Cairo Chronicle, Volume 2, Issue 1, September 15, 2000
Welcome to a new year of Chronicles!
We have just finished two weeks of school, and are settling down quite well for our second year. We hadn't known quite what to expect when we arrived in Cairo for our second year. We had known that our flight from Washington, DC, would connect us with a host of new teachers in Frankfurt, Germany. Our plane was early to Frankfurt, arriving at the gate about 6 a.m. Hoping to grab some breakfast and some coffee, we were terribly disappointed that nothing was open. A boring hour and a half later we finally were able to get something small to snack on, but nothing that we deemed substantial. It wasn't until 9 a.m. that we began seeing new AIS teachers (and a few returning ones, too). Naturally, the new teachers were excited to be going back and asking us thousands of questions -- the same ones we had last year this time. It was pleasurable to be able to tell them both positives and negatives, and refreshing to catch their excitement and anticipation. This meeting perhaps gave us a fresh perspective on our new year.
Upon arrival at the Cairo airport, we were shuttled through passport control with few delays. The customs delays were more substantial. The biggest problem for us was just retrieving all ten (count 'em) bags that Barbara had filled to the brim with carb-free you-name-it. Todd undertook the task of getting the bags from the conveyor belt to the four baggage carts we had secured. It wasn't until all the bags were loaded that an airport worker noticed a brown liquid drip-dripping from one of the large duffle bags. Todd opened up the bag to find that the bottom corner had been soaked with maple syrup. The sticky, and now solidly maple smelling liquid, it turns out, was some low carb maple syrup that Barbara forgot to put into a plastic bag. Subsequently the heavier objects in the bag crushed the plastic during flight and caused the leak. We decided to try and secure a seat on one of the school buses slated to pick up the new teachers. Well, the wait for all fifty or so teachers to get their things prepared, and all customs duties to be levied made what might have been a short wait and expensive taxi ride into a long wait and free bus ride. The new Maadi teachers were eventually dropped off at the Pearl Hotel, a few blocks from the Nile. We were then dropped off near our apartment building. Our bus driver, Adel, was great. He helped Todd unload the ten bags (which now felt ten times heavier somehow), and promptly returned to the airport to pick up new teachers arriving on another flight.
Our cleaner, who we had hired to watch our flat and clean it up before our arrival, met us at the door and helped us carry all ten (count 'em) bags up to our apartment. The apartment has a very small elevator, in which one medium-sized man can fit with one large bag at a time. Our bawwab (doorman), who was much older than Mohamed from last year, insisted on carrying a few of our heavier bags up the eighty steps to our apartment. As is the custom, we tipped them both generously for their service. In the aftermath of unpacking, we were amazed that the only casualty of our flight was the one maple syrup bottle. And yes, the duffle bag and its contents cleaned up easier than advertised.
Living in Maadi has been such a breath of fresh air! For those who don't remember, Maadi is a suburb of Cairo that borders on the east side of the Nile, and is south of downtown Cairo. There is a very large concentration of expatriates, and therefore, many more of the amenities of home. The streets are lined with trees, and the traffic is light. Crossing the street is not the "Death Race 2000" of Heliopolis. We never hear the call to prayer, the only annoying noise is the dog barking next door. I think we can handle that ;-)
After unpacking the 10 bags, we started setting up house. Our living room furniture has upholstery with slashes of electric blue, purple, black and gold lame'. So during the summer, we bought slip covers in dark green and cream, as well as burgundy, green and cream throws for the coffee table and TV module. With some nice touches on the walls, we now have a very homey place!
The final touch was getting our TV set up to get cable. Last year, some teachers who were leaving donated us their used cable box. So Barbara asks Todd to call the cable providers and find out what we needed to do to get cable hooked up in our place. Todd writes down all the information. 1000 pounds for installation, and 150 pounds a month for the service. Barbara says, WHAT?!? Did you tell them we already had a box? Well, it turns out, this was all the information for satellite service. Barbara explains to Todd that we want Cable Network Egypt (CNE). Todd says, well, you know, we paid that much for one Arabic course last year...do you want to get satellite instead? Well, Barbara never thought he'd agree to it, so heck yeah! Anyway, satellite basically means 14 English channels, cable only 4. And we get Cartoon Network (hee hee). Barbara is in heaven, and that makes Todd's life REAL easy.
School seems to be much calmer for everyone. Even the high school teachers are amazed. It might be too early to tell why, though. Barbara is teaching 600 students (1st to 6th) and is loving teaching the little ones again! She likes nothing better than to dance and be silly -- but many of you already know about that. Older kids tend to look at her strangely, but the little ones just giggle. So far, it has been pretty easy to juggle that many kids. She might feel differently in 6 weeks, when the first program hits.
