Thanks for the reality check, M!

In no way did my time between July 23rd and Sept 25 feel like reality. I was truly living it up. Drinking, eating, sleeping in, living in Egypt without an ounce of stress. It was as though I was floating through some perfect universe where my only reminder of reality was the fact that my intestines did not love Egyptian food.

Then I arrived in M and BAM! Like a smack on the rear, life begins once again. After a delightful 6 hour flight, I arrived in Casablanca around 11 pm with my 60 kilos of luggage (I know it was 60 kilos because the lovely EgyptAir man made me put all of my checked and carryon baggage onto the scale at one time- thanks to him for letting me keep it all despite being way over the luggage allowance!). Mohamed was waiting for me at the airport (Yay!) and we were able to take the last train into Casa and hop in a taxi to stay with a friend for the night.

I was exhausted and landed to receive the great news of- I have no apartment and no place to go on Sunday. Super! Sunday we took the train up to the capital and sensing my irritation with the situation, Mohamed scrambled to find accommodations. For four days I stayed in a studio apartment where I killed at least three cockroaches on a daily basis. Now, I wouldn't call myself a girlie girl, but I do not do cockroaches and I could not wait to get out of there.

Back in Agdal

On a walk into the city

First time back in the Medina

I spent the four days searching for an apartment, meeting bosses and fellow teachers from school and trying to prepare for my first real teaching job while living out of a suitcase. Many of you know how well I do when not completely unpacked and living in a fully decorated place- it is not pretty! Needless to say I was feeling the stress and when my now roommate Michaela found a beautiful two bedroom, two bathroom place a minute's walk from work. We jumped all over it and moved in three days before the start of classes.

Shots of the new apartment- sparsely furnished

The day before I started teaching I met with my director and got my class schedule. We are guaranteed a minimum of 21 hours per week in our contract. When I was hired, I was told 22-23 hours was pretty typical. Apparently people are super excited about learning english this semester because I have a whopping 25 hours of teaching time. Now, those of you full timers are probably thinking that sounds pretty cushy and believe me, at first I thought the same thing. However, as a new teacher, I don't know what the heck I'm doing and I therefore have to spend loads of time preparing. For example, I spent 7 hours this past Monday (one of my days off) preparing for my 6 hours of classes on Tuesday. Ugh.

The good news is we're now into week two and it's already feeling easier. As with most things, I think the learning curve is just quite steep and you just have to work your rear end off to keep yourself from drowning the first week. And thankfully, I like it! I have a fairly varied class/age load which is nice.

I teach university students in Sale business English on Tuesday afternoons, then head back to AMIDEAST to teach adult beginners and then a TOEFL test preparation course. On Wednesdays I have two (two hour) sessions of 7-10 year olds and I get to do lots of games and coloring with them. Thursdays bring my beginner adults and TOEFL class again, then I have Friday off. Saturday is another long day with with another 2 classes of 7-10 year olds followed by a 3 hour TOEFL test prep session. Sundays are a bit like PC in that I teach teenagers on scholarship who couldn't normally afford classes. While this is a population I prefer to be with, having them for 4 hours is a bit much. Mondays are off.

So for right now, my life generally involves hanging out in my minimally furnished apartment (usually in bed) then heading off to work for preparation or classes. I haven't had much time for anything else and it's been raining cats and dogs for the last 4 days. On days off, I usually go spend some time with Mohamed in his store; otherwise, I don't see him until he closes up and we make a late dinner. For now, there's no other big news there. Just spending time and taking it easy.

Mohamed with his niece Oumayma on a visit to his sister's house in Sale.

Life here has certainly begun.

Holidays in Sinai, teaching practice, goodbyes, oh my!

Me on my balcony, last day in Alex

My five weeks in Egypt have come and gone far too quickly. As usual, it's not so much the place, but the people who've made this time so memorable. 15 people from all over the world, living in one apartment complex, learning to be English teachers and hoping to familiarize themselves with the people and culture of a pretty complex place. You can't help but become an insane little mini-family.

Two weeks ago a group of seven of us hopped on a bus and took the 12 hour ride to Sinai. We had a four day weekend due to the end of Ramadan and Eid, so we had to take advantage of the time and get away from Alexandria.

