In America, we speak American.

So many words to describe Nascar. Sometimes pictures are just better. It was definitely a life-changing event. Owen was quite excited to see a real Confederate flag and a racist. An easy order. The night started off at Wendy's, just as it should. We were having some issues with our order. The workers were very confused on how to make fries and actually asked me which cup was a small. As if I knew? But the best part was when the girl was about to fill up our last drink and stopped to send a text. Hilarious. We were laughing so hard because we couldn't believe she had the nerve to text at that moment. The redneck next to me, turned and made a comment about "them colored folks" and I was quickly mortified. But this must be part of the experience. Rednecks, racisism, and fast cars. The opening of the race started with some patriotic songs and a skydiver came down with a massive American flag. Sometimes the patriotism of America is ridiculous. We didn't stay the entire race because the actual race is very boring and too loud to talk to anyone. Also, we were going to the Ravens/Chiefs game the next day in Balitmore. (Thank you, Brad Cottam.) If you ever get the opportunity to go to a Nascar race, you should definitely go. It is everything you think it will be. And more. You will not be disappointed.
After Wendy's, we walked about a mile to the race track because there was no parking.

This is when I spotted the car with the Taco Bell sticker. At this moment, I was finally interested in the actual race.

I will never forget this woman. She fell over the bench head first and later had to be carried out by 4 men. Two of the men had a hand on the back of the jeans, carrying her like someone who is hog-tied. She represented Nascar well.

Life in Cairo

When I talk about living in Cairo with people, everyone seems to think that my life is crazy, unpredictable, and exciting. I realized tonight that it's really not that way. For example, today I walked to Gold's gym and watched CSI on my tv on the elliptical machine. Then went over for to my friend's house for dinner with 6 friends. He had his cook make us Indian food. (ok, when we talk about our cooks and maids, that does sound a little crazy.) Then we hung out awhile on the roof and later watched Hell's Kitchen. Last night we went to a pub and watched NFL games with a big group while enjoying pizza and beer. The night before that, 8 of us ordered pad thai and chilled out on the rooftop patio. It's what I might be doing in the States on any weekday night. Pretty much normal stuff. Except for the Call to Prayer blasting from every mosque in town at the exact same time.

USA. Fall. Sports.

Best time to be in the US has got to be the fall due to the sports season. School has now been postponed until October 3rd with rumors it will be postponed later. The HS teachers have been told to post assignments on the website. We are headed back to Cairo tomorrow and then we will wait for a few days and then decide where to go. We have to be in Egypt 8 days before school starts. So that will definitely be the time we spend in Dahab. So we still have 2 1/2 weeks before school starts. There's also a rumor that we won't have to make up any of the time. If we do have to make it up, we will just go 30 minutes later each day rather than make up the days at the end of the year. Not too shabby. Also, we experienced our first NASCAR and survived.

America. #1.

If you had told me 2 weeks ago that I would be sitting in my parents' house in Virginia Beach, I would not have believed you. We arrive in Cairo on August 25th and within 2 hours, there are rumors flying that we might not have school for another month. Sure enough, 2 days later our director made the announcement, "No school until September 26th". Yes, that is a Saturday and 26 days later than it was supposed to start. The Egyptian government has decided that Swine Flu will be spread from the International teachers and all International schools must be shut down. We found some cheap ($714-roundtrip) tickets to NYC so decided to hit up the good ole USA. College football, MLB, NFL, and Nascar- everything you miss from the states! Even better Suzanne and Cam are here since they quit their jobs. The good news= no school for the next month. The bad news= we just found out that we have to be back the 18th for an 8 day quarantine so we had to change our tickets and paid $$$. The way they are planning to make up the time lost is to just add 30 minutes onto the school day. Not too bad when you get 17 prep times a week. (45 minutes = 1 prep time) So we'll go back 8 days early and then head off to the beach...my favorite place ever. DAHAB!! However, we've heard from some friends in Egypt that everything is going crazy. There's even rumors about the school having to shut down for the entire year. Not too worried about that because we have contracts that allow us to still get paid and we aren't allowed to work anywhere else. In that case, we've decide to go live in Thailand for the remainder of the year. But, we'll see what happens. You just have to live each day as it comes. Besides, it's not so bad. I'm sitting here watching The Office marathon on TBS in my PJs on the plasma tv and eating cookie dough while Owen went for a run with Jackie. We just bought our Nascar, NFL, and MLB tickets online for next weekend. Even though it's unexpected, life is pretty good.