Egypt – Stacey Stories from Around the World

Posted on July 27, 2016 by stacey00000

A Nile Cruise in Upper Egypt

When Martin and I made the big decision to move to Egypt, Martin’s parents almost immediately bought tickets with the plan to visit us. In fact, they had purchased tickets for Egypt way before we purchased tickets! Their trip was planned over my Christmas holiday, which was great because it was right about the time that I really needed a good dose of family and the feeling of home. It also meant that we had two open weeks available for travel with them.

Shortly after Judy and Steve planned their trip to visit, Martin’s sister Gretchen and her boyfriend John followed suit and bought tickets that overlapped their parents’ stay. During the week that nearly all of the Gilmore clan was in Egypt, we made plans to do a Nile Cruise in Upper Egypt. It was a trip of a lifetime!

Judy & Steve at the Pyramids of Giza

Gretchen & John

Martin & Stacey

View from the hot air balloon

view from the hot air balloon

hieroglyphs detailing proper diet

Ahmed the Artist

Sunset on the Nile

Horace the protector

a scarab beetle for good luck

tombs along the side of the Nile

Nilometer- to measure the height of the Nile

crocodile mummies

scarf weaver

the many faces of Hathor each week of the month 😉

taking a break in Aswan next to Phillae Temple

Phillae Temple

Martin & Steve serenading friends with a house-concert

Gretchen & Stacey

the Alley of Sphinxes

the Gilmore’s!

trying to fill the hot air balloon

the rise of the moon over the Nile

another Nile sunset

It used to be that you could take a cruise ship from Cairo and travel south to Luxor and Aswan. Feluccas and Dahabayas would eagerly await tourists on the shores of the Nile as they would show off their boats and what they had to offer for the trip south. It’s not like this anymore. It is now too dangerous to take this journey from Cairo all the way up. And because of the fall of tourism in Egypt, former luxurious cruise ships now line the shores of the Nile in Cairo. They look dilapidated and tell their stories of faded glory, as is the way of so many things in Egypt. Many of these ships now have a restaurant on the top-level of the ship and act as fancy diners on the river, which give the illusion of an evening amidst a cruise vacation. Some also look to be rented out as some type of living situation.

Let me explain something confusing, which I may have already mentioned. Upper Egypt is in southern Egypt. If you go ‘up’ the Nile, you are traveling south because of the direction of the water flow on the river. The Nile River is one of few rivers in the world that flows from south to north. When you travel ‘up’ the river, you are traveling upstream, which in the case of the Nile, is south.

To take our Nile Cruise, the six of us caught an early cab ride to the airport to take a short flight to Luxor. Martin booked the trip for us through a travel agency who has been outstanding to work with, they are called SeEgypt. In the United States, people don’t often use travel agencies anymore because of the convenience of the internet and other accessibilities. I was so thankful for this organization. It took me a while to be comfortable with letting someone else plan our trip. Americans can be control-freaks. And when it comes to my vacation, you bet I want to take control! The tour company lined up every little detail for us and got us amazing deals on everything. I have no regrets of letting someone else take charge. When we arrived in Luxor we were greeted at the baggage claim by the driver of our minibus that would take us to the ship (Maybe it’s a boat? When does a boat become a ship?).

We got to the ship so early that they didn’t have a room ready for us, so we all half-slept in the lobby of the ship as they brought us coffee, tea, and cakes. We were greeted with such kindness and everyone was so eager to please us.

I’ve never taken a cruise before, and never thought I’d be one to enjoy a cruise, but this trip was truly special. It was a bit like stepping back in time. Our room was on the upper level, so we had great views- you could open up the large window and wave at the locals on the shores as we passed by. The food was amazing and we stuffed ourselves silly. The entertainment was great in the evenings. We were not at a shortage of things to do while on the ship. On the upper deck of the ship was a bar and seating to lookout to the shores, or just enjoy the fresh air. There were people sunbathing. There was a pool, though the temperature was just a bit too cool for anyone to think of using it. There were even a few exercise machines on the upper deck.

Yes, the ship’s amenities were great, but to be honest, we were hardly on the ship because we had so many activities planned for each location that the boat would dock. We saw temple after temple. The magnitude of what we saw was amazing. We would see a site and think that it can’t get any better than this… then we see the next site and it did get better. We saw the Luxor and Karnak Temples, Edfu Temple, Philae Temple, Crocodile Museum, Botanic Gardens in Aswan, the Unfinished Obelisk, the High Dam, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Nobles,…………

The sites are fascinating and are in great condition considering their age. The Karnak (Middle Kingdom) and Luxor (1400 BC) Temples are the oldest in Upper Egypt, but all the other ones are from the Ptolemaic era (built by the Ptolemy family) though still built in the Pharaonic-style, and still really old! You can clearly see hieroglyphs all over telling story after story.

Another thing that amazes me about these sites is the magnitude of everything. The temples are huge. The statues are huge. The etchings impressive as they cover the whole of the massive walls. The accuracy of which certain details were built to line up with the solstice and equinox days. The ancient Egyptians were so smart, about engineering, science, and the earth in general. I learned too that when they built the dam in modern times they had to move entire temples, piece by piece to remove them from the water that they then became submerged under. The scale of doing this is tremendous, and they did it to preserve this amazing history (with the funding of many countries and donors). A fascinating thing too to see was the graffiti from thousands of years- this creates its own history. It was interesting to see the history through scraped off images, and to see crosses engraved over hieroglyphs, and then too to see etchings in different languages. Society changes over time, and so did the use of their temples, depending on who was in rule, what gods they followed, and what they believed.

