Yesterday, the elementary staff put on a little Thanksgiving play to show the students why Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. It was such a cute little play – Pat worked very hard on the costumes and the cast practiced diligently to do a great job. After the play, the PTA organized a traditional Thanksgiving feast for the children.
Since our school is an American school, we are one of only a handful in the city not having classes today. This morning Pat and I went out for a walk between 6:30 and 7:30. The streets were filled with children walking to school, taxis, vans, and little buses filled with school kids. A taxi that usually holds at most 4 passengers might have 8 to 9 children in. We have two schools nearby but one would not know they were schools unless you saw the kids going through the gates. Most just look like regular buildings with no playgrounds or any other appearances of a school. It is quite a contrast to our school. We have a campus, with a grassy field, tennis court, volleyball court, basketball court, swimming pool. Our children come to school in private cars with their own drivers – most of the cars are luxury sedans like BMW’s. High school students who drive will often be accompanied by a driver who will then drive the student’s car back home.
On our walk, we saw a young disabled boy riding a half bike-half cart looking for anything in the trash dumpsters that might be of value. The bike’s wheel frame was bent and the pedals were just rods. In Egypt, things are rarely thrown away unless they are of little value – so it is unlikely he was able to find much. At this time of Thanksgiving when we sit down and enjoy a wonderful holiday meal and family and friends – think about how fortunate we are. For many of the people here, this is just another day in a never-ending struggle to get by.
