Friday, February 27, 2009

Bitte?

So, I got to go to the pyramids for free today. I've been running in the morning with a couple of friends for the last month or so. Last week I found out about a foot-race that a German school was putting on as a fundraiser. It only cost a couple bucks, so I thought I'd run. It was at the pyramids this morning. We had to be there by eight in the morning. Because we were running, they didn't charge me any money to get into the pyramids. It was a really cool time. About a thousand people ran, and I got 21st place. I was pretty excited!

The cool part was that there was a sandstorm right at the end of the race. We were on the border of the desert, and it got really windy right at the end. It was like swimming through sand, but cool nonetheless.

No pictures though, sorry . . .

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Inhibited vacation



Hey guys

I just got back from Marsa Shagra, a small place on the coast by the Red Sea. It's a strange little town. It basically exists because of scuba divers. Almost everyone who lives there works in the tourist industry. So much so that the price for everything is given in Euros instead of Egyptian Pounds. The picture is of me and a friend WAY out in the desert with some nomads and camels.

I had a strange discovery while I was there about freedom. I know I'm hardly an impartial person when it comes to freedom. I'm an American, and we tend to idolize freedom. It's one of our most valued possessions. So much so that we wrote it into our Constitution. I think being raised in that environment, I tend to assume that I'm free unless I come across convincing evidence that I'm not.

Anyway, I had finished my time there and was getting ready to head back. In order to catch the bus back to Cairo, I first had to take a taxi in the other direction to a town that has a bus station. It was about 20 kilometers (12 miles for you Americans) away from the place where I'd been staying. There were two buses in the afternoon, one at 3:00 and the other at 6:00. I got to the station at about 2:30 and planned to hang out for a few hours and take the later bus. I thought it would be nice to have a glass of tea and see the town. But when I got to the bus station, the taxi driver wouldn't let me get out of the taxi. Apparently the hotel had called the authorities and told them that I was leaving. They were instructed to send someone along with me so that I wouldn't be alone. I told the guy that it was okay, I would be fine on my own, but he told me that I couldn't be alone. He was going to go anywhere that I was going to go. I decided it wasn't worth hanging out if I was going to have someone following me all the time, so I decided to take the earlier bus instead. It was a strange feeling, realizing that I wasn't free. Suddenly I wasn't able to go where I wanted to go or do what I wanted to do. It was kind of a surreal feeling. It was like being a child all over again. Having to ask permission to do things and stuff like that.

Anyway, I had a great time while I was down there. I wish I'd been able to stay a little bit longer, but the time that I was able to spend there was nice. I think I'll try to get back there some time in the future. But in the meantime, there's a few other places that I'd like to visit first.

So, tomorrow is my first day of teaching English and getting back to studying Arabic. Funny thing . . . I was looking at my visa while I was in Kenya. Stamped really big on the bottom is the phrase "not eligible for work." I'd been praying about it a little bit, and felt like God told me that I needed to be a man of my word. So I went by the school today and talked to the administrator. I told her that I was happy to teach, but that I wasn't going to take any money for it. I feel a little silly teaching for free. But God's been speaking to me a lot lately about being a man of my word and not making small compromises. So, no salary for me . . .

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Pit stop


Just a quick update. I made it back from Kenya safe and sound. No problems going through customs or anything like that. The meeting was a really good time. I found out a lot of information that would have taken me a really long time to figure out on my own. I also had a really neat last night in Nairobi. I got to eat ostrich and crocodile, which was pretty cool. The picture is me waiting for my flight back to Cairo from Nairobi.

I got back to Cairo yesterday morning, hung out for the day, and am about to get on a bus to head down to Marsa Alam. It's a town on the Red Sea coast. I'm planning to spend a couple of days there, then come back and start classes again on Monday. Should be a good time. I've got to find some time to study though before classes start. Wish me luck . . .

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Mobile . . .

Hey guys . . .

I'm sitting in a town called Karen just outside of Nairobi, Kenya. I've been here for a couple of days, and am heading back home at some crazy hour of the night tonight. It's been a cool time here getting to meet new people and meet some old friends again. I've gotten to spend some time with Eddy and Jess for those of you who know them. It's always nice to hang out with old friends!

I got so much information the first day that we got here. Stuff that I wish I'd known months ago. But better late than never.

It's been a great time, and I'll write more when I get back to Cairo after a brief stop in Marsa Alam. I'm borrowing a friend's computer right now to be able to post this. Hope you're doing well . . .

Saturday, February 14, 2009

men zamaan . . .


