this afternoon to discuss our teaching. I’ve finished my assignment for Monday and I need to write up my lesson plans after church.
Darren hasn’t been feeling very well the past day or so. He thinks it’s slight heat stroke and dehydration. He’s been resting a lot today and I’ve been trying to look in on him every once in awhile.
The speculation is that the young Presbyterian volunteers who were sent to Cyprus for 2 weeks will stay for _another_ 2 weeks. Silly! It’s so safe here, so we can’t figure out what their program can possibly be thinking…
Last night, I saw on the news about demonstrations in S. Korea and Japan, but there’s been nothing going on in Cairo lately. I guess last week in Alexandria there was a gathering of 30,000 protesters.
Listening to Billy Joel Greatest Hits V2, Disc 1 right now...
Another nice day. One thing about the air being so dry is that laundry doesn’t stay wet for very long, once it’s hung up!
I met up with some of my classmates this afternoon to discuss our teaching. I’ve finished my assignment for Monday and I need to write up my lesson plans after church.
Darren hasn’t been feeling very well the past day or so. He thinks it’s slight heat stroke and dehydration. He’s been resting a lot today and I’ve been trying to look in on him every once in awhile.
The speculation is that the young Presbyterian volunteers who were sent to Cyprus for 2 weeks will stay for _another_ 2 weeks. Silly! It’s so safe here, so we can’t figure out what their program can possibly be thinking…
Last night, I saw on the news about demonstrations in S. Korea and Japan, but there’s been nothing going on in Cairo lately. I guess last week in Alexandria there was a gathering of 30,000 protesters.
Listening to Billy Joel Greatest Hits V2, Disc 1 right now...
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Early morning – late night.
I was up at 5:30am to do some homework and then make it downtown for the 8am train to Alexandria.
Our MCC group was going to hear a speaker discussing Egypt in the Bible and various ways of interpreting events. Mostly about the situation of the oppressed vs. being the oppressor and ways to present the situations to Jews and Muslims.
I slept for most of the trip, so that was good! *smile*
The talk was really good and with questions/answers it was about 2 hours. After that, we went for a nice lunch with lots of red meat (I don’t eat that very often here due to low availability and high price), then we had a couple of hours before our train back.
So we wandered over to the Bibliotecha Alexandrina -- check out the site for good information and some pictures. I took a few pics of my own and will have them available soon. The building just opened this winter, so it still looks new inside and out! It truly is gorgeous and I was pleased to see people using the library for research. Well, mostly for research. Many of the computer terminals were being used by university-aged students to watch movies or listen to music online. *smirk*
On the way back, the train stopped briefly in Tanta! That’s where I will hopefully be teaching, so I hopped out of the train for about 30 seconds. Now I can say that I have officially “been in Tanta”. *grin*
We made it back by 8pm and I rushed back to meet Darren, Annie, and Hashem at the office to watch “The Fellowship of the Ring”. Since I’ve been reading the books, I thought it would be nice to watch the movie, too. We had pizza to go along with it, so that was fun!
Off to bed now. Studying, studying, and more studying is the plan for Sunday.
I was up at 5:30am to do some homework and then make it downtown for the 8am train to Alexandria.
Our MCC group was going to hear a speaker discussing Egypt in the Bible and various ways of interpreting events. Mostly about the situation of the oppressed vs. being the oppressor and ways to present the situations to Jews and Muslims.
I slept for most of the trip, so that was good! *smile*
The talk was really good and with questions/answers it was about 2 hours. After that, we went for a nice lunch with lots of red meat (I don’t eat that very often here due to low availability and high price), then we had a couple of hours before our train back.
So we wandered over to the Bibliotecha Alexandrina -- check out the site for good information and some pictures. I took a few pics of my own and will have them available soon. The building just opened this winter, so it still looks new inside and out! It truly is gorgeous and I was pleased to see people using the library for research. Well, mostly for research. Many of the computer terminals were being used by university-aged students to watch movies or listen to music online. *smirk*
On the way back, the train stopped briefly in Tanta! That’s where I will hopefully be teaching, so I hopped out of the train for about 30 seconds. Now I can say that I have officially “been in Tanta”. *grin*
We made it back by 8pm and I rushed back to meet Darren, Annie, and Hashem at the office to watch “The Fellowship of the Ring”. Since I’ve been reading the books, I thought it would be nice to watch the movie, too. We had pizza to go along with it, so that was fun!
