Yesterday we were invited to the home of a couple who live in our neighborhood. I had met the man several weeks ago at the barber shop in our neighborhood where I go and we struck up a conversation. He asked me at that time to assist him with a computer problem that he was having. Last weekend Pat and I met him on a walk and he asked us to come to his home to meet his family for tea. This was one of the most enjoyable experiences we have had in our two years here.
The family lives about two blocks from the school. As we have said before, our school is located in a lower working class neighborhood. Most of the buildings are several stories high with a business located on the ground floor and apartments in the upper stories. The family (Hosney and Eman and their three children, Ahmed (3rd grade), Mohamed (1st grade) and Sara (4 years old) live in a 6 room apartment along with Eman’s mother on the 2nd floor of the building where the barber shop is. The two boys attend a government school (like our public school). They are learning English in this school although their primary instruction is in Arabic. The parents are also studying English because they want to come to the United States later this year. Hosney has several brothers and sisters who have immigrated to the States and are encouraging him to bring his family as they feel there are more opportunities for them in America.
Our visit with them was probably the first time any “Westerners” had been in their building to visit. We were greeted very warmly and enjoyed our time with them. It gave us an opportunity to speak firsthand with “typical” Egyptians – you learn so much more about their culture and life style in a conversation such as this. The children showed us their school books and one of the boys read to Pat. The little girl was very frightened of us when we first came and would not come out of the bedroom for quite a while. Finally her mother brought her out and held her until she got accustomed to our voices. By the time we were ready to leave – she was smiling at us.
The mother-in-law made us tea. She couldn’t speak any English so her daughter would translate to us what she was saying. She was so pleased that we would come to their home and spend time with them. Often in our conversation, they would explain to us how the Islamic religion governed how they live their life. For instance, when they want to make major purchases, they must either pay cash entirely or make arrangements to pay in installments with the person or business they are dealing with. So if they want to buy an apartment, they have to have all of the money to buy it – they do not go to the bank for a loan. With the rise in prices here in Egypt, it is getting much more difficult for the typical Egyptian to make ends meet.
We had a wonderful time with this family and look forward to visiting with them again. In fact, when our daughter and grandson come over in June, we are to contact them and visit them again. It will be a really neat experience for our daughter and grandson the meet them and for their children to speak with an American boy about their own age.
Egypt is a very fascinating country to visit, there are so many historical sites to see. We have certainly enjoyed the Pyramids, the Valley of the Kings and the trips to resorts such as Sharm El Sheik, Hurghada, and the North Coast. But interacting with the people is what has made this the neat experience that it has been for us. Our visit with this local family will leave a lasting impression on us as much as seeing the Pyramids
Saturday, May 17
Wednesday, May 7
Wednesday, May 07
Alexandria in the spring time is absolutely paradise. Temperatures in the day time range between 75 and 80 with not a cloud in the sky. During the evenings, it cools down into the 60’s. We have been out walking much more during the past few weeks. It is fun to go out early Friday or Saturday. There is little traffic and you can get most anywhere without having to worry about all of the cars.
The last two weekends we have went out around 6:30 and there is a street sweeper on our street that often is out working at that time. When we say “Street Sweeper” we literally mean a person with a broom who sweeps the street. If there are any trucks that do this, we haven’t ever seen one. He has an area to keep clean which is a daunting task. There are few dumpsters and the ones that are around are usually overflowing with trash. Streets are littered with plastic sacks, wrappers, etc. In addition, there is always sand and dust everywhere. This man works hard trying to keep his area clean. When we see him, we always smile and say hello, he knows us now so he greets us back and pats his heart to show his appreciation for the greeting. A smile and hello can really go a long way here.
Traffic in the evening is picking up. We’ve been out to the movies and to eat a few times in recent weeks and by 8:00 it is bumper to bumper on the streets. As we have said before, if there are two lanes of traffic there will be 3 to 4 lanes of cars jockeying for position. I have been driving more in recent weeks to get more familiar with all the routes to go to various places. I am the only one of the returning staff who has driven – Pat has her license but I don’t think she will ever drive.
