This is Deena....Aedan's Egyptian Culture Teacher.
While she may or may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, I think she has a far greater power...She can keep 18 kindergartners interested in something as boring as dates and figs for 2 months AND she can create kindergarten songs (complete with hand motions) about dates: Have you ever been in Egypt... Picking dates from the tree... See the pharaohs dancing (yep, you know the moves for this one!) Riding on a donkey... Hi Ho and Away we Go! A donkey ride, a donkey ride! Hi Ho and Away we Go! Riding on a donkey!
Deena, you are my hero and thus my Person of the Week!
Aedan's Kindergarten class visited a date farm. Aedan (who is taking "Egyptian Culture" this semester), served as my tour guide. Below: aged corn stalks mark farm boundaries, top branches from tall date
trees such as this make furniture (interior of branch) and rope (exterior of branch). Above: dates drying in the sun on blankets and baskets made of date palms. Mud brick house constructed by local farmer. A donkey takes a break from hard day's work to give Aedan and friend a ride! Red dates ready to be picked. Egyptian Culture teacher explains dates to class. Finally, a final view of the date tree.
I myself am not much of a date fan but there is nothing better than a fresh picked date washed in the Nile! Well, it was great until the next morning when "mummy tummy" returned (Traveller's hint, if you see a dead donkey float by, don't wash your food in the water! Reality: the Nile is the water!)
So I've been looking to buy Aedan some ninja turtles (of TMNT fame) and have walked through a pair of shoes doing so. I don't know why this has become so important to me but my quest for these darn things far exceeds their value to Aedan. Not that I haven't found them...I have...only they are "fake" ones. For example, Michelangelo is wearing a blue mask when everyone knows that the "real" Michelangelo wears an orange mask...
So, I finally talked Aedan into liking Spiderman (which is easier to find here). Joe and I went on a shopping trip to a new, more Egyptian part of town and I stopped in a grocery store. Everything was so cheap there (I have sooooo been getting ripped off in Maadi). Guess what! I found Spiderman! Please see the picture. If you can't read the text it says: "Spiderman. Special for you of children design. It will give you infinite pleasure!" Who could resist that?
Ashley, 1988….flaming orange hair, way too many freckles for a small face, and coke bottle glasses finagled only half successfully into this-went-out-in-1985-Strawberry Shortcake eye glass frames.I’m sitting in the orthodontist’s office pondering the now apparent disconnect between “oh Ashley, he’s such a nice man” with the man before me wielding way too many metal sharp things for “such a nice man”.I was given much as a child, but straight teeth were left out of my stork’s delivery.My teeth were so piled up that I needed spacers…rubber bands inserted between teeth to make room for the metal braces to come.So, I dutifully got my spacers and returned 2 weeks later trying to remember that children with a death wish for their parents or their orthodontist would go to hell.As I opened up for the biggest and longest “aaaaaah” of my life, I pondered the meaning of a benevolent God.To the mind of a 12 year old, God was good.He gave you spacers…slightly painful things that prepared you for more painful things.All through my life, I can point to “spacers”.In the last couple of years for example, I broke my foot right before Aedan seriously hurt his arm (as any parent would tell you, they would rather face certain agony than watch their child in pain for a mere minute).My parents’ dear (but very old and sick) dog died only a few months before our beloved (young and not really sick) cat.See…it’s spacers.Proof of a divine plan.Proof that God hasn’t left us alone and defenseless.Proof that it can always get worse.
Nineteen years later, I still remember those tooth spacers…that brief moment when the cool wind whistled between my teeth before the ear-screeching, blood-tasting metal that followed.I try not to think of my adolescence often but it unavoidably crept up when attending a really great party last night.A colleague of Joe’s and friend of mine had a “celebration with libation” (great name, huh?).It felt awesome to get dressed up in some wild colors and sneak out in the cover of Ramadan darkness escaping out of “ex-pat Maadi” to “trendy Zamalek”.True to form, I wore out before the night had worn on….and I was looking for an escape route.On my way to freedom, I was stopped several times with polite “so how ya liking Cairo?” and I found myself parroting phrases on theme “oh, it is really great!Cairenes are so welcoming!” (true), “Super…hardly different than living in DC” (less true).After maybe the zillionth time and a grim resignation that I was there to stay…I wondered when I had become so shallow.I mean, we have had this incredibly life-altering adjustment here and the best I can characterize it is…. “good”.Surely there is a middle ground answer to that question that is more creative and perhaps more honest?On the cab ride home, I figured out what was really bugging me.It wasn’t my depth, it was my sense of jinx.Life was good and I wasn’t going to risk it going downhill by blathering on to a group of people I just met.Not last night, that is.Yet, the jinx remains.Could our good times and reasonable level of homesickness, frustration, etc be the “spacers” with cold, hard, braces yet to come?Can anyone (without mind altering drugs, that is) suck the cool wind between their teeth forever?
