EGYPT 2010

Cairo

We talked about it for months and the day had arrived at last. Leah and I sat in the Etihad travel agency trying to book the best trip at the best price. We settled with a red eye flight – departing at 1am and arriving at 3am, 2 nights in Cairo, and 3 nights in Alexandria. We were a bit nervous; neither of us had ever taken a trip like this before. We would occasionally look at each other and giggle—we couldn’t believe we were actually going to take a real live, grown-up vacation—alone! No parents, no spouses, just us girls, er, I mean ladies.
Sure, we read a little background information about the main sites to visit when in Egypt, but time wouldn’t allow us to hit everything. We really just wanted to see the Great Pyramids of Giza. That was it—only one goal. We didn’t plan for any other tours but that one. We didn’t want our vacation to be rushed packing up here and running there—trying to see all the main sites, waking up at 4am rushing from bus to train ….. We wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the experience. We also wanted to be able to enjoy the Mediterranean. We didn’t know what to expect, but we ended up having a great adventure














Cairo-Day One

I'm sitting on my balcony looking at a not so favorable view of Cairo--unless, that is, I lean over the balcony and get dizzy from vertigo. Then I can see the Nile. The smell and smoke from exhaust and the sounds of cars honking their horns floods the air---short snappy toots and long sustained honks; sounds like a few drivers are even honking a tune. Old Fiats, Mercedes Benzes, motorcycles, and...hey, was that an Opel? The honking is constant, kind of like the sound of seagulls one would hear on the shore, or geese on a lake. Buses and taxis line the streets and sirens can be heard almost every fifteen minutes. I'm in Cairo, the largest city on the continent of Africa. Yea, I finally made it to Egypt.


We arrived around 3am at Cairo airport where we were greeted by a hotel guide waiting for us holding up our names on signs. Monika Maxwell and Leah Foster. There was a small gift shop near the smoking den which had an odd array of merchandise. I noted there were, among the usual souvenirs, dust busters and other small appliances. Strange, I thought. The men were staring at us so intently, I think because Leah has long sandy hair--a rarity in the Arab world-- and I've been told I look like an Arab and I was not covered, so I assume that this was some cause for concern.


We had to wait until 8am before we could check into our hotel room. We're at the Semiramis Intercontinental which is located across the street from the Nile River. We waited around in the lobby for hours, unable to fall asleep because we were so pumped about being in Egypt--one of the top ten places I have always wanted to visit ( I can check that off my bucket list). We were finally both able to take intermittent cat naps. Once we got checked in we went to our room, we were excited to find that we had a balcony with two chairs and a table. The view, however, as previously noted, was somewhat of a let-down. The buildings in our area are very old and some of the rooftops look like rubble after a bombing. Still—it was new and different and electrifying. Cairo truly is a city that never sleeps.


After we got settled in we went back downstairs to have breakfast. What an amazing buffet. Sweet breads from various countries--croissant, German Stollen, English fruit bread, fresh French bread, wheat rolls, toast (but no biscuits), cheeses, lunch meats, fruits-figs, apricots, oranges-peeled and sliced, melons, falafel, chicken sausages, beef balls, roasted tomatoes, homemade yogurts, and a knockout omelet bar. We sat near the window overlooking the Nile and ate, drank good coffee, sipped fresh orange juice and laughed and laughed and laughed. You know, the kind of laughing you do when you're so tired that everything tickles your funny bone. And, we were also giddy about the idea of just being here. We joked about the fact that all the servers here are men--tall, dark, handsome men--some of them with such strong Egyptian features that they looked like they just walked off an ancient wall of hieroglyphics.

The hotel was decorated for Christmas. There was garland hanging from the stairways, poinsettias positioned here and there, a few small Christmas trees, and one large Christmas tree in the lobby made solely from live poinsettia plants. It was about 40 feet tall and it was spectacular.