It was special to go to the Valley of the Kings because we got to see King Tut’s tomb and his mummy on display inside. His tomb is unique because it is the only tomb (so far) that they have uncovered that had all the treasures there; it had not been looted by tomb-robbers. Tut and his surroundings were just as they were left thousands of years ago. All of those objects are in the Egyptian Museum. It is shocking that they crammed so much stuff inside his tomb. It isn’t that large of a space! The Valley of the Kings is run really well. To help preserve the site as best they can, they alternate what tombs are open. They also only let a certain number of people in the tomb at a time. Guides are not allowed inside because it is additional, unnecessary wear on the site. It is shocking how beautiful it is inside the tombs. They are much more impressive than what you see inside the pyramids. The paintings are amazing. That the color is still intact is unbelievable.

One of my favorite things that Martin and I did along with Gretchen and John, was get up in time to catch a mini-bus, to catch a Nile taxi, to catch a bus… to ride a hot air balloon for sunrise! It has been something that has been on my bucket-list forever. Something that I always imagined would be so romantic, peaceful, and perfect. It was amazing… but it was a bit more adventurous than I imagined! The first adventure was in watching the air balloons attempt to fill up. It was so windy this morning! So windy that when they attempted to fill up the balloons, they couldn’t keep them in place to fill without them blowing across the field sideways. So, we waited to see what would happen with the weather. It is too dangerous to ride if it is windy. We waited over an hour and saw the sunrise, with our feet on the ground. The workers said that there was less than 1% chance that we would take off. Then suddenly the workers are yelling for us to come over, as they got the go-ahead to load the balloons and go. The first balloon took off. We were loading in the second. The wind was still gusty, so they had a hard time holding the basket still as we climbed in. Getting in was CRAZY! With the help of others, we were half thrown-in, while attempting to climb into the baskets. Then from the inside we helped others in, all meanwhile the workers are trying to hold the basket close to the ground so it doesn’t take off yet. Finally our basket is loaded and we are off! The sound of the flame is loud and intense! It was beautiful to look up into the inside of the balloon, but more beautiful were the sights around us! The wind did continue; we were the only two balloons that left the ground, as the others weren’t allowed to take off after us! The hot air balloons took us by the Valley of the Kings and other ruins from Ramses. It took us across the Nile to the East side (which rarely happens though did with us due to the wind), and then further along over the desert sands. We watched the sun rise over the desert and the city of Luxor come to life. It was so amazing. I do have to say that one of my favorite parts was the landing! We were over the desert by this point and there were many dunes. We had an abrupt stop into the side of a dune, and then in slow-motion our basket tipped over! Some people were scared, though I was laughing because I thought it was the funniest thing that we were tipping over so slowly. It was like we were in a cartoon or something! Once we had safely tipped over we unloaded our basket and waited for our bus to retrieve us. Martin has a great way of describing a hot air balloon ride- he describes it as, “serenity punctuated by chaos.” It was the perfect adventure. My tip to you is that if you do this, let your guide do the negotiating to get you the best possible price.

As the cruise ship continued down the Nile, we would see all types of things on the shore. We saw many kids playing football (soccer) on any clear strip of sandy area they could find. I saw women washing clothes, people working in the fields, water pumps pumping up Nile water to the fields and the houses, and dogs running. We also saw significant ancient things, including the carved out walls where stones were taken for the pyramids and other monuments and holes in hillsides where ancient tombs have been excavated.

I had heard amazing things about Upper Egypt, and they were all accurate, especially those regarding its beauty, though with the decline of tourism, it was sad to see so many closed-up businesses and so many desperate vendors hoping to get a sale or horse carriages following us hoping for share their ride. We did find some treasures from the vendors. Judy was pleased to find a man weaving beautiful scarves. Martin got his hands on a rubaba, which is a local instrument- it has only one string and is played with a small, arched bow. We often hear a man walking down Road 9 in Maadi playing this instrument. He plays the same tune over and over. I can hear the tune in my head as I write this! Oh, and by the way Martin also bought a rubaba from this man. My favorite takeaway from this trip though was a carved stone tablet that we bought from Ahmed the Artist. Our tour guide knew about him and led the way to show us his masterworks. He is near the Valley of the Nobles, and works outside of a small shack that we would never have found our way to otherwise. I guess that we were lucky he was there, as sometimes he is gone for months at a time. He does amazing stone carvings like the ones that are seen all over the temples and in the museum. From what I understand he even does professional reproductions for the museum. He uses very simple tools and seems to live a very simple life. (I suppose this is no different from most artists anywhere.) It was a treat to see the artist at work. Later, on the boat, our tour guide (also named Ahmed) talked us through the meanings of the images etched into our work of art. This was a special treat.

Another recommendation of something to do that is off the path is to get tea (or a nice cocktail!) at the Winter Palace in Luxor. Dress nice, as it is an upscale place. It is right on the Nile and was a special treat to share with my family.

I look forward to venturing to Upper Egypt again and next time I would love to add an extension on the trip to see Abu Simbel.

As a side note, at our house in Maadi, we did treat ourselves to a Christmas tree to feel more festive and excited about the season. Martin surprised me with it. One day I came home and it was there! He got it from one of the local plant shops. It was setting in a large pot of sand and we kept it watered to keep it nice throughout the holiday season. We decked it out in lights and a few simple ornaments. By the time the family arrived there were gifts scattered under the tree, all wrapped in plastic bags. It was perfect the perfect way to celebrate a Christmas in Egypt.

