Yes, it's true. Last Friday it rained here. And not only did it rain, but it rained hard. I was working on class planning in the computer lab and I stepped outside only to discover that the heavens had opened up and it was truly and genuinely wet outside. Accompanying this downpour was wind, lightning, and thunder. This lasted for about a half hour and then subsided. The day continued and I didn't think anything else of it. But a few hours later the same thing happened. This time the showers lasted for over an hour, thoroughly soaking everything not covered. I just stood outside for a couple minutes, letting the rain hit me. I closed my eyes and for a moment I felt like I was back home in Oregon. I later found out that the last time it had rained that hard was about 8 years ago. I'm glad that I was here to experience something unusual.
There were some unfortunate side effects to all the precipitation, however. Nothing in Egypt is built for rain. The roofs are sunken and have no pitch whatsoever. Some students with large squeegies had to climb onto the roofs of all the buildings to prevent them from collapsing. Another problem that resulted had to do with the power. Now, remember, here in Cairo it rains maybe once or twice a year and even then it is in trace amounts that are almost negligable. So it may not be any surprise that all of the power wires leading to the circuit boxes and transformers are exposed to the elements. So when water came into contact with these wires it caused an electrical surge that damaged electronics, burnt out light bulbs, and in the boys dorm started a small fire.
All told, the electrical mishap destroyed two laptop power cables, a computer battery backup, the main computer lab printer, and other assorted appliances. Things are basically back to normal now, but I will never forget the day it rained in Cairo.
But that was last week. Now let's talk about yesterday.
Every year the SA here plans a trip to Cairo's own theme park- Dream Park. So yesterday the entire student body loaded onto buses and made the trek across town (no small undertaking) and arrived at about 11:00 at the front gates. We spent the next 9 hours exploring the park, visiting the attractions, and generally having a good time. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Dream Park was in most ways comparable to any American theme park. There were some minor differences of course (you had to pay extra money to ride the big roller coasters, for instance) but on the whole it was very similar. I have to say that my favorite part of the day was playing bumper cars with NUA students. There were enough of us that we could occupy all 20 cars at once. The ensuing melee was the stuff of legend. I, of course prevailed thanks to my exceptional driving skills. But Some of my students felt the rubbery wrath of my bumper!
I also enjoyed the time I spent getting to know the students outside the classroom. It was really good for me to not be a teacher for once, but instead just a friend. After all, a fair number of the students are at least as old as I am, and in some cases older.
So that brings my story to the present. I think I'll go to bed now. Thanks for reading.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
I don't know...
I have learned some truths the hard way recently. One of them is that Muslim's don't think. I know all of you are gasping and shaking your heads at this revelation of my apparent intolerance, but I can back up this statement. When I came to Egypt I feel safe in saying that I had a very open mind about my experience here, including the role of Islam in Egyptian culture. But after nine weeks I can tell you all with certainty, that Islam isn't doing anyone any good here. It teaches absolute adherence without question, and therefore it comes as know surprise that nobody thinks. Whenever it comes to light that I am American, the Egyptian response is always: "I like Americans, but not their government." The reason for this is simple. The United States is a strong supporter of Israel, and Egyptians hate Israelis--a lot. Why? Because they were taught to. They don't even know why. It is the same with any given topic. They Like or dislike this or that only because that is the way they were taught. To think for one's self is not only discouraged, but according to Islam it is virtually forbidden. Even the word Islam means 'one who submits'. I am eternally grateful that I was born into a nation that encourages free thought. I am equally thankful that I am part of a religion that has firm reasoning for its teachings. I never appreciated these things as much as I do now.
Another point of frustration is the dysfunction and deceit that permeates life here. 9 out of 10 people on the street are out to take advantage of any situation. I find many friendly people wherever I go, but I have discovered that this friendliness is only a facade for alterior motives. Anyone is willing to be your friend--for a fee. Even amongst the students I am vigilant of over-friendliness. Too often the students try to become your favorite only to gain some sort of special treatment. I am sad to say that I trust few people here.