After breakfast we decided we would take a relaxing swim and hit the Jacuzzi. Mmmmmm. The pool was beautiful and surrounded by palm trees and loungers with large fresh towels awaiting us. There was an attendant when we entered the pool area who told us that the pool was heated. When I dipped my foot in to check the temperature, it felt like bath water. Warm and inviting. The deep end was 8 feet, so I dived in. I swam a few laps and we tried touching the bottom. We floated. We talked. We laughed. We moaned. It was so relaxing. When we had our fill we left and went to the jacuzzi. The jacuzzi “room” had a very large jacuzzi and a plunge pool, along with a sauna and steam room, showers and changing rooms. It was exquisite. We sat in the hot tub for as long as we could take it—it was extremely hot. Then we jumped into the plunge pool—it was freezing! Leah jumped in once, but I hit that sucker three times. It was exhilarating. We rinsed off and headed back to our rooms.

We were on the 11th floor and we had three security guards—one by the elevator in the middle of the floor and one on each end. We felt pretty safe and thought it was like this on every floor. While we were walking to our room we saw coming in towards us a group of men, some of them in military uniforms, others in suits, and one or two in traditional dress. We figured they were dignitaries of some sort. They had a room a few doors down from ours. We later learned that the 11th and 12th floors were designated for VIP. Cool. We’re VIP 


We took a nap, got dressed and headed for dinner. By this time it was already 9pm. We had seen a billboard sign for the Hard Rock Café, so we asked the concierge how to get there. Since we didn’t want to get lost on our first night in Cairo, we took a taxi. When we arrived, there were very few people there, but the atmosphere was classic Hard Rock Café: guitars and other memorabilia covered the walls. We ordered a large plate of fries with ketchup and mayonnaise (it was too late to eat anything too heavy). They were yummy. Then the people started piling in. They start late here in Cairo. Our waiter told us that once the music starts people will start arriving and dance until 5am. A large screen slowly lowered on the dance floor and the DJ started to play some house music, so we decided to stay and dance a bit, but we didn’t stick around till 5am. We couldn’t hang. We danced with each other mostly. Leah could have danced all night, but I was beginning to tire, so we headed out and grabbed a taxi. The driver told us it would cost us 50 Egyptian pounds to get us back to our hotel—which was only 2 blocks away. “What? It only took us 12 pounds to get here.” We scoffed at him and started to get out of the taxi --hoping he would stop us and offer a more reasonable price, but he didn’t. We were committed then, so we hopped on out of the taxi and started to walk towards the street. We grabbed another taxi once we got the main road and he got us safely and cheaply back to our hotel. We settled in for the night, checking emails and facebook, and then we were lulled to sleep by the sounds of honks, sirens, and an occasional barking dog.

This ends our first night in Cairo. There are, of course, other things I can and will write about our experience that day and the days that follow, but they will fall under other headings. Check back in for the chapters on “Security”, “Dude, Where’s My …”, and “You Look Like an Egyptian”.

Camels

Last week, a friend of mine was invited by a friend, who was invited by a friend of a friend, who was invited by the proprietor to visit a local farm in Al Ain. So my friend, Isabella, invited me to go this farm. Sound complicated? Well, it was--but only a little. The farm lies on the outskirts of town and it has all the traditional farm animals--except pigs, of course. There were horses, cows, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and camels. There was no grass, only sand, and the animals had hay and chicken feed to eat. In the middle of the farm was a large pile of camel dung. The smell was...well, it's a farm, so let's just leave it at that. Apparently, they use the manure for fertilizer and other things (I've read it can be used for fuel - like firewood, and for aiding digestion, ugh).


I spent quite a bit of time petting and feeding the horses and trying to get the owner to let me ride one of them. "Ok" he said, "but no saddle." I had to decline. I have ridden bareback before, without reins...don't want to do it again.