Thanks to the Gilmore’s for sharing in this trip of a lifetime!

Posted on October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 by stacey00000 · 1 Comment

Alexandria

I am very behind in my posting.

Life gets so busy here and is very exhausting. Our friends Deborah and Hunter warned us of this phenomenon before we left and they were right. Being in a new job is exhausting; absorbing things in a new country is exhausting- the language, the culture, the sites, the smells, everything! Even walking down the street my brain has to be “on” so that I don’t trip over uneven sidewalk, a pile of trash/sand/concrete, oh and so that I don’t get lost. Crossing the street can be quite an adventure of its own. Imagine crossing a street with heavy traffic, in some spots up to five or so lanes of traffic (though there are no driving lanes here and people drive wherever they want and can fit), no type of traffic law- stop signs/street lights/etc., and people will drive as fast as the traffic allows…. now go. Cross the street. People do it all the time. You have to walk confidently and just go. It is when you hesitate that you cause problems. We often walk in the street with the traffic because the sidewalks are out of control. Getting dressed is stressful too- I have to wonder what to wear so that I fit in the best I can and don’t offend anyone or draw any unwanted attention to myself. Cooking is stressful- we love to cook but our cupboards are bare and we have to plan out what to get from the store in advance of any meal. We don’t drive here, but riding in a taxi or bus is also stressful. I’ll share more on that at a later date.

Inside the Ramses train station in Cairo.

The foreigners who live have told us that it will be really healthy for us to get out of the city whenever we can. I had a few days off for the holiday of Muslin holiday of Eid al-Adha so Martin and I decided to do just that- we traveled from the city of Cairo by train down alongside the Nile (this is confusing but because the Nile flows south to north, north is down-stream), through the delta to the city of Alexandria. What we didn’t have the foresight to know is that everyone leaves Cairo during this holiday to visit family so the city was pretty quiet in our absence.

Alexandria was a nice reprieve, though in reality we didn’t actually escape any of the things we were looking to escape from, though we had a great trip.

Alexandria is quite a bustling city. I would describe it as a once-glorius, now crumbling city. You can see its former glory hiding behind the dirty, crumbling facade of the unkempt buildings. There are parks with amazing Roman ruins, though with barren water fountains and overturned park tables and piles of trash. It is easy to see why Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, and others reigned over Egypt from this Mediterranean hub, and easy to see why so many choose to call Alexandria home.

We stayed three nights on the corniche and had a beautiful view of the Sea and the Fort Quatbey Citadel looking out our window. We were on a tight budget because when we took this trip I still hadn’t received my first paycheck and I was going on 2-months of no incoming money. The hotel ended up costing about $27 per night. It was a charming place with grand windows that open to the fresh Sea.

Our hotel was on one floor in this building. (fourth?) It was called the Phillip Hotel.

The view of the Med. Sea out our hotel room windows.

Another view from our hotel room window. You can see Fort Quatbey Citadel between the palms.

Martin gives a great account of this trip in his blog (http://martintheblog.blogspot.com.eg/), so i won’t go into too much detail here. I will try to touch on the highlights and give you some of my own insight.

Unfortunately the Bibliotheca Alexandria was closed due to the holiday so we will have to go back to visit that another time. We did see some great sights. We walked the corniche and marveled at the Fort Quatbey Citadel, which was built in the 15th century on the site of Alexandria’s Ancient Lighthouse (one of the seven wonders of the ancient World). I walked on the rocks of the shore and let the seawater splash over my feet. It was so great to be near a large body of water again! Having grown up in Wisconsin it is a comfort for me to be near water.

We saw some Roman ruins, including an amphitheater. It was discovered when the city was digging into a park to build apartment buildings. They found the rubble of the ancient Romans. It was my first time seeing Roman ruins and it is quite impressive. We also saw Pompey’s Pillar. The pillar was more impressive than I expected, but I did not expect that there would be underground tunnels we could wander through! It was scary though because as we were underground in these tunnels, we hear someone bang on something and yell “hello!” over and over… my imagination immediately took over and imagined that there was someone lost or trapped somewhere in the tunnels and needed help. Martin brought me back to reality and suggested that we needed to get out. It turned out they were closing and locking up the tunnels. Sure glad they didn’t lock us in. Though imagine the different story I would be sharing if they had!

In Martin’s blog you can read about how we met some people and made some new friends. One of our new friends took us around a bit and took us into a mosque. It was our first time in a mosque. The women enter from a different are than the men. I wrapped my head and neck with a scarf and took my shoes off before entering. It was beautiful. The dome was so intricately decorated. I was surprised by the area. It was an area of solace, blocked off to the rest of the mosque (maybe so the men can’t see the women?). There was space to sit, relax, pray, and nap. I went in, sat for a bit and wondered at the amazing architecture, and then retrieved my shoes on the way out.

We also went to a really great museum, the Alexandria National Museum.

Typically when going to these museums and sites, the fee is between LE30-LE100 for foreigners. Right now it is about LE8 to $1 to give you an idea of the cost of tourism in Egypt. It is fairly cheap. With our staff ID cards, we can get an even cheaper student rate too, though we typically like to spend the few extra to help support the Egyptian economy. At all the sites we have visited, there are few people.

Go visit Egypt!

Pompey’s Pillar- look! We can touch the top of it!