So that's my rant. Hope you enjoyed it. And now onto something new...
A couple weekends ago I had the privilege to go with the ministry team to the village of Massra, a place about 6 hours south of Cairo. On Friday morning Eric, Myself, and 10 others crowded into a minibus for the long trek there. The scenery was generally boring along the way, although I did get my first glimps of the Western Desert (All I can say is that there's a lot of sand out there). Stepping out of the door in Massra was like going back in time. Mud-brick buildings lined a quiet street along which men in traditional robes strode past and donkeys trotted complainingly. Our group stayed with the only Adventist family in town. Their abode was a large three-story structure occupied by three brothers and their respective families. In all, four generations were represented under one roof. The family made a living by raising crops, cows, and pigeons. The latter of these were raised in the house, giving a curious odor to the place.
But what the house lacked in amenities, the people made up for in hospitality. I had heard stories about the way in which guests were treated in Upper Egypt, but I never expected them to be so true. At meal times they would herd all of the guests into a separate room set out with a veritable smorgazboard of food. After we had eaten our fill, the family would come in to eat what was left over. When we met together in the main room it was a time for stories, songs, and laughter. My only regret from the weekend was that I didn't bring an extra camera battery, and so when my battery died prematurely I was forced to finish the weekend sans photographs. oh well.
So until next time, I'll be here, where will you be?
Another point of frustration is the dysfunction and deceit that permeates life here. 9 out of 10 people on the street are out to take advantage of any situation. I find many friendly people wherever I go, but I have discovered that this friendliness is only a facade for alterior motives. Anyone is willing to be your friend--for a fee. Even amongst the students I am vigilant of over-friendliness. Too often the students try to become your favorite only to gain some sort of special treatment. I am sad to say that I trust few people here.
So that's my rant. Hope you enjoyed it. And now onto something new...
A couple weekends ago I had the privilege to go with the ministry team to the village of Massra, a place about 6 hours south of Cairo. On Friday morning Eric, Myself, and 10 others crowded into a minibus for the long trek there. The scenery was generally boring along the way, although I did get my first glimps of the Western Desert (All I can say is that there's a lot of sand out there). Stepping out of the door in Massra was like going back in time. Mud-brick buildings lined a quiet street along which men in traditional robes strode past and donkeys trotted complainingly. Our group stayed with the only Adventist family in town. Their abode was a large three-story structure occupied by three brothers and their respective families. In all, four generations were represented under one roof. The family made a living by raising crops, cows, and pigeons. The latter of these were raised in the house, giving a curious odor to the place.
But what the house lacked in amenities, the people made up for in hospitality. I had heard stories about the way in which guests were treated in Upper Egypt, but I never expected them to be so true. At meal times they would herd all of the guests into a separate room set out with a veritable smorgazboard of food. After we had eaten our fill, the family would come in to eat what was left over. When we met together in the main room it was a time for stories, songs, and laughter. My only regret from the weekend was that I didn't bring an extra camera battery, and so when my battery died prematurely I was forced to finish the weekend sans photographs. oh well.
So until next time, I'll be here, where will you be?
Saturday, October 4, 2008
It's been awhile
Hello all!
I can't believe how fast things have been going as of late. It's already been six weeks since I first set foot on Egyptian soil and I've hardly had a chance to catch my breath. I am currently on a break that lasts until Wednesday, then it's back to teaching classes. Not much is new in the school here, so I will be happy to tell you about the adventures I have had this break.
