You know you're in Egypt when....

....you're shopping at the grocery store and the power goes completely out....you're standing in total darkness and without hesitation you get out your phone that has a flashlight and continue shopping....

best.birthday.ever

As long as I live in Egypt, I will never have to work on my birthday. Lucky me, it's a national holiday. Since we had the 6th off in the middle of the week we celebrated the night before. Went to the most amazing restaraunt in Cairo with 14 of my closest friends. That sounds like a lot of people, but it was actually really hard to narrow it down to 14 which I had to do because the place is so small. Had the best meal I've had in Cairo so far. Gourmet sea bass and good imported wine. Later we went back to the Harps' rooftop balcony and partied the night away. Teaching everyone how to line dance to hip hop music was my goal for the night. Good times had by all. The next day, Owen bought me a massage and pedicure at a spa and we went to dinner at the Fish Market on the Nile. Also, really good food. Here are some presents I got: Obviously this was from John. Before I opened it, he described it as "What every woman wants".

more flowers!



Yes, I got a bunny! When we were in Turkey a few weeks ago, they had baby bunnies and I just went nuts for them. So Owen decided to totally surprise me and get me a bunny. It's really cute and sooo soft! We just call it Bunny or Bun-Bun (steph's nickname for it) and not sure if it's a girl or boy. It also makes me laugh a lot. Today I put a new hanging water bottle in its cage and it freaked out not knowing that the bottle was and started boxing it. I almost peed my pants laughing so hard. Apparently you can train bunnies to use a litter box like a cat, which is weird but kinda cool. We'll see....the adventures of bunny will continue....

Come on, Egypt, pull yourself together!

The Egyptian government has come up with a few good ideas. Wait, no, that's not right. Egypt has never in its life come up with a good idea. Here are their latest ideas for preventing swine flu:

1. No AC in the classroom.
2. Open the windows in the classroom.
3. No AC on the buses.
4. If a child sneezes, they are sent home.
5. 8 Day Quarantine period for anyone leaving the country.

Dear Egypt,
Are you aware that we live in the middle of the desert? Do you realize how much sand will be in my classroom at the end of each day if I keep a window open? I would like you to teach all day in a classroom without AC and tell me how you like it. Why do you want me to stay in the country and not travel? I'm more likely to get the flu from Egypt than anywhere else where I want to go.
hate you,
mel

In other news, we posted our resume online and had an offer from a school within an hour. Shouldn't be too hard getting a new job for next year. Oh, and I have a SMART board in my classroom! Also, girls night on a felucca with wine, snacks, and a good book. Very relaxing after a crazy day. I love my friends here if nothing else. :)

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.

Just another day in Eastern Europe...

It's so annoying when you go to sign in to your blog and everything is written in Serbian, ya know? So here I am in Belgrade, Serbia. Certainly didn't expect to be here. We were planning on avoiding Belgrade only because the best it had to offer was the "night life". No, thanks. But because of the bus/train system from Kosovo we couldn't get to Bosnia. Yes, I said Kosovo. I was in Kosovo for 3 days, no big deal. Youngest country in the world. Kosovo has been the only country I've been to the past year that actually likes America. So don't let anyone tell you that America is an evil empire who goes around attacking random countries....er, wait....the USA bombed the crap out of Serbia a few years ago. Well, that was a good thing for Kosovo and they gained their independence from Serbia. Anyways, we had a slight issue getting into Kosovo because Serbia doesn't recognize Kosovo's independence. On the way to Kosovo we were crammed into a van full of Macedonians (Macedonians, I mean what the hell?) who didn't need to get a Kosovo stamp so we didn't get ours. In the middle of the journey, a song came on the radio and the entire van started singing. Visualize a scene from Fiddler on the Roof and that's about what it was like. The Matchmaker was sitting in front of me. No joke. Eastern Europeans kinda all look the same. They all seem to have misshapen heads and large noses. They just look weird. Not trying to be mean, just accurate. The languages are very rough like Russian so it's kinda scary when they talk to you. But like Arabic you get soon realize that they aren't yelling at you because they are angry, they are yelling because they seem to have voice immodulation. I've taken about 700 pictures and we've been to Hungary, Croatia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro. But I haven't put any pictures on the computer yet so I'll have to work on that. Croatia was by far the best. We spent about 12 days exploring the islands and just relaxing by the beaches. I'll have to write more about that in a separate post. Right now I need to find some coffee.

