Blonde Nightmare

10:48 am: Happy Birthday Annie Besant :D
On this date in 1847, Annie Besant (nee Wood) was born in London. The sheltered girl married the unpleasant Rev. Frank Besant (rhymes with "pleasant") at 20. Besant, she later quipped in an early autobiography, had "very high ideas of a husband's authority and a wife's submission." Besant met liberal former minister Moncure Conway, and after a course of reading, gave up Christianity at age 25 and soon after separated from her husband.

In 1874, Annie met Charles Bradlaugh, Britain's most prominent freethought leader and an attorney for the poor, who offered her a position on the weekly National Reformer. They embarked on a platonic professional partnership of writing, speaking and reform. Besant became a celebrity among reformers, with George Bernard Shaw praising her as "the greatest orator in England, and possibly in Europe." Annie persuaded Charles to reprint The Fruits of Philosophy, a book about birth control, to challenge the Obscene Publications Act.

They were arrested, tried and narrowly avoided jail. When Annie shrewdly rewrote the outdated booklet, her version became a bestseller that hastened the birth control movement worldwide. But her involvement lost her custody of her 8-year-old daughter. Annie became a student at London university when it agreed to admit women in 1878, receiving the only honors award in botany in 1881 in Prof. Thomas Huxley's class.

She was the first woman on the London School Board, and an advocate for working class women and woman suffrage. Her enthusiasms for other causes and other men gradually strained her friendship with Bradlaugh. The rudest shock to Bradlaugh, his daughter Hypatia, and admirers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton came in 1889, when Besant officially converted to theosophy. Although retaining affection for the freethought movement, she became a successor to the mystic founder of theosophy, Mme. Blavatsky, moving to India.

A fanatical bent which her mother had detected (her mother's prophetic dying words: "it has been darling Annie's only fault; she has always been too religious") took Besant on a journey to occultism. Even in India, however, Besant was a true reformer, never quite losing her practical bent. An early supporter of Indian Home Rule, she was later praised by freethinker Jawaharlal Nehru as the "Mother of India." D. 1933.


“ . . . I rejoice that I played my part in that educating of England which has made impossible for evermore the crude superstitions of the past, and the repetition of the cruelties and injustices under which preceding heretics suffered.”

-- Annie Besant, Autobiography (1910)

08:41 am: Action Alert: New Health Care Bills Promote and Subsidize Faith-healing!‏
I received this via email from the FFRF this morning. I hope that all of you will write in and take action to stop this.

Dear FFRF Members:

We received the following timely request for help from Rita Swan, director of Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD), based in Iowa, about unconstitutional action which Congress is poised to take to require medical insurers to reimburse for "religious or spiritual health care." This is in capitulation to the Christian Science lobby and is hidden in amendments in two Senate bills (read the language of these amendments below). According to Rita, the IRS allows Christian Science prayer to be deducted as a medical expense! Can you help stop these unconstitutional and dangerous amendments? Read Rita's message and our brief Talking Points below, and then please:

Contact:

1) Senate Finance Committee
Chair: Senator Max Baucus
511 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2651
Fax: (202) 224-9412
E-mail form: http://baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue

Senate Committee On Finance
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510-6200
Phone: (202) 224-4515
Link to committee members: http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/committee.htm

2) Your Senator
Find/Contact Your Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

3) Make this the subject of a short letter to your local editor

Rita's message:

The Senate Finance Committee is currently debating Senator Baucus' America's Healthy Future Act of 2009. The Kerry-Hatch amendment C-14 titled "Religious Non-discrimination in Health Care" to the Baucus bill prohibits insurers from denying "benefits for religious or spiritual health care" if the "religious or spiritual health care" is "an expense eligible for deduction as a medical care expense as determined by Internal Revenue Service Rulings interpreting section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as of January 1, 2009."

Senate Bill 1679, known as the Affordable Health Choices Act, which has already passed the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, includes Section 3103 (a)(1)(D). It requires insurers to reimburse for "religious or spiritual health care" that is "an expense eligible for deduction as a medical care expense as determined by Internal Revenue Service Rulings interpreting section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as of January 1, 2009."

For several decades the Internal Revenue Service has allowed bills sent by Christian Science practitioners for their prayers to be a tax-deductible medical care expense. This is bizarre, but certainly does not prove that Christian Science prayer heals disease. To our knowledge Christian Science prayer is the only prayer that the IRS allows to be deducted as a medical expense.

Christian Science church founder Mary Baker Eddy told the spiritual healers to "make their charges for treatment equal to those of reputable physicians in their respective localities" (First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 237). These treatments consist only of prayer. In 1989, Christian Science healer Mario Tosto charged parents $446 for two days of prayer-treatment for an 11-year-old Minnesota boy with diabetes. The boy, of course, died.

The measures in the U.S. Senate health care bills have the government not only allowing payments to unlicensed providers, but requiring them. Moreover, the government is requiring insurers to pay bills sent by one church's faith healers. And finally, these measures will bolster the Christian Science church's argument that its prayer "treatments" are and should be a legal substitute for medical care of sick children. All of these aspects are very bad.

We would be very grateful for FFRF's publicity of these provisions in the U.S. Senate health care bills and whatever you can do to mount opposition to them.—Rita Swan/CHILD Inc.

Talking Points

To Senate Finance Committee (feel free to copy and paste):

Kill the unwise and unconstitutional Kerry-Hatch amendment C-14 to Senator Baucus' America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, with its misnomer title, "Religious Nondiscrimination in Health Care." Congress should not condone prayer as a substitute for medical evaluation and treatment, much less subsidize it for one religious sect! The children of Christian Scientists, who could have been saved by medicine, have died because their parents relied on Christian Scientist "faith healers." These irresponsible religious sects teach that it is a sin to take an ill or dying child to a medical doctor. It is a "sin" not to get medical care in such circumstances. Congress must not encourage medical maltreatment of dependent children. Nor should legislation be passed to benefit one religious sect. Keep religious dogma out of government!

To Your Senator

Please work and vote against any amendments to Senate legislation that would require insurers to reimburse for so-called "religious or spiritual health care" (prayer as a substitute for medical evaluation and treatment). Please oppose Section 3103(a)(1)(D) of Senate Bill 1679, which has passed out of committee and is up for debate. S. 1679 requires insurers to reimburse for so-called "religious or spiritual health care." The Kerry-Hatch amendment C-14 to Senator Baucus' America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 (now in the Senate Finance Committee), with its misleading title, "Religious Nondiscrimination in Health Care," is also unwise and unconstitutional. Congress should not condone prayer as a substitute for medical evaluation and treatment, much less require its subsidy for one religious sect! The children of Christian Scientists, who could have been saved by medicine, have died because their parents relied on Christian Scientist "faith healers." These irresponsible religious sects teach that it is a sin to take an ill or dying child to a medical doctor. It is a "sin" not to get medical care in such circumstances. Congress must not encourage medical maltreatment of dependent children. Nor should legislation be passed to benefit one religious sect. Keep religious dogma out of government!

Amendment Text

America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, Senate Finance Committee, Title I, Subtitle B, Kerry/Hatch Amendment C-14, "Religious Non-Discrimination in Health Care," September 22, 2009

“Description of Amendment: There shall be a requirement that there be non-discrimination in health care in a manner that, with respect to an individual who is eligible for medical or surgical care under a qualified health plan offered through a State Exchange, prohibits the Administrator of the State Exchange, or a qualified health plan offered through a State Exchange, from denying such individual benefits for religious or spiritual health care, except that such religious or spiritual health care shall be an expense eligible for deduction as a medical care expense as determined by Internal Revenue Service Rulings interpreting section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as of January 1, 2009.”

Affordable Health Choices Act, S. 1679, Sec. 3103(a)(1)(D), September 17, 2009

“The essential benefits provided for in subparagraph (A) shall include a requirement that there be non-discrimination in health care in a manner that, with respect to an individual who is eligible for medical or surgical care under a qualified health plan offered through a Gateway, prohibits the Administrator of the Gateway, or a qualified health plan offered through the Gateway, from denying such individual benefits for religious or spiritual health care, except that such religious or spiritual health care shall be an expense eligible for deduction as a medical care expense as determined by Internal Revenue Service Rulings interpreting section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as of January 1, 2009.”

(For more info or to send blind copies of your letters, contact Bonnie Gutsch at bgutsch@ffrf.org)

09:26 pm: Article by Christopher Hitchens re: Egypt's slaughtering of pigs
http://www.slate.com/id/2229830/?from=rss

is the original link, and I am re-posting here:

First They Came for the Pigs - The terrible consequences of Egypt's swine slaughter.

By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, Sept. 28, 2009, at 11:05 AM ET

According to all recent reports, the ancient city of Cairo now presents to the world the image of a growing pile of festering trash. Nothing new, you say. The streets have never been exactly uncluttered, and the levels of noise and traffic and pollution are an object of wonderment.

When I first visited the place, I was amazed to find people living with great dignity and aplomb in what were called "the cities of the dead"—among the graves and stones of Cairo's massive cemeteries. I was also struck by the number and variety of animals living cheek by jowl, as it were, amid the buses and taxis, with the human population. Looking down from the high window of Shepheard's Hotel, I saw that some enterprising person in a neighboring low-rise had managed to get a small flock of goats onto his roof. Other flocks and herds could be met with on the thoroughfares. And a great deal of excellent work was being unobtrusively done by that most useful of animals, the pig. As mass consumers of organic waste, pigs are hard to beat. They would chomp their way through great heaps of it, very often under the unspoken supervision of Cairo's quite large Christian minority.

I have to use the past tense about these noble beasts because, in the spring of this very year, they were all slaughtered on the orders of the Egyptian government.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/world/middleeast/25oink.html?_r=1

And it is this crazy action that has shifted the Cairo trash scene from the awful to the near-calamitous. It was alleged by the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, on the basis of no evidence whatever, that the swine themselves were the carriers of the so-called "swine flu." (Several friends and relatives of mine have already caught and recovered from this mild infection; everybody knows that actual encounters with pigs have absolutely nothing to do with it.) As a consequence of the pig massacre, the streets of Cairo have become almost unlivable, and the Christian garbage collectors, locally called the zabaleen, have been robbed of their livelihood. "They killed the pigs, let them clean the city," as one former garbage collector and pig man, Moussa Rateb, was quoted as saying of the Egyptian authorities.

I read all the way to the end of Michael Slackman's well-written and vividly illustrated report in the New York Times with that vague need one sometimes feels to hear the sound of another shoe dropping.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/world/africa/20cairo.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=michael%20slackman%20cairo%20pigs&st=cse


When was he proposing to mention that there was something sectarian—possibly even something religious—in the decision to simultaneously butcher the pigs and downgrade the Christians?


