Egypt - Day 1

Egypt is a short 3.5 hour flight from Abu Dhabi. I chose to take advantage of my first term break to spread my wings for the first time all by myself.

Upon arriving in Cairo, it was a fairly efficient task to get through the airport. I bought a visa stamp from the bank/money changer. The banker tried to hit on me, but I kindly said thank you for my money and went on my merry way. After getting through immigration, there was an agent from Ramses Tours there to greet me. Mustafa took me to the car where I met my driver, Hassan (more on him later). I felt some relief when I saw the headrest covers shown above in the car. Finally, we made the hour-long drive through the craziest traffic to my hotel.

My first introduction to baksheesh or tipping was upon arrival at the hotel when Mustafa told me I should give 20 Egyptian Pounds (EP) to the driver. Then, Mustafa told me I should give him 50EP for coming to get me. I laughed at that one when I realized 20EP was equivalent to $10, more than enough in my book. In the end, I didn't give Mustafa anything!

My hotel was Pyramid's View Hotel with a distant view of the Giza Pyramids. It was a nice enough hotel - 3 stars at most. Once I was mostly settled in, I went and got a sim card for my iPhone (I love that I can do that with my new iPhone!). It was a bit pricey for the sim card and charge, but I will keep it for when I go back or if someone else wants to go to Egypt. :D

After I got the phone working, I contacted a guy from Couchsurfing because I had been in touch when I first started looking at my trip to Egypt. He convinced me to go out for a couple of hours even though I was exhausted and said he'd come get me at my hotel. When he arrived, he came in to my room and immediately put his arms around me. I wanted to be sensitive