November 28

We hope everyone had a “Happy Thanksgiving.” We did have school on Thanksgiving, but our kitchen staff prepared a special “all the trimmings” authentic Thanksgiving evening meal for us. They began preparing the meal at 6:00 am and it was not only very tasty, it looked great as well. We had turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, sweet potatoes, salads, buns, cranberry sauce, and a variety of desserts (including real pecan pie!).

We have been getting a lot of practice the past few days in “Walk like an Egyptian” – and we don’t mean the song! On our walks we are beginning to master the techniques used to dodge traffic, potholes, donkey carts, other pedestrians as well as anything else that might be on the street. Crossing a street is always a interesting challenge. Pedestrians rarely cross at intersections because there are no “Walk” – “Don’t Walk” signs and rarely any traffic lights. We have found that if we stay close to an Egyptian and cross when they cross, we are usually pretty safe. Traffic is so heavy at times that if you waited for it to be completely clear before you tried to cross, you would be there all day.

We are seeing more sheep penned up in the alleyways on the streets in many neighborhoods. The Eid holiday begins December 5 and runs through the 9th. During this time, thousands of sheep will be slaughtered with a portion going to the family and a portion going to the poor. Since there are many more poor in the country, it will be a very important time for giving. For many, this will be a major supply of meat for their families. In a area, such as our school is located in, the street will be filled with blood on the day the sheep are killed. Right now as we walk by the sheep, they seem so peaceful enjoying their last days of food on earth – because they are usually raised and herded by shepherds, they are quite docile and sometimes are not even penned up.

Saturday morning (the 29th), we had to go to the "Ministry of Health and Prevention" and the "Alexandria Hospital of Viruses". All persons who apply for a work permit to work in Egypt must be approved by the Ministry of Health and Prevention" and have a blood test to make sure they are not infected with HIV/AIDS. Hab (the assistant government liason officer for the school) took us to both places. The Ministry of Health and Prevention was located in a non-descript building that gave no indication on the outside of it's function. We went into an office and sat while Hab went somewhere else to do some paperwork. Papers and other items were scattered everywhere in the office -- it would have been difficult to tell where anything was. After a short time we headed to the Hospital to have the blood work done. The hospital was located in a nice park-like setting. We went in waited in another office and within a short time a lab tech came and drew our blood -- along with 4 other persons. The whole setting was pretty basic, much like what one might have seen in the states back in the 50's.

November 23

We are finally over jet lag – it seems to take us a week or so before we are able to get a normal night’s sleep. During this time, we wake up around 1:00 and are lucky to get back to sleep at all. Even if we close our eyes and try to sleep it is like our eyes are wide open and we can see everything clearly. For me, it is really strange because I am not tired at all during the day.

During our walks we have noticed parking has really become haphazard on the side streets. Most of the side streets have cars parked on both sides and there is barely enough room for one and a half cars on the street – so if someone sees a parking space they are going to grab it regardless of what side of the street or what direction they are facing. It is not unusual to see one car parked heading north and the next one parked heading south.

The typical neighborhood people seem to be feeling more stress in their lives as the economy here has worsened. A few of my students were telling me how much prices have risen for staple food items while unemployment continues to rise. A college education means little here if there are no jobs in their chosen field. Many end up working as drivers, security and domestic help because there are no jobs in their field. My students feel that at some point there will be a revolution, especially if people are unable to afford food.

There was quite a bit of interest in our recent political presidential elections. The results have given people in this part of the world some hope – perhaps if America can elect a black president, then when the time comes, Egypt will be able to have more open elections.

Thursday after school, a medical lab person came to the school to draw blood from me in order to check my INR. He came around 4:00 and returned to the school around 8:00 with the results all for the cost of 23 LE ($4.15). Medicine is another one of those occupations where the amount of education and training in very poorly compensated. Most doctors work 18 hour days to barely get by. Tonight I will be visiting a cardiologist. My appointment is for 9:00 PM – during part of the day, the doctor teachers and in the other part he runs a clinic.

Thursday evening was also the annual PTA Bingo fundraiser. It is usually a fun evening with lots of activity. Pat helped “roll” the numbers. Many businesses donated neat prizes (hotel and resort stays, dining out, cruises on the Med, plane tickets) as well as an assortment of other good prizes as well (blankets, food, crafts, clothing, etc.) The evening always starts chaotic as people try to buy their bingo cards and raffle tickets. Of course in Egypt the concept of an orderly line does not exist – it is who ever can shout and push their way through who gets served.

We went to the appointment with the cardiologist last evening. We took the tram to our friend’s home and then a taxi to the doctor’s office. The traffic was awful. A typical 5 minute taxi ride took nearly 30 minutes. Our appointment was for 9:00 PM and we got in after a 15 or 20 minute wait. We shared my records with the doctor and then he did a brief exam. We set this up so we would have someone here in case we would need them. Of course we paid in cash and will have turn in the handwritten receipt to insurance. Traffic was not nearly as bad on the way back and our ride took only about 5 o 10 minutes

November 16

We took our first extended walk this evening. Weather was ideal with temperatures in the high 60’s. We walked by many of the little shops and stores that we usually have went to the past two years to say “Hello.” The shopkeepers were very happy to see us, and many of them knew why our return was delayed and they wanted to make sure that everything was OK.



Life can be difficult here for the average person – they work long hours for little pay. Relationships become very important as they do not have the material items that many Westerners have. Perhaps that is one reason why they are such social people – they draw their satisfaction in life from their interaction with others and not from things.

In many respects, walks are an ideal way for us to relax. There is so much interesting activity going on that it becomes easy to forget about the stress in our lives

November 14

As many of you know, our return to Egypt was delayed a bit this year because of health reasons. We arrived on Wednesday, November 13th at the airport at 2:00 AM after a 27 hour flight (including layovers). Our plane landed at the Borg El Arab Airport which is located approximately an hours drive from the school. This was a military airport that has been converted to a civilian airport and is used instead of the Alex Airport because it can handle large jets. Our longest layover is in Frankfurt, Germany (10 hours) so this year we reserved a room at a nearby airport hotel in order to rest and freshen up. It really helped our transition.

When got to the school around 3:30 AM, we unpacked and got settled in to our apartment by 6:30 and then went to breakfast where we were greeted warmly by our kitchen staff. After breakfast we went back to the apartment and rested until noon. I got up and went to lunch to begin meeting our staff. Throughout the afternoon I was able to see all the staff, both new and old. It was so nice to see everyone. They were very happy to see us and know that we are doing fine. It is especially neat to see the workers – we have known many of them now for three years and they were very concerned about us. The school was holding Parent-Teacher conferences on Wednesday so we did not see any students.

Classes resumed on Thursday, many students stopped by to say hello. They had made “Welcome Back” signs for both of us and had them hanging on walls outside our work areas. After school, the staff hosted a “Welcome Home” reception for us. As a small school with a unique on-campus staff living arrangement, our school seems like a family. This is a description that is often used to describe Schutz. Indeed for us, Schutz is part of our family and we know that the friendships we have made here will last a lifetime because it truly is a unique place.