14

Football.

Look up the stories around Egypt's recent win, and you'll see every facet of sports mania you are used to hearing about, and maybe more.

The energy on the streets kept me up until 3 or 4 a.m. and woke me up this morning. Forget that Egypt needs to win one more match to make the world cup. You would have guessed that last night they won the whole thing.

It was crazy.

I spent the greater part of the day in the older part of Cairo, a lot closer to the site where the game would be played that same night. The people were cool, and the markets were fairly empty. But the energy was there.

I don't know if it was my Egypt football shirt, or the fact that I knew to say, 'God willing, three,' in Arabic (Egypt needed to win by three to qualify automatically for the World Cup) but nonetheless people loved to see me. Then they wanted to sell me stuff. I don't know which was driving them more, but I'm guessing I was a financial opportunity that made them smile just a tad more...even if I didn't buy much.

I left downtown at a reasonable hour, making sure I was long away from any public craziness. I was in the Twin Cities when they won the Series, and I've seen what mobs can do.

In my quaint little suburb of Maadi, who knew that the honking and chanting would last into the wee hours of the morning? It was wild.

And now, with one more win, Egypt will make the World Cup, South Africa, 2010

I'm also pleasantly surprised to hear that students might be returning to school long before I expected. Just when I start to think I've got things figured out, I am proved wrong. I read there was another swine flu related death in Cairo yesterday. I've read that the expected number of infections is in the millions for Egypt, as high as maybe seven million people.

And I know (as I've said before) that discretion here is the better part of valor. I also know that your health is sometimes all you have, especially in a country where many people have so little. (Speaking only in terms of monetary wealth - the culture is certainly very rich in other ways.)

But just when I thought it would be a long time, I am now understanding it will be soon. one more day off, and apparently the students return on Tuesday, after taking a break for precaution against spreading the flu.

So, one more day of internet based education, and we get back to business.

Sorry about the rambling nature of this post. I'm falling asleep in my chair, but wanted to send it today. Maybe I'll get some horn free honking sleep tonight! (isa - in sha'Allah)

13.6

ha. My water in my apartment is off again.

Mafeesh maya (There is no water) is a term I'm learning.

Mafeesh students, mafeesh water, at least mafeesh swine flu for me.

13.5

Swine flu.

It's been amazing to see how things have played out. Overall here, there is an incredible fear of the H1N1 virus. While many people know it's an incredibly weak virus, it's apparent that the country in general has established a pattern for over-reacting to any rumor of flu.

I keep hearing of a student (from another school) who died of swine flu. As I understand it, he went to a hospital, was diagnosed but mistreated. The treatment complicated his flu and other pre-existing condition and the results were traumatic. I don't think it's a simple matter of symantics - I'd say he died of poor medical treatment. But here, the word on the street is the cause of death was swine flu.

So, this brings me to today. We have two confirmed cases in school. The first was 48 hours ago, and yesterday we were missing around 30% of our student body. Everyone heard that one student had swine flu and many chose to stay home for precautionary reasons.

Yesterday, at midnight, we had a second confirmed case - the first students older brother. By the time I woke up, I had a text message informing me that students would not be in school for three days.

At this point, and the way things have been going, I'm going to predict that I won't see a student in my room until late January.

Who knew when I signed a TWO YEAR contract, that because of irrational delays and confused logic I'd be teaching one year of curriculum delivered over a two year span. (It hasn't come to that yet...)

6:24 a.m. It's a staff only day at school. I'm going to make one last prediction: Today will be the "Day of stupid questions."

One funny part of this is at this point, I'm actually having a blast living through this. It reminds me of grade school when other students (Joe D.) would start to cause disruptions. Pretty soon chaos ensued in the classroom, and one could just sit back and enjoy. :P

I will have stories to tell!

13

Okay, this is way overdue. I know.

I've been stuck in teaching mode, which is an excuse. More accurately, my initial fears of being a blogger are being realized. It's hard for me to stay at it.

But, I know, I have things to share. So here's a quick one. (I'ts 7:25 a.m., and students come in 15 minutes...

I know I haven't posted since Jordan. It's a very interesting country, one I'd recommend visiting if you have the travel bug. It's very modern, has a well liked leader by the people, and politically is one of the closest aligned countries to the U.S. in the Middle East. You'll feel comfortable and welcomed.

And Petra is awesome. It's no surprise to me that Jesus' cup ended up there in The Last Crusade. It's a top 5 world spot imho.

Since, school has started and is going strong. It's weird...students here are so different than in the U.S. The nuances are hard to keep track of, but what works there methodigically does not work here. Students want to learn, just like at home, but the systems that help that happen are way different. There is definitely a different cultural mind at work, and it's hard to adjust to.

But I'm adjusting.

Outside of work, everything is awesome. I've been to Sharm, Jordan, and last weekend the white desert. It's an area toward the center of Egypt, and it's incredible. We slept under the stars and it was about 50 degrees Farenheit. I loved every minute of it. (No bugs, no scorpions, nothing to bother. Just a beautiful night.)

There was also dune rolling, campfire music, etc. Photos top left.

Planned trips are to go to Dahab (Sinai) soon and later Cyprus. Might work a trip to Yemen in there as well...we'll see.

Not much else to add. I'm settling in to the grind, have joined the gym here at school (was starting to feel a bit soft), and am plugging through. I'm learning Arabic 2x per week, 2 hours per session. Have learned many pronouns and nouns, some adjectives, but have finally started working on verbs and conjugations. It's really crazy, but I'm doing well with it and need to find more chances to immerse and practice.

I'm going to start looking for volunteer opportunities to fill one or two nights per week. Then I'll be about as busy as I was back home. :D

Yearbook is a mess. Please don't ask - unless you want a written rant.

Hope all is well,

Foster