Our first stop was the little town of St. Katherine where the Mt. Sinai of Moses is supposedly located. Up to 1400 people per day hike to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise and in many cases pray. We left our hostel at 2 am and hiked through the night to make it in time for the sunrise. Night hiking is something I'd never done before and it was a pretty unique experience. No sound but our footsteps on the rocks and dirt and no light except from the stars and our small flashlights. The stars were absolutely incredible. The band of the Milky Way was very distinct across the sky and I saw two incredible shooting stars.

The hike was challenging towards the end, but we made it to the top in time to see the sun start peeking out over the barren, rocky mountains. On this particular day we shared the peak with around 700 other hikers and pilgrims. After the sunrise, we began the long hike down to St. Katherine's Monastery. Being so secluded and off the beaten path, St. Katherine's is said to be the oldest functioning Monastery that's never been attacked or harmed in any way.

Sunrise over Mt. Sinai

The hostel that we stayed at in St. Katherine's was great and we did our fair amount of lounging in their tented sitting areas, but after a few days in the heat of these desert mountains, we were ready to head for the sea.

Hostel in St. Katherine

Next stop, Dahab, a seaside tourist-infested wonderland of hotels, restaurants and bars. We found a cheap place right on the water and spent the majority of our time laying around in the cozy seating area of the hostel's restaurant. Laying, eating, drinking, smoking hookah- doesn't get much more relaxing.

Another highlight of our two days in Dahab was snorkeling in the Blue Hole. One of the most famous diving/snorkeling spots in the world, the Blue hole is a 127 meter deep hole just off the coast surrounded by the most incredible coral reefs and sea creatures. It was my first time snorkeling and I when I put my head under the water for the first time, I was in absolute awe of what lie just below the surface. If only I had an underwater camera!

The Blue Hole

Vacation over, back in Alexandria we started our official teaching practice. Each student taught five hours alone and two with a partner. Our schedule completely changed for teaching practice, so our beach days unfortunately came to an end. The students who come to our classes are all volunteers and classes lasted from 3:00-9:00 pm. Depending on our class time, we picked from three different departure and return times. With class prep, teaching and observing other teachers, we ended up at TEFL for at least 7 hours per day, often times more. While it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit, I did miss our daily evening swims.

Hanging out at TEFL

For me, the teaching practice was fairly stress free. I've had experience creating lesson plans and teaching all kinds of students and the whole thing just comes fairly easily to me. I guess I'm just fortunate to have found a career path that I both like and am good at! For many of my classmates, though, this was the first experience they had with any kind of teaching. There was stress, tears, 10 minute classes, blank stares, praising of nonsense and more. In the end though, everyone got through it and I think came out with more respect for all of the great teachers out there. There's no question that it's hard work!

Only 7 of our original 17 are staying in Alexandria for the optional 6 week teaching internship and intensive Arabic course. As all good things must come to an end, we spent the last 3 days saying goodbye and wishing people well as the headed off to their next adventure. It's really quite incredible how dependent you can become on others in such a short period of time.

Going away celebration

Thanks to James, Amanda, Zane, Laura, Laura, Danielle, Read, Simon, Jules, Oscar, J.P., Faizal, Mohammed and Sara for an incredible month! And a special shout out to security guard Hamidou who made me delicious tea.

Now it's Cairo until Saturday, then off to Morocco!

Big 'ole Cairo bus trip

Friday was a big day for the TEFL Alex crew- trip to Cairo! It came as part of our tuition with the program and I'd been looking forward to it since I arrived two weeks ago (has it really onlybeen two weeks?!). We started the day by hopping on our mini bus at 7am. Despite the early rise, everyone was pumped for the day.

After an hour and a half of driving, we stopped at an Oasis for a quick break. Now, these types of Oases exist in Morocco as well- generally a few stores, restaurant, bathrooms, but this one was pretty wild. Besides the typical haunts, this place had a mini zoo and decrepit play land for kids. Of course, I had to play on some of the toys and that may have been the most dangerous thing I've done thus far in Egypt.

Ostriches at the roadside petting zoo

After another hour and a half, we arrived at our first stop- the pyramids of Giza! As we drove up, a friend next to me mentioned "huh, they don't really seem that big." I'm not going to lie, I kind of agreed. They didn't look all that impressive. Flash forward to me looking like a tiny little ant on the side of the Great Pyramid. Make no mistake people, these things are pretty awe-inspiring. One row of blocks was almost as tall as me and I'm not going to even try to guess how many rows make up the Great Pyramid.