This wouldn't be the only instance of clerical hysteria generated by the outbreak. Iranian television recently broadcast an item suggesting that the swine-flu virus had been deliberately incubated by the usual shady cosmopolitan "circles" and that the vaccine against it had been monopolized by a company in which Donald Rumsfeld held many shares.

source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qrp63L1R4Y

Back in May, just as Egypt's anti-porcine hysteria was gathering pace, there was a proposal from Sheik Ahmad Ali Othman, a senior advisory figure at the Ministry of Religious Endowments, that all pigs be killed because they were the descendants of those unbelieving Jews who were turned into swine in the Quran.

source: http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD235909

(In case you don't follow this very toxic debate between contending schools of militant Islam, there are those who maintain that Jews are the spawn of the pigs and monkeys into which Allah turned the heretics, and those who take the more moderate view that the heretics turned into pigs and monkeys were further cursed by being made barren and sterile. The latter view leads to the slightly more lenient and broad-minded conclusion that, bad as today's Jews are, they at least cannot be in a direct line of descent from the original condemned beasts. These fine distinctions are worth knowing.)

At a more demotic level, it is said that pigs are unclean because they even eat their own excrement. They are not the only creatures that will resort to this, but it is certainly their omnivorousness that makes them such an amazing trash patrol. Not to notice this about pigs is to miss the point of them. We might also observe that they have skin and organs that can be transplanted onto and into humans, that they have high intelligence and an impressive body weight to brain weight ratio, some family values, and other interesting traits. (It's no coincidence that, in all societies that do not inculcate prejudice against them, baby pigs are regarded in a cousinly light by the folklore of human children.) A city or society without pigs is barely imaginable: A world without pigs would be a world in which humans had destroyed some close kin and some very serviceable fellow creatures. Yet two of the great monotheisms are committed to irrational hatred and even fear of the pig. (Christianity is rather better on the point, if you omit the ghastly tale of the Gadarene swine infected with demons by Jesus himself.

source: http://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/2005/05/gadarene-swine.html

A canon of the Church of England, who had served as a missionary in New Guinea, where sheep were unknown, told me that the metaphor of the woolly flock and the shepherd had been replaced among the indigenous by Anglican preachers who appealed to the Lord to keep and safeguard his precious porkers.)

But no faith is immune to stupidity on this point. Centuries ago in Europe, cats were considered—especially the black ones among them—as the "familiars" of witches and put to death with revolting cruelty by Christians who were petrified of the evil one and his female envoys. The destruction of the feline led to the triumph of the rat, and to the flea that it bore on its back, and to the near collapse of European civilization. Now, the eradication of the porcine leads to the advance of the garbage mountain, in which it would be surprising if the rat and its vermin did not again find a few claw holds. Leave it to people of faith. Leave it to them if you dare …

02:39 pm: School Closed, Casinos, and Customs, OH MY!
Ahhh I'm overdue for an update to my journal - sorry :)

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but the Egyptian ministry closed our school down until October 7. That doesn't mean we're not having classes though. We've moved to an online format, so now we're using this program called Blackboard, and at first although I thought this would make my life awesome, it has ended up being 100 times more work for me. Basically I've had to set up online courses for each class I teach, post announcements, assignments, and create discussion threads on forums where students can go to talk about the classwork, and have online conversations, and of course I am getting emailed homework from all of my kids, in addition to a million questions, etc. Now, I have to monitor these online discussion threads (maybe 10 per class * 5 classes), make sure the conversations are going in the right manner, make sure the kids are on the right track, and correct any misconceptions I see. This takes FOREVER. I also have to track and monitor who is participating in these discussions, and who isn't, so I can give them grades, and then I have to open every email attachment, and look at the homework. It's exhausting. Bring the kids back into the classrooms already argh!

The ministry shut down all the schools - basically because of the swine flu scare. Of course it's ridiculous. You know, there are 0 cases and no evidence for any threat, and yet here we are, closed until Oct 7. At least after this week we have a vacation Oct 1-6, where I'll be heading to El Gouna, this beach town on the red sea for more sun, scuba, snorkeling, and fun :)


This past weekend was fun. My friend Tara, her husband Berry, and I went to the Sheraton downtown to their casino. We wanted to see what the casinos here were like and try our hand at blackjack. Well, we were in for quite a few surprises. First of all, I had heard that the casinos downtown did not allow any Egyptians in. This seemed super prejudiced to me, and sure enough, when we went to enter the casino, there was a big sign that said "NON-EGYPTIAN ENTRANCE ONLY" and we had to show our passports before they let us in. BTW, there was no other entrance, that was it. So Tara was freaking out because she's like, "Wtf this is like a throwback to the days of slavery" Well, come to find out, after talking to my friend Carolyn, that the reason is that it is illegal for Egyptians to gamble. You know, the country here is an Islamic country, and apparently Carolyn says it is against their beliefs to gamble, and since here there is no separation of church and state, and if the religious council makes a ruling, the state must abide by it.. so apparently they have made it a law that Egyptians cannot gamble. It's strange because all other Arabs are welcomed. We were at the blackjack table alongside people from Kuwait, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, and Libya. .. but no Egyptians. D:

Also, gambling here is no fun! In Shreveport, or Vegas or anywhere else, the table is happy, and talking to each other, and congratulating each other, and cheering whenever we all win, bantering with the dealer, etc. Here, it's dead. Silence. Everyone just is very serious, and I'm all like WHY SO SRS?!? So at least we do get free drinks, so Tara and I are having jack and coke and living it up, and we're losing.. no fun, but at least we're trying to liven things up. I start practicing my arabic and talking to people at the table and asking them where they're from. So as I mentioned earlier, the guy to my right looked American, but when I asked him in Arabic where he's from he whispered to me Kuwait. When I asked why he's whispering, he said because he doesn't want people to know, because maybe they'll start asking him questions ( I guess because Kuwaitis are assumed to be rich) I don't know. So then the guy to the left of the guy from Morocco looks Arabic as well, so I'm asking him in Arabic where's he's from, and he stares at me.. so I ask him again, and then in perfect American English he says, "um I have no idea what you're saying.. I'm from LA" LOLOL. I was like OH HI rofl. oops haha

So some interesting things about gambling here besides it being NO FUN =/ is that you can bet on other people's hands, like in Europe. So these rich people are putting like $150 a hand betting on my hands. Why in the world would you do that without knowing if the person knows what they're doing or not? I get to make all the decisions, and he has no say. I could make the worst plays in the world, and he has to just suck it up and watch his money go away. It didn't make sense.. if they had watched Tara and me for awhile, it would be understandable, but without knowing if I'm a good player or not they just started immediately betting on our hands. /shrug whatever.

So also what's interesting is that here they have a move called surrender, where if you don't like the way your hand looks to stack up against the dealer, before anyone plays you can surrender half your money and basically drop out of the round. Totally awful strategy by the way, you should never do it, but people were. The other thing is the dealer doesn't draw his second card until the entire table has played, unlike where I've played they have their second card face down the entire time, here they wait until the entire table has played before they draw their second card. I'm not sure how that changes anything, but I don't like it. Well, we both ended up losing, but we had budgeted for it, so it was the cost of an evening of entertainment.

OK, so the last thing I wanted to talk about was customs and shipping things to Egypt. OK, well so I had ordered things for Benton to bring over with him, but a few things didn't get there in time - 2 books and some hair products. Well, so he shipped them to me via UPS, for $80, and I paid him back for that. OK, so this shit arrives here today, and I get a call from the school that says there's a package for me here and they want 1500 pounds for me to claim it.. THAT'S LIKE ALMOST $300 WTF WTF WTF. Apparently that is why you don't ship shit here.. because the customs cost is ridiculous.. so I was like, "Um.. I don't have $300 to pay you right now.. can you hold onto it?" so they're going to hold it at the UPS facility and I guess once I get my PFD check I'll pick it up but for crying out loud the products in the box are only worth like $150, and the shipping from the US was already $80, and now $300 to claim it? That's like $400 I've paid to get stuff that's worth $150. A;LSDFJA;SLDFKJAS;LDFKJASD

I always thought that you didn't ship things here because it wasn't guaranteed to GET here.. but apparently it's because of this.. D:

GAH

SIGH

but my haaaaiiirrrrr caarreeee produccttsssss >.< >.< >.< neeeeeeeeeeeeeed!!!!!


ok so

lesson learned

HARD lesson learned

DO NOT SHIP SHIT TO EGYPT

That's why Carolyn is like saying it's TOTALLY worth it to just pay the extra baggage fee and bring an extra suitcase rather than having anything shipped here

siiiighhhhhhhhh

01:49 pm: Great Debate at Harvard between Dan Barker and Dinesh D'Souza

10:55 pm: Pics update
Editing previous entries to add pics, FYI, and the few I couldn't really find a place for I'm putting here:

Dive Center:



Beautiful pics of the Red Sea:












Pictures of part of the resort from the beach:

10:58 am: Heading back to Cairo
On my way back to Cairo today. Went snorkeling this morning and laid out for a few minutes in the sun - trying to soak up as much as I can before I head back :)

Quick side story:

Last night after dinner at the resort here in Dahab I got into a conversation with a man who ran a jewelry store here. He kept trying to sell me these jeweled crosses, and finally I was like, "I'm not a Christian." and he was like shocked, and he's like, "What religion are you?" I said, "I'm atheist" He goes, "Atheist?" so I explained that I choose not to believe in a god. He was actually very nice about it, and we had a great conversation. He's a coptic christian, and he was explaining to me why he believed, and I was explaining to him why I didn't - it was a nice conversation, and I'm happy that there are people in the world that you can have normal conversations with, without them getting upset, defensive, and offended. I believe he was very sincere in his beliefs and convictions.

The thing is, if he grew up in ancient Greece, he would be just as sincere about Zeus. If he grew up in India, he would feel the same way about Vishnu, if he lived during the viking times, he would be convinced that Wotan is god. If he were native american, it would be the animal and nature gods. Most of humanity is atheist about most every god they have invented.. some of us, like myself, just choose to take it one god further.

Well, towards the end of our conversation, he told me that he knows Jesus exists because he's had these experiences and "dreams" where he's out of his body and had an out of body experience, and spoken to the saints, etc. I told him I think he's hallucinating, or just simply dreaming. I kept reiterating that in order for me to believe I would need absolute scientific evidence that could not be disputed. So I told him that if he talks to the saints, and obviously they have all of the knowledge of earth and heaven within their grasp, that if he wanted to give me a sign, so that I would believe (he was intent on "saving me" but very nice about it), that next time he spoke to the saints out of his body, I asked him to tell them to provide me with a short proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, and if they can do that, and he can bring it back to me, I will absolutely 100% convert and believe in god and jesus. Of course he had no idea what Fermat's last theorem is, but it's easy enough to write down on a piece of paper, and really he shouldn't have to know. THey are infinitely wise, so they'll know - just take the equation to them, and get a response. We ended up praying together, asking god for a sign to prove to me he's real. I'll let you know if I receive it :P

... nothing back from the saints so far :P

12:45 am: Sunday in Dahab
Today was awesome :D I woke up and went to the dive center at 9:30. I took a scuba skills refresher course.