Off to bed now. Studying, studying, and more studying is the plan for Sunday.
Friday, April 04, 2003
For a good laugh, go to:
http://people.albion.edu/jenzer/_test.asp
(then click "Refresh" or "Reload" in your browser to see different pictures.
This is what the Albion College website (that's where I went to college and worked for 2 years) looked like on April Fool's Day! I'm glad they have a sense of humor there!
I've been messing with the layout of my journal a bit, since I added the weather update. I got a comment that it was hard to read the entries b/c they were so narrow so hopefully I've fixed that. I also updated some of the links and what I'm reading.
Frisbee was good. Met more random people. Need to shower and study, then sleep so that I can have energy for Alexandria on Saturday.
http://people.albion.edu/jenzer/_test.asp
(then click "Refresh" or "Reload" in your browser to see different pictures.
This is what the Albion College website (that's where I went to college and worked for 2 years) looked like on April Fool's Day! I'm glad they have a sense of humor there!
I've been messing with the layout of my journal a bit, since I added the weather update. I got a comment that it was hard to read the entries b/c they were so narrow so hopefully I've fixed that. I also updated some of the links and what I'm reading.
Frisbee was good. Met more random people. Need to shower and study, then sleep so that I can have energy for Alexandria on Saturday.
Thursday, April 03, 2003
*burp*
I just got back from a big “International Dinner” at church. We had representatives and foods from different countries – Armenia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, India, Ireland, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Russia, Switzerland, and the U.S. People from each country sang songs for the group and then we shared our foods. It’s quite a diverse church, eh?
My contribution was a modified version of my mother’s wonderful lemon cake. It seems that lemon pudding doesn’t exist in Egypt, so I had to substitute custard mix. I also had to replace the yellow cake mix with orange cake mix. Let’s just say it didn’t quite turn out like “Mom used to make”. *laugh* But it was pretty good. I’ll have to keep experimenting to see different ways of making it. The unique part is the orange juice/powdered sugar/water/margarine mixture that you put over the top and I was able to do that (with juice from an orange I squeezed, even!)
I went for some things new and some things familiar. From the Sudan, they had this really thick porridge-type thing. Basically flour, starch and water in quantities so that you had a sticky, thick mass that could be cut into pieces. Very bland, but filling. That was my first taste of Sudanese food.
In addition, I tried some spicy dishes from Sri Lanka and India, plus beef in Guinness from Ireland. On the U.S. table, I chose a bit of corn bread and some baked beans.
While eating, I chatted with a couple of people I’ve been getting to know, plus an older couple that’s new to the church. An Egyptian woman joined us at the end and then asked for my help walking her elderly mother back to their apartment. What a sweet old lady!
Now I’m digesting and procrastinating. Friday and Saturday are both going to be really busy days and I have lots to do in preparation for class on Monday. But I’ll manage!
I just got back from a big “International Dinner” at church. We had representatives and foods from different countries – Armenia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, India, Ireland, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Russia, Switzerland, and the U.S. People from each country sang songs for the group and then we shared our foods. It’s quite a diverse church, eh?
My contribution was a modified version of my mother’s wonderful lemon cake. It seems that lemon pudding doesn’t exist in Egypt, so I had to substitute custard mix. I also had to replace the yellow cake mix with orange cake mix. Let’s just say it didn’t quite turn out like “Mom used to make”. *laugh* But it was pretty good. I’ll have to keep experimenting to see different ways of making it. The unique part is the orange juice/powdered sugar/water/margarine mixture that you put over the top and I was able to do that (with juice from an orange I squeezed, even!)