The Great Pyramid at Giza

After taking some photos, we drove on to the 2nd pyramid and at that one I paid a little extra to go inside. I know, I got to go inside of a pyramid and you are extremely jealous. It was not at all what I imagined. The tunnels are tiny, definitely not designed for anyone with any sort of claustrophobia. We immediately had to crouch down and began walking down from the entrance into the pyramid. Little wooded boards were nailed to the floor every foot or so to keep you from sliding down. (Our suggestion for the tourism board- let's make it a slide!) After traveling down for quite some time, we were able to mostly stand and walked straight in before the tunnel curved up and we had to once again crouch and use the boards to keep moving upward. Once in the center we found a single room. Fairly small with high ceilings right in the heart of the pyramid. The only thing in the room at this time is the stone coffin of the king once locked inside. A bit eery, but pretty cool.

Me and friend James inside the second pyramid

Silly pics are a must!

After leaving the second pyramid, we stopped farther out for a panoramic view of all three pyramids in the area. Next stop, the Sphinx! Also very cool. Something I'd dreamed of seeing my entire life.

After leaving Giza, we headed to the Egyptian Museum. I think the best way to describe this Museum is crammed. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall stuff. All ancient, all cool, very little rhyme or reason to the layout, not nearly enough labels, lots of guesswork and wandering. It's almost as though Egypt has so much stuff that they can't possibly lay it all out in any sort of logical manner and have it all fit. Overall rating- mediocre.

After the museum was a fairly disappointing buffet lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. The only bright spot in this part of the trip was an extremely delicious alcoholic beverage that I payed 11 dollars for.

Finally, we made it to one of the biggest markets in Cairo. It was right before lftur and the place was hopping. Upon entering the market I decided to try to get by on only my Moroccan Arabic. It was fabulous! The shopkeepers looked at me with confused expressions and asked "are you from Tunis? are you algerian?" HA! But I did manage to get my point across and bargained fairly well for a few key items.

The men who I wowed with my Moroccan Arabic and who sold me my sweet scarf!

As we waited for the bus to pick us up on the street, this little kid came up with a handful of bracelets and asked if I wanted one. "2 for 5 pounds (a little less than a dollar)," he said. I thought about it, but frankly, the bracelets were ugly and why on earth would I need two? So I told him no thank you and hoped that would be the end of it. No such luck, of course. He kept bothering me and I kept declining his offer. He went away.

A few minutes later, he's back. More bargaining. This time, I tell him I'll pay 2 pounds (all the change I had) for one bracelet. Nope, he's not having it. I'm not budging either. Finally, he says, "fine! take this one for two pounds" and he proceeds to try and give me a much cheaper looking, uglier bracelet. No way kid. Give me the good one or get out of here! He leaves again in a huff. This same thing goes on for the next five minutes. He continues to come back to me and tries to get me to buy the ugly bracelet. Finally, on the fifth try he yells "fine! take the bracelet for two pounds!" So I take it and give him the money. He starts to leave, but turns around. "You English?" he asks. "Yes," I respond (I know, what a liar). He raises his arm to make his point and says "English VERY BAD!" and walks away in a huff.

Just doing my part to damage the reputation of the English people in Egypt. Hehe.

The souk getting ready to break the fast

Some beautiful girls who couldn't stop taking photos of our group

Breaking the fast in Alex

I don't think I've gone into a lot of detail about Ramadan in my posts, but hopefully most of you know by now that Ramadan is the fasting month in the Islamic calendar. For an entire month, from sun up to sun down, Muslims are to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activity. The sacrifice a time of reflection and prayer as well as a chance to bring the faster closer to God.

When the sun sets, a call goes out from all of the mosques signaling that it is time to break the fast (lftur). I experienced three Ramadan's in Morocco, but never experienced anything like I have in Egypt at sundown.

Last thursday a group of us hung out downtown after class and just happened to be wandering the streets as people were preparing for the lftur. The city was all a buzz and smelled of meats roasting over the fire. During the walk, I stopped to buy a nightgown. Me and another person in our group chatted with them for a few minutes and they asked us to join them to break the fast. We didn't accept as our group had moved on, but that was just one of many invitations we received from complete strangers as we continued our walk.