Pompey’s Pillar is guarded by 2 sphinxes

This carriage was stationed outside of our building.

behind the Roman amphitheater… we got in trouble for being back here! (but the door was wide open)

One of our first sightings of hieroglyphs. They are everywhere and are quite amazing!

Making friends in Alexandria! This is Khalid.

The people of Alexandria are so nice. In Egypt in general, but I think they were especially kind to us in Alexandria because they don’t see as many foreigners as in Cairo. Fewer people speak English here, so in that regard it helps to know some Arabic. Martin and I are hoping to start some lessons soon! We were often stopped on the streets in Alexandria, usually by kids who wanted to take our picture, or take pictures with us, or take a picture of them. When you first meet Egyptians, they typically want to know your name, where you are from, how old you are, if you are married, and if you have kids. Families are really important to them. Just recently a girl asked me these questions and she was shocked that I’m so old and don’t have kids, and especially because I’m so cute. Haha! Things are definitely different in the US.

Women in Egypt dress very modestly. In Alexandria the women are even more conservative. It is typical for women to wear loose-fitting long pants or skirts/dresses. You will rarely see a woman’s knees here, and it is rare to see a woman’s shoulders or chest. Most women wear long-sleeves and have a head-covering, hijab, which will also cover her neck and chest. Some women will also wear a niqab to cover her face so that you only see her eyes. A burqa covers the whole body from the top of the head to the ground. In Alexandria I saw that some women even wore gloves to cover their hands. I dress modestly here, by American standards. I wear lots of long skirts and dresses that cover the knee, and loose-fitting tops with at least short-sleeves. I have one pair of jeans that I wear on occasion with a longer top. I often carry a scarf when traveling to certain areas just in case I need to cover myself more. I have never felt uncomfortable in what I was wearing while here. I did my research and heard some horror stories about tourists inappropriately dressed so I was well-aware of the expectations. It’s definitely frustrating because sometimes I just want to put on shorts and a tank-top and go for a jog… that would be a poor choice here. There were women swimming in Alexandria in their full attire. I would not swim in those beaches in a swimsuit. That would make me really uncomfortable. There are some private beaches in Alexandria that are more touristy and I would be accepted in a swimsuit. Maybe we will find them next time. The women here are very beautiful, and with their colorful scarves hiding their hair, it definitely accentuates their facial features and shows their pure beauty.

crazy things you see on the streets in Egypt

On the rooftop of the Windsor Hotel watching the sunset on the Mediterranean Sea.

Oh, I do have to say, the seafood in Alexandria is amazing- and cheap! I look forward to our next visit to Alexandria. There are many more sites to see and more seafood to eat!

Posted on September 12, 2015September 12, 2015 by stacey00000 · 1 Comment

Seeing the Sites and Bonding with Staff

The school had arranged some nice events for us to enjoy some touristy things in the area and to get to know each other.

All the new staff met in our very own neighborhood of Maadi, down at the Nile for a felucca ride to watch the sunset. It was amazing. A felucca is a traditional wooden sailboat that has been used on the Nile for ages. It was really nice. I love being out on the water and was so tempted to lean over the edge and dip my hand in the water… but here you can’t do that! You would risk getting a parasite (its name I can’t pronounce) that burrows under the skin. I think I’ll pass on that! I was very pleased to see that the water was very clean. I had heard stories before coming here of how dirty the Nile is and that there is floating trash and carcasses, and that it stinks. Thankfully, we didn’t observe any of that. It was a pleasant boat ride and was very beautiful. The river is very wide. It reminds me of the Mississippi River in the US. On the shores you can see palm trees, buildings, mosques, and there is a Coptic church that looked very nice. Martin later went to visit this church. You can read his blog to find out more about it and the connection it has to the Bible. It’s pretty interesting! There are also different types of tour/rental boats on the Nile. They remind me of ones that I would see and work on as a caterer on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. You can rent a small felucca for very cheap for just an hour and have a very relaxing, romantic trip. BYOB!

Following the felucca ride we all went to dinner at Abou El Sid. http://www.abouelsid.com/ This is a very nice, authentic Egyptian restaurant. I recommend checking out their website and reading the story of the restaurant. The food was amazing. We sat at large round tables and the center of the table spun lazy Susan style! This worked well, as they serve the food tapas-style. The food kept coming. There were many dips with different breads, some fried stuffed appetizers, rolled grape leaves, rice dishes, great sauces, interesting meats (I heard one of the meats we ate was quail)- so much food! Then they served dessert. It was a great way to taste so many different local dishes. Unfortunately though we don’t know what anything was called! It was very good food. The food isn’t hot-spicy, but they definitely use lots of spices in their cooking. On some occasions people have warned us, “be careful, it’s spicey!” but to us it’s not spicy! The restaurant also had a great ambiance inside and out. I can’t wait to go back! If you plan to come visit, we will definitely have to take you there! We decided to be adventurous and walk home (rather than take the school bus) with some other teachers who live nearby. This allowed us an opportunity to see more areas of our neighborhood. It was a great evening.

We finally got to see the school. I had looked at lots of pictures online so I had a good idea of what to expect. The entrance is really spectacular. When you walk up there is great landscaping some bubbling water in a little pool, beautiful flowering trees, and palm trees. When you walk in you are greeted by three people at a massive desk with a curved staircase behind them. This is the administration building that also houses the theater. The theater is impressive too; I would say it probably seats at least 500. The stage is lined with plants to set the scene for our welcome introduction. We meet the administration, get pumped for the school-year and sign-up for staff busing according to our neighborhoods. That’s right, the school picks us up and drops us off everyday. At the end of the day, we have the choice of taking a 3:20, 4:30, or 5:20 bus. This is a great option to have. I will write more about the buses later.