Last Tuesday Miguel, Daniel, Eric and I boarded a bus bound for Sharm El Sheik, a tourist hot spot on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. We arrived there at about 2:30 AM and by 4:00 we were on the road again headed for our real destination: Dahab. Dahab is a small coastal town situated along the Gulf of Aqaba. Due to it's remote locale, it doesn't see nearly as many tourists as Sharm and that makes all the difference in the world. When we arrived in Dahab, the sun was just rising. After consulting Eric's copy of the ever trusty Lonely Planet guide book we hit the streets looking to rent a couple rooms for the week. Finally we settled into a couple of rooms at a joint called Alaska Camp- a favorite of backpackers. After resting and cleaning up, the four of us headed out to see the town. Now Dahab exists for two reasons: for scuba divers, and for windsurfers. All along the seashore dive shops abound, mostly run by expatriate Europeans who offer fantastic tours to the areas many reefs. To compliment these shops are a slew of restaurants, bazaars, and hotels, making Dahab a fantastic place to come relax.
So, for the next few days we filled our time eating, sleeping, and lounging. I of course busied myself with some photography as well, but all in all I did as little as possible. I cannot describe to you how gloriously beautiful my time there was. The most active thing I did was scuba diving in the warm water and admiring the myriad of marine life. The rest and relaxation was exactly what I had been needing, and I enjoyed every moment of it. So that was Dahab. And now the real story begins...
Daniel Kempf is an SM from France who works as a maintenance supervisor here. He was at NUA last year and all of his knowldege about how things work here has proved invaluable. Needless to say, he knows what he wants, and he is always determined to get it on his terms. He absolutely will not let himself get ripped off by locals, which in most cases is definitely admirable. Anyway, on Saturday we chartered a minibus to take us to St. Katherine's monastary at the foot of Mount Sinai. Our plan was to visit the monastary and then begin climbing the mountain in time to watch the sun set. We would then sleep on the summit, watch the sun rise, and head back down into town to catch a minibus back to Cairo. It seemed like a feasible plan.
However, things got interesting once we actually arrived at St. Katherine's. While attempting to enter the monastary, a security guard confronted Daniel, insisting that Daniel had taken a picture of him. Daniel told the man adamantly that he had not, but the man persisted. After some more bickering Daniel ignored the man and walked away to look at the sights. All seemed fine until we attempted to climb the mountain later that afternoon. As we walked past the entrance of the monastary (the two paths leading up Sinai originate in the valley next to the monastary) the same security guard rushed out and demanded that we have a tour guide with us. This was strange for three reasons: 1. Daniel had climbed the mountain two other times and had never needed a guide before 2. Everyone one else we had talked to that day told us that tour guides were optional, not required & 3. This was the same guard who had hassled Daniel earlier in the day about the picture.
It was evident that this guard was full of it; expressing some sort of vendetta for the earlier events of the day. So the four of us headed way from the monastary until we ran into a tour group headed up the mountain. We quickly blended in until we passed the entrance to the monastary. The same guard again rushed out and confronted Daniel, this time demanding that we go back and get a different tour guide. By this time we were very upset with this guard. Daniel, especially was livid at this man's actions. So, together we formed a plan to sneak around the back of the monastary and get far enough up the hill that even if the guard saw us, he wouldn't be able to catch us. So that's what we did. With the help of a local bedouin boy, we stealthily went around the other side of the monastary and up to an alternate path. As we ascended higher, we heard shouting down below and saw some tiny figures rushing about. However, we didn't wait around to find out who they were yelling at. The next morning we awoke early and headed down. To avoid any confrontation we opted to take a round about route to the town of St. Katherine's, thereby avoiding the monastary altogether. And so after a day of travel, I find myself back at NUA, trying to gear up for classes on Wednesday.
So that's the update from Egypt. Finally some relaxation and an adventure to boot! I promise not to wait so long before my next post. Thanks for listening,
-Monte
I can't believe how fast things have been going as of late. It's already been six weeks since I first set foot on Egyptian soil and I've hardly had a chance to catch my breath. I am currently on a break that lasts until Wednesday, then it's back to teaching classes. Not much is new in the school here, so I will be happy to tell you about the adventures I have had this break.