I went for some things new and some things familiar. From the Sudan, they had this really thick porridge-type thing. Basically flour, starch and water in quantities so that you had a sticky, thick mass that could be cut into pieces. Very bland, but filling. That was my first taste of Sudanese food.
In addition, I tried some spicy dishes from Sri Lanka and India, plus beef in Guinness from Ireland. On the U.S. table, I chose a bit of corn bread and some baked beans.
While eating, I chatted with a couple of people I’ve been getting to know, plus an older couple that’s new to the church. An Egyptian woman joined us at the end and then asked for my help walking her elderly mother back to their apartment. What a sweet old lady!
Now I’m digesting and procrastinating. Friday and Saturday are both going to be really busy days and I have lots to do in preparation for class on Monday. But I’ll manage!
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
April Fools Day!
I tried to think of some good joke for today, but the joke was on me! Instead of joking, I ended up doing some serious thinking…
How different would the experience that I’m having now have been just 10 years ago?
By that, I mean that if people in their 20’s were doing this in 1993, how would their experience have been different than mine?
In 1993, they would _not_ have had:
-easy/cheap Internet/email access
-digital pictures to send/receive
-mobile phones so that people could reach them anytime
People just 10 years ago would only have had phone calls and letters to stay in contact. Imagine, mailing a letter and waiting weeks for a response!! *laugh*
What about 20-30 years ago? In Egypt and many places, the availability of a phone would have been severely limited at that time.
For those of you reading this with experience living “away from home” for extended periods of time, what do you think about my questions – based on what you went through.
…and for everyone else, what do you think? Are you glad about having this level of contact? Or would it be better to look forward to visits or hand-written letters?
Please post Comments or share your thoughts with me through email.
Which way is better? It makes me very happy that I am able to stay in touch with so many people by email and chatting online. I also like being able to have this journal available. But does this make me feel too close? It’s the _feeling_ of closeness, without the reality of being with/near people.
If I didn’t have all these ways of staying in contact, then maybe I would just go about my life and not think of people as often, or just look forward to people coming to visit. I think of my friends and family often – when I look at a picture, hear a song, see a certain car, or just remember back to happy occasions.
Now don’t get too concerned. *smile* Certainly, I’ve been a bit sad in thinking about this topic today and in typing out my thoughts, but I’m ok. A very good friend asked me today if I was feeling “culture shocked”. At the time, I denied that I was, but the answer is probably yes.
But I’ll get through it, and it’s not too bad. Today was a good day! The sun was shining and it was very warm. It was 25C (77F) when I was walking around at 6pm and it was much warmer than that at noon when I was getting a bit of sun and reading.
…listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “The Dance” while typing this… Any other Fleetwood Mac fans out there? Will anyone be getting tickets for their N. American tour this summer? The song “My Little Demon” seems to be stuck in my brain now.
I still have some preparation to do for teaching on Wednesday (yeah, I’m a broken record when it comes to talking about class), but after tomorrow I have a few days off again. I’m surrounded by good people here, and I have plenty of support.
I tried to think of some good joke for today, but the joke was on me! Instead of joking, I ended up doing some serious thinking…
How different would the experience that I’m having now have been just 10 years ago?
By that, I mean that if people in their 20’s were doing this in 1993, how would their experience have been different than mine?
In 1993, they would _not_ have had:
-easy/cheap Internet/email access
-digital pictures to send/receive
-mobile phones so that people could reach them anytime
People just 10 years ago would only have had phone calls and letters to stay in contact. Imagine, mailing a letter and waiting weeks for a response!! *laugh*
What about 20-30 years ago? In Egypt and many places, the availability of a phone would have been severely limited at that time.
For those of you reading this with experience living “away from home” for extended periods of time, what do you think about my questions – based on what you went through.
…and for everyone else, what do you think? Are you glad about having this level of contact? Or would it be better to look forward to visits or hand-written letters?
Please post Comments or share your thoughts with me through email.
Which way is better? It makes me very happy that I am able to stay in touch with so many people by email and chatting online. I also like being able to have this journal available. But does this make me feel too close? It’s the _feeling_ of closeness, without the reality of being with/near people.