An incredible thing about breaking the fast in Egypt is that after a day of fasting, no one is to go without breakfast. Tents, tables and chairs are set up in places all over the city and everyone can go and eat for free. Not only Muslims, but non-muslims, tourists, anyone at all is allowed to take part in the feast.

After leaving the clothing shop were were invited into one such free breakfast area. Unfortunately, they had run out of food, but they insisted that we return at an earlier time the next day to partake. One man, feeling bad that we'd not eaten, led us for 15 mins to the restaurant where we'd end up eating.

A few days later we went on another excursion to downtown Alex and were hopping into taxis to go home just as the call went out to break the fast. "Won't you break the fast?" I asked the taxi driver (Why else would he still be in his cab and driving me home?). He responded- Of course! During the 30 minute ride to our apartments I found out what he meant.

During lftur, men and children stand all over the streets with dates, juice and other foods which they throw into the passing cars as they drive by. People, after fasting all day, stand in the middle of the road (often in various precarious positions!) to throw bags of free food at complete strangers passing by.

It amazes me that there are people who spend their days creating tiny bags of food to hand to those still driving when they should be eating. To be shocked at the level of kindness- what a great feeling.

Settling in Alexandria

What a week!

I left Detroit on Friday the 20th of August on a plane to JFK. At JFK, I hopped over to EgyptAir for an 11 hour direct flight to Cairo. I was pumped and only nervous about one thing- finding my way, alone, from Cairo to Alexandria. As luck would have it, I sat on the plane next to a man who lives in New Jersey, but is originally from Alexandria and was on his way to visit family.

While a bit too chatty for my liking on the plane, this very kind man offered to let me follow him to Alexandria. At the airport, I bought my visa from a bank, grabbed my luggage and exchanged some money before catching the bus. The bus ride was long, but I was absolutely exhausted so it was a great opportunity to get a little sleep.

Once I got to the bus station in Alexandria, I was supposed to call the folks from TEFL to pick me up, but it was almost time for lftor (breakfast- it is Ramadan and everyone is fasting!). I did not have easy access to a phone and was also afraid that if I did call, I'd have to wait for a ride until after lftor so I decided to hop in a taxi and hope for the best.

About 30 minutes, 70 egyptian pounds and one stop for an english speaker later, I arrived at the TEFL accommodations. I was very pleasantly surprised by our apartments (pictures to come in a later post). I share a two bedroom place with Amanda from Botswana. Amanda has already completed her 4 week certificate course, but stuck around to do an internship and study Arabic. It's great to have a roomie who knows the ropes!

Amanda and me

The next day (Sunday- first day of the week), we had our first day of classes. The apartments are about 40 mins away from where we have class, so we all hop in some vans at 9 am. Classes begin at 10 and go until 4:30.

The school in Stanley, Alexandria

The other students in the class are super cool. Mostly Americans, but we do have three people from England, one from Holland, one from Venezuela, one from Saudi Arabia and one Egyptian. 17 people total- you do the math. Classes are interesting and even challenging (grammar!). Aside from grammar, we're learning some Phonology (the study of sounds in a language), classroom management, lesson planning and more. To pass the course, I'll have to pass a phonology test, a grammar test, complete various assignments and do 6 hours of teaching practice.

We've gotten through one week so far and have already established a good routine. Morning classes are followed by a 10 minute walk to find a delicious and cheap lunch (falafel or fuul sandwiches for less than 20 cents), then afternoon classes, then a swim in the Mediterranean Sea when we get back to the apartments. Shower after the swim, dinner, then internet and bed. A few nights we've also gone out to a nearby bar where they serve two types of beer (Heineken and Egyptian Stella) and shots of Gin (sick!).

Swimming in the Sea at sunset.

For more photos of the Mediterranean Sea, see my photo album on FB here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2466003&id=12102478&l=5188b3fddd

Last night (our equivalent of Friday night) a group of us decided to stay downtown after class and try to take in some of the sights. We were dropped off at the Library of Alexandria. This is a pretty incredible building designed to look like the sun rising out of the sea. Around the outside, words are written in every known language on earth. Very impressive and we were pumped to go inside. Too bad it had closed early due to Ramadan- drat! More on that when I go back.