Last Tuesday Miguel, Daniel, Eric and I boarded a bus bound for Sharm El Sheik, a tourist hot spot on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. We arrived there at about 2:30 AM and by 4:00 we were on the road again headed for our real destination: Dahab. Dahab is a small coastal town situated along the Gulf of Aqaba. Due to it's remote locale, it doesn't see nearly as many tourists as Sharm and that makes all the difference in the world. When we arrived in Dahab, the sun was just rising. After consulting Eric's copy of the ever trusty Lonely Planet guide book we hit the streets looking to rent a couple rooms for the week. Finally we settled into a couple of rooms at a joint called Alaska Camp- a favorite of backpackers. After resting and cleaning up, the four of us headed out to see the town. Now Dahab exists for two reasons: for scuba divers, and for windsurfers. All along the seashore dive shops abound, mostly run by expatriate Europeans who offer fantastic tours to the areas many reefs. To compliment these shops are a slew of restaurants, bazaars, and hotels, making Dahab a fantastic place to come relax.
So, for the next few days we filled our time eating, sleeping, and lounging. I of course busied myself with some photography as well, but all in all I did as little as possible. I cannot describe to you how gloriously beautiful my time there was. The most active thing I did was scuba diving in the warm water and admiring the myriad of marine life. The rest and relaxation was exactly what I had been needing, and I enjoyed every moment of it. So that was Dahab. And now the real story begins...
Daniel Kempf is an SM from France who works as a maintenance supervisor here. He was at NUA last year and all of his knowldege about how things work here has proved invaluable. Needless to say, he knows what he wants, and he is always determined to get it on his terms. He absolutely will not let himself get ripped off by locals, which in most cases is definitely admirable. Anyway, on Saturday we chartered a minibus to take us to St. Katherine's monastary at the foot of Mount Sinai. Our plan was to visit the monastary and then begin climbing the mountain in time to watch the sun set. We would then sleep on the summit, watch the sun rise, and head back down into town to catch a minibus back to Cairo. It seemed like a feasible plan.
However, things got interesting once we actually arrived at St. Katherine's. While attempting to enter the monastary, a security guard confronted Daniel, insisting that Daniel had taken a picture of him. Daniel told the man adamantly that he had not, but the man persisted. After some more bickering Daniel ignored the man and walked away to look at the sights. All seemed fine until we attempted to climb the mountain later that afternoon. As we walked past the entrance of the monastary (the two paths leading up Sinai originate in the valley next to the monastary) the same security guard rushed out and demanded that we have a tour guide with us. This was strange for three reasons: 1. Daniel had climbed the mountain two other times and had never needed a guide before 2. Everyone one else we had talked to that day told us that tour guides were optional, not required & 3. This was the same guard who had hassled Daniel earlier in the day about the picture.
It was evident that this guard was full of it; expressing some sort of vendetta for the earlier events of the day. So the four of us headed way from the monastary until we ran into a tour group headed up the mountain. We quickly blended in until we passed the entrance to the monastary. The same guard again rushed out and confronted Daniel, this time demanding that we go back and get a different tour guide. By this time we were very upset with this guard. Daniel, especially was livid at this man's actions. So, together we formed a plan to sneak around the back of the monastary and get far enough up the hill that even if the guard saw us, he wouldn't be able to catch us. So that's what we did. With the help of a local bedouin boy, we stealthily went around the other side of the monastary and up to an alternate path. As we ascended higher, we heard shouting down below and saw some tiny figures rushing about. However, we didn't wait around to find out who they were yelling at. The next morning we awoke early and headed down. To avoid any confrontation we opted to take a round about route to the town of St. Katherine's, thereby avoiding the monastary altogether. And so after a day of travel, I find myself back at NUA, trying to gear up for classes on Wednesday.
So that's the update from Egypt. Finally some relaxation and an adventure to boot! I promise not to wait so long before my next post. Thanks for listening,
-Monte
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, September 1, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
To Suez and Back!