This is me and my instructor John:



I haven't dived (dove?) since Belize in 2004, so it's been 5 years. I did my skills review with this really nice guy John, and then I went on the noon boat out to the Golden Blocks. Here are a few pics from the Golden Blocks - it was absolutely gorgeous! :D I'll add more when I get home of me, and the hotel :)

Golden Blocks dive site:


Beautiful Coral:


Lion Fish:


Foster's Hawkfish:


Parrot Fish:





Scorpion fish: (really hard to spot him as he's camouflaged:


Crocodile Fish:


Cornet Fish:


Devil Scorpion Fish:



These are just some of the awesome things we saw during our dive. There was a total of 6 of us on the dive, and the dive master was my buddy. Absolutely no problems except my mask kept fogging up now and then, but one of our skills teaches us not only how to clear your mask completely, but if needed, I can completely remove it underwater, put it back on, and clear it again. Glad I did the skills update for sure, because although I remembered most everything, there was a few things I needed refreshing on. Also, I'm SSI certified, and the dive centers here are PADI - mostly the same, but a few minor differences.

I think I'll come back here and get my advanced certification. It's a 2 day course with 5 dives involved. It's around $250. Once I get my advanced certification I'll be able to dive to some other really cool places, and also to Thistlegorm. It's a very famous wreck in this area:

Thistlegorm:




After diving I came back to the room, had lunch, and laid outside on the back terrace getting some sun and relaxing. Then I went to dinner tonight, and now I'm packing as much as I can for tomorrow.

I haven't gotten enough sun yet (read: I'm not sunburned yet), so tomorrow morning I'm going to try and go out early and go snorkeling. I'm leaving at noon, so I figure if I can get out there by 8:00, that will give me 2 hours in the sun, which should be enough to get me sufficiently tan / burned to my liking :P Then I'll come back here at 10, get ready, and head off at 12. My flight leaves at 2:30, I should arrive back in Cairo at 3:30, and then it'll be rest time until school tomorrow (well... kind of.. teacher school I guess, not kids hehe)

We have another break right around the corner too for October 2-6. I'm not sure where I'll go for this break.. maybe back here, but maybe just to Cairo for a night at the Sheraton Casino.. or maybe if I can afford it, back here for my advanced certification.. who knows :P THere's plenty of other places in Egypt I haven't seen yet that I want to - El Ghouna, Hurghada, Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria, Abu Simbel... lots of places, but I really REALLY want to be on the beach diving and snorkeling haha. I think it's because when I was in Alaska I just couldn't go lay on the beach ever. I remember wanting SO bad to just be able to go somewhere where I can lay on the beach, soak up the sun, read a book, and do nothing. .. but there weren't any beaches like that in Alaska! :*( It was just me.. in the cold, dark, winter :( haha

SO now I think I'm making up for lost time. BEACH BEACH BEACH BEACH! Warm me sun, burn me up! Make me red, make me brown, tan me up and tan me down. I'm such a poet lol :)

As for my back flare up, it's getting better. It usually only lasts 2-3 weeks, and I can tell it's on the mend. My scuba guides were really helpful today. I explained to them the problem, and they carried all my gear for me, and helped me put it on once I was in the water, rather than me having to carry it all on my back.

Also, I don't remember if I mentioned it already or not, but I've had issues getting strong enough medicine to help. First I was given a cortizone shot and told to take tylenol and rest. That did nothing, so then I was given Tamarol or something a tad bit stronger. It also did nothing. I took two - nothing still. So finally my doctor ordered some strong stuff (probably hydrocodone, percocet, darvocet, etc (i.e. the stuff that WORKS) from Tel Aviv. He's having some shipped in, and will give me plenty to last, and then I think he's bringing more back when he goes there in a few weeks.

I should be good for now with the meds Carolyn gave me left over from her back surgery (same stuff - the strong ones), as this flare up is pretty much over, but for any future ones, I'll finally be set and have a stash on me for when I need it. That makes me feel good. I should have brought like a year's supply with me from the states, but that would probably be near impossible, since the pain killers are a narcotic, and they're highly controlled because they can be very addictive.

I don't think Egypt has them.. but then sometimes I think they must have them.. like.. what if someone goes in for some type of major surgery and comes out with wounds and staples and all kinds of crap that is obviously painful. What the heck do they give them? I mean.... morphine when they're in the hospital, but when they go home there's got to be something. /shrug Plus I feel like I only get like half of the effect of the drugs anyways, because my body doesn't absorb the entire medicine due to my surgery.

I remember in Alaska when my back first flared up I was in so much pain, I was taking SO many hydrocodone and soma (muscle relaxers) just to keep my pain level down to like a 4-5 so I could function on a day to day basis. It kept spiking to 6-8, I'd take stuff, and then it'd go back down but only for a few hours. They'd say I was supposed to take 1 every 4-6 hours, but sometimes I was taking 3 in that time, along with the Soma, but it was all just to control the pain so I could work - I didn't feel loopy or anything on the meds.

I started to get worried though because I was taking so many. I was scared I might get addicted. I kept a record of like the date / pain level before / drugs I took / and pain level after / and the hourly time. I showed it to my Dr. and my counselor, and they both said I was fine. My counselor was also an addiction specialist in the past, and she said as long as you're taking the medicine to control the pain, and for what it's used for, there's no risk of addiction. It's when y ou start taking it just to feel loopy or get the weird effects that you're in trouble. That made me feel a lot better.

I'm scheduled for my MRI this coming Saturday. My doctors in the states diagnosed me as having degenerative disc disease, but when I went to see the back specialist here (when my normal doctor was out on an emergency), he said he didn't believe it, and that I'm far too young to have that. (he also prescribed me NSAIDS which I explicitly told him I'm allergic to - I'm VERY lucky I read the manual that came with the medicine before I took it or I would have been extremely ill).

OK, well I think I'm rambling :P I should get to bed since I want to get up early and get some snorkeling in before I leave. Also, I want to check flight / travel information for our Oct 6 break :P

Bye! :D

09:39 pm: Vacation in Dahab
For Eid break I headed to Dahab yesterday, and I've been loving it here so far. It's much more relaxed than Sharm El-Sheikh. Way less tourists, and in fact, the resort I'm staying at - the Meridien, feels very private, and I absolutely love not having crowds. I'm staying here:

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1937

As an SPG preferred guest, I was upgraded to a suite upon arrival. It's amazing. The terrace isn't as nice as the one in Sharm, but the room itself is ridiculously awesome. I have a huge sitting / living room, a half bath, a full bath with giant jacuzzi tub, and sauna, a beautiful view of the ocean, and outside behind my room, I have a private terrace with lounge chairs, and my own jacuzzi! There's also a private garden, with an outdoor shower. It's so beautiful!

(update: now that I'm home here are some pics of the room:)

This is the entrance to the suite - there's more patio furniture on the left you can't see and a second entrance door


This is the living / sitting area:


Continuing through the living area is this hallway, with vanity mirror on the right with some essentials (fruits, coffee, etc), and to the left is one of the half baths.



The master bedroom (there's a desk and work station behind the bed you can't see), and you also can't see the front window that opens to an ocean view:




The master bath (2 pics - one of the huge jacuzzi tub, and the other of the sink area - there's also a shower behind that door.






Then there's the terrace outside with my own private hot tub (jacuzzi), and lounge chairs. I managed to set the camera up on a timer and get a few shots of me one night in the jacuzzi haha.












Things are also much cheaper here than Sharm - not a lot cheaper, but the food at the hotel is way more reasonable, and about what I'd pay for a medium priced meal in Cairo.

Last night I checked in and just went to sleep. Today I spent lounging around the pools, and on my terrace. They have beautiful pools here - one is a salt water lagoon, and several others are fresh water. They have these cute cubby areas that are shaded and like little pods you can relax in, a sauna, jacuzzi outside, spa service, dive center, and lots of other things.

One of the lagoon pools:




Tonight I had a few drinks for happy hour out on the hotel terrace overlooking the sea, and then I went for a buffet dinner at their main Sea Breeze restaurant. I probably won't do that again since of course I only eat a tiny amount, so it seems more efficient to order something a la carte.

Tomorrow I've signed up for a refresher course in scuba. I haven't dived since Belize, which was 2004. After the refresher course, which is basically a skills review, and also a simple open water dive, I may sign up for another dive on Sunday, depending on how I feel. I might also catch a snorkeling trip tomorrow afternoon if I get done in time. Some of the best dive sites in the world are here. Hopefully I can get an advanced certification eventually because there is a dive here called Thistlegorn. Thistlegorm is one of the world’s most famous wreck dives. The wreck rests at 35m and rises up to 18m below the surface, perfectly positioned for divers to explore. Day trips are 3 dives – 2 on the wreck plus a 3rd at Ras Mohammed on the way back. An amazing day!

I won't be able to do all that this trip, but I'll keep wracking up my dives, and once I get to advanced level I'd love to take that trip.

Will also depend on how burned I am after my refresher course tomorrow haha. 3 hours at Sharm last weekend and I was a lobster. It's turned brown now (although I am peeling), but I may not be able to do anything else if I get fried again tomorrow hehe.

I'm also thinking about doing a massage while I'm here. I think it'll help my back a lot. I'm looking at the Sweedish massage they have, and maybe going for 1-2 hours. It's really not that expensive, and this whole trip for me is about doing nothing, being pampered, reading, soaking up the sun, and sleeping.. lots of sleeping! :P

So far, excellent trip! Just need to find an adapter so I can have internet while I'm here... only 30 min left on batteries eeek! Gotta go! :D

06:40 pm: sigh @ mob mentalities, H1N1, and the ministry
Lots of things to talk about. First, a bitch session.

My two biggest frustrations here so far are: 1. not being able to communicate.

Most places I've traveled to before or lived at overseas, people speak English. I lived in London, and I spent a long time in Spain and South America, but I also speak fluent Spanish so it was never a problem. Here though, the majority of the people don't have an understanding of even BASIC English.... and I mean like toddler level English. Of course as I'm the foreigner, it's my responsibility to make the effort to communicate, so I've enrolled in a language school here to learn Arabic. I pick up languages fairly easily, so I'm hoping by the time I leave here in 3-4 years I'll be fluent.

The second frustrating thing is that there is a culture of inefficiency. People tell you they'll return your call, and they never do. People tell you they'll email you and don't, people tell you they'll get back to you tomorrow, and it never happens, and when you keep asking, they keep saying "tomorrow, tomorrow" and shit never gets done. As a mathematician, and logical, efficient thinker, this is driving me absolutely insane. I'll give you an example:

When I was trying to sign up for my language class, I went to one location near my house, and sat through the informational session, explaining prices, details, etc. I decided to go with the option of private 1 on 1 lessons. I was asked for my preferred times to study, and days, etc, which I gave, and then I was told that he would call the teacher, check with her about availability, and get back with me. I wanted to start the class ASAP, (which was the following week), and he assured me within the week he'd call me back.

Of course, I never heard back from him, the time that we had set for me to pay, and begin the class came and went. I called many times, no one answered on many days, so finally I called one of their larger branches, and explained the situation. The guy apologized, and told me he would call the other location, as well as email them, and make sure that I heard back that evening.

Of course I didn't hear back from anyone again. So 3 days pass, and still nothing. The course is $800 for the first level of Arabic, which is ridiculously expensive, and more than most Egyptian's monthly salaries. You'd think they'd want my money.