I walked into the cow pen and they looked pretty sad waiting for their barbecue doomsday. The goats and the sheep were in a large pen together and every time I tried to get close to pet one they all took off running to the other side kicking up mountains of dust and sand. There were two, though, that allowed us to pet them--two pregnant goats. They stayed away from the rest of the herd/flock/pack/whatever. They were so cute. I never knew goats could be affectionate, but they let me pet them and leaned their heads sideways when I rubbed their necks. The turkeys all gobbled whenever the owner or one of the workers would whistle, and when they weren't gobbling they were fighting each other.

Then I went to see the camels. One of the guys there had given us packages of wheat biscuits to feed the animals. Feeding the camels was pretty much like feeding the horses. They stuck their heads over the fence and sniffed at us. When I offered them the biscuits they used their big lips to grab them. They are so cute, as you can see, and they have the sweetest eyes. I have heard people talk about camels spitting at you, but that didn't happen here, thank God. The owner went into the pen and invited me and a young boy to go in with him. I had given away all my wheat biscuits and felt safe going in. The boy was real excited and wanted to sit on one of the camels. The owner lifted him onto a camel and it almost immediately took off sending the boy off his hump and into air. The owner snatched him up before he hit the ground. It was kind of scary, but the kid wasn't phased--"that was fun" he giggled and asked if he could do it again.


After we left the camels, the owner invited us onto a rug near the middle of the farm (but not too close to the infamous pile) for Arabic coffee. We sat and talked; he didn't talk much because his English was very limited. He said "no problem" a lot and "yes" when he didn't understand what we were saying. The coffee was hot and spicy. It's served in a small porcelain cup without cream and sugar--if any is used at all it's is added to the pot before serving. I got to play with some of the other teacher's kids while they ate cookies. It was good, family fun. (I miss my family)

We got up to leave and noticed one of the ladies who came with us was in the pen surrounded by camels. She had made the mistake of going in with her biscuits. They gathered around her like she was the feeding trough. She was putting biscuits on her head and such, getting them to eat them off of her. Huge mistake. The camels got in an uproar and started bumping heads with each other. The next thing you know, she was knocked cold and lying on the ground. Then the camels kicked up and almost trampled her. Miraculously, not one of them stepped on her. A couple of guys rushed in to help her and when she got up she had blood on her lip. She thought she just had little bump, but when I asked to see her lip I could see a huge gash and told her she needed to get to the hospital and get stitches. She was driven to the hospital and when we spoke with her later to see how she was doing, she said to tell those camels "it's not over, I'm coming back to get you." She was in good spirits, but the owner was very upset by what had happened and offered to assist, pay, and give her a gift.

As the sun began to set we decided it was time to leave. It was an interesting day, to say the least, and not one I'll soon forget. The owner invited us back saying we could come by whether he was there or not (there's always someone on duty). I don't know if our friend ever made it back to settle the score.

DUBAI
Okay, picture this if you will...five ladies, one Mitsubishi Lancer, no map, no gps, and no plans...heading to Dubai for an adventure. Needless to say, we got lost once we entered the city. We went round and round and back and forth on the infamous Sheikh Zayed Rd trying to take the right exit ramp. We circled the Rotana hotel probably 5 times--and laughed each time. We were exhausted and had to stop to get some snacks, water, and most importantly, directions.
We searched for a reasonable hotel to stay in and when we found one we thought we could afford, we were rejected because we didn't all have our passports. Who knew you had to have a passport to check into a hotel? Fortunately, one of the ladies in our crew had her passport so she was able to check into a single room--which we later found at another, less expensive hotel--The Ibis. There we got settled into our rooms, put on our dancing shoes and went to the disco.
We met some professional hip-hop dancers who showed us some cool dance moves and we danced the night away--mostly with each other (the ladies I mean). The next morning we got up and headed out to discover the city.
We ended up on a street facing the beach with a view of the famous Atlantis hotel where we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant (I had the grilled fish and shrimp with rice and steamed vegetables--fabulous! Followed the meal with a Mexican coffee--tasted like it had cinnamon in it---yummo)
After lunch we headed to the beach. mind you we weren't dressed for the beach--we didn't have a plan, remember? We just wanted to see it and walk on the sand. It was packed with beautiful people and chubby tourists (like us). Never have I seen such blue water. Their was a strong breeze and the familiar smell of salt in the air. We soaked it all in and when the sun's heat became unbearable we decided it was time to leave.
We had to hurry home because on of the ladies in our group had an engagement scheduled for that night. So after getting lost only once - we made it on the raod back to al ain.
Pictured are Leah, Beverly, Marta, Isabella, and, of course, me.