Todd's classroom is much smaller than the one he had last year -- maybe a third the size. It's perhaps 2-thirds the size of a portable classroom in Texas. He has a bunch of eager learners, and many solid readers and writers. This bodes well for the coming year, as Todd anticipates having his kids write more than three stories before he leaves. Despite the size of his classroom, Todd is feeling more confident in his teaching and classroom management. He is the grade-level liaison (ie Team Leader) this year, and represents a team of five. Todd's team of third graders have a combined experience level of 35+ years, which is a tremendous asset to our kids. One of our number, Terry Gamble, was an administrator and educational test consultant for the government of Alberta, Canada. Todd is learning a lot from him, and enjoying his wacky sense of humor.
This year, we have a new minister at St. John the Baptist church. His name is Mark Cregan. He has a wife named Juliet, and a daughter named Sophie (about 2 years old). But, the biggest change for us is that Barbara is in charge of the music. Even though she has had several years of piano, she has never felt comfortable about accompanying. After Mark and Barbara met together the first week to discuss the hymns for the week, Barbara has been practicing every day, trying to get the songs to sound okay. She mostly has to play chords with the melody above. It's going to be a trial by fire, until someone steps forward that really plays!!
Todd is now the Big Three-O. On September 7, Barbara took Todd out to, what she labeled, a "Two Act Italian Opera." The first act was dinner at a very good Italian restaurant, "Paparazzi," on Road 9 in Maadi. Todd had prime rib, and Barbara had bowtie pasta. Yes, she was being "bad," but come-on folks! It was Todd's birthday for cryin' out loud! For the intermission, Barbara and Todd walked all of 100 yards to the best coffee house in Maadi -- Cafe Greco. These are the same folks that Barbara introduced to Davinci's line of sugar-free syrups. In fact, when we both arrived at Cafe Greco that evening, the three sugar-free flavorings she had donated were at half-bottle, and shrinking. Barbara had only given them to the store two weeks prior! For the second act, Barbara secured a taxi and forced Todd to wear a bandana around his eyes. Now, we know this may sound strange, but it's actually been a tradition for us to blindfold each other on the way to some birthday surprise location. Todd found the taxi drive stomach wrenching, because taxi drivers here are notorious for weaving in and out of traffic. This night was no exception. Barbara then had the taxi driver let us out across the street. Todd is still blindfolded, per Barbara's instructions. Now as many of you already know, crossing the street in Cairo, even a small one, is a daunting task and one that takes all of your senses working harmoniously. With Todd's eyesight impaired, just crossing the two lane Maadi street was terrifying. Once safely across the street (and up a few short stairs), Todd was whisked into a building and escorted into... SURPRISE ... a karaoke booth. His third grade team was there, along with Maadi-ites from the daily school bus ride. Three hours and thousands of songs later (mostly sung by Todd and our friend Matt Koehler). Cairo Trivia: What is Todd's favorite Karaoke song? Answer: The Cairo version of "Eye of the Tiger." Why? Well, for one, the lyrics on the Karaoke screen are ludicrously incorrect, delightfully zany, and continue to bring a laugh even after singing it for the eighth time now ;-) Among the "new" English words in Eye of the Tiger are the words lyies, tenset, and glip. For those of you who remember Rocky III, you might know the tune. The first line (Cairo style) is this: Lyies a knock, back on the street, Took my time, took my tenset. With the distance, now on back on my beat, just a man and his will give survive. Now you figure out the rest ;-)
Our newest experience was par for the course for us, as we find Maadi the most relaxing and socially stimulating environment in which to live. Terry Gamble and friends Randy and Nancy Capp secured a felucca for about 25 of us. It was intended to be a "September Birthday Picnic," with everyone bringing some food and drinks for the occasion. Terry's son, Todd and another son of an AIS teacher were "honored." We now understand why the pharaohs were so interested in sailing down the Nile. The relaxation of it, the quiet lapping of the river's water against the boat, the easy evening breezes, the unmotorized sounds of silence and muted conversation, were enough to convince us that we needed to do this at least once more before we leave Cairo. Enjoy our photos.
We love to hear back from you, even if it's only a sentence. Especially those of you living in different places this year - what's it like?
Love you all!
Barbara and Todd
Pictures:
Todd at the grand old age of 30!
Barbara sings "Unforgettable" to Todd
The inside of an Egyptian felucca.
It's easy to imagine how Moses could be hidden in the reeds...
Two of the sailors of our felucca.
Sunset on the Nile.