Library of Alexandria

From the library, we walked a few miles down the corniche (street along the water). It was a great walk with lots to see and photograph. As we got towards the end of the street, we took a turn inland and got to see the real heart of Alexandria. Small streets lined with markets and decorated with sparkles for Ramadan, people bustling all around us. It was almost time for the call to prayer (signaling time to break the fast) so food was cooking and everyone was getting excited to eat. Some guys where I bought a nighty for 15 pounds (less than 3 dollars) invited us to break the fast with them, but we continued on.

On the streets during lftur

After a few other failed attempts to get food (one place was full, another out of food) we were led through some crazy streets and came out at a restaurant described by our guidebooks as having the best seafood in Alexandria. The books were not kidding- this food was absolutely incredible. You pay per kilo of fish and the price includes a variety of salads and water. We choose three huge sea bass (three kilos!) and they basically slice it open, season it and add red and hot peppers before throwing it on the grill. Absolutely the most delicious fish I've ever tasted.

For more pictures of downtown Alexandria, check out my FB photo album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2466670&id=12102478&l=1963ccd7a1

That brings me to today or our equivalent of saturday. I slept in and have been taking it easy this morning, but am hoping to go into town this afternoon. More to come!

Preparing for takeoff

Return leased car- check

Cancel insurance- check

Cancel phone- check
Cancel netflix- check

Spend lots of money on pre-departure food, drinks and fun- check check check

T-1 day until I depart for Egypt and all that's left to do is pack. I find packing to be a daunting, yet exciting task. It's impossible to fit everything you want, so what a fabulous way to de-clutter and simplify. Last time I undertook it all I had was a list ofrecommended items and an intense fear that I would leave behind something extremely important.

This time, there is no fear. I know exactly what I want to take and I know exactly what I'll be able to buy in Morocco. It's a pretty great feeling!

I've spent the last few weeks in my hometown of Mason, MI for family time. Thanks to all those who participated in the various parties and dinners. It's been a great few weeks!

Dinner and drinks with Gloria and Brenna

Family barbeque and pool party

Baseball game with Dad, Sue, David and Arika

Off to Egypt tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Missing Madison before I've gone

Only 9 days left in Madison. It's quite sad, I really love this place. Things I'll miss:

- the tiny door out to my back porch

- corner patio at Genna's

- Mango Mojito at the Icon

- Jolly Bob's

- beer drinking and lake watching at the Terrace

- farmers markets on the square with spicy cheese bread

- drinking wine on the grass around the capital for concerts on the square

- biking to trader joe's and putting my groceries in my awesome basket

- Hook's melt with greens and wine tastings at Barrique's on Monroe St

- Babcock ice cream

- Ian's pizza

- Margaritas with the ladies at Pedro's

- Awesome friends

I think the moral of that list is that Madison is great for eating and drinking. Especially eating and drinking outside- I've obviously forgotten about all of the great winter activities. Since my last day of work last Friday, I've been happily unemployed and trying to enjoy all of the above listed things as much as humanly possible before I go. It's been brilliant and I know that I'll go through some kind of withdrawal.

I only regret that in order to survive here over the last 2.5 years, I've had to spend the majority of my time working and traveling for work. Why is it that we Americans have such trouble finding a good life balance? So many people have to choose between being well-rested, but bored because they have no money to spend or full of stress, but unhappy because there's no time to do anything fun with their money.

That is going to be one of my goals for my time in Morocco- to find a happy life balance. I hope to develop routines that divide my time each day among the following:

- Exercise (I just ordered some yoga/pilates videos to do in my apartment)

- Study (for the GRE and the Foreign Service Exam, Arabic, French, Spanish)

- Work (teaching English at AMIDEAST)

- Relaxation (catching up on reading, movies, hanging at Mohamed's store, chats with loved ones)

I'm not so naive as to think I'll get to each thing each and every day, but a girl's got to have goals! In PC I wasted a lot of my time on satellite television and I wince when thinking about all that could have been accomplished in that time.

The apartment is almost packed. Pictures are off the walls, books off of shelves, stacks of boxes in every corner- proof that it's really drawing to a close. Everything gets moved into storage a week from Sunday and then I'm off for some family time in Michigan. I'll post again once I get there...