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.