We were given a tour of the school campus. On the campus are grades K-12, though primary and secondary are in different buildings. I am teaching music in the secondary building. It is 3 floors high. In the center of each building is an open-air atrium surrounded by staircases. It is really quite nice. I love natural light and I love plants! Hallways then extend out from the center atrium. My classroom is on the ground floor. The PE department gets their own building with a basketball court and has a great outdoor pool. I thought it was interesting that there was no bleacher-seating (that I noticed anyhow!) in the gymnasium. I wonder if they host any games in there. The track is lined with nicely trimmed trees and there is plenty of space for soccer games in the center. There is no cafeteria. The students eat outside in a courtyard area and there are a few different food options from which they can purchase. There is some seating, but many kids just stand and eat. They have an early break and a late break and they can eat at either one (or both!).

The school I teach at is essentially run by one woman. She seems to have lots of power in the community, and maybe even extending beyond that. We are told that if we ever get into any trouble (health, safety, theft, etc.) to immediately contact her and we will be taken care of and given better and faster service than otherwise. apparently our school badge is a powerful one around here! Anyhow, she hosted all of us new teachers and our families to a dinner at a clubhouse nearby the school. It was again Egyptian food served in the same manner and again we were stuffed-silly. But the food here is so good! The new staff members are great. There are about 60 of us, coming from all different backgrounds. I am quickly finding out that I am one of only few who are new to international teaching. The new teachers are all ages; most traveling single, though some with spouses and family. It is neat to see how quickly the kids seem to be adapting to the newness and they are making fast friends with each other. For many with spouses, both of them work at the school together.

Our next exciting adventure was with our friends Adrienne and Tyler- an evening trip to the bazar di Khan el-Khalili. We hired a driver whom Adrienne frequently hires. It helps to know good, reliable, trustworthy drivers so that you don’t have to hail a regular taxi out here. For the cost of about $17 round-trip, he drove us into the heart of Cairo, about a 30-minute drive. On the drive there, to avoid major traffic we took a side route that took us through the City of the Dead. This is a fascinating, place. It is a 4-mile long area in Cairo where people live and work amongst the tombs and mausoleums. It is a poor and sketchy area. What we were told is that originally some people lived there to care for the tombs, then their families grew, the city burst with people and they had no where else to go, and now it is accepted to live amongst/on top of/in the tombs. Anyhow, back to the Khan. The Khan is a street market that dates back to the 1300s. It is a maze of merchants with brightly colored rugs, pyramid and pharaoh trinkets, decorative lamps, spices, jewelry, you name it! You are supposed to barter here, which neither Martin or I are used to, or good at. Martin bought a nice trinket box, and we nearly bought a chess-set for way too much money. Maybe we will go back sometime and work him down on the price! It is a really neat place. It’s the type of place I would expect to find a magic carpet! We wandered for a bit and then hung out at a restaurant in the midst of the bazaar. I don’t even know the name, but Adrienne said it’s the oldest restaurant in Egypt- 600 years or so. It was packed so they seated us outside. They didn’t bring us menus but asked what we wanted. We were hoping to get food but because of trouble communicating, we kept it simple and only ordered juice and coffee and a sheesha to share. Because so few people drink alcohol out here, there is rarely alcohol available at restaurants. But there are many amazing and fresh juices, smoothies, coffees, frappacinos, etc. One of my new favorite drinks is lemon mint juice. It’s so subtle and refreshing! Our driver met us back by the front entrance when we were ready.

The following day, the school had planned an outing again for the new teachers. We met early to get an authentic, Egyptian breakfast. The buses took us across the river to Giza. Out of the blue we can see the giant pyramids in front of us from the bus. It was shocking to see them at first sight. We met at a place for breakfast, though due to some miscommunication they didn’t have the restaurant section open for us, so they served 60 teachers and their families from a to-go order window instead! We had falafel pita and fava bean pita sandwiches and sodas for breakfast. It was pretty good though I was frustrated by the situation.

Now we are off to the pyramids. I have been wanting to see them for years! You should know, in case you visit Egypt, that there are not many public restrooms. There were bathrooms prior to the entrance and we were all advised to use them as there are none in the park. You also should know that there is rarely toilet paper in the stalls, and you typically shouldn’t throw the tp in the toilet bowl. There is also rarely soap and rarely hand towels or dryers. And then you have to tip on your way out! We bought a general park ticket to roam around the area. You can purchase additional tickets to enter specific pyramids. We will have to go back and do that because we didn’t have enough time with the group. The pyramids are amazing. Everything about them is shocking. After seeing them, even stepping up on them, it’s really hard for me to believe that they were built only by men. A single brick in the Great Pyramid is as tall as my chin; and each brick was laid with accuracy down to the millimeter… thousands of years ago! It’s amazing! I was surprised at how quiet it was at the pyramids. Tourism is down so much- come visit Egypt! I compared it to the state and national parks in the states but there’s no way to compare, they just don’t have the funding for proper ropes, etc. There are signs all over saying to stay of the pyramids, yet people climb up anyhow because there’s nothing and no one to stop them. I’m sure you’d get stopped if you’d try to climb up too far. There are locals all over the area trying to hustle you for money. One of them got us good, by taking photos for us and then demanding money. They offer you camel horse-buggy rides from pyramid to pyramid- we were warned that when you do this they may charge you more to get off the camel when you finish! Also, they may demand money if you take a photo of them. I was sneaky and got a nice shot without them noticing. We didn’t have time to ride them, though it looks really fun! So yes, you can see the city in the background of the pyramids; I think this is really cool. It makes it so much more surreal. On the back side of the smaller pyramids it is really quiet. It reminded me of being in the desert in Utah kind of quiet. I was shocked to find this kind of serenity there. There are lots of stray dogs that run around the area. One of them had puppies- pyramid puppies! It is amazing to me that they are still excavating new sites and new discoveries here, when it is so old. A teacher friend, when he was walking down to the Sphinx, came upon an area enclosed with barbed wire. There was a security guard there who gave him a hard time, but then lightened up and offered him a look inside the tomb that they have newly discovered. I am so jealous! The guard told him that when they first open the tomb it smells of flowers. It’s so amazing. Oh and the Sphinx. It takes your breath away. I feel so lucky to have seen these sites. I can’t wait to explore them more. We all met up at the KFC/Pizza Hut just outside the park (which does indeed have a great view of the Sphinx!) and then headed to the Khan with the large group.