Finally, I’m reactivated! Well, actually, I decided not to use NOT having internet as an excuse not to write. So, I’m writing in Word and saving to thumb drive to post to my blog whenever I get the opportunity. Today’s installment is about getting settled into my new apartment, which is furnished by the school system I work for. Pictured above is the lobby in my apartment building.
So, I live in a very large apartment complex called Hili Complex. It’s brand new and consists of about 25 buildings each containing eight stairwell entries—though they are referred to as buildings. I’m in the 53-60 building on the fourth floor—which is actually the fifth floor because they count the ground as its own floor. Some have six some have seven floors, and yes, we have elevators. There are two apartments on each floor.
The front of the complex directly faces the Oman border (Jim, don’t have a cow) and the back of the complex, which my living room balcony faces, is a brand new mall. In fact, I’m really close to about 4 gigantic air conditioning units—woe is me when they start running. The mall is unfinished, so we hear workers banging away until dark. On one side of the complex is the road to where I work and on the other side is a small shopping center—containing many industrial type services, and a small camel farm. Yes, camels.
I have a master bedroom-really big with a balcony, a bathroom, a second bedroom, and a small bedroom with a bath—this is supposed to be the “maid’s quarters”. There’s a really small room (or big closet) across from this room where I do my ironing, a larger entry way, living/dining room, and a reasonably-sized kitchen with an odd room off to the side of it (could be a pantry I guess, but looks like it should be the laundry room). There’s also a half bath near the kitchen and front door. So, let’s recap—that’s 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths – for one person. Egads! It’s really a lot to clean, and if you know me. . .well, I don’t want to put my business out on front street, but let’s just say I may hire a maid from time to time to help me out. They are really affordable. (Mom, don’t get mad) :-)
My apartment was completely unfurnished when I moved in. The only thing I had was electricity, water, and keys. I have three keys for each main room including the front door—even the kitchen has a lock and key-I guess that’s to keep sleep-over guests from raiding your frig at night.
It was really strange starting from scratch—and somewhat daunting. The apartment—called a flat over here—is wired for gas, but I’m funny about gas, so I checked out the electric stoves—a little out of my price range (I’m trying to save money here, not spend it all), so I went with a two burner hot plate and a large toaster oven. This thing is big enough to roast a chicken. It even came with a handy-dandy rotisserie attachment. I haven’t tried that yet—I’m buying my rotisserie chicken from the grocery store—it’s probably tastier than anything I could make and not half as messy. :-)
The education system I work for provided us with a furniture allowance of 20,000 dirhams (1 US dollar is equal to 3.65 UAE dirhams—give or take a dirham). Furniture is a little less expensive over here. With that I purchased my toaster oven, burner, coffee pot, rice cooker, and microwave , silverware, dishes, glasses, and frig (which also has a lock and key – I guess to keep you honest during Ramadan when everyone’s fasting). I got a washer that supposedly dries up to 60%, but it really just has a long spin cycle. This is also in the kitchen because that’s where the water hook up is. It fits right under the counter like a dishwasher. All my clothes have to hang dry once I remove them. I had a couple of friends stop by one evening after my furniture arrived—we like to walk around checking out each other’s apartments—it’s cheap entertainment. Anyway, the one guy in the group asked to use the bathroom. “Sure, no problem” I tell him. I forgot that I had about five pairs of really big granny panties and two orthopedic-looking bras hanging in there drying. Oh well, Cest la vie.
I also purchased a couch/sectional, bedroom set, futon, for when guests sleep over (sleeps two—any takers?) a few rugs, a desk, a flat screen tv, a sound system, bathroom rugs and shower curtains and rods, lamps, bedding, drapes, and bamboo shades., and a partridge in a pair tree.
The walls are made of concrete, so nothing goes in easy. I thought I could handle it—I am woman, hear me roar—well, after making a really big mess of one little bitty hole, I ended up hiring a retired spouse of one of the teachers in my building to put up the rods for the curtains and shower curtain in the extra bedroom bath which is small and required a rod with corners. He did a splendid job and even plastered up the cavernous hole I made.
There’s a water tank on the top of each building that sometimes gets empty, so there have been times when I get up to shower and brush my teeth and run out of water in the middle of my morning routine. As you can imagine, this does not help me start my day off with a positive attitude, but I’m trying to apply the local mindset which is reminiscent of the illustrious philosopher warthog’s attitude. As Poomba would say, “Hakuna Matata”. The Aussie in my building says, “no worries”, and most locals say “no problem” or, and this is the most popular one—Inshallah (basically “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise”,SBT—Southern Baptist Translation). Those phrases can be applied to just about every situation. That’s because there are lots of glitches in the matrix over here, so I guess one has to develop that sort of attitude to keep from going postal. And the post office! Oh my, don’t get me started, that’s a “whole nutha’ level”.
The floors are tile throughout—shiny in the living and hall, matte in the rest of the rooms. The dust and hairballs settle in the corners, and there is a lot of dust, as you can imagine. I’m in the middle of a desert for crying out loud!
I bought a few plants to have another life form in my apartment besides me—still trying to fill that need to nurture I guess. Josh—they are alive, you would be so proud. I miss my dogs :-)
I’m posting a few before and after pictures. Funny, I watched so many HGTV design shows when I was stateside, but still, I struggle. I like so many different styles, and well, you can see for yourself—It’s a little A.D.D. (no offense to those of you who suffer—I too am overcoming an attention deficit……..not really, that is, I've, uh, never been formally diagnose, uh, but...I am scatterbrained)
I’m getting sleepy and have gone on long enough for one entry.
I leave you the words of the timeless voice of a generation- Don Cornelius-
“Love, Peace and . . .Soul!”
God Bless!

