Egyptian Money
FYI, 100 Egyptian pounds is roughly equal to $16. Here in Egypt, it is a lot of money.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
One View From Our Apartment
How anyone finds a place to park around here is an unsolvable mystery. 95% of the spaces are always filled, no matter the day or the time. Thank goodness we don't have to drive!
Heading Home
Students begin gathering to jump on the buses and escape to their homes. Usually the play area is much more crowded than this.
Playground
Here is where students can play some soccor, hang out with friends, have school-wide weekly assemblies, and wait for the buses to come. A new rule saying students could only play soccor during PE--and not during breaks--nearly caused a riot.
English Staff Room
Here is the home base for English teachers in the High School. This is our refuge from the trials and tribulations of teaching. Sing-alongs, music, and eating junk food are common occurances here. Lee's home away from home.
Mafdy and Class 11A
Mafdy loves weight-lifting and is probaby destined to be the next Lou Ferrigno. 11A is an extremely bright class of mostly girls and 4 or 5 boys. The work they hand in often goes far beyond what I ask for, which is fun.
Abdullah and Class 12B
Abdullah and the rest of 12B are ready to be done with school and get going on their next vacation. Abdullah, however, manages to show some signs of life.
11C sees the camera
A lot of students are missing today because it's the last day of class before a big break. Those who show up, however, seem okay with the sudden appearance of a digital camera.
Mr. Lee and 11C
11C is one of the 11th grade classes I teach. This class has 18 boys and 5 girls in it, and they can get a bit rowdy. Some firm words, however, usually gets them into line, at least when they realize I'm serious. A fun, high-spirited group of kids.
Mr. Lee and 12D
Here are a few of the students of 12D with their English teacher. This class is the toughest to teach, but they are also the ones that make me feel the most welcome when I walk into the room. From left to right they are Nader, Mahmoud (back row far left), Hesham, Ahmed (back row second from left), Marwan, Mahi, Karim, and Sandra. The hats are not props--it IS cool here in the winter time!
Alaa and Roger
Alaa could speak no English when she came into Faith's class and now she speaks it quite well. (Good for her!) Roger (pronounced, French-wise, as row-zhay) is very smart and has a memory like a steel trap--especially if Miss Faith promises to make cookies next week.
Farah and Ramy
Faith thinks Farah has the most beautiful eyes of any child in the class. Ramy is the elder statesman of the class due to his seasoned 5 1/2 years of life experience.
Nora and Joycie
Nora is the class drama queen (and thus Faith's kindred spirit), while Joycie LOVES getting to wash her hands.
"Little Man" and Rania
"Little Man" is Faith's name for little Abdullah, who is the two-year-old son of Rania, one of the other KG teachers. Rania and Faith have become very good friends and we have spent a couple days with her, her husband Mohamed, and their other two children Abdel-Rahman and Habeeba. They are a wonderful family and Lee and Mohamed have had some great conversations together. Abdullah enjoys helping Lee learn a little Arabic--like the word for "ball," which is "kora" (not sure about the exact spelling).
Beautiful Tamer
The women in the KG department sometimes have trouble disciplining Tamer because they are so smitten with him. He is also extremely smart, which means he is a double-threat who gets away with more than he should.
Omar and Rita
Rita is famous for wanting to be Faith. She plays Miss Faith at home and also helps out in class with discipline. She is a very helpful little girl!
Sara and Miss Faith
Absolutely TOO CUTE!!!
Every day Faith kisses and hugs all her kids, and they love it. She is such a wonderful teacher!
Every day Faith kisses and hugs all her kids, and they love it. She is such a wonderful teacher!
Silly!
Kindergarten is not all work and tears: here Farrah gets in some silly-time while Alaa watches.
Mina Says Hello
Faith absolutely adores this kid. I told her she should collect some hair or something so we could clone him for her. (One of Faith's favorite things about him is that, although he is Egyptian, when he speaks English he sounds Italian. He is also the one who said he would "wait for her" until he and Faith could get married.)
Faith's KG1 Class
One day Faith had no children--the next she had 18!!! And here they (or most of them) are!
RAINSTORM!!!
Yes, it does rain here in Egypt, and here's the proof! Cairo supposedly got rid of its drainage system as an insult to the British after Egypt gained its independence. I don't know if that's really true, but a hard rainstorm WILL flood much of Cairo.
DiningRoom
Welcome to Faith and Lee's dining room! The big table is where we go to eat, drink, and become merry.
Messy Bedroom
Here is where we attempt to sleep while being assaulted by the sounds of honking, wedding celebrations, car alarms, fighting cats, lost howling dogs, fire-crackers, shouting children, motorcycles, trucks, the nearby military academy's early morning drill, and, occassionally, drunken Americans.
Kitchen
The kitchen is where we heat water, refrigerate things, and wash dishes. It is also where Faith makes WONDERFUL soups!!! (The white thing on the left-hand wall is the gas water heater for the sink.)
LivingRoom
Here is a shot from our living room looking toward the dining room. If we didn't have Mariam, our cleaning lady, come once a week, I fear we would become buried in clutter.
Previous Posts
- Counting Days
- Saying Goodbye—and Summer School
- Take Five!
- KG Annual Show Action Photo
- No Wonder Faith Cried
- The Many Faces of Faith
- Faith and Lee at a Wedding Reception
- Faith and Some of Her Kids at Chili’s
- Faith and Her Parents Faith and Her Parents
- “Leaving?”, front
Archives
- July 2004
- August 2004
- September 2004
- October 2004
- November 2004
- January 2005
- March 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