This is the view of the city from the pyramids. Notice all the haze-that's air pollution. — This is the view of the city from the pyramids. Notice all the haze-that’s air pollution.

This is one of the photos that we “paid” for.

This is a bit of the original exterior of the pyramid. Most of the original smooth exterior fell off during a large earthquake. Those stones were then used on buildings in the city. One of the pyramids has a cap on the top that remained in-tact.

pyramid — In this photo you can see the buildings where they are working on new excavations. There was a sign that read that they are excavating the second boat of King Khufu.

I was glad that we had gone the night before because we were exhausted from being in the hot sun all day. It is also a great spot to see at night. After tramping through the desert, Martin got his shoes shined by someone in the market- this was a big ordeal. He asked how much and the guy said “you name it.” Martin said he had 7… so his shoes were shined and Martin gave him the 7 LE and the man was so upset. He was expecting $7. I was in the middle of ordering some spices at the time but ended up having to just leave it all so that we could get away from the shoe-shiner. We bought spices further down anyhow from a better vendor. The spices are kept in jars or large canvas/burlap bags. We bought just a few- curry, mixed spice, dried chamomile petals, and dried hibiscus petals. The only other thing we bought on this outing was a touristy keychain with Nefertiti on it. We avoided the hustle and bustle of the crowded market by risking our lives and crossing the street to get food from Gad, a local restaurant. You have to be brave when you cross the street here. There are basically no driving rules, and same goes for pedestrians. You just have to put your arm down, look the drivers in the eye, and walk confidently across. We’ve been getting the hang of it. The food was good. We had chicken shawarmas and I had an orzo soup. It was great!

All-in-all it was an amazing day.

It was an amazing week. We got more settled in our flat and comfortable in our neighborhood.

Posted on September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 by stacey00000 · 2 Comments

Settling In

Martin and I got to leave the hotel earlier than others because our apartment was already organized. We chose it back in March from a website that the school put together of available flats. The school has been so helpful in the coordination of all of our arrival details. It has been quite amazing. On the bus headed to Street 9 in Maadi, were Martin and I, Tyler, and Adrienne. I quickly find out that Adrienne lives in the same building as us, and has taught in Egypt previously, along with her husband, left for two years to teach in Turkey, and is back to Egypt. She has been a wealth of information and help to us, and has become a great friend. She is from Chicago and has connections to some small towns in Wisconsin where some of my family members live. It’s so interesting- the further out into the world you go, the smaller it feels and more connected you become. There is also a teacher here who is from Green Bay, WI. Tyler’s story is interesting too. He is from Oregon, but has taught overseas for many years (I can’t recall all the locations), most recently in China. He is still awaiting the arrival of his wife, who will come in November or so after she wraps up some of her business affairs in China.

Maadi is a neighborhood in Cairo. We chose to live in Maadi because there are many expats who live there, there are lots of restaurants and shops to walk to, it is close to the Metro train station, and is fairly safe. Another bonus is that it’s right by the Nile! Our flat is about 8 blocks from the Nile. We can step out our front door and within a 5-minute walk, buy nearly anything- batteries, lamps, rugs, clothing, fruit, fresh fish, EVERYTHING! It is really hard to believe until you are here and see it. I will describe it more another time.

On our way to Maadi we stop at a Hypermarket to pick up anything we need for our apartment. This is much like a super-Walmart or Target- they have home goods and food. We have no idea what we need yet! We know that our place is furnished, and assume that we will need to buy paper-goods, cleaning supplies, linens, dishes… but we really have no idea. We filled up a cart with some odds and ends and were made fun of when we arrived back at the bus for all the goods we bought. It turned out we were so thankful for everything we bought.

We arrived at our apartment and were greeted by a couple bowabs who rushed over to help us with our luggage and bags. The bowabs are pretty great. They help us carry things, take out garbage, keep the entryway clean, and help people park their vehicles on the street. It seems like they are always here and always awake. They don’t speak much English but they are happy to meet us and excited to help. Everything was very confusing when we arrived. We were supposed to meet the landlord on-site, and he didn’t show. This meant we didn’t have a key to our place. Our landlord doesn’t speak English, so we have to have someone be a go-between for us which doesn’t make anything easy. Thankfully, after lots of struggle again with language barriers, we learned that our bowab had a key for us and we were finally let in to our new home.

