A greeting from a Dahab beach restaurant, trying to attract customers.
Happy New Year to everyone! We had a very nice month of Ramadan this year. It's amazing the difference in your attitude, when you know what to expect, and live in an area where you feel comfortable.
Ramadan started November 27, and ended December 26. Just to refresh those of you who might be new to the list, or have fuzzy memories about it, Ramadan is the Muslim holy month. All devout Muslims (which is just about everyone here - at least most pretend to be devout) fast from sunrise to sunset, then feast and party from sunset to sunrise. It makes for loud evenings, tired kids, and sometimes-grumpy working adults (during the day). At the end of the month, there is an even bigger party for three days called Eid (pronounced EED). Even the children at our school, some as young as second grade, fasted most of the day. The children at school get tired and unfocused as a result. According to Islamic law, fasting is not required until puberty. However, parents allow their kids to "practice" fasting much earlier. In general, though, our students handled Ramadan better than last year - or maybe we just knew what to expect! Barbara's only problem came from a child who refused to play her recorder because "miss, we're not allowed to put anything in our mouths!" She had expected this very thing to happen, and had a talk with each class at the beginning of Ramadan. After all, classes are supposed to go on as normal. This student STILL got stubborn about it, and was sent out into the hall, a white discipline slip in hand to be signed at home. Well, this little girl will have a fun week of sitting in the music room during lunch recess in January. I know... "You're mean, Mrs. Thomas!"
During Ramadan, our school day "shrunk" in such a way that we would begin at 8:30 a.m. Students would leave at 2 p.m., while teachers and staff left at 3 p.m. Our normally fifty-minute bus ride home would last about an hour and five minutes. The ride to school, however, was a different story altogether. Everyone on the bus agreed to leave ten minutes later, but because there were so few cars on the road, we got to school only five minutes later than normal!
On a typical Ramadan afternoon, we would get home a little past four with all stores and businesses (except a few expat-run places) closed down, so that people could eat the Iftar. Meaning "breakfast," the Iftar is the meal at sunset during Ramadan, often celebrated with family and friends. It can be a huge affair -- and usually is. Imagine Thanksgiving dinner (yes, with all the trimmings) all month long!
Last year in Heliopolis, we felt cabin fever, because many businesses were closed during the day, and way TOO busy at night. The streets were packed, and the shisha bar downstairs was hopping every night. Barbara can still play the drumbeat she memorized from that time! This year in Maadi, however, we have hardly noticed any changes. The only major inconveniences have been stores closed between 4-7pm, and the expat places are packed during the day. Some minor inconveniences, tolerable by comparison, included a man with a large stick and a metal trash can singing/chanting Ramadan songs in the streets while maintaining a drum beat that could (quite literally) wake the neighborhood! This at about 4 a.m.! There was a donkey cart that had jingle-bells attached to the reins, with its driver (same guy as above, most likely) singing Ramadan songs/chants. At times, there were even firecrackers that sounded like gunshots going off every so often, at unpredictable intervals -- sometimes one, sometimes many -- to celebrate the fasting month. Some of these firecrackers were confiscated from students at school! But...the month was MUCH more enjoyable this year than last.
On December 5th and 6th, Maadi Community Choir had its Christmas concert. We sang several fun numbers, including the Saint-Saens Christmas oratorio. Despite her bout of flu that week(!) she did exceptionally well. She sang a solo and a recitative/trio - fever, chills, phlegm and all - to a standing-room-only-and-then-some crowd both nights. As she put it, "When you don't have an understudy, what do you do?" Some people who tried to come see us were turned away. After the final performance, Barbara and Todd skipped the party so that she could rest, and so he could take care of his "sick girl."
Barbara managing to sing her best, despite being sick.
Barbara's sickness (and Todd's as well, though earlier) was a direct result of the air pollution and trash-burning that goes on in Cairo during the winter months. The morning sky smells of dead animal carcasses and acrid wood smoke. The evenings are hazy, and sometimes smell just as horrid as the morning. It is something that residents here do not like, but attribute to the Will of God, so there is not much done about it. On top of that, this year has been the worst in recent memory for Cairenes when it comes to rain. We've had three massive rain storms this year. The first in October flooded three of the third grade classrooms, causing mold and mildew to form on the rugs, thousands of dollars worth of textbooks to be warped and/or rendered unusable. The second, in mid- November, again flooded the hallways and classrooms such that five of them had to be diverted to other rooms at the school. The third, on December 8, caused even more water to slosh into classrooms and down hallways -- growing more mold and mildew. This last rain storm occurred the same day as this year's Christmas party.