If I didn’t have all these ways of staying in contact, then maybe I would just go about my life and not think of people as often, or just look forward to people coming to visit. I think of my friends and family often – when I look at a picture, hear a song, see a certain car, or just remember back to happy occasions.
Now don’t get too concerned. *smile* Certainly, I’ve been a bit sad in thinking about this topic today and in typing out my thoughts, but I’m ok. A very good friend asked me today if I was feeling “culture shocked”. At the time, I denied that I was, but the answer is probably yes.
But I’ll get through it, and it’s not too bad. Today was a good day! The sun was shining and it was very warm. It was 25C (77F) when I was walking around at 6pm and it was much warmer than that at noon when I was getting a bit of sun and reading.
…listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “The Dance” while typing this… Any other Fleetwood Mac fans out there? Will anyone be getting tickets for their N. American tour this summer? The song “My Little Demon” seems to be stuck in my brain now.
I still have some preparation to do for teaching on Wednesday (yeah, I’m a broken record when it comes to talking about class), but after tomorrow I have a few days off again. I’m surrounded by good people here, and I have plenty of support.
Monday, March 31, 2003
Another day, another teaching experience.
Today was the first day with the “Upper Intermediate” group. What a change from the “Elementary” level students from the past couple of weeks. I still have some bumpy moments, but today went well for me.
This evening, I’ve been relaxing a bit. Scrabble with Darren, now some email, and then for tea and some Backgammon.
Tomorrow, the cycle of lesson planning begins again, as I get ready to teach on Wednesday. That’s about all I have planned.
Some random pictures...
Username: jpics
Password: easy
Today was the first day with the “Upper Intermediate” group. What a change from the “Elementary” level students from the past couple of weeks. I still have some bumpy moments, but today went well for me.
This evening, I’ve been relaxing a bit. Scrabble with Darren, now some email, and then for tea and some Backgammon.
Tomorrow, the cycle of lesson planning begins again, as I get ready to teach on Wednesday. That’s about all I have planned.
Some random pictures...
Username: jpics
Password: easy
Sunday, March 30, 2003
From Saturday:
Just got back from a performance of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House. The main piece was Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana -- it was amazing!
I kinda organized the evening. I had been hoping to attend this performance and I convinced a couple of other people to go with me. Carmen and Mike from MCC came along, plus this young woman named Charlie.
Now I’m trying to download my email, but somebody apparently sent me a message with a big attachment, so it’s taking a long time! I hope it’s worth it…
It was a big email with a Power Point slide-show with images from the war. Very well-done pictures, but the situation still saddens me.
Just got back from a performance of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House. The main piece was Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana -- it was amazing!
I kinda organized the evening. I had been hoping to attend this performance and I convinced a couple of other people to go with me. Carmen and Mike from MCC came along, plus this young woman named Charlie.
Now I’m trying to download my email, but somebody apparently sent me a message with a big attachment, so it’s taking a long time! I hope it’s worth it…
It was a big email with a Power Point slide-show with images from the war. Very well-done pictures, but the situation still saddens me.
Friday, March 28, 2003
I’ve been struggling with this entry. I have in my mind this really good comparison with Fight Club but when I try to write it out, it just loses all its meaning.
So I’ll just have to say that the past couple of days, I feel like I almost understand something or almost feel comfortable…and then some little thing happens to remind me that I’m still not quite there yet. I’m a bit discouraged right now about Arabic. I haven’t had the time/desire to devote enough time to it lately, so I’ve forgotten some of what I learned when I first got here.
But I suppose that feeling will pass. It’s a gorgeous, warm day out so I’m going to enjoy it!
So I’ll just have to say that the past couple of days, I feel like I almost understand something or almost feel comfortable…and then some little thing happens to remind me that I’m still not quite there yet. I’m a bit discouraged right now about Arabic. I haven’t had the time/desire to devote enough time to it lately, so I’ve forgotten some of what I learned when I first got here.
But I suppose that feeling will pass. It’s a gorgeous, warm day out so I’m going to enjoy it!
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