20

20 weeks. Five months have gone by, and it's not exactly been a blur.

There's something to establishing routine, and when I'm accustomed to the same schedule daily, time seems to fly by.

Here, time walks with an exaggerated limp.

It's not unpleasant, there are certainly benefits to avoiding monotony of work routines, and believe it or not, it's actually quite nice to have unique and unexpected things happen on a daily basis. I'm not ever allowed to go into the cathartic mode of work routines, and am daily forced to meet new and unexpected challenges.

And, because of that, it actually seems like I've been here a lot longer than five months.

And yet, everyone is excited for break here. We have had more breaks than school so far, but it's still exciting to be afforded some time off.

This time, for me, it's not really needed for stress, for overwork, for any of the usual reasons I look forward to long escapes from work. I'm actually rested and enjoying school when the students are here.

I am, however, excited to see family. I've recently decided to come back to Nebraska (with all it's beautiful clean snow) for Christmas. Aswan and the crocodiles can wait.

Does anyone need anything from Cairo?

And if anyone want to meet, send me an email or call me on Frost Ct. When home, I will operating with a daily planner that only has 3 times on it. Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper. So if you want to chat, get in touch with me and lets eat!

But, in the meantime, it has come to my attention that there is a certain amount of speculation at home as to how I'm doing. Whether I'm liking it here or not. I suppose I should answer that question here in my own long and rambling way.

Work

Hayah International Academy is a great school. The more I'm here and learning about other schools, the more I truly appreciate what a difficult mission the school is attempting to achieve. And in addition to the difficulty of the mission, there are so many cultural and political obstacles to overcome. While we've faced tremendous difficulties this year, specifically school closings and public health scares, at every turn Hayah makes an informed and rational attempt at overcoming the difficulties at hand.

When forced to close repeatedly, the school created a system for students to access their teachers and courses in an online classroom. While there were expected difficulties, and immensity of the project and the time it took to implement were incredible and, imho, spot on. (Ugh..."spot on?" I hope I'm not turning British.)

The school continues to meet students and parents where they are at, and at the same time tries to educate everyone about their purpose - learning. While at times it seems to not be a cultural necessity - public schools are so poor, standards and methodologies are so lacking, that it would be easy for Hayah to take a simpler approach. Yet at every turn, the school attempts to educate the students in the best way it can.

Culture

People are so friendly. I'm continuing to take language courses, and have an excellent teacher. There are about eight people from Hayah in the same course, so my peers in learning are very familiar and fun. It's a great experience, and I am gaining daily the ability to make my way in the world here.

On a daily basis (no surprise here to those who know me well) I go to visit the lunchroom cook. It's pretty normal for me to struggle through some new phrase or word, or for the cooks to toss in some jargon, slang, or just tease. But mostly, they are helping me learn. So today, for kicks, I offered up "enshoofak sena gaya" to the cook. He proceeded to tell me I was saying it wrong, and I kept smiling and repeating it. It's definitely a Foster family joke at this time of year, and also a U.S. one. "See you next year" I was saying. HE kept trying to explain how I should be saying it "right" and was offering "see you next week" and other useful phrases. He then decided I was clearly trying to offer "see you next month" and was politely repeating it to me. The other two workers with him knew what was going on, and when they finally decided to let him in on the joke, they let him have it. It was great fun in the lunchroom. Egyptians love to pile on when their friends have been in an embarrassing situation.

There are moments like this quite often, and the more I develop a cultural understanding and break down the language barrier, the more I am afforded these opportunities. The people are so friendly and playful; you can find light-hearted moments very frequently.

Living (and finances)

No amount of comfortable living can eliminate the smog. It's tough for a guy who doesn't like to be in a room where one cigarette is burning to be in a city where everything is. Cars are using fuel that I question the quality of (I'm not sure if they have quality standards for the fuels sold at the pumps or if it's just that cars are too old and have no emission standards), farmers burn by-products of their rice crops to take care of them, and I believe the city must engage in some sort of trash burning to eliminate the waste. I can't imagine what else goes on, but I know it's a very polluted place.

Some days, I can't see very far. One morning I went for a run at about 5 a.m., thinking I'd get it in before the traffic hit the streets. It didn't matter, I could see the pollution by streetlight. It bothers me at times to wonder what I'm doing to my lungs.

Other days, it can be very clear. It's actually on the days I can see very far (and see many beautiful areas I'm not accustomed to seeing) that I realize the extent of the pollution. Because these days happen so rarely, I'm amazed at the beauty around. And that it's such an unexpected sight when I get it is very telling for me, that it's the exception rather than the norm.

As far as living goes, though, I've seen plenty of other apartments now and I know I am lucky. Certainly, there are nicer houses. I went to a U.S. Air Force pilot's house. I was amazed that he had a swimming pool in his yard and an incredibly beautiful and well sized 1st floor apartment. Later, I learned all 3 stories - the entire building - were his. So there are people here who have more, and I guess being a colonel in the military and living overseas can afford you a pretty swanky lifestyle.

But for the most part people have less. I live in a very rich suburb of an otherwise very poor city, so my perceptions are a little limited. But, while many people in greater Cairo are by our standards poor financially, there is a very rich culture here to enjoy.

So, if you are savvy, you can get anything you want for next to nothing. Certainly, many shopkeepers and service providers will try to "rip you off." If you have that much money and are willing to part with it, there's no shame in taking it. What do they say about a fool and his money? Here, daily, someone tries to get what we consider more than his share. But there's no insult in it, no dishonesty. If you have so much you are willing to give it away, it's a good deal.

I've heard horror stories about people paying exorbitant sums for goods and services. I also know I've paid more than I should have for certain things, but it's the lay of the land. Everything you do, someone else has spent far more or far less for. It's just about getting the right price for you.

And, since I'm not Egyptian, the range of prices asked from me is considerably higher than they would be for a local. There is no way I can buy the same items for the same price.

But it's an economy of scale. They know foreigners here have more money. And systematically everyone asks you for more than they would an Egyptian. Yes, to us, it sucks, as we feel goods or services naturally have a "fair price" and it's not only ethical to sell for a moderate mark-up, but dishonest to ask for too much. This system of economy of goods doesn't apply here.

So in the end, I guess I should just say I'm frugal enough, or tight enough, with my money. I also have luckily been raised to expect so little in the way of "creature comforts" or extravagances…I’m not expecting any amount of pampering and am not accustomed to spending for things I don’t need. Because of this, I'm able to live comfortably on very little money.

Endings

So, that about does it for now. If you skimmed, the answer to the question is I'm doing very well. I hope when I return, we will engage in a consistent and ongoing work schedule, one that allows students (and teachers) to develop better routines and practices conducive for learning. But in the meantime, I'm looking forward to a nice cold winter break.

Oh, yeah. And since I've been here, in the 20 weeks so far, I've been to Jordan, Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Egypt's White Desert, as well as many different areas in and around Cairo. This is definitely a fun place to "hub" out of.