So again, I call the larger branch, and this time I say, as nicely as I can, "Look, this is 3 times now I've been told I'd be called back, and no one has returned my call. I have $800 I would REALLY like to give you, and in exchange for that, I'd REALLY like to learn Arabic. Don't you want my money? Please take my money. Please teach me."

He apologized profusely, and swore he'd have the guy at the other branch call me THAT night, no exceptions.

So at 10:30pm, when I'm asleep, the guy calls.He apologizes profusely again, and says he lost my number ( I saw him enter it into his cell phone). So I ask when can I come pay and start my classes. He AGAIN has to ask me what dates and times I prefer, and tells me he has to check with the teacher. I thought he had already done this... what in the world.. I'm so angry at this point. So I tell him fine, do it, and then he calls be back... kid you not.. at 12:45am in the morning.. of course I'm asleep again, but now finally I have a time scheduled for Thursday evening to take this class

So I go to the school Thursday night, my materials for the course haven't arrived yet (whatever, no big deal), and I have my first class. It's awesome, my teacher was very nice, and we arranged for my sessions to be Sunday, Tues, and Thurs nights at 8.

So I'm all excited about my second class, and Saturday night I get a call saying my teacher has canceled my Sunday lesson, and has to reschedule. I'm told (I'm sure you can guess by now) that he'll call me back tomorrow (Sunday) and let me know when the class has been rescheduled for.

OF COURSE on Sunday I don't get a call back... or Monday.. Tuesday.. Wednesday... etc. etc.

Saturday rolls around and I call him. This time I try my best to explain that where I come from it's considered extremely rude to say you're going to do one thing, and then not do it. It's the same as lying, basically, and it makes me unable to trust you. He says he hasn't had a chance to speak with the teacher yet, so that's why he didn't call. I try to explain that if that's the case, he still should call me, and say something like, "Hi! I know I said I'd call and let you know when your class was rescheduled, but I haven't been able to get ahold of the teacher. As soon as I do I'll give you a call." I also told him, if that's too much, he could tell ME to call HIM back in 2-3 days and keep checking, which I would be happy to do, but leaving me hanging isn't working.

He apologized, and said he'd call me back in 30 minutes with a new time for my 2nd class. 5 hours later, he called me back (I don't care if it was late, at least I got a call back), and we rescheduled for Monday at 8.

... Monday rolls around, and YEP, you guessed it.. about 5:30 I get a call saying the teacher cancelled again.

Now I had to sign a paper when I first signed up with this school that said basically if I cancel 3 times without 24 hours notice then my fees are terminated, blah blah, all that stuff... and so at this point I'm asking the reverse question. This is twice I've been canceled on, about 7 times I haven't been called back when promised, so I'm like look.. if this happens again, I'm going to expect some of my money back, because this is ridiculous. We signed a contract and an agreement, etc. etc.

What makes it even MORE frustrating is when I'm trying to explain how it comes off to me as rude and almost like lying, they're cutting me off in the middle of my sentence with apologies and won't let me finish.. I just want to be like, "STOP TALKING! OK, now listen to me!!! Ok, now I'm done.. NOW you can apologize".. it's like.. if they're talking over me with apologies, they're CLEARLY not listening to what I have to say, and they're not HEARING my complaint. It drives me absolutely insane. It's just a culture difference, and I've got to come to terms with it. Several of my friends have told me this is why Egypt has lost a lot of big oil contracts and other potentially lucrative business... because they just don't respect deadlines, and things like phoning people back.


So this is typical of how things operate here. I know that I sound like an elitist Western bitch, but it is one of my absolute biggest pet peeves when someone doesn't follow through. I let it slide all the time when it happens now and then, but when it's like this? I just can't handle it.

I know that as I'm adapting to this new culture, I'm going to have to let that anal side of me go and relax a bit or I'm going to die from stress, but it's going to be VERY hard for me.. heh..

SIGH.. so that's my story.

I'm SUPPOSED to have my second class tonight.. WE'LL SEE....



OK, onto the second topic, H1N1 and this ridiculous mob mentality

We just had an emergency staff meeting today announcing our school will remain closed after Eid break because of H1N1. That's until at least October 7th. It's really ridiculous. The ministry controls all the schools here, and they've had all the other schools shut down since summer - most students here haven't even started coming to school yet because of this scare. Our school, however, doesn't have to comply with that, since we're an international school, so we've had classes since Aug 16th. Well, the ministry keeps putting pressure on us saying we need to close because of the H1N1 scare, and of course it's ridiculous. In fact, the local media has been reporting that we've been shut down for awhile now, which is a complete fabrication. We have 0 cases, and there is absolutely NO scientific evidence to show there's ANY risk whatsoever, but you know once something like this mob mentality "scare" gets into people's heads... they're mainly afraid of large groups of people gathering together. Anyway, so our meeting today was our superintendent telling us that we're going to remain closed until at least Oct 7th, according to the government's request. We don't want to step on any toes.. they do control whether or not we have our work visas accepted, etc, so we don't want to appear defiant, and we're going to close as an act of good faith. It's my understanding that students will continue to go onto Blackboard, which is an online type classroom, and teachers will be at work after the break updating lessons, and the students will be working from home.

Here is the official message from our school's website:

Dear Faculty, Students and Parents,

We have recently received notification from the Governor of Helwan requiring that we (along with all schools under his jurisdiction) close our doors to students beginning with the close of school on Thursday, September 17, through October 3, 2009. Because we do fall under the jurisdiction of the Governate, CAC will comply with this request. We wish to reiterate that from a CAC perspective there is no increased level of risk of contagion, and our current website information and protocols remain accurate from a medical and health perspective.

CAC campus will be closed, except to Faculty and Staff for planning purposes. Teachers are expected to return to work after the Eid break on September 22 to provide offsite instruction during this forced closure. Students in the Middle and High School are expected to be on-line using Blackboard starting Tuesday, September 22, and we are making every attempt to insure no loss of instructional time. Elementary School Teachers will also begin planning packets of work by grade level, and distribution of this information will be forthcoming.

At this time, we are working on definitive plans for the impact of this decision on the October break, as well as Community, Parent, and Student access during this closure. We will inform you further regarding these issues by the end of school on Thursday, September 17.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you to stay connected via e-mail and the CAC website for all communications regarding this matter.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and understanding.

Sincerely,
Rob Mockrish, Ph.D.
Superintendent


... so closed! The reason I said Oct 7th is because we have a break from Oct 3 - 7th for Armed Forces holidays which is when Egypt like.. won some minor battle against Israel? I'm not sure, but it was a big deal to them because as one of my coworkers put it, "They didn't get absolutely decimated" heh :P

01:02 am: Weekend at Sharm
Benton and Naz have most of the good pictures, so once they get them to me I'll post them, but here are a few I took the morning after we arrived. The weather was so amazing, we all slept out on the terrace under the stars :)

Our wrap around terrace (it kept going way past this too - this is only a small part of it)



I woke up to watch the sunrise over the red sea the next morning, and took these pictures:










I'll post more when I get them.

This weekend I just booked my tickets and hotel to Dahab, for another relaxing beach getaway :D I'm so excited!!! Hopefully my back will be well enough to do a scuba trip this time :D

01:59 am: Benton's visit
My best friend came to visit me from New York. Benton and I have been friends since high school, and I was so happy to see him! :D The week has been good and bad news though heh. My back has been hurting me - flared up again from lifting something too heavy I suppose, so Monday night before I picked Benton up from the airport I went to see Dr. Ghaly. He said I have an acute sprain. He gave me a cortizone shot in my butt, and told me to take extra strength tylenol and get bed rest for 48 hours. Well, I can't exactly stay in bed for 2 days. I have to work, and I already took THursday off as a personal day to travel to Sharm with Benton, so missing 3 days in a row isn't an option.

I stayed home Tuesday though, and didn't feel any better. It's frustrating because I think doctors here want to start you with the weakest things out there, and hope it works, so you end up hurting really bad and having to keep going back saying "more please" until it's strong enough, whereas my doctor in Alaska always just gave me Soma and Hydrocodone (pain killer and muscle relaxer) so I would just take them until the flare up went away. So I was stuck in bed not able to do anything, and still in pain =/ sigh.

So Tuesday Benton went with my guide Sherine. She took him shopping for my apartment to all of these cute stores - he took pictures! There was a Bedouin store, a Moroccon store, and stores that imported things from India, and just gorgeous places with little accent pieces everywhere - I was very happy with what he came back with. He also got me a carpet for my living room from Assouty carpets which are pretty famous around here. That's all I can afford for now haha. I'll have to keep getting like 1 big item (like a carpet), or several small ones as I go along. I at least got his approval on the things I liked, so now I can acquire them little by little :P

One thing I want to do in my living area is a U shaped (without the curve though, like a square U) table arrangement like Rose has in her house. She had the tables custom made. They're lower to the ground, and she covers them with bedouin rugs, or table runners, and pillows all around, so it makes a really nice extra seating area for people on the floor, or even on the tables themselves. Sometimes she'll move them to her rooftop terrace, and we'll all sit out looking over Cairo having drinks with candles lighting up the terrace. It's just beautiful. Life here is really good, and I'm very happy :)

Anyway, so Monday afternoon Benton's friend from work Naz came in, and once they both arrived back at my apartment, I crawled out of bed and took them to dinner at Fuego. It was great, as always :) I had a bite of Naz's filet this time, and Rose was right - best filet I've tasted in Cairo. Perfectly cooked. I had a ton of sushi (enough to take home a basket full), Benton had the rack of lamb, and NAz had the filet, and our dinner was still less than $90 lol. Crazy.

After Fuego we came back to the apartment, and I crashed. I had to get up for work the next morning, and they had a big day too.

Wednesday while I was working, my guide Sherine took Benton and Naz to the pyramids and the sphinx , and then afterwards to the citadel and the Mohammed Ali mosque, as well as the mosque Obama visited while he was here (I forget the name). They had a good time, but said it was hot and a long day - definitely understand that one heh. The shot from the doctor did nothing for me. He said I was supposed to feel better in 5-6 hours after taking it. That was Monday night, and even after a day of laying on my back, and taking 4 extra strength tylenol at a time to try and combat the pain, I didn't notice any improvement. I was at work until around 6:00. Grades were due for progress reports, and although my grades were in, my comments were not. We had to comment on the progress of any students who were new to CAC, and also on any students who had a 72 or below average, and my comments are paragraphs lol :P Then I had to get my sub plans in for Thursday, since I had already signed up for a personal day. When I got home, we went to eat at Fusion on the Nile. Rose and Wayne joined us, and after dinner we took a felucca out for an hour, sailing up the Nile. The wind was strong, and we zipped along really fast - was lots of fun. :)

After the felucca we headed home, and again, I went to lay down as my back was still hurting, and Benton and Naz went to bed as well. Luckily I was able to get some pain medicine from my friend Carolyn. She had back surgery awhile back and is a walking pharmacy lol. I was complaining they didn't give me anything to help with the pain so she brought these like.. MAYONNAISE jar size bottles of percocet, darvocet, hydrocodone, and oxycodone, lol! I took a few hydrocodone and percocet, and the alico insurance dr. rep guy on campus gave me a perscription for these really weak muscle relaxers. I had to take two to feel any effect, but with one of Carolyn's pills it actually helped and I was able to not be in pain.