Hey there. So the title of this entry is 'men zamaan,' which means 'since forever' in Arabic. Appropriately titled since I haven't written anything in a while. I was feeling a little remiss, but then I got an email from a friend that my blog was a little bit dated. So, Tasha . . . this is for you! :)

The last few weeks have brought a few interesting occurrences and lessons. The first thing I learned is that the wind is not your friend when you live in a desert! I woke up for a run last week and was pretty excited that it was a bit windy. I thought it would keep the temperature down a bit and make the day more pleasant. But apparently here when you've got wind, you've got a sandstorm. By the time I finished my run about 45 minutes later I was having trouble seeing some of the buildings downtown. After another hour, I could taste the air. It was crazy!

There's a street kid that I've been getting to know here in Cairo. I see him a couple of times a week while I'm walking to language class. He's always pretty friendly and helps me practice my Arabic. I usually give him a little bit of money and hang out with him for a few minutes. Last week he asked me to buy him a pair of shoes. I told him no, and I thought to myself "I'm not going to spend my money buying this kid a pair of shoes!" As soon as I finished thinking that, God spoke to me pretty clearly. He said two things. "It's not your money, and yes you are." So I told the kid to meet me on the same corner at six o'clock and I'd take him to buy him shoes. Between then and six I talked to another friend of mine, who told me that he'd already bought the kid a pair of shoes. Apparently the kid gets foreigners to buy him shoes, then sells them back to the store and gets the money. I went back at six because I wanted to talk to the kid. He didn't show up, but I finally caught up with him again a couple of days later. I confronted him about what he'd done, but he wouldn't own up to it. So I told him that I wasn't going to give him any money for a while because he'd lied to me. He was pretty sad, but still kept talking to me every time that I saw him. After a week I started giving him money again. I felt like I was trying to teach honesty and discipline to a total stranger. I wonder what this kid thinks of me now . . .

I'm flying to Kenya in a couple of hours. There's an important meeting there I need to attend, then fly back after a couple of days. I'm looking forward to the meeting, because I think I'm going to see an old friend there that I haven't seen in a year or so. Should be pretty fun. And on top of all that, I'm looking forward to some good input from the people that I'm going to be meeting.

The same day I get back to Cairo, I'm traveling down to the Red Sea coast for a camel safari. It should be a pretty good time. My roommate's at the bus station downtown right now buying us tickets. He's awesome! Much more organized than me. All of the stuff that I forget to do, he's got covered. We're a good pair, I think. Then the day after we get back from the camel safari we have language classes starting again. I start teaching English here the same week. I decided that I wanted to start teaching English because the people here seem confused when I tell them that all I'm doing is studying language. They all expect me to have a job too, so I thought it might make it easier for them to understand what I'm doing here if I had a job too. So, I won't be making any money doing it, but hopefully my neighbors will understand me a little better now.

The picture at the top is from the Citadel. It's an old fort built by Salahadin way back in the day. It's a pretty cool place. You can look out and see the whole city from one of the lookouts. Considering how big Cairo is, that's actually quite a feat.

Okay guys, enough for now. Talk to you again when I get back . . .

Monday, February 2, 2009

Wise old sage

Hey everyone! It's been a busy last couple of days. I felt like a tour guide yesterday. Two ladies that I know came in to Cairo in the early afternoon, and another one came in to Cairo in the evening.

Funny story about meeting the first two ladies that came in. I knew what hotel they were staying at, but I had no idea what time they were going to arrive. So I went to their hotel and brought a book along with me. I got there around noon, and hung out for the next four hours. I felt a little self conscious sitting in the lobby for a couple of hours next to the security guards. I kept peeking at them, making sure that they weren't looking at me. Come to think of it, that probably made me look more suspicious! :)

I've spent a bit of time the last two days showing them around town and pointing out good places to eat and hang out. I felt like the wise old sage showing the new folks how to live here. It's neat to see how much the ex-pat community pulls together here.

I had a good time practicing Arabic today. One of my friends lives in a flat above an auto shop. Sometimes when I go over to visit my friend, the guy who runs the auto shop calls me in to hang out and practice my Arabic. Tonight was a cool time. He gave me some cake and tea, and we talked about an old friend of his who used to work in the oil fields. Now that I speak Arabic a little better, people talk to me the way they would talk to other Egyptians. I'm lucky to get 15% of what they say. But I can usually pick up enough words to follow the general gist of a conversation. It's kind of funny. I'm always really excited when I can figure out what someone's trying to say to me. It feels like I've just finished putting together a huge puzzle. So every day is like another puzzle.

Okay, time to study . . .