Our First Week at School
We have just completed our first full week at school. The kids aren’t there yet, so it’s not really “school” in the proper sense of the word, but we’re definitely getting a firmer grip on what we will be doing. I will be teaching 11th and 12th grade English (American Lit and British Lit respectively), while Faith will be working with Kindergartners. (Some as young as three!) The facilities here are, for the most part, very nice. All the rooms have air conditioning, the buildings are fairly new and quite clean, and it feels like a good place to work. On the downside, toilet paper is nonexistent (but there are bidets—see below), the rooms all have bare walls and floors and so are very echoey, and school supplies and resources—like access to the photocopier, working printers, printing paper, etc.—are in short supply. Many teachers didn’t get their textbooks till just today—our fifth day at the school. As you can tell, things are often rather disorganized, though I get the feeling that we’ll all muddle through.
Meanwhile, more American teachers have arrived and we are beginning to get to know our Egyptian colleagues. One of my favorite new friends is Reham Ali. She is getting her Masters Degree in English, is a big movie fan, and is quiet and reserved but very funny. Many of the other women here are very intelligent and outgoing. On our first day, we all introduced ourselves and described ourselves with an appropriate adjective. Maybe a dozen of the women referred to themselves as “active,” and a few even called themselves “loud,” or “loud but helpful,” or “active, loud, helpful, and opinionated.” (There was a great deal of laughing throughout much of this.) I simply said I was “punctual,” while admitting this may or may not be true. Faith’s adjective was “fabulous,” and now at least a few people actually refer to her as Fabulous! Faith, as those of you who know her well can probably imagine, is something of a marvel here. She is so friendly, smiling, and eager to talk to Egyptians that I think they often feel (pleasantly) overwhelmed. Now that there are over a dozen other Americans here, it would be fairly easy to fall in almost exclusively with them, but both Faith and I are making a concerted effort to develop real friendships outside the American circle. Actually, that’s not quite true: Faith doesn’t really need to try....
In any case, we are hacking our way through the jungle here, struggling to clear enough ground to teach on. This is going to be more challenging than we expected, but I believe that we can do it. The best thing is, we have so many good and friendly people around us to help out.
A NOTE on bidets: a bidet—pronounced “bee-day,” with emphasis on the “day”—is a gadget that often takes the form of a sink-like porcelain object set low to the floor in bathrooms. By turning a couple handles, you can generate a pleasing little fountain of water. This is used—in much of Egypt as well as Europe—in place of toilet paper. In our school, they have bidet-like sprayers built into the toilets. All you need to do is turn a little handle to get the water flowing up. Although I happen to find the bidet both adequate and refreshing, most Americans here don’t even know one when they see one. Culture-shock, anyone?
Finally, I should let you know that we leave tomorrow at 9:10 am for the Red Sea coast. Ms. Nadia Hafez, the school Chairperson (and owner), has invited the American teachers out for a day on the beach. We will visit one of her houses and be fed, we are told, an Oriental breakfast and an Egyptian lunch. It will also my birthday, so Faith, of course, spilled the beans and now we’re going to have a little birthday party, too. The school bus took us to a local bakery today and we bought two gorgeous cakes. (This bakery, by the way, was all pastries and the selection was so large and so mouthwatering it almost made us dizzy. Needless to say, we’re going back.)
I will be sure to provide a full report on our trip to the Red Sea as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, more American teachers have arrived and we are beginning to get to know our Egyptian colleagues. One of my favorite new friends is Reham Ali. She is getting her Masters Degree in English, is a big movie fan, and is quiet and reserved but very funny. Many of the other women here are very intelligent and outgoing. On our first day, we all introduced ourselves and described ourselves with an appropriate adjective. Maybe a dozen of the women referred to themselves as “active,” and a few even called themselves “loud,” or “loud but helpful,” or “active, loud, helpful, and opinionated.” (There was a great deal of laughing throughout much of this.) I simply said I was “punctual,” while admitting this may or may not be true. Faith’s adjective was “fabulous,” and now at least a few people actually refer to her as Fabulous! Faith, as those of you who know her well can probably imagine, is something of a marvel here. She is so friendly, smiling, and eager to talk to Egyptians that I think they often feel (pleasantly) overwhelmed. Now that there are over a dozen other Americans here, it would be fairly easy to fall in almost exclusively with them, but both Faith and I are making a concerted effort to develop real friendships outside the American circle. Actually, that’s not quite true: Faith doesn’t really need to try....
In any case, we are hacking our way through the jungle here, struggling to clear enough ground to teach on. This is going to be more challenging than we expected, but I believe that we can do it. The best thing is, we have so many good and friendly people around us to help out.
A NOTE on bidets: a bidet—pronounced “bee-day,” with emphasis on the “day”—is a gadget that often takes the form of a sink-like porcelain object set low to the floor in bathrooms. By turning a couple handles, you can generate a pleasing little fountain of water. This is used—in much of Egypt as well as Europe—in place of toilet paper. In our school, they have bidet-like sprayers built into the toilets. All you need to do is turn a little handle to get the water flowing up. Although I happen to find the bidet both adequate and refreshing, most Americans here don’t even know one when they see one. Culture-shock, anyone?
Finally, I should let you know that we leave tomorrow at 9:10 am for the Red Sea coast. Ms. Nadia Hafez, the school Chairperson (and owner), has invited the American teachers out for a day on the beach. We will visit one of her houses and be fed, we are told, an Oriental breakfast and an Egyptian lunch. It will also my birthday, so Faith, of course, spilled the beans and now we’re going to have a little birthday party, too. The school bus took us to a local bakery today and we bought two gorgeous cakes. (This bakery, by the way, was all pastries and the selection was so large and so mouthwatering it almost made us dizzy. Needless to say, we’re going back.)
I will be sure to provide a full report on our trip to the Red Sea as soon as I can.
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