Thursday morning my guide picked up Benton and Naz, and took them to the Khan. The Khan is a huge market in Cairo - one of the oldest in the world, and everything in the world is there. I didn't think my back could handle standing up and walking around all morning, so I stayed home again while they went. I also had an appointment with Dr. Ghaly at 3:15. It was about 2:30 when they got back home, and I was just about to leave for my appointment, when I got a call telling me Dr. Ghaly had an emergency and couldn't make it, so I rescheduled for 5:15. Then, right before 5:15, they called again and canceled ... =/ So I basically said I'd see anyone there as long as the doctor spoke fluent English, because I was hurting and I needed something done. So I went to see this other doctor, who was very nice. He did the same basic tests on me, and came to the same basic conclusion, except he said I'm very young to have degenerative disc disease. I told him yes, but I also used to be very heavy, so I was carrying around a lot of extra weight which strained by back. He gave me a perscription for strong pain meds, and muscle relaxers, and also an anti-inflammatory injection he said I could take if it gets unbearably painful. I haven't taken any of them yet as I still have a few of Carolyn's pills, but he said they're much stronger than the weak stuff the insurance guy gave me so I should be ok... I hope! :(

Last night we had a late flight out to Sharm El-Sheikh, which is a big resort city on the Red Sea. We're staying at the Sheraton here and it is absolutely breathtaking! I'm definitely coming back here for Eid haha. Our room was upgraded to a corner suite, and it is HUGE haha. It's easily as big as my apartment, we have 2 bathrooms, and this wrap around terrace that is as big as another apartment. We all slept out on the terrace last night under the stars. We had 3 beds out there for sunbathing, so we just brought out the pillows and blankets. It was really beautiful, and nice to see the stars again. This morning I took some pictures of the sunrise coming over the Red Sea. Right now we're getting ready for breakfast, and then I'm going to look into booking a snorkeling trip. I wanted to SCUBA, but I think the weight will be way too much on my back right now, so I'm going to go with just a snorkeling trip today.

One funny thing - when we got in yesterday we were looking at all the spa treatments, and they were SOOO cheap! We were basically going to spend the entire trip in the spa, because it was like.. 2 hour Thai massage for 120 pounds (which is like $25), and all these other treatments that were SO cheap. Then Benton had to buy a card to get internet access, and they charged him in dollars, so he was like, "Are you sure the spa treatments aren't in dollars?" and we looked, and they weren't, but they were in EUROS! >.< SO SADDDDD lol. Like literally my heart sank, and it was like it dropped to my feet, someone kicked it, it rolled down the stairs into a moat where a crocodile ate it and then pooped it out. That's how sad I was. My $25 2 hour massage just turned into like a $200 2 hour massage, which I can't afford. :*( sniffle

lol but funny story :P haha. Ok I'm going to get ready for breakfast. I will post pictures when I get back home - this place really is GORGEOUS :D

01:43 pm: Feluccas and Fun!
Ahhh I've had a great week :) Bussssy, but great :D I'll upload pictures once I get home.

Last weekend on Friday night I went with Sammy (my friend that drives the cab) to Chili's for dinner and then I had him take me to a store where I could buy nice Linens and things. There is a place here called Malak Linens and they have some real down pillows, and nice things, so I bought some bed sheets and sets for when Benton and his friend come visit.

Then Saturday I went on a Felucca down the Nile! It was so much fun! So the felucca stands are right on the Corniche. A group of about 8 of us met at the CAC gate and then took cabs to the stand. We paid 40 pounds for a 1 hour boat trip (THAT IS $7, and NOT per person.. like TOTAL for everyone!). The boats are huge and can easily fit 15 people or more. There is a huge table in the middle, so everyone brought snack foods, and we just sat back, and let the captain sail the ship, while we snacked on fruit, beer, cheese, quiche, and whatever else people brought. It was great! The feluccas are these old sail boats.. the Egyptians have been using them for centuries, and it was so much fun to watch the captain navigate.

Felucca pics:



This week on Sept 1, we had a big event at CAC. It's the annual CAC Iftar celebration. The students and faculty celebrate Iftar with the janitors and workers at the college. We brought food, and served them, and before Iftar there were soccer matches and tug of war games between the janitors and the staff and students. It was a great time. They had the call to prayer that was sung by one of my students, and then I was able to watch the prayers, which was fascinating. Then everyone sat down and had a huge feast. We had so much food it was crazy. I didn't get home until 8:30, and was up late grading papers, but it was a fun time, and well worth it.

Iftar pics:











Also, in the math department, we have what we call "Math Tea" which is during first break. So at school the first class is from 8-9:30, then there is a 20 minute break. During this break, the math teachers, and teachers from the area come to the big math office, and everyone socializes, sits down on the couches, and has coffee, tea, and snacks. It's a nice start to the morning, and if it's ever anyone's birthday, they have to wear the birthday crown.. which is awful. It's like.. giant candles growing out of your head. I may call in sick to work on my birthday so I don't have to wear this thing haha.. kidding of course :P I took pictures of Rose and Theresa, so I'll post all these pics when I get home :)

Math tea:






Last night I went to Rose's house and we had drinks and sat around chatting for awhile. We went to dinner at Fuego (NOM NOM NOM).

This weekend is going to be nice to relax.

OH OH, TONIGHT I have my FIRST official Arabic lessons at Berlitz. I am so excited. The program is so expensive (like $800 a level which will be a bit longer than a month), so it's like I'm paying rent for awhile, but whatever.. if it can make me fluent, I'm fine with it! Sammy will take me and pick me up, which is great because at least he's fluent in English and Arabic, so I don't have to worry about some random driver dropping me off at the wrong darn place. I hate that so much lol!

Oh, and this morning I almost didn't make it to class lol. Sammy called me and said his brother Osama was really sick, and couldn't drive me. I said no problem - I'd catch a cab on the corner. Well, I almost couldn't find one, and then when I did, the guy drove me to the wrong place! I was like wtf this isn't CAC! And in Arabic I was like "American School American school!" and it's like 7:50, which means I'm teaching in 10 minutes OMG OMG I panicked, and finally he found the back gate and dropped me there, but WTF lol omg it was close!

Friday we're having a felucca ride for all the newbies, which are the people that are new this year to CAC. We're trying to time it to be out on the water at sunset.

Saturday there's a building party for all of the teachers in my building, so we can get to know each other, which will be fun too :)

On top of that, I have papers to grade, and quizzes to grade, and some things I have to get for my apartment before Benton and his friend arrive, and I'd like to get a few more pillows, and yeah.. :)

Overall it should be a great weekend! I'm excited! I'll post pics to this when I get home, and update later, but I absolutely LOVE it here. Cairo is awesome, this school is awesome, my students are awesome, my coworkers are SUPER awesome... really.. it doesn't get any better :D

03:17 pm: Week Without Walls Assignment :D
We just got our WWW assignments. Every year our high schoolers take trips around the world as part of a "make the world your classroom week" They have trips in lots of different categories: service, adventure, cultural, etc. We sign up for the trips we want to chaperone at the beginning of the year.

Some examples of trips are:

* Orangutan rescue in Indonesia
* Historic Moscow
* Backstage London
* Giant Panda conservatory in China
* Petra
* Refugee Awareness
* Cooking in Cairo (students train with Four Seasons chefs)
* Camping in Western Australia
* Building houses on stilts in Vietnam
* Building schools in Tanzania



Anyway, those are some examples of the trips. I just found out I'm going to Petra :D That is awesome! I'm very happy because I hear Petra is absolutely amazing, and I wanted to go sometime this year anyways, so this makes it a free trip for me! :D I also hear it's a perfect time to go. Our WWW dates are like. Feb 28 - March 4 or so. PERRRRFECT. Not too hot. :D

Anyway, that's all - I'm excited :D


Tonight I'm going to eat with Rose (fellow math teacher), and then I'll be home waiting on the satellite people to come by and hook up the TV. Saturday night I'm going on a felucca down the nile with some friends from work. Should be a fun weekend :D

10:59 pm: WORST...night...EVER
I'm in the middle of the worst night ever, and since I have absolutely nothing to do but WAIT, I will write about it.

First, I stayed very late at school finishing up some work. I was there until about 7pm. I had to get some things done, and I felt that I would get more work done there than at home. So I was there until late, and then I came home.

As you can imagine, I was very hungry when I finally got home, so I went to www.otlob.com and ordered Sushi from Hanami Sushi. I've never ordered from them before. Normally I always order from Fuego, but they're a bit expensive, and I'm on a budget until payday tomorrow (yay), so I decided to try Hanami.

Well, they are supposed to deliver in 45 minutes. 3 hours later I am still waiting for my food.

My sleep is EXTREMELY important to me - more so the older I get. I've been going to bed at 9:00pm lately, and loving it. I'm not sleepy at ALL when I get up at 5:30. So I placed the order shortly before 7:30 pm, and at 10:30 it still hasn't arrived. I went back and forth with Otlob, and the restaurant, and FINALLY it came around 11pm.

I had ordered vegetable tempura, and some tempura sushi. Well, the bill was 80 pounds. The delivery person showed up at my door without any change, and all I had was a 100 pound note.

I was pretty upset at this point, and I felt like the restaurant should have just GIVEN me the food after making me wait for almost 3.5 hours. The delivery person did not speak any English, and it seemed for a second he was telling me just to keep the money, but I didn't feel entirely comfortable with that, because it also seemed as if he was gesturing that he was going to pay. I know that people here do not make much money at all (a local teacher's salary is $600 a month), and I did not want the money to come from him.

While we were trying to communicate, my cat ran outside my door. I had to chase her, and the delivery person followed. When I picked her up, he was petting her, but his hand went down her back, to my shoulder, and onto my back, and he kept doing this. I felt very uncomfortable. At first I was thinking I was imagining this, but after awhile I realized that I wasn't, and he was obviously touching Bella AND me, and I told him to STOP.

At this point I was tired and pissed off, so I just told him to keep the damn 100 pounds, and I shut the door.

FINALLY, at least I have my food, so I can get a bite to eat, and get to sleep.

WRONG.

The food was AWFUL. The vegetable tempura was wet batter soaked vegetables, and the carton the sushi was in was broken, and shit was spilled all over the place.

REALLY? Are you shitting me right now? After all this? REALLY?!? 3.5 hour wait, no change, groped by the delivery boy, and soggy sushi? FUCK THAT.

So I got back online and spoke to Otlob, and voiced my complaints.

The restaurant manager called me and told me he will refund me the 100 pounds. He didn't speak English very well, so it was hard to understand him completely. Tarek, the customer service rep from Otlob told me to explain to the manager what happened, so I tried as plainly as I could to explain about my cat, and the guy touching my shoulder / back. I don't think he understood me very well, and I barely understood what he was trying to tell me back, but it sounded like he was telling me that he fired the guy. Great, now I feel like a total elitist Western bitch.

So I tried telling him please no, that I am ok, I am safe, and I understand that it is important for people to work, to have a job, and to make money to help their family, and I do not want to be the reason anyone was terminated. I think he was telling me back that he was worried that maybe the guy would do the same thing to someone else, but I really don't think so because I am a Westerner..a blonde. Men here just assume I'm a slut, and I want to have sex with anything that walks on 2 legs, apparently.