Me on the way to work; the mosque near my school--
we here the calls to prayer during the day
(mosques are everywhere--like Baptist churches in Alabama);
and yes, camels--on the way to work riding in the back of a truck and walking around the town where I work - Al Shwaib ( I actually work in New Shwaib which has finer, newer homes. This picture is from the neighborhood where the boys school is). There's a camel farm I can see from the road to school and near Al Shwaib is a wildlife reserve, so camels walk freely around the town. I actually saw three of them that day just eating weeds and walking around like stray dogs.

The view from my hotel - "aloft" - in Abu Dhabi.

That's me, Sandy and Leah. We became friend right away after landing in Abu Dhabi.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

This is my first entry on my blog which chronicles my time spent in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). I’ll start at the beginning—a very good place to start.

I applied for overseas employment early in the 2009 school year. I have always wanted to teach abroad, but the timing was never right. Looks like the stars were perfectly aligned or perhaps it was God’s will, or maybe I just pushed it through this year, but it happened. I sought a position to teach in Dubai or Abu Dhabi in the UAE. After two successful interviews with an education consultant company, I was on my way.

During the months that followed (June – August) I spent my time completing forms, getting documents authenticated and arranging for my flight and life abroad for the next two years. It was, to say the least, quite challenging, but it was nothing compared to the past few weeks that I have spent here in the UAE.

The United Arab Emirates is a small unified nation—similar to the U.S. in that is has states. There are seven and they are, like all Arab nations, under Islamic law. Some areas or more lenient than others—namely Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I live in Al Ain (but I’m jumping ahead).