Today I went with a large group to a resort on the Suez Canal and boy was it fun. The group consisted of myself, the Millers who are the full time Missionary family, the conference president Samir and his wife Tanya, another SM named Bethany who has been staying at Samir's house, and about 60 friends and family's who signed up to go on the trip through the conference (apparently it had been planned for some time). Our trip began with a 2 hour bus ride out to the resort, a trip that I honestly don't remember as I was sleeping the whole time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the accommodation at the resort was top notch, and I spent a leisurely day swimming in the bathtub like water , soaking up the sun, and lounging by the two pools present there. Even our food was catered at the on site restaurant! Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday.
While on this trip I had the opportunity to meet a host of new and interesting people and I discovered why Egyptians are known for their friendliness. Perhaps one of the more interesting acquaintances I made was a boy three years older than I named Michael. He spoke very good english and we spent a majority of the day hanging out together. He assured me that whenever I wanted to go to a place of interest in Cairo that he would be happy to act as my guide. And I was finally able to take some good quality photos. A lot of photos. I will be posting all of my photos online hopefully by tomorrow for you all to peruse.
Well, I seem to be exhausted from my little trip today, so I'm going to call it a day. Thanks for reading.
While on this trip I had the opportunity to meet a host of new and interesting people and I discovered why Egyptians are known for their friendliness. Perhaps one of the more interesting acquaintances I made was a boy three years older than I named Michael. He spoke very good english and we spent a majority of the day hanging out together. He assured me that whenever I wanted to go to a place of interest in Cairo that he would be happy to act as my guide. And I was finally able to take some good quality photos. A lot of photos. I will be posting all of my photos online hopefully by tomorrow for you all to peruse.
Well, I seem to be exhausted from my little trip today, so I'm going to call it a day. Thanks for reading.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Shaken, not stirred.
I need to finish my story about the trip over to Egypt. I guess the only notable part would be the person I met on the plane ride from Portland to Frankfurt. We rode on an Airbus with 8 seats per row, two on each end and then four in the middle. Well, as luck would have it, I ended up in the very middle of the row, not a place I would have chosen for myself. But just as I was cursing my misfortune, a young woman, in her early 20s sat down beside me. So, for the next 10 hours we had the opportunity to talk. I discovered that her name was Nadia and that she was on her way to Ukraine. As we talked, I learned that she was originally from Belarus but had been living in the United States for 8 years. Currently she was working as an accountant at Intel in Hillsboro, and was taking a vacation to visit her family.
At one point during the flight, as drinks were being passed out, Nadia announced to me that she was going to be consuming alcohol. I told her that it was fine with me, and then I proceeded to get a Sprite while she chose wine. She asked me why I hadn’t ordered something alcoholic, and quickly followed that with an assurance that if I was underage she would gladly get something for me. Also she informed me that the drinking age in Germany, (our flight was on Lufthansa Air) was 18 so I would be fine. So sporadically for the remainder of the flight she decided to try to get me to drink. At one point she returned to her seat with a glass of Bailey’s in hand. She offered it to me, but since it smelled like paint thinner, I thought better of ingesting it.
Despite her penchant for liquor I was very glad to have someone friendly to talk to and joke with on the otherwise long and dreary flight. Even after disembarking at Frankfurt International Airport Nadia and I stuck together for the hour until my next flight. She even took me to the Duty Free store pointing out which bourbon and whiskey was the best (She was purchasing it for her father since it was cheaper at the Airport then in Belarus). When we finally parted company I was sad to see her go. She was the last American I spoke to before arriving here in Egypt, and I suspect I won’t forget her for a long time.
So now I find myself sitting in my darkened room at 5 till 7 listening to the sound of car horns outside and waiting for my alarm to go off. Today we’re going to church across town in Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo. I hear the journey is quite epic, and I am excited about my first chance to ride the metro. But for now, I wait…
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