So I hang up with the manager, and speak to Tarek again from Otlob. Thankfully, his English is very good. I explain to him what happened, and ask if he can please translate it to the manager. I tell him to tell the manager the incident with the cat, and also that I do not want this person fired because of me. He says he will, and he keeps saying, "not to worry miss, you will get all your 100 pounds back." I'm telling him I don't care about the money. I was upset about the 3.5 hour wait, and that I didn't want the delivery person to be fired. He said that the restaurant feels like they would lose me as a customer. I told him they ALREADY lost me as a customer, and firing the delivery boy makes no difference. I will not order from the restaurant again because of the delay in getting my food here, and the quality of the food. It was awful.

Anyway, so now, instead of going to sleep, I have to wait on the people to go from the restaurant AGAIN to my house and bring me the money back.

I JUST WANT TO GO TO BED FFS!!!


so it's 11:45, and I just got off the phone with Otlob. I told them that I am seriously tired, and I just want to go to sleep. They keep telling me the manager himself is on his way to return my money. I have told them 5 times now that I don't care about the money - I care about my sleep. I have told them I am going to sleep, to tell the manager NOT to come over, that I will be asleep and not able to answer the door, and to consider the 100 pounds a donation to his restaurant.

... so I try to go to sleep... but now every 5 minutes I'm getting calls from either the manager or Otlob assuring me that they are only 20 minutes "maximum" away from my building.

WTF TAKE A HINT I WANT TO SLEEP A;LSDJKFA;LSDKFJA;SLDKFJ

I know I'm getting old when I get THIS pissed off over a loss of sleep. It's 11:30 right now. ALMOST MIDNIGHT. I have to be up in 5.5 hours. ASDL;FKJAS;DLFJASD;LFKJASDF;LWEITUWOBSDLFKGJ

ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >.<

If this continues.. I'm turning off my phone, putting in ear plugs, taking lots of melatonin, putting on my eye mask, and letting the sleep overtake me.

update: .. so of course at 20 after midnight, when I am in bed trying to sleep, my door buzzes. I get out of bed, let them up. It is the manager from Otlob, AND the restaurant manager, with 100 pounds, and profuse apologies. I told them it's not a big deal, I tried to refuse the money but they would not let me. Whatever. I'm going to sleep.

At least tomorrow I have only 2 classes to teach, and I'm off the first and last period in the day.

SIGH.

09:35 am: Ridiculously long chants not the norm (thank...Snoopy!)
It would seem the 2+ hour chanting on Friday is not the norm during Ramadan, and instead was a "Friday afternoon service". Hopefully there is only one of those per year lol. Normal, short chanting has resumed, and I have not been driven insane (yay!)

Thursday after school I went to the principal's party. It was really nice, and they had hired these people to cook for them. Rose was telling me that this couple prepares Thai food for private gatherings. Apparently you hire them, choose what you want from the menu, they bring everything to your house, and they cook it all there for you, and clean up. She said it's not expensive at all either. What a deal! Might be nice if I'm ever entertaining :D

I left the principal's party after about an hour, as I had an appointment at Berlitz language school. I found their Road 9 location (barely), and got the information I needed. I'm going to be signing up for private lessons, hopefully starting Aug 27 if I can afford it. I'll have to see because part of this and next paycheck is being taken away to pay for all the appliances I bought at the beginning of the year. I also need to make sure I have enough to live on for a month, pay my driver, and housekeeper, and I'd like to sign up for Orbit satellite TV. :)

The school is a bit expensive. It's $750 per level. One level can last anywhere from 1-4 months depending on how fast you want to learn. They also offer intensive 10 day courses, for 8 hours a day. I might look into one of those over the summer, but for now I obviously can't do it when I'm working. I'm going to try and attend 3 days a week, for 2 hours per day. I'm waiting to hear back from the instructor as to the schedule that will work for both of us. If I continuously keep that schedule, the course will last me about 3 months, so it would be like I'm paying rent for the first 3 months. I may have to skip a month if I get short on money, but I definitely at least want to get level 1 done so I can start beginning to communicate with people.

After Berlitz I called Sami, my driver/friend, and he took me to the pharmacy. I picked up my allergy shot medicine, and went to Dr. Ghaly's office. He gave me my depo shot, but didn't want to give me the allergy shot. He said it was too strong, so I agreed to get a nasal spray instead. So I had to go back to the pharmacy, pick up the spray (the medicines here cost like $4. It's ridiculous), and then head home. Sami wanted to take me to dinner instead though, so we went to this Egyptian restaurant. They served us like typical Egyptian food and barbeque. It was pretty good, except of course the plate of veggies, which I don't like. Everyone here that eats veggies though says that Egypt has the BEST fruits and vegetables they've ever tasted. Super fresh. The only thing is that before you eat them, you have to put them in the sink with a cap full of bleach and let it soak for 20 min, then scrub them, rinse, and refrigerate.

After dinner, Sami took me home, and I played WoW, watched The Ugly Truth (streamed it - don't judge me), and went to sleep.

Friday I did absolutely nothing. I woke up late, stayed in my pajamas all day, played WoW, and took a great nap haha. I did take a shower and get ready that evening. Rose was having a party at her house. She has roof access from her flat, and its awesome - she laid out all these seats with bedouin rugs and pillows, and we sat around, candles lit, up on the roof, feeling the breeze, in the moonlight. Was a really great evening :D We were supposed to bring munchies, but since I'm running short on money, I brought a bottle of whiskey instead haha. The superintendent came, and we had a great evening talking to everyone. Sami took me home afterwards. I like riding with him driving because he speaks English, and he's not like the random cab drivers that will drop me off in the middle of BFE, nowhere near where I need to be. He came up for like 20 minutes, and I showed him my Rosetta stone Arabic software. He keeps laughing at my Arabic when I practice with him, because it's classical arabic, and people here speak Egyptian arabic. So I wanted to show him the program. About 10 minutes in, the power went out (common problem here). It was back on about 5 minutes later. Sami left, and I stayed up a bit longer. I tried to stream District 9, but the quality was pretty poor, and I couldn't hear the sound very well. Instead, I finished up Season 5 of the L Word, and went to sleep.

Saturday I again did absolutely nothing. I played WoW, watched Funny People (streamed), took another long nap, played with Bella, and was a bum all day :) It was awesome :D

Today is back to school, but with Ramadan, so I have to be careful, and try not to eat in front of people, or drink in front of people, because a lot of the students are fasting.

I have an appointment with Dr. Ghaly after school at 3, because my allergies are now in my lungs and I'm coughing up green stuff (totally hot huh?). The nasal spray did clear my nose and sinuses though :)

Then at 3:30 there is a meeting about information regarding our retirement options. We have to pick a program. Apparently they're both similar, but we have to choose. Hopefully that won't take long so I can head home and relax :)

01:00 pm: I hate Ramadan
Ramadan starts tomorrow. The Muslim holy month of fasting. I live very near a mosque, and during Ramadan, the chants are MUCH longer. Normally they are 2-3 minutes max, 5 times a day. During Ramadan, they are 2 hours at a time.. 5 times a day. It's not something you can ignore either. They have like the latest SoundBlaster technology in those things.

When I first arrived in Egypt, the chants scared the crap out of me. They'd start, and I'd jerk like someone had just walked up behind me and screamed, and scared me to death.

Eventually I got used to them, and after about a week, the one at 4:30am did not wake me up anymore. I started to appreciate them. I felt it was something unique about this culture, and it reminded me I'm in a foreign land. Even though I'm not religious, I began to enjoy listening to the chants - they were peaceful.

... until Ramadan. Ramadan starts tomorrow, so now the chants have increased to HOURS in length. In fact, most of them aren't even chants anymore. They're some guy screaming into the microphone. I think he might be reading the entire Koran, I'm not sure. I recorded the first part of the chants, and then one hour later, I recorded the screaming (there was no break in between these btw).

First 30 minutes (chanting):


1 hour later, into the screaming:



See, this is why it's important to spread atheism.

I think, after listening to this for 2+ hours now (it's still going on), I can understand why some extremists do radical things. I think after a few more days of this I might be ready to do some terrible things myself.

(kidding, of course)

In addition to the chants that I believe will slowly drive me insane, everything closes. The stores close in the evening for Iftar. That is the breaking of the fast. Muslims must abstain from food, drink, sex, and smoking during the day. Then, at night, after sunset, they can go wild. So before Iftar (the breaking of the fast / sunset), everything shuts down. Then it reopens later that evening.

Egypt has a very special Ramadan. They hang lanterns everywhere that are .. well.. they're gaudy, but they're cute too. A lot of Muslims from all over the middle east come to Egypt for Ramadan because it's so much "fun". So lanterns are hung, and after sunset it's a huge party. There is a tradition that people will feed you too if you are in the streets. Basically people who work like drivers, and whoever else, and can't participate in Iftar, they are fed by people who bring food out to anyone passing by. It's a nice tradition.

Our school has asked us to be very sensitive during this time. Many of our students are fasting, so they will be weaker, and not completely there mentally, since they have had no food or drink. We cannot eat in front of them, as it's considered rude.

Egypt is pretty lax on Ramadan as far as enforcing it as law. There are no "Ramadan police" that arrest you if you eat / drink / chew gum, etc. in public. That is the case in other, less liberal countries. RAMADAN POLICE. Crazy. So this means I can't bring my diet coke into my classroom, or even water. :( and when I go to have lunch or snack, I have to make myself scarce. Maybe I'll smuggle food into the bathroom and eat on the toilet! (jk).

(by the way, the guy is still yelling outside my window) =/

Benton, bring me several sets of good ear plugs please. You may also want to bring some for you and your friend when you come visit.

Just saying.

08:18 am: Principal's Party
Well, I wasn't planning on going to the principal's party tonight. I'm just so tired after the week is over, and I just want to go home, and relax. But last night I was talking to some of the other teachers, and they said I have to go. They said if I don't go, people will "notice." So I guess I'm going haha. I'll just go home, change into something more comfy, and head over for an hour or so, say hi to the right people, let everyone see me there, and take off, and go home and relax haha.

07:32 pm: Back to School Night
Tonight was back to school night, and the parents came to meet their children's teachers, and hear a bit about the classes they're taking. We started off with introductions in the theatre, and man.. what a riot.

So they put all of us new teachers on the stage on display, and our principal is introducing us one by one. Well, when he comes to me, what he MEANT to say was something like "Holli Niesner is teaching math, and comes from Texas" but what he actually said was, "Holli Niesner... although from Texas, will be teaching math." .. basically like, "Even though this blonde chick is from Texas, she'll be teaching math." .. there was a pause and everyone started cracking up. I don't think he realized his mistake at first, but I was laughing on stage with everyone else. Then I think later he realized it, and apologized, but it was hilarious. Lots of people here are from Texas, because there are a lot of Oil companies and workers here, so it made for fun conversation all night, when parents are coming up to me saying things like, "So you can do math being from Texas huh? Well me too, we'll have to get that guy!" etc. So it made for a fun night haha.