I flew out of Atlanta to Chicago on Sept. 9 and had a four hour lay-over. I left Chicago for Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways—a top-notch airline. All the stewardesses looked like beauty queens and their uniforms, which they changed often, were very elegant. They were from all over the world. One was from Australia, one from the Philippines, one from Ireland, one from India—you get the picture. When I walked onto the plane I saw a sea of brown skin in various shades. It was a beautiful sight to me. Many travelers were from India, some from the UAE, and some from Pakistan. In the area of the plane where most of the teachers from my travel group (travel group 4) there were people from all over the U.S. and Canada. I sat next to a charming, well-bred southern lady who taught art in North Carolina and was going over to teach kindergarten.

The flight was grueling. It took about 13 ½ hours to get to Abu Dhabi and it seemed as though there was a crying baby or small child in every fourth row. The seating was pleasant, the food was good, and the entertainment was varied and extensive—I watched the new Karate Kid movie, listened to some music, talked, read and slept very little. There was one child that was clearly very miserable because he cried almost half of the flight—seriously. Fortunately, the airline provided earplugs, so I was able to get a couple of hours of sleep.

When we arrived at the airport on Friday, Sep 10, there was a team of people from ADEC—Abu Dhabi Education Council—who greeted us with signs, checked us off a list, and guided us through the airport checkpoints and onto a bus. When I stepped outside of the airport my glasses fogged up immediately and I had to gasp because of the heat. It was around 7:30 pm and it was dark, but my Lord, it sho’ was hot—about 98 degrees, and because Abu Dhabi is so close to the sea, the humidity is almost unbearable.

We arrived at our hotel—aloft—and after submitting our passports we were checked off another list and assigned our rooms. The hotel was fabulous. 4.5 stars I’d say (though they say it’s a 5 star hotel, but they didn’t provide the robes and slippers, so I don’t think it tops out at 5). It did, however, have a beautiful view of a grand mosque—which was lit up at night, and the MOST comfortable bed I have ever slept in. When my head hit the pillow, I literally moaned and was out cold until the next morning.

Abu Dhabi is a very international city. There are many ex-pats living there from India, Pakistan, Australia, Egypt, Europe, Portugal, and other Arab nations. The Emirati— the people native to the UAE—are actually a minority in their own country. They are easy to spot, however, because many of them where the national dress. White robes for the men with red checkered head scarves, and black for the ladies—from the top of their heads to the ground—often covering their faces.

Our travel group stayed at the hotel and attended 2 days of orientation until we received our assignments. Mine was in a smaller city called Al Ain—which means the spring. It is an oasis in the desert. It’s greener and has more palm trees than most of the UAE and the temperatures are milder and the air is dry.

After a 2 hour bus ride, we arrived in Al Ain and were dispersed into various hotels—where most of us are still living. We haven’t received our housing yet, but that could all change within one week—or it could even take up to 2 months.

I’m assigned to a small school in Shwaib called Al Maseera Primary Secondary School. It is a girls school which goes from K-1 (pre-K) to grade 12. I teach 12^th grade English==or at least I’m supposed to be teaching 12^th grade English, but there was a glitch in the matrix. It seems that another teacher was transferred into my slot before I arrived (she came in on travel group 1). Apparently the system thought I was a no-show because our group didn’t even arrive until a few days before school started. So, when I got to my job site, I was told that someone else had taken that position and then I was asked to teach 3^rd grade instead. I’m not certified to teach below the 6^th and when I informed them of this they decided to let me float around until ADEC decided what to do about my situation. I learned today that the other 12^th grade teacher may take a transfer to Al Gharbia—which is even more remote than Al Ain, but offers more pay. If she doesn’t get that position then one of the school’s English teachers (a wonderful lady from Egypt) may lose her 11^th grade position and either I or the other 12^th grade teacher will take that slot. I don’t want this to happen of course, and I intend to do what I can to prevent it.

There is so much more to tell of my experience in the short time I have been here—the food, the driving, the people, the children, etc., and I will, I will. But not tonight. Tonight I will stare at the moon from my hotel balcony and wonder how my family and friends are doing and pray for God to bless them.