29.2

Hey all,

After slowly posting for months, I will hit #2 in 2 days.

Last night, I agreed to meet with a few friends after work for supper.

I did so. Then, it started hailing, despite the fact that I had other plans for my evening.

Yes, hail in Cairo. Last night, there didn't seem to be too many words to describe it here...snow never happens, rain rarely does, and - from what I hear in the last 24 hours from friends - yesterday was pretty strange. Cairo got 3-5 inches of rain and "ice falling from the sky."

So, I left my after school group at 6. The plan was to meet some friends to go downtown for a good time - dinner, culture, drinks, and evening out.

b/c of the hail, I met my friends at 6:10 at the metro station.

We bought our tickets, and walked in to the metro. Instantly, I was nervous about some of the actions of the employees there. There was a massive amount of water standing around, and instantly I recognized this as unusual.

Keep in mind, this is a desert.

But, there were a lot of guys with bladed push-brooms pushing the water out of the way. So, the poor guys were just pushing all the excess rain water to the lowest point around...the metro tracks.

Again, this is a desert, and there are no drainage ditches. I found myself thinking: "This can't be good."

As we were about to get off the metro and go grab a cab, it started to move.

At the next stop, we again sat motionless, waiting for the doors to close and the Metro to move. Neither ever happened. The most incredible explosion sent people running everywhere. I think a transformer blew, not surprisingly as there are always exposed wires sticking out of everything here. With a little rain, you get what you get. But it was still crazy, and people were racing out of the metro - overrunning the turnstiles along the way.

We went out to grab a taxi to get the rest of the way downtown, and were lucky to get one quickly.

1 1/2 hours after leaving, we arrived downtown and found it to be a difficult place.

Many restaurants were closed due to leaking.

Wild night.

29

So much to tell.

Thanks all who have continued to be in touch. It always makes my day to get emails, Skype calls, letters, anything from home. Cairo is great, but...you know.

I've been up to a lot, but mostly have been working. We just finished our first semester. I have to say, after a delayed start, surprise schedule changes, swine flu breaks, and a brief stint with live online classrooms, it was the most interesting semester I've taught in my life.

But work is work, and life is life. To overgeneralize, not a day goes by where nothing unexpected happens. (In case you missed that b/c of my late night affection for tinkering with grammar, that was supposed to mean something really strange happens on a daily basis.)

Highlights:

There's a roundabout called "Midan Victoria" near my house. Last month, Egypt won the Africa Cup for the fourth year in a row, a huge deal over here. I'd never thought about the name of the roundabout, just figured it was associated with the Victoria College or something. But, when the game ended, I decided to walk around town and see the excitement firsthand.

As I followed my instincts, I felt the crowds being drawn to that area. I didn't figure too many locals would associate the name with Victory, but either they did or it was an interesting coincidence for me to ponder while I ambled along amidst the throng making it's pilgrimage to the area.

At one point, I was standing dead center of the midan area - loving it - until a huge firework exploded too close for comfort. (You know those star burst shells that are supposed to look cool in the sky? They don't look as cool at eye level.) I figured I'd seen enough of the crowd, and guessed they had also seen about enough of me, so I split. It was cool.

Also, it was interesting to share the story with my Arabic class the next day. Turns out, as I was meandering and enjoying the evening - without much of a care in the world - my Arabic teacher was angrily trying to navigate a car through the masses. As she shared the story, I was smiling. She was not.

I attended a Cairo Chili Cookoff. It was really cool, and kinda nostalgic. I didn't make a chili, however. I still have not cooked in Cairo. (Unless you count toast on the green tray.)

I'm continuing to try to explore and trying to expand my roaming grounds. It can be difficult to stray away from the familiar, especially when the routine is becoming so comfortable. But in the last month I've made a more conscious effort to stray a little further from my well trodden paths. One such excursion took me to see the Nilometer - a cool column that was once used to establish tax rates. More water = more crop yields = higher taxes. Low water...you get the picture. It was a neat trip and a cool thing to see, I was able to visit an area of town that was new to me, and I got Koshary in a new restaurant. Thanks Kevin and Kai for being tour-guides! (Photos in Picasa web albums.)

I'm planning a trip to Cyprus.

The weather got cold - for about 3 weeks. Now, it's warming up again, and the students are prone to inventing temperature wars in school. One want the air conditioner on, the other just a fan, still others open windows, and of course, some still are wearing winter coats. I guess people are people wherever you go. It's about 60 degrees during the day now, and on warm days gets into the high 70's. Even at that, someone is always wanting something better.

Most of my days are filled with school and either Arabic class, coffee shops and restaurants, basketball in a league with friends from school, softball league (also with school friends) or catching up on reading.

For school, I'm currently re-reading "The Crucible" and just finished "An Inspector Calls." I'll shift to Sherlock Holmes detective stories and "The Hound of the Baskervilles" soon. For fun, I'm rolling through a few different works, including "The Count of Monte Christo" at the moment. I didn't realize how much I missed having the time to read like this.

I just met a man who MIGHT be printing the yearbook. I'm glad we finally met, but am hoping to schedule a meeting in one month to begin plans for 2011's book.

I'm also considering picking up an instrument again. (Have been hoping to do this since I got here, but am finally getting a bit more serious about it. Any recommendations?)

I still have a small number of friends, but many whom I consider very close. Almost all are teachers or employees from school.

I've updated the photos on Picasa, and the photo slideshow with captions is likely more entertaining and informative than this blog. Hope you enjoy the shots!

Until next time, say hi to anyone who cares...and point them to this blog!

Foster