We were nervous about our apartment, but it truly ended up being fabulous! We are on the fourth floor and have a corner flat; we have views down Street 9 and can see some desert dunes in the distance on a non-hazy day. It’s honestly way more space than we need, but we are lucky to be right on Street 9. We have 3 bedrooms- one is set as an office for Martin to work at during the day. We have room for plenty of guests! We have a cute kitchen, a dining space with chairs for 8, two living areas, and two bathrooms. We have air-conditioning to help keep us cool in this hot hot weather, and heat for when we need it in the winter. We have a great balcony for sitting and watching the world go-by. From it, you can hear Egyptian music from a restaurant across the street, watch football (soccer!) on the big-screen tvs at the coffee shop across the street, watch kids play at the day-care across the street, watch beggars on the street below with their children at their side, watch police who stand guard at the bank below, see the tops of palm trees and sandy streets filled with trash and cars that honk incessantly. There is a cart that is over-flowing with hand-woven baskets of all different sizes at the end of the block. We can watch the sun set over the top of an empty, unfinished building across the street that some homeless have commandeered as their own. We have another balcony to hang clothes out to dry, as we don’t have a clothes dryer. This is our new home.

Our home is tidy… but dirty. The flat has been empty for at least a month and there is a layer of dust on everything. Not the dust I’m used to though; it is a gross film that covers everything! It’s from the sand and blows in through all the cracks in the doors and windows. We even had to wipe down the kitchen walls. I was pretty amazed! Thank goodness for hardwood floors in a place like this!

We were disappointed that our internet wasn’t working- the school had said that it would be all set for us when we arrived, and still we don’t have internet (I am writing this over a week after having moved-in). We are learning some things about Egypt- anything phone or internet related will take a very long time to handle. In this last week, we have also learned some other things that most tourists don’t get to experience. When someone comes to do work on something, expect them to arrive up-to 2 hours earlier or later than they indicated. Also, expect that they will arrive, assess the situation, leave to get supplies, return, work on it, and sometimes leave to return again. It will take hours to fix something. Oh, and sometimes they bring their kids with them. We got our locks changed, and then almost got locked-out because the new lock-mechanism wasn’t working. Thankfully Martin assessed it and fixed it himself. Another added frustration to having the repairmen over is that none of them thus far speak much English. At one point I had to call someone from the school to translate for us. It’s so frustrating to not be able to communicate with people.

Most of our repairs have been completed (we are having screens repaired this weekend, wish us luck!), and we are settling in pretty well. We do love our space that we now call home, though it takes some time to move into a furnished space and call it your own. We finally got enough groceries so that we don’t have to eat out all the time.

We have to remind ourselves that we aren’t on a vacation. This is our real life! We live in Cairo, Egypt! This city is really great. It has such a vibrant energy about it. The people are SO nice. They are all so eager to talk to us and learn about us; a few kids have asked to take pictures with Martin. We stand out everywhere we go, even though we dress modestly and have set-aside our jeans, shorts, and tanks for our time here. It’s the color of our hair and personal style mostly- our glasses, Martin’s beard, my short pixie haircut, well definitely our English-speaking voices too.

But we are here. We are settled (mostly).

(I apologize I’m trying to get caught up with this blog! Not having internet has made it super challenging. Next story will tell all about our adventures we have had checking out some touristy-type attractions.)

Check out Martin’s blog too! He is a great writer, and is up-to-date!

http://www.martintheblog.blogspot.com

Posted on August 31, 2015September 2, 2015 by stacey00000 · 5 Comments

Landed

The flight was easy. Arriving was easy. We paid $25 for visas when we entered Egypt. Customs was easy. When we were waiting for our baggage, we met a man with a sign stating my school name. We soon met a handful of other teachers who were just as eager and tired as we were. Some were traveling solo, others with spouses and kids. All of our baggage arrived unscathed! Once we all gathered our luggage, and e were all shuffled off. Before we left the airport we stopped at the duty-free store. In Egypt (outside of the airport) alcohol is hard to come by- especially international alcohol. It was recommended to us that we stock-up and get what we could. We were thankful for this tip! We got our goods and were again shuffled out to a bus where we were transported to the hotel.

We stayed 2 nights at the Holiday Inn at City Stars in Heliopolis. It was a very nice hotel. There we were greeted by more staff from the school and had the rest of the day to relax. We were advised to stay up past 9:00 pm to overcome our jet-leg. We enjoyed the pool, got refreshed, and met up with some other teachers for dinner. There was a great Indian restaurant connected with the hotel called Indira that we went to. Martin tried Egyptian wine- it was pretty terrible! The food was good. Something to know here is you have to specifically order rice here- it doesn’t come standard with the meal like we are used to. There’s already a language struggle between the Americans at the table and the Egyptians serving us. It is not advised to drink the water- it is highly chlorinated, so everywhere we go we drink bottled water. This is uncomfortable for us because typically Martin and I never buy bottled water. At dinner they served a fresh mango juice that was amazing. Overall dinner was a success.

We then wander the mall. This is the biggest mall I’ve ever been in! It has 2 cinemas, an amusement park, and tons of stores and restaurants, and it reaches many floors. We got lost. The mall was packed with people. Lots of couples out together, lots of teenagers. Most of the women wear head-scarves, but not all. Martin and I are definitely the minority. Everyone is well-dressed and modestly-dressed. The shops are similar to what you find in the states. The restaurants too. There are a few Starbucks around the mall- are you surprised? The security at the mall is intense- everywhere really. When you walk in any building you have to go through security and have your bag scanned.