The parents are following their child's daily schedule for classes A-H, 10 minutes per class. I'm introducing myself, talking about Core Plus Math, and how it is an integrated program, talking about grading and the rubrics, what they should do if their child needs help, etc. Typical open house stuff :P

I'm going to be tired after tonight! I'm used to going to sleep around 9:30 - 10 lately, and this thing isn't over until 9ish! >.< At least tomorrow is "Friday" (really Thursday, but we don't have school here on Fridays, so it's LIKE Friday :P ) They should rename the T.G.I.F. restaurants here to T.G.I.T. or even T.I.T. (thankfully it's Thursday?!?) har har.

I have 2 more classes of parents to talk to, and then we're done :)

What else has been going on? Well hmm.. oh, I've had a nice adventure trying to find my depo shot lol. So I take depo-provera for birth control. Not that it's anyone's business, but I'm not sexually active atm, but I still take it anyways. It's a shot that women can get every 3 months, that is like time release estrogen or whatever it is. It is awesome because when you're on it, you don't get a period. That's good and bad. Good because none of those periody icky bad girly things like.. well the period itself, the cramps, the bloating, etc. But bad because if you ARE sexually active.. well, if it's working you don't get a period... and if it fails and you get pregnant, you don't get a period either rofl, so you don't get that reassurance every month that you're NOT preggo hah.

OK, ANYWAY, so I was due for my shot July 31 - Aug 14. My doctor in the states wrote me a prescription and I brought it with me here. I went to see the doctor here, and he wrote me a local prescription. I took it to the pharmacy he told me to go to, and the pharmacist took it, went into the back, and came back. He asked me, "Is the purpose of this medicine contraception?" I told him yes, he went back, and then came back again, and said, "We don't have it." I asked, "You don't have it here or in Egypt at all?" He said, "In Egypt period - for three months we have not had it."

After I got to thinking about this, I'm like... ok, first of all, it's none of his business why I'm taking the medicine. His job is to fill the prescription, not find out my motives behind taking medicine. I started to wonder if he lied to me, and if he didn't give me the shot because he didn't have it, or because he disapproved of the reason I was taking it.

So I spoke to the Dr. again, and told him my concerns. He said that it is how Egyptians are - they always have their nose in other people's business, and he agreed with me that it was none of his business why I'm taking the medicine. He told me he would call some friends of his, and the manufacturer and try to find me depo. The problem apparently is that all the depo currently in Egypt is expired. YAY! EXPIRED MEDICINE IS GOOD!

So he called Paris, and he called Israel, and asked that they both have diplomatic suitcases sent here with depo shots, and they both came through rofl. So he said now at his office they have enough shots to last me until December 2011 hahaha. YAY no periods for 3+ years rofl. Now to figure out something to do with the 394857394568734 boxes of tampons I shipped over (I read you can't find quality ones here, so I panicked haha)

Crazy.

I love this place :) (not being sarcastic, I really do like it here haha) :D


Also, our principal is hosting an "end of the first week" party at his house tomorrow night for the staff and the janitors. I don't know if I'll go, but it would be fun - I'm just not big on crowds. Also then Rose has a party Friday night for all the new teachers, and the teachers from last year. So many parties!

My housekeeper started work today. She's AMAZING. She's coming in for 3 days a week, 4 hours per day. She cleans, irons, dishes, laundry, everything. She's awesome. Love her so far! My apartment is cleeeeeeeannnnn! yaaaaaaay! It really does just make life so easy. I think I'm going to get super spoiled being here in Egypt haha.

OK, well I have to get to the last 2 groups of parents for the evening, and then head to sleep :) I'm going to try and raid tomorrow (Thursday night for California, early Friday morning for me). I'll have to be up at 2am, but whatever, it's the weekend so I can sleep after.

01:00 pm: First few days of school
Well, today has been my first REAL day of school. Yesterday the classes were only 25 minutes long. Today they were an hour and a half, and I only had 4. I really love this schedule. I teach 5/8 classes, so some days I have 2 periods break, and some days only 1. Today was only a 1 period break, but it was after lunch, so I had from 11:15 - 1:40 break, which is SO nice!

My classes were great today. My first class is my biggest, and is capped at 20 students. My second class was only 14, and it made a big difference. Both classes were great, but it was much easier to monitor the second class. My last class today is another 14 students. It's really nice to have such small classes, and Courtney said that for an international school, even 20 is big. Coming from public schools though, this is heaven haha.

Today I taught Core 2 (Integrated Math 2). My students were doing experiments in their groups about ramp length vs. roll time, and ramp height vs. roll time. They'll finish the investigation Wednesday when I see them next.

I've been thinking about where I want to go for the first Eid break coming up. It's the end of September (weekend of the 21st I think). Egypt Air has cheap flights to Malta, but after doing a bit of research it seems that I will need about 2 weeks to see what I want to in Malta and Goza, and I want to make sure I see everything, and not have to shorten my trip and miss out on some sights... so I think I'll hold off until we get a longer break. Also, Malta is on the Euro, so they're much more expensive than anything around here. I might just head to Sharm and relax on the beach for 3 days instead, although I've heard it will be ridiculously crowded since Eid is when everyone is on vacation. .. but... but.. BEACH! :D :D I'll do some research and figure it out.

12:54 pm: My weekend
Taxi drivers... I hate most of them... SIGH lol. This really has nothing to do with my weekend, but about 8 times now I've had a driver drop me off at the wrong place. They just have no idea where things are, and they pretend they do, even when they're wrong, and it's only after I get out, and ask "is this store near here?" that I'm told "nope, not even close" basically, and I have to get someone to hold my hand and take me there, or chance another taxi ride with the possibility of ending up in the middle of nowhere again.

It's very frustrating when people are driving taxis and yet have NO IDEA where things are.

Friday morning I woke up and met Carolyn at her place. We took a cab to Carrefour, which is like a ghetto ghetto ghetto Wal-Mart. We went early on Friday because normally the place is PACKED. When the school took us, I nearly died. It was HOT outside, and PACKED with people, and I was just like, "ok this is ridiculous." I hate crowds, and I just wanted OUT. So Carolyn assures me that Friday morning it's completely empty because everyone is at the mosques. Ok cool, I'll get up early then if that's what it takes to shop in peace.

WRONG.

As we pulled up to the entrance before the store opened, there was a line around the block of people with shopping carts. WTF it's supposed to be empty. Apparently Carolyn forgot that everyone is stocking up for Ramadan. SIGH.

It was a mad house. People were pushing and shoving and ramming other people with carts. It reminded me of all those stories you hear about when like.. Best Buy has some super cool new item for next to nothing, and people camp out and line up, and trample people to death. ... yeah, that was my Friday morning.

I got in and out as quickly as I could. I had to get a mop and cleaning supplies for the maid - she starts on the 18th. Argh.

Apparently shopping etiquette doesn't exist in Egypt. Most people I know will move their carts if someone is coming, and they see they need to get down the isle, or if they leave their cart to get an item, they'll push it to the side out of the way. Not here. People don't move even if you're like RIGHT up next to them, clearly needing to move through, and when people leave their carts, I think they go out of their way to purposefully find the narrowest isle, and leave their carts in the middle of it, so no one else can pass. YOU SHALL NOT PASS.

I got out as soon as I could, went home, and just slept.

(by the way the weekends here are Friday and Saturday, which is why I wasn't working)

Friday night my friend invited me to this Egyptian nightclub, but I didn't know him TOO well, and going out as friends between male and female isn't done.. so even though it's different between each individual, and even though he SAID it was "as friends," I told him another time.. maybe when I could bring one of my girlfriends, and it definitely wouldn't be considered a date.

I was tired anyways hehe, so I went to sleep.

Saturday morning I woke up, and met Carolyn at CAC, and we took a cab to the place where the teachers get their manicure / pedicures. The lady was really nice, and did a great job. I'll go back to her for sure :)

Afterwards, I took a cab to the Al Fajr language center. It's a school that one of my coworkers recommended because he heard it was good. I want to begin studying Arabic immediately, as I hate being hindered in communicating and connecting with the people I meet in my daily life.

Well, so the cab driver tried to drop me off at what supposedly was "Al-Arab Square" but it was just a bunch of houses. So I called the school and had the guy direct him to the school. Of course we were way off base, but finally he stops, and assures me this is it. I see no signs for a school.. but I get out. I go inside and see signs pointing up the stairs for the school. I follow them, meet a guy, and start the registration process.

It was very interesting. They suggested I take Classical Arabic to get the basics under my feet, and I had to take a written and oral test. I was the only foreigner there. They also had separate waiting rooms for men, and women, and I was escorted out when I sat on the wrong side :( My written test was about 8 pages in all Arabic. I found the colon where I was supposed to write my name. You know.. lots of squiggly lines and then ":" at the top of the paper. HEY! I bet that says "NAME:" that was all I could do. Then I had to wait 1.5 hours for someone to come and give me the oral exam. The instructor didn't speak English, so he was drawing pictures. He tested me over the alphabet, writing (I only know the letters for like.. bu, tu, bee, and like. teh, and beh. The only other thing I understood was one thing I had learned from Rosetta Stone. He held out a pen and said "mahavuh" and I was able to say "haveuh kalemon" haha. I'm sure he was thinking, "How can she know that and not know the alphabet or anything else?!?" The school charges $350 per level of classical arabic, and $50 extra if you take lessons after 5pm. It seems a bit expensive for me.. I got the impression that the school was for native Arabic speakers that were interested in learning Classical Arabic. I'm not sure if it's the best place for me. I'll have to do some more research, but I'm a bit wary to sign up just yet because after 3 classes you cannot receive a refund, so if things aren't working out, I'd be stuck there for at least 75 class hours.

I'm going to check Berlitz this week and see what their program is like - they're on Road 9 , which is very close to where I live, and when I called to get directions to where they are, THEY ANSWERED THE PHONE IN ENGLISH OMG. First time that has ever happened to me.

I think Berlitz is open from 2-10pm, so those hours would be better as well. I'll go this afternoon or at least call and check it out :)

I did finally find the Pasionelle chocolate store, but only after a taxi driver dropped me off at the Nile mall, I asked some people there, and one of them walked me about 7 blocks in the opposite direction to the store lol.

Today is the first day of school for the kiddos. I have 2 more classes to teach, and so far everything has gone well, although the classes are only 25 min long today - just intros and stuff :) During my break periods sometimes I sit at my desk and talk to myself.. like just now I was repeating some of the only phrases in Arabic I know like, "muhavuh" or "muhavuhee" and a student was nearby and stared at me really strange.. sigh.. lol

Whatever I'm learning, don't judge me haha

I'll be here after school for awhile prepping for tomorrow. I have to teach 3 Core 2 classes tomorrow, and they're doing group experiments and work, so I have to make sure I have all the needed materials, and stuff, and I've been over the problems and know what they're doing, and have my day planned. All this is new to me, so I can't just wing it like I usually do with lecture based curriculum.

