Waiting

Things here just keep changing. At the moment I am teaching only 12th grade history and watching the computer lab here. I did have two ESL computer classes, but they were canceled. So here I wait. Things should be picking up pretty quickly, though. Eric Barnes arrived last-night, completing the list of SMs here. I suspect I will be taking at least one of his classes to replace the two I lost; I just don't know which one(s) yet.
Week 1 of school is well under way and all is going smoothly thus far. The students are enthusiastic and very friendly and with 137 enrolled there isn't very much quiet time. The cafeteria is up and running which could be viewed as good or bad. The good side is that it's free for me and I don't have to prepare my own food. however... what can one say about cafeteria food? It's not bad, but... it could be better. A typical meal consists of fuul (slow-cooked beans), salad (cut-up cucumbers and tomatoes), some soft (and very salty) cheese, and pita. It tastes good, but when you eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it loses its charm.
Speaking of charm, Ramadan is well under way which is interesting in its own way. The main difference here on campus is that the prayers are louder, longer, and more frequent. However, right at sunset a magical thing happens: The streets become deserted! For those of you not up on your Ramadan tradition, during the month of Ramadan, muslims fast while the sun is up, and then feast all night long. So right when the sun goes down, everyone disappears from sight into their homes and stuffs themselves silly with all manner of food. it makes travel quite convenient and quick and we try our best to take advantage of this lull when heading into town.
So for now, that's all I have to report. Thanks for reading!

So...

Not mush to report as of late. I've been busy organizing everything for the classes that I'm teaching this year. I have been assigned 10th grade U.S. History, 11th grade World History, and 12th grade Modern World History. So hooray for history! I look forward to the challenge of teaching with great anticipation, and the wait is almost over. Thursday is registration and classes begin on Sunday.
Aside from class preparation things have been relatively calm here. Daniel, the returning French SM arrived last night, bringing our ranks to four. Miguel, Bethany, and myself are the other three. I have yet to meet Laura and Eric when they arrive. It looks as though Eric and I are the only Student Missionaries that are actually students. Thus far all of the others have graduated from college already. Oh well, I have no problem being the baby here.
Ramadan started today, which means that the calls to prayer are louder and seemingly more frequent than normal. I have heard that during Ramadan the local drivers are even more impatient and erratic than usual. This doesn't bode well, considering that the other night I was in a minibus that hit a pedestrian. Granted the man was walking in the middle of the road. But I digress...
For those of you who haven't heard, I have my first batch of Egypt photos posted at Picasa Web so check them out. Other than that, I wish you all well and I'll talk at you later.

-Monte