While at the hotel we got to know more of the new teachers and their families, as they trickle in from the airport little by little. There are 60 new teachers. 60! It was quite overwhelming for me because I like to say hi to everyone and try to make connections. Everyone here has such fascinating stories and it’s a shame I can’t hear them all! Honestly- my background story doesn’t even compare to most of theirs. Most of them have been world travelers/educators for many years. But I am learning that even though I lack the rich travel background, my teacher education and pedagogy practices are top-quality and I have a lot to contribute in that regard. I am thankful for that.

I enjoyed my first sheesha (hookah). This is a huge part of their culture. People smoke sheesha everywhere. It made me cough. Ha! I tried the apple flavor. The waiter was really excited to teach me the proper way.

We found a great Egyptian restaurant in the mall- Abou Shakra I think it was called. We both had pigeon. This was a new experience! Also tried Turkish coffee- it is so good- flavored with cardamom and other spices. It’s very small- like the size of a shot of espresso, but is so complex in flavor.

Martin and I also walked around outside the hotel- this was a bit scary for our first time. The traffic is so crazy. There aren’t many rules on the road. Sidewalks also don’t always exist, so sometimes we were walking amongst the cars. As cars would enter parking structures for the mall, security guards would walk around the car with their dogs. It didn’t look like the dogs were working too hard. They had big smiles on their face, tongues hanging out. One woman even asked if her infant could pet the dog… I didn’t think that was supposed to work that way… The dogs are just happy to be out an about amongst people.

Martin and I were so thankful that we had picked out an apartment online. That meant we didn’t have to spend all of our time running around neighborhoods looking at houses in the heat. We got to move into our place right away. We were nervous though because we had heard some people were disappointed with their flat when they saw it in person…

Posted on August 30, 2015 by stacey00000

How I ended up in Cairo

As you hopefully read in the ‘about’ page, my desire to live and teach overseas goes years back. In fact, when I was packing up my things in Colorado, I found a clipping from a music journal about teaching overseas that was dated 2004- that was my first year teaching! The fire got hot when I did my masters at Northwestern and was surrounded by music teachers who do just that-teach internationally. The passion they shared about their experiences was infectious! There was also a rich tradition at my school for teachers to take a sabbatical of 1-2 years and teach internationally.

With the support of everyone I knew (some with resistance!), and most importantly the openness of my husband, Martin, I began looking for and applying for jobs overseas. I used 2 sites to help me in this search, in case you are interested yourself- International Schools Services and Search Associates. The planning for this begins almost a year in advance. I was applying for jobs as early as October for the following school year. I applied in countries all over the world, trying to keep in mind the wishes of my husband about wanting to be somewhere where he could still go out and play his bluegrass and American folk music- that’s a tricky one! I had an interview for a job in The Netherlands, which would have been ideal, though they wouldn’t hire me because I didn’t have experience teaching internationally. (I had heard it would be nearly impossible to land in Europe.) I had planned to attend a couple job fairs- in Boston and San Francisco, though canceled on them because I received a job offer for Cairo, Egypt! I eagerly accepted the job and starting researching about the school and the country. I immediately learned two things- yes, it’s safe and yes, they have a roller derby team- the Cairollers. (After accepting this I was offered more interviews in the Cayman Islands, Saudi Arabia, China, and South Korea.)

I have to admit it was not an easy decision to pack up everything we own, leave a position that I’ve built for 8 years, leave my many and wonderful friends and family, and go somewhere different just the two of us. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Martin and I own a house in the Denver area, we have an awesome garden, and even have chickens. The hardest part about leaving was leaving our pets behind- a cat of 12 Jolene, and a husky dog of 3, Mia. It turned out that Jolene decided she didn’t want to go to a new home, or come with to Egypt and she passed in her sleep 2 weeks before we moved. (Turns out the vet said she was at least 15 or older.) I found her sweet as can be laying in a laundry basket in a forever sleep. It was hard and unexpected, but was really the best thing that could’ve happened to her. Super weird though. So that left Mia. Egypt is a hot place. Really hot. We googled huskies in Egypt and found only advice to not bring her because she’s a husky. She LOVES the snow and cold… Not the heat and sand. Thankfully we have a couple of really great friends who were interested in fostering her so that their Great Dane could have a playmate. These two people are a couple angels in my life- I know Mia will be so happy there (Thanks Bob and Katie!) It’s for the better for Mia that she’s not here- I’ll tell you more on that later.

So a good friend, Chris, gave me some advice she learned about her teaching abroad experience, “the hardest part is getting out.” I cannot believe how hard it is to leave everything you have established. It’s not just a matter of forwarding mail, transferring services, and moving your stuff from one place to the next- it’s a matter of looking at every little piece of your life and selling it, storing it, finding someone to care for it, canceling it, changing it, etc. I even have a will now! We touched everything we owned and then packed only 2 suitcases a piece. A huge thanks to Martin’s family for helping us with so many little details towards the end.

So the hardest part is getting out- there were lots of tears, wondering if we are doing the right thing. My response- hell yes, why wouldn’t we take an opportunity to see the world and change the lives of others?! I get to share my love of music with Egyptian kids- and kids from other parts of the world! I know this is going to be a challenge, but I know I am going to grow from this and be a better person, a better educator, and will come out of this experience with lots of stories to share. This is the first one 🙂