Did I write about Fuego yet? I don't remember, but I've been twice now, and they are SOOOO GOOD. They're this sushi restaurant here, and holy poop I've never eaten such good sushi NOM NOM NOM. I went with my friend Ana and her daughter, and we had like 4 heaping plates of all different kinds of sushi, drinks, and ice cream, and STILL it was only lie $65 for all of us, and we had 2 bags full of sushi left over to take home. Oh man NOM NOM.


:D

11:36 pm: LONG day
Today was ridiculous. We had to take a CPR / First aid course that lasted all day long. (8-4). Normally that might sound fun, but you clearly haven't had our instructor. This guy was unbelievable. Very knowledgeable, but it was like he tried to dump his entire medical school knowledge onto us. This guy LOVED to hear himself talk. In fact, most of my day was listening to him talk.. NOT fun. We learned CPR, but after that, it was entirely lecture about 9,784,568,623 possible scenarios and how to care for every single one. WTF! It was 4 hours of, "If you have a snake bite, do steps 1-4. If you have a spider bite, do steps 1-6 (of course he's explaining every step in detail). If it's a BLUE spider, then follow steps 3-9. If the spider has wiggly antennas and smiles at you, steps 4-7. What if the spider has an aunt named Becky? Well, then steps 2-6 logically. OK, onto bees (repeat 1 hour for specific bees). Ok, onto bleeding (2 hours of every possible way you could lose blood from your body (or not in the case of internal bleeding), and what to do). Onto broken bones! OK, there are 5 million ways to splint. Let's take them one by one, and I will demonstrate how to tie every bandage and wrap every splint.. not that you'll remember any of them"

SIGH

I tried to leave around 11 because I needed to see the campus doctor. He's on campus Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm due for my depo shot before Aug 14. I was told to just stop in and he'd write me a local prescription, and I could get it filled, and then find someone to give me the shot. But when I went to leave, I was told he wasn't on campus until 2:30. So I sat back down, and just figured I'd go after the training (was supposed to be over at 3:30). It wasn't over until 4 of course and when I stopped by, I was told he was gone, and I should have made an appointment... I didn't know this. I was told to just "pop by" and why was he only here for an hour or less anyways?!? SIGH. :) Learning the ropes can be frustrating. SO I called his office to make an appointment with him tonight, but was told to call the nurse's office at the school to make an appointment with him when he's on campus tomorrow. SIGH SIGH. :)

After work Nicole and I went to the big Vodafone store on the Corniche. We signed up for DSL, and should get it within a week (hopefully.. or as they say here "inshallah" (God-willing)).

I tried to find this one chocolate store called Pasionelle, but couldn't find it. The cab driver took me to this other store named Le Poire instead. It was ok - I got some fruit tarts that I've been craving :)

For dinner I ordered Dragon House Chinese - it was decent - good spring rolls, meh sweet and sour chicken and rice.

The people from Sony finally came and put my TV on the wall, so now I just need to get to Orbit and order Satellite and have them come hook it up.

03:36 pm: Pictures!!!
OK, here are the pictures everyone has been waiting for!

First, the pictures of my apartment! Keep in mind this has NOT been decorated - this is from the day I moved in.

View when you enter:


Dining Room:


Living Room: (I love the natural light!)


Kitchen:


Half bathroom: (wtf green sigh)


Full bathroom (now contains washer/dryer too):


Bedroom 1: (guest room)


Bedroom2: (2nd guest room)


My room:


As you can see, tons of space. Benton, start planning now! :D


OK, onto other pics.

This is part of the food court in one of the smaller malls in Cairo - Baskin Robbins in Arabic :P


This is our catered lunch from one of our first days at CAC.


These are the entrances to some of the classrooms on campus (GORGEOUS):


This is Georges, the brain surgeon from Miami (originally Lebanon) that I met on the plane to Amman.


These pics are from the dinner at the superintendent's villa, and a picture of the villa itself:




Pics from my trip to the pyramids:

03:29 pm: Inservice has started!
Well, this week we've finally started inservice with all the faculty here at CAC. Everyone is so nice and welcoming. I especially love the people in the math department I'm working with - they are fantastic!

I just got a computer at my desk, so I now have internet AT WORK! That means once I finish writing this I'll post another update with all the pictures I've acquired since landing here :P

The jazz brunch they took us to last Friday at the Four Seasons was unbelievable. They had tables and tables and tables with endless varieties of food. It's a bit expensive (230 pounds), but the school paid :P I could barely eat anything lol. I was stuffed after some lamb and rice, but after sitting awhile it digested and I ate a bite of dessert. I'm definitely taking Benton here - they'd love it :D

Saturday we were herded to the pyramids along with approximately 10% of the world population. They were crowded and of course it was HOT. But that being said, they were very spectacular. I just hate touristy areas and crowds... and heat lol. I snapped the obligatory photos and went back to hide in the air conditioning hehe. There was another felucca ride Saturday night, but I was all toured out, so I passed and spent the evening cooling off, unpacking, and napping. Perfect evening haha.

I've been getting out more to explore the area, and little local shops. Maadi has a lot to offer, although I highly recommend going out around 7 or later, as it's just so hot during the middle of the day. Hopefully it will cool off in a few months.

Kids are starting back on the 16th. Our school week here is Sun - Thursday and our weekends are Fri/Sat. I'm excited to meet them and see what the demographic here is like, and how it is different from Alaska and Texas.

Ok, well I'm going to upload pics now - it's what everyone has been bugging me about :) TTyl

10:22 pm: More adventures settling into Cairo
I've had another few interesting days settling into Cairo.

Wednesday we had a functional arabic lesson from one of the arabic teachers at the school. He had really great teaching methods, and it was easy to pick up. I've learned from the struggles I've encountered over the past several days that I definitely need intensive Arabic lessons. I've really only stayed extensively in Spain, London, and Peru.. all places where I'm pretty good with the language. Egypt is something entirely different. Courtney says there's a language school called Berlitz that she went through in Poland that was very good. I'm going to look into it - there's supposed to be a branch on Road 9, but I walked it this morning and didn't see it. I'll try calling tomorrow if I get a chance. I pick up languages pretty easily, so I'm not anticipating too much of a struggle, especially considering I'm immersed here.

After Arabic, the nurse spoke to us about how to stay healthy. We've got to be really careful about cleaning our fruits and veggies. We have to soak them in water and a capfull of bleach for 20 minutes, rinse, and then dry them before they're good to eat. We also have to have an AIDS test next week. All expats have to get one, and if you test positive they ship you out of the country, heh.

The school took us to Fusion restaurant on the Nile for dinner. It's mainly asian food, which was decent. The spring rolls and gyoza (dumplings) were great. The calamari was overcooked and tough, and the rest of the dishes I didn't taste, as I was stuffed hehe. The view was really nice though, looking out over the Nile and watching the feluccas drift by. :) After dinner I called Carolyn up and we went to the ACE (Association of Cairo Expatriates) club. There were lots of foreigners there, andit seemed pretty crowded. We had a few drinks, and got online to check email. The one thing that's a bit odd about the club is that it's very like.. colonial... All the staff is black from Africa, and all the patrons are white. It's a bit uncomfortable.

Afterwards, I came home, and unpacked a few more boxes. After several hours I got hungry again. I don't eat much anymore, but I do get hungry every 3-4 hours. So I called up Pizza Hut and ordered a pizza, and a slice of cheesecake. Well, an hour later I get a call from the delivery person, because of course, like the 2 cab drivers from the other day, he can't find my apartment. Apparently there's at least TWO building number sevens on my street. SIGH. I swear I'm going to paint a giant sign in arabic that says, "HOLLI DOES NOT LIVE HERE. GO THAT WAY --->" and nail it to the other building.

Anyway, so after 3 phone calls I manage to tell the guy to just go to the mosque nearby and I'll meet him there. So I walk to the end of the road, and show him where my flat is. He hands me the food and recipt. It's for a bit over 40 pounds. So I hand him two 25 notes. He starts digging in his wallet, but I tell him no, to keep the change (baksheesh = tip). He pulls out a 50 pound note and tells me, "No, 50." I'm wondering what he's talking about. He doesn't seem to want my two 25 notes. I try to give them to him again, and again he refuses with a, "No, 50." I'm confused. Is there something about a 50 bill that's better than two 25 bills? I try again, and again he says no. He holds up the 50 and says half. I hold up a 25 and the 50 and say, "yes, half. 25 plus 25 is 50." He still doesn't want to take my money. By this time I'm wondering wtf is wrong with this guy. Can he not do math? 25 and 25 is 50. I repeat this, and make my hands like a scale, balanced and even. I say something like, "same thing." He still refuses. I'm getting frustrated. He calls a random guy on the street over. They're both trying to tell me apparently that 25 and 25 is not the same as 50. I'm a math teacher ffs, I know how to add! ... Finally I read the writing on the 25 note, and realize that it says "25 Piasters." Piasters are like cents here. I was trying to pay him basically 50 cents for a 50 dollar meal. I felt awful lol. I was like, "OHHHH PIASTERSSS!!! OH MY GOSH I AM SOOOOO SORRY!!!!!" I apologized profusely, gave him a 100 pound note, took his 50 pound note in change, and let him keep the 10 pound tip (a great tip for here). Whoever heard of change being in bills anyways? What the hell is that all about?!? After telling the story at breakfast, turns out most everyone has had a similar experience, although they got it resolved much faster. I don't know why the guy didn't just point to the word PIASTER. SIGH. Oh well, makes for a story I suppose :P

I had a slice of pizza, put the rest in the fridge, and headed off to sleep.

Thursday morning we met with HR to go over all the details of the millions of forms we need to fill out for leave, reimbursement, PD time, etc. We also met with our mobile rep today. Apparently we're on the school's corporate plan, which means we get 200 minutes free each month. Text messages are about 6 cents each, so really cheap. If we go over the minutes, we just get billed from the school. I might consider buying an Iphone later, but I don't know.. they're pretty cool, but they're also very expensive here. They're a lot higher than in the US because here you're not locked into a 2 year contract agreement with AT&T. We'll see, maybe months from now when I can afford it. For now I'll stick with the basics.

After the meetings we met briefly as a new high school team, and then went to work in our rooms for awhile. We're getting the math office organized... kind of. I came home later, had a bite to eat, and went to see what was on Road 9. I was pretty disappointed, although there are a lot of stores there.. nothing really I'd be interested in buying for the apartment.. I don't think. Maybe Benton can find something he likes. There's lots of stores with trinkets.

There was a felucca ride I was planning on going to this evening, but I got a call that my appliances were going to be delivered and set up, so I stayed home. I now have everything in my apartment. I need to get in touch with the Sony people to hang my TV, but my washer and dryer are here and set up, and all the other smaller things I bought are here now. I'm still unpacking boxes. I think I've worked my way through about 7 of 16. I did buy a power strip adapter today, so I can use my laptop at home, but I still have no internet. I spent most of the afternoon playing Plants vs. Zombies lol. :)

It's getting late so I'm going to head to bed. Tomorrow should be really nice because they're taking us to Giza to the Four Seasons Jazz Brunch. Apparently it has to be seen to be believed. Gourmet food galore piled to the ceilings. Expensive, but hey - school's paying! :D If it's really amazing, I'll have to be sure to take Benton and his friend when they visit :D

Heading to bed - night :D