Oh yeah, North Carolina....

Totally forgot to update about that. I flew down to see Elizabeth in Charlotte. It was definitely a girl's week! Mostly we just sat by the Country Club pool and drank sweet tea. She introduced me to a little Southern secret know as Firefly....ummm YUM! I didn't have my camera to take pics so I'm just posting a random pic of me and elizabeth from last school year.... When we were out one night there was a group from Carolinanightlife.com who were taking pics. We saw our pics on the website the next day, but when I went back I couldn't find them. Oh well. Lesson learned- take your camera everywhere.

Oh, Canada!

So Canada is pretty much amazing. I don't know why more people don't live there. I arrived in Calgary and O and I went to a wedding and the Calgary Stampede (their rodeo). Apparently, two-stepping in Canada is not the same as Texas. Owen was unteachable, but Shane was willing to learn. The people I met made me want to move there immediately. They were all sooo nice and fun! Then we drove to Invermere which is in BC. BEAUTIFUL! This is the view from Owen's mom's front door. No joke. After a few days there we flew in Owen's dad's little tiny plane to Canim Lake where his dad has 2 secluded cabins. I think it takes around 9 hours or so to drive there and flying it's about 2 hours. So we literally flew over the Rockies. It was pretty scary at first. There's a runway on the property so we landed right next to the cabins. Pretty rad. We stayed there for about 3 days. Fishing, campfire, crossword puzzles, and a lot of just chillin'. This is the view from the plane.

Then we flew back to Invermere and drove to Premiere Lake about an hour away. This place was unbelievable. Owen's mom (or mum as he says) has about 7 cabins. They pretty much have their own campsite. The only way to get to it is by boat. We stayed here for about 3 days. Swimming, fishing, playing horseshoes, bocce, etc. SO much fun!
View from the dock at the main cabin.

The stream that runs in the middle of the camp ground. Unbelievably clean water.

We went back to Invermere for a fun golf tournament with about 30 of his friends. Then went to Banff, Lake Louise and everywhere in between to do some hiking. Weather was unbeatable. I can't wait to go back!!

Lake Louise.

Chattanooga: a place where your kids can play in the public fountain and tattoos are contagious

Chattanooga is a white trash haven nestled between the Smokey Mountains. At first glance, it looks like a picture perfect mountain town with the kayaks atop family SUVs. But with a closer inspection, one begins to note the trailer park attire, rampant mullets, and the plethora of bad tattoos. (Please refer to earlier post about Tattoos to Avoid) By the 3rd day, I realized that there's also a hippy scene where artists sell their paintings on the sidewalk outside of the used bookstore. After discovering this along with the sculpture garden in the Art District I was loving this cute town. The Aquarium was also really fun to walk around. My favorite part was the lack of wildlife in the Nile River exhibit. If you have been to the Nile, you know that nothing would ever be able to survive in there. The live music downtown was good but it was just too hot to be walking around. Had a great time with Becca and can't wait to go back and hike around the mountains when it's cooler weather.

Culture Shock (again)

Weird how every time I come Stateside, everything here feels so weird. I went running on Friday morning and did not see one piece of trash on the street! No cats were seen! Almost stepped on a turtle. Saw squirrels, bunnies, and dogs! I can't get over how green it is here and how it doesn't hurt to breathe! A trip to the mall was very uneventful. I drove there in a SUV with air conditioning listening to satelite radio while using the GPS to get there. I wasn't harrassed by shop owners to buy something or by beggars grabbing my arm asking for some cash. Again, no trash on the streets! The only sand I have seen in on the golf course. I feel like it's too easy. Too boring. It's almost kinda creepy. I really don't know if I can live in the States ever again.

Saying Goodbye.

