Who Needs Seatbelts?

My life in Cairo would not have been the same if I didn't ride a microbus three times a week. So, Fernando and I have decided to recount some of our most exciting microbus experiences here, to make sure we never forget how much fun it is to ride a microbus in Cairo.

I documented our first few adventures on the official blog a few weeks ago, recalling the first time when we didn't understand how paying our bus fare worked, and my arms getting a lot of attention as the guy in front of me wouldn't stop staring at them.

We certainly can't forget the pimped-out party bus we got on once, with its blue lights, fringed dashboard, red-tinted ceiling lights and serious bass which shook the seats. Or the time we drove by what appeared to be part of a wedding procession, where one of the cars had a grid of Christmas lights covering the windshield. Or Fernando getting so crammed between me and a random lady that he had to hold himself up using the seat in front of him so he wouldn't squish her. That ride was the same one where a man turned and chastised me for cracking my knuckles, using a combination of Arabic, English and French. Or the time when the seat in front of Fernando had this strange, basketball-sized growth that was looming onto his seat. Or the two guys who jumped on the back bumper of our bus and free-rode for a little while.

A Man's Mall

So, while our relatively easy weekend was relaxing and totally necessary, all of us were ready to do something by the time this afternoon rolled around. So while some decided to go to a movie (in Arabic this time, not just with subtitles), I was among the group that felt a little more restless and didn't want to just go and sit in some theater. So Zuri, Fernando and I decided to try to find this art gallery mentioned in one of the guidebooks that has been sitting on our dining room table.

After poring over the map a bit, we figured out generally where the gallery was and headed over, getting helpful tips from a random Egyptian who assumed we were clueless tourists trying to get to the Egyptian Museum and getting dragged into a store when some of us tried to just buy a few post cards. Poor Zuri and Fernando just put up with it - they can both pass for Egyptian, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one that gives them away. But we found all the right streets and saw a sign and figured out which stairs to go up and discovered that the gallery...

A Day of Firsts

Today featured eventful transports to and from my center. On the way there, Fernando was somehow designated as the one to figure out change on the minibus, which I think I found funnier than he did. Then, we watched a mule pulling a cart cut in front of a car and win, which was really funny as we were watching it but doesn't sound funny as I describe it here.

At the center, we had a less-than-engaging guest speaker come talk to our kids about services provided by the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent) which help refugees find lost family members. He came into our center and the first thing he asked was where the computer or projector was - Fernando and I just laughed. We'd planned for the talk to be a lot longer, so we had to wing a lesson afterward, but I think the kids understand parts of speech at least a little bit better now.

On the way back, we bought grilled corn for the first time from some old ladies along the street in the market we pass through. All throughout Cairo, you'll find people sitting in front of these little coal grills on the street, grilling corn. It was good, but a little chewy, and could've used some butter. As we were sitting on this low wall eating our corn, some random man walked by, whipped out his camera, and took a picture of us. It was the first time some stranger had taken a picture of me, so that was interesting. Well, first time I'd noticed, I guess. Then, the train went by, and since our wall was right next to the train tracks if some guy hadn't told us to move we probably would've had our legs crushed by the train.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to bring our students on an outing somewhere, but our plans may fall through - we wanted to bring them to the Egyptian museum, but that may be too expensive/closed. Then, on Thursday we're heading to Alexandria for a brief vacation, so we're all excited about that. Woo!

The Initial Introduction, The First Class

So yesterday was a milestone for us DukeEngagers - the first day at our St. Andrew's sites. Let me sum up my Monday: I left for Ana al-Misri at 8:30 in the morning, and, besides the 1 hour break between Ana al-Misri and my St. Andrew's site, did not return until 9 at night. Ana al-Misri was much less stressful than that first day, but was still draining. And, it's about an hour drive from here, past the pyramids (yeah, that never gets old). But I was in art again, and most of my time was spent with only a few younger kids who taught me the colors in amiya and took turns picking colors for me to use as I was drawing. I'm going to really enjoy my time there, I think!

But on to the new stuff. The first day was... exciting and intimidating and absolutely rad. We had twenty students come to register, some of whom were not on our list (which was expected), and which was many more than went to the other sites. Fernando and I had not planned a lesson, since we had no idea to expect, so we just chilled in our classroom, did some brief introductions, let them ask us questions, and explained our expectations for the class and how it was gonna work. We came back that night very tired, but super excited.

FDOC

It is a very tired blonde who posts today. Woke up early for our first block of classes this morning - 4 hours studying amiya (colloquial Arabic) wasn't exactly my ideal morning, but I really feel like I learned a lot of practical phrases and words which I'll have to practice a lot. After that, we went to St. Andrews for our second orientation session. St. Andrews, again, is the organization through which we work with refugees. How that's gonna work: the St. Andrews director set up summer programs at several different refugee centers around Cairo, and we're all breaking up and going out to those centers to teach our classes. Mine is in Giza and I'll be working with Fernando, another DukeEngager, and a center facilitator at a Somali refugee center. Apparently, our kids are going to be all Somali, ranging from ages 14 to 19, and we'll have about 11 girls and 9 boys. The classes are going to be not only about teaching basic English and Arabic skills (listening and speaking, not reading or writing, since many will be illiterate) so they can communicate in basic situations, but also about basic life skills (like hygiene) and resources they have access to as refugees.

So, I really feel like today, right as we are about to pass the one week mark, we really got to encounter Cairo. That realization came as I was sitting on a microbus (buses with no doors that circle around their routes hardly stopping to let people on and off) heading towards the metro station after walking through a market crowded with not only people and goods but also cars, scooters, motorcycles and the occasional donkey.