There is an intersection on Schutz Street about 4 blocks from the main gate to the school. Those of you familiar with Waterloo know where “5 Corners” are. This is similar to that – there are 6 streets merging in at this intersection along with the tram line (two rail lines). Throw in some donkey carts, a couple of bicycles and a bunch of pedestrians and it becomes a real challenge to make it through the intersection. When we pass through the gates and into the friendly confines of Schutz we all breathe a sigh of relief.
School is very busy – it seems like we have either a meeting or an event each day from now till the end of the year. My students have really worked hard this year. In addition to my regular high school class, I have 3 “advanced IT” students who have been very helpful. They work on the school website and do some special projects for me. One young lady helped Pat and I introduce “Kidspiration” to our elementary staff. I have had students in the past do this sort of work and it such a neat experience for them. They get a chance to show what they known but it has to be in a manner that is beneficial for the staff as well.
Several local hire staff will be retiring at the end of the school year. Egypt has a mandatory retirement age of 60. There can be exceptions granted and the school has done that in the past, however last year the board of trustees decided to end the exceptions. We will be losing 12 persons, some of whom have worked here for over 40 years. They will receive a modest retirement payment from the school and then a very small pension from the government. It makes us all sad to think of losing these employees – they have formed the foundation of what Schutz is today. In addition to the local hire staff, we are losing 12 foreign hire staff. While we have only known them for 1 or 2 years, because of the closeness of the school and living on campus, it will be hard to say goodbye to many of them. We have become especially close to two couples who are leaving and will miss the evenings out at the restaurants and movies, the card playing and episodes of “24.” One couple is from Iowa and we look forward to hooking up with them when we return to the states from our overseas adventures.
The last two weekends we have went out around 6:30 and there is a street sweeper on our street that often is out working at that time. When we say “Street Sweeper” we literally mean a person with a broom who sweeps the street. If there are any trucks that do this, we haven’t ever seen one. He has an area to keep clean which is a daunting task. There are few dumpsters and the ones that are around are usually overflowing with trash. Streets are littered with plastic sacks, wrappers, etc. In addition, there is always sand and dust everywhere. This man works hard trying to keep his area clean. When we see him, we always smile and say hello, he knows us now so he greets us back and pats his heart to show his appreciation for the greeting. A smile and hello can really go a long way here.
Traffic in the evening is picking up. We’ve been out to the movies and to eat a few times in recent weeks and by 8:00 it is bumper to bumper on the streets. As we have said before, if there are two lanes of traffic there will be 3 to 4 lanes of cars jockeying for position. I have been driving more in recent weeks to get more familiar with all the routes to go to various places. I am the only one of the returning staff who has driven – Pat has her license but I don’t think she will ever drive.
There is an intersection on Schutz Street about 4 blocks from the main gate to the school. Those of you familiar with Waterloo know where “5 Corners” are. This is similar to that – there are 6 streets merging in at this intersection along with the tram line (two rail lines). Throw in some donkey carts, a couple of bicycles and a bunch of pedestrians and it becomes a real challenge to make it through the intersection. When we pass through the gates and into the friendly confines of Schutz we all breathe a sigh of relief.
School is very busy – it seems like we have either a meeting or an event each day from now till the end of the year. My students have really worked hard this year. In addition to my regular high school class, I have 3 “advanced IT” students who have been very helpful. They work on the school website and do some special projects for me. One young lady helped Pat and I introduce “Kidspiration” to our elementary staff. I have had students in the past do this sort of work and it such a neat experience for them. They get a chance to show what they known but it has to be in a manner that is beneficial for the staff as well.
Several local hire staff will be retiring at the end of the school year. Egypt has a mandatory retirement age of 60. There can be exceptions granted and the school has done that in the past, however last year the board of trustees decided to end the exceptions. We will be losing 12 persons, some of whom have worked here for over 40 years. They will receive a modest retirement payment from the school and then a very small pension from the government. It makes us all sad to think of losing these employees – they have formed the foundation of what Schutz is today. In addition to the local hire staff, we are losing 12 foreign hire staff. While we have only known them for 1 or 2 years, because of the closeness of the school and living on campus, it will be hard to say goodbye to many of them. We have become especially close to two couples who are leaving and will miss the evenings out at the restaurants and movies, the card playing and episodes of “24.” One couple is from Iowa and we look forward to hooking up with them when we return to the states from our overseas adventures.
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