I got my answer from my best friend.We were chit chatting forever when she said to me:“sounds like things are really good.I am so happy for you Ashley” to which I unwittingly topped the statement by saying “yeah…really great.I mean, if I could move our family and some friends over, I’d stay here forever”.Gong!Look out below…this elevator’s a comin’ down fast!To her credit, my BFF recovered with a convincing “really-that’s great!”.I mean, what was I thinking?It is so easy to get sucked into the vacuum here and I must have had my arms on the frame of the hose and my feet dangling inside.Calling Captain Obvious….it’s Ashley.Cairo is NOT…I repeat NOT North Carolina.Do you read the 14th page of the international news?Boulders broke off a cliff and killed like 100 people here.Government response?Riot police!And it’s hot….and Starbucks doesn’t carry chai because the freaking Arabic word for tea is “chai” and they can’t figure out why I always come in asking for something and never leave having bought it!I think my daddy (next best thing to God) says it best (southern accent ready) “Honey, if Cairo were that great…the rich yankee snowbirds would leave Florida for the rest of us!”….The cool wind between your teeth is when you “go native” living in the moment and forgetting for a second, for a minute, who you really are.It’s the hard reality of reconciling two irreconcilable lives that straightens your path and aligns your values for the rest of your life forward.
Lest I leave my scientific roots…I took an informal poll of my ex-pat buddies and they feel similarly conflicted about their experiences abroad and in Cairo specifically.We are “good”….just don’t ask us how we are liking Cairo.
We are all having a great week! We went to the Red Sea last weekend...it was really awesome to be there. The Red Sea is clear like the Carribean with a stunning backdrop of red mountains in the distance. We visited a famous beach called Ain Soulkna near the Suez Canal and about 1 1/2 hrs from Cairo. For El Eid (end of Ramandan-week off) we will visit the famous corral reefs of Dahab/Sharm El-Sheik. Although we didn't see the plethora of fish that we expect to see in a few weeks, Aedan found a live sand dollar and Virginia found a live starfish. The water was totally clear and very shallow. We walked the eqivalent to the end of the pier and Joe and I could still stand up in the water! Water was also very warm on top but quite cold about 2 ft down. It was strange because you would think that the clear water would keep a more consistent heat but now I understand why snorkelers here sometimes wear a wetsuit...even in the summer.
The S-R family is getting settled. Aedan is doing great in school and as he proudly reports, has a girlfriend (friend who is a girl...at least in his mind) who is not (again, as he reports) "kissy-ga-ga". No one outside of kindergarten knows what this means but apparently this is a big deal in kindergarten world. Virginia is liking her new, English-speaking preschool. She is learning a bit of arabic. They have lessons every day during circle time. Joe has started teaching and loves it. He is proud to report that he has a balcony off his office. In Egypt, what you have reflects your relative status (sad but true). Students are a bit in awe of him (because of the balcony?) and it is a refreshing surprise from the cooled attitude from US college students. I have taken up arabic full-time and am making great strides...I can now reliably get bread, milk, and cheese from the market....and I can say thank you without offending anyone. Really, that is saying something. Arabic is totally different from English...different alphabet, different syntax, etc. In some ways, this actually makes it easier. However, I am in an arabic class of 12, taught in English, wherein I am the only native english speaker (lots of asians and europeans). The teacher was reviewing arabic vowels and she made the long "e" sound...giving the example like "eeee" in "beeeeg"...eg I am going to have a "beeeeeg" hotdog (big hot dog). So, you can say that I am learning european english to learn arabic (pronounced "ah-RAY-bick").
Anyway, we are finding some humor in being the only american around. Everyone wants to talk about Dallas (yes, the TV show). I don't know if it is showing again or what but supposedly I am to know "who shot JR?". I haven't the heart to tell them that I wasn't even cognizant when that show came on in the US...maybe alive but certainly not watching it. I seem to remember my mom sending me away when someone wanted to talk about it one time. Anyway, I get these questions about the show all the time which is totally bizzare and when I walked into the non-alcohol-serving "bar" this weekend, the piano player started playing "American songs" like "we are the world", "new york new york...just want to be a part of it!", and yes, something from the "hit show" (his words...not mine) Dallas. To be sure, Virginia and I appeased the crowd flashing the peace sign and with a short version of the can-can....I promptly left for the Dallas song. Maybe Egyptians will get the hint. :)
Anywhoo....I wanted to post this image as the "image of the week". So often, I want to show you the "real Cairo"...not the gentrified american part where I live, but not the trash eating children like you see Suzanne-what's-her-name hugging on TV. This picture captures what I think of as the pride of the typical Egyptian. His name is Ahmed and he cleans houses by day and runs this felucca by night. He doesn't have many teeth left but has a beautiful smile when he gets to show off Cairo. He loves it when foreigners try to speak arabic (such as I can) and he goes for a swim in the Nile when his boss isn't looking. I will try to compile more pictures of the real people and real sights of Cairo and post as I can....
First picture shows a large and ornate lantern. Many apartment buildings have these hanging. This particular lantern hangs on the street of Virginia's preschool.
Second picture shows a standing lantern. These can be found in enormous villas or restaurants. They really glow when lit.
Third picture is of Ramadan lights-in-shape-of-lantern (similar to Christmas lights) hung on a door of our building. We actually have the same lights hanging but don't have a plug so can't actually turn them on...ha ha
Fourth picture is a small Ramadan lantern. Almost every household has one of these hanging on their front entryway. They are almost always lit at night with an electric bulb.
Finally, sundown (Iftar time!) on the Nile...
Also to celebrate, many Egyptians wrap tree trunks in brightly colored cloth or decorate front stoops with bright plastic (not shown). Like the US during the Christmas season, almost every house has some sort of celebratory decoration even if the tenants are not Muslim. For those who cannot afford decorations, creative trash is strung into often-gorgeous decorations.
We are well into Ramadan, the most holy month of the year for Muslims. As I may have mentioned, some 90% of Egyptians are Muslim and Muslim holidays, etc greatly influence culture similar to Judeo-Christianity in the US. So, I am no Islamic scholar but here is what I can tell you about Ramadan:
It is in the 9th month of the Islamic calendar (which is not necessarily the “Coptic” calendar but happens to coincide this year and it celebrates when the Qu’ran was given to the angel Gabriel who later revealed it in fits and starts to the Prophet Mahammad (as he is called in Egypt but nowhere else in the Middle East-same guy as Mohammed). Muslims have a lot to do in Ramadan but most important seem to be fasting, reading the whole Qur’an and praying a lot more than the usual 5 times a day. So, the fasting is probably the most fascinating to me….fasting begins at the “get up time” (not the official name obviously) just before dawn after a much-too-light meal (Suhoor) and no food or drink again until sunset (about 6pm) where there is an enormous daily feast called Iftar. I would like to stress no food or drink…at all….and the most devout of Muslims can be seen spitting out saliva on the street for fear of technically swallowing water. Every “able bodied” Muslim (usually age 12 and older, men and women, not pregnant and not the very old) is called to fast. Fasting is intended to refocus your spirit on Allah and help you to commiserate with the poor. As you can imagine, all this non-eating translates into lesser than usual (if possible) productivity and a reliable 3-6pm crankiness. However, most Muslims seem to take this in stride and marvel at us western Christians marveling at them. It is interesting to watch reactions to the fasting. While some Americans seem annoyed by the whole ordeal (I can’t get pizza delivery at my dinner time!!!!), most seem respectful and a bit in awe. On the otherhand, most non-Muslim Africans seem terribly suspicious of the whole shebang. I mean, don’t ask an Ethiopian Christian about fasting unless you want to hear and earful of theories about secret water-sipping, etc! I was also fascinated to learn that most Coptic Christians (8% of the remaining 10% in Egypt) also fast on or near the dates of Ramadan. Apparently fasting is a cultural tradition as well as a religious one (most Coptic women also cover their heads but there is another reason for this). However, unlike Muslims, Coptic Christians drink water during the day (good call!).
Now, we have all fasted for some time period or another, either before medical tests or just because we had a busy day. What I can’t imagine is not drinking water in 100+ degree heat. Magically, the Cairo temperature drastic decreased on the first day of Ramadan. Joe and I have two rival theories on this….either God loves Muslims like He loves Christians (me) or Muslims are too exhausted to do much so they generate less body heat thus decreasing the overall city heat (Joe). If you were here with us, you’d see that both theories are viable. There is an absolutely beautiful Islamic culture thriving, that, despite the abominations of my evangelical Christian friends, just can’t be totally, completely, 100% baloney. There are also a zillion people per square inch and less movement can actually translate into less heat. All in all, we are enjoying the emergence of fall…such as it is. Weather listed today’s high at a refreshing 97degrees. This is why I always look at the temps in Celsius! Watch for some pictures of Ramadan lanterns (Muslim equivalent of Christmas trees)….I’ll try to snap them tomorrow.
This is Deena....Aedan's Egyptian Culture Teacher. 