The party took place at the Sofitel hotel in Maadi. The freak rainstorm flooded the streets of Heliopolis, and made the busses heading to the party an hour and a half late. When everyone finally arrived, we were very ready to eat! The entertainment part of the show only had a few acts, but that was glorious, as it didn't start until after 10 p.m. Of course, Todd and Barbara were one of the four. Barbara sang "White Christmas," in a rendition that caused more than a few sentimentally teary eyes. The two of us sang "Sleigh Ride." It's impossible to sing a song at an AIS function without getting a bit silly, so we changed the last part of the song to "Bus Ride." We think you'll understand our silly lyrics:
Just hear those cars a-honking, screeching and stopping now too
Come on it's cloudy weather for a bus ride together with you
Outside the trash is smoking and we are choking, (cough cough sounds)
Come on it's smoky weather for a bus ride together with you
Coming up, Coming up, Coming up on the right, come look at the sight,
At all the accidents that happened overnight!
Going up, Going down, Going up, it's grand, just look at the sand
We're bumping and thumping along like a ride at Geroland
Our cheeks are nice and rosy, but not so cozy are we
We're snuggled up together - someone likes too much A/C
We'll take the road before us and sing a chorus or two
Come on it's cloudy weather for a
Smoky weather for a
Foggy weather for a bus ride together with you!
Screech! (during the horse neigh)
Todd and Barbara singing "Sleigh/Bus Ride"
Another group of teachers did a "12 Days of Christmas" with gifts like: 10 single men, 8 kids on grade level (ouch!), 5 photo copy machines, 3 microwaves, and that most necessary item (seeing as it can hardly ever be found when you need it)...
a whole roll of toilet paper!
At the end, we had a gift exchange for the people who took part in Secret Santa. Jerry Johnsen, a computer teacher and member of our bus route, dressed the part of a pretty great-looking Egyptian Santa.
A couple of days before school gets out for the holidays, the gifts from students start coming in. We are pretty lucky, being elementary teachers. The high school teachers don't get much - how sad! Last year, Todd got the good gifts, and Barbara got perfume and picture frames. This year, she got real gold earrings, beautiful candle holders and just a few really tacky things. Todd is now a few papyruses richer. The parents of the little ones can be very generous. The only thing to watch out for is when parents start giving gifts and invitations to the house in return for better grades. Favor trading is very big here, and no one except the ethical teachers seems to see any problem with it!
We spent our Christmas eve with Barbara making her first public appearance on the guitar, to a packed crowd at the Christmas eve service. The service was nice and family-oriented, with a visiting bishop calling all the kids up to the front to read a story about the Grumpy Old Giant. We went to a friend's house that evening, then on Christmas day, went to another friend's house. We had roast beef and all the trimmings. A lovely time.
Believe it or not, we have never ventured out of Cairo this school year until now! For New Year's Eve, we went with two friends, Dionne and Sayed, to Dahab on the Red Sea. We had been there before with Barbara's mom, but had stayed in a little resort hotel way down the beach from the village proper. Sayed is a native Egyptian and he brought us to a place he usually stays in every time he goes. It's a cute little place called the Green Valley, right in the middle of town. A walk across the little street and you were in their beach-side restaurant. The rooms were comfortable, but with few frills. But, it was certainly more than you'd expect for $16 US a night!
The Green Valley Restaurant
We visited by the water, read in the sun and shade, walked along the beach, shopped a little in the shops. Dahab has a hippie reputation, and there are lots of backpackers, especially Europeans, all over the place. According to Sayed, the majority of visitors to Dahab are German, so Todd was hearing a lot of German that weekend.
A sand painter along the strip.
At midnight on New Year's Eve, we were sitting in chairs a few feet away from the ocean waves, drinking a toast to 2001. The weather is warm, and the nights are pleasantly cool. It was a shock to get back to cold Cairo. We had a wonderful time, even with the two interminable 8-hour bus rides (cheap but loud and uncomfortable - see Chronicle #9: http://www.thomasvillecentral.com/CC9.htm)
Again, Happy New Year - we hope to enjoy ourselves as much as we can in 2001! You try to, too!
Todd & Barbara Thomas :-)