I wish I had taken more pictures during the goodbyes this week, but I'm really bad at remembering to do that sort of thing. Thursday was our last day of school and basically everyone was flying out that night. To celebrate the last day of school, we went to the A.C.E Club with Darren and Jen for a cold one. (Yes, I'm officially a member now!) Then went to my new apt to drop some stuff off. Went back to the ACE Club with John and Sarah for another cold one and dinner. Then off to TGIFridays on the Nile for the Paper Plate Awards. Now, I wasn't planning on going to this, but since I was packed and ready to go and in Ma'adi anyways, we went. Turns out there's a "special" award each year for the couple who met in Cairo and started dating : the double gallabeya. So Joe and Jen, who are getting married this summer (yay!), awarded O and I with this honor. Due to our differences in height, this turned out to be funnier than usual. Jen and Joe informed us that we have to keep this tradition going and pass it on to another couple next year. I'm thinking it should would be hilarious if we gave it to Kevin and Greg. We ended the night back at the ACE club with some of my favorite people for a few goodbyes and seeyanextyear. (Yes, I took full advantage of my ACE Club membership by going 3 times in my first day. I am addicted already.)


Everyone who is leaving is headed off to various parts of the world! I will miss y'all!! But I plan on visiting!!! :)

Lori (Columbia), Kayla (Hong Kong), Katherine & Jason,(Venezuela) Joe &Jen (Malawi), Norris & Ang (NYC), Mike (Canada) , Jen Fij (Chicago), Sarah (Italy), Jakob (Germany)

I did it.

Yes, the blog is public and you don't have to sign in anymore. Screw privacy.

Tattoos to Avoid

This link is hilarious! Please read if you are thinking about getting a tattoo. And if you have any of these tattoos, I'm sorry.

Things You'll Never Hear a Teacher Say:

"Our principal is sooooooooo smart. No wonder he's in administration."

"Thank goodness for these evaluations. They keep me focused."

"I'd like to see Red Lobster offer a meal like this!"

"Here class, just put all your gym shoes in this box next to my desk."

"I bet all the people in our administration really miss teaching!"

"Gosh, the bathroom smells so fresh and clean!"

"I'm so glad I gave my phone number to my students' parents. It makes keeping in touch so much easier."

"I can't believe I get paid for this!"

"I think the discipline around here is just a LITTLE too strict!"

"It's Friday already????"

"Those students this semester really made my job a real joy."

"I believe that athletics are not getting enough money."

"We'd be able to educate our children if they let us teach through summer too."

"Have you noticed that the teachers drive better cars than the students?"

"This in-service training has been fabulous."

"It must be true; the superintendent said so!"

Party like an Egyptian

I might have complained a lot in the last posting, but I LOVE my life here. I have the best friends ever here. There are several friends who I will miss when they move away. But I plan on keeping in touch and visiting a few countries in South America to visit them... maybe Summer 2010?? And we've already started planning out trips for next year. Last night we decided what a group of us are doing for the first week break in October. And possibly plan to visit some friends in other parts of Africa for another break. I live in a crazy place and there are definitely some crazies who I work with, but life really is good.

Feeling a little racist?

What's the difference between an expat in Cairo and a racist?

6 months.


ok, so i decided to delete this post. It was a little over the top. Since this is now a public blog, I don't want to get arrested. Egypt doesn't exactly have free speech. Basically what it said was how I was really frustrated with Egyptians. There are some really nice Egyptians who I have met, but most of the men I come in contact with daily(i.e. walking down the street, on the subway, etc.) are disgusting and grope western women every chance they get. It's becoming a big problem. Cairo is very safe other than that.

Cinco de Mayo

Huge party for Cinco de Mayo. All you can eat Mexican buffet and margaritas. Real margaritas! My favorite part of the night was when Kristy randomly shows up wearing a massive sombrero. She, of course, has no idea where she got it. Also, LOVED the live band! We danced the night away....me gusta, me gusta!

blog like an egyptian

Sorry for the lack of updates... but my school blocked this website. Again. And the only time I'm bored enough to write on this is at work...hmmm... maybe I'm becoming more Egyptian than I want to admit.

Things that keep me from blogging at home:

1. Not getting home until 10:30pm after going to the gym in Maadi.
2. Owen downloaded every season of Seinfield. There's alot to watch.
3. Weekly Office episodes with the Hams.
4. There are so many good books to read. Just finished "Kite Runner".
5. John downloaded 3000 movies last week. Just watched "Singing in the Rain".
6. Eating out. Dinner takes a min. of 3 hours in this country.
7. Traveling.
8. Expedia.
9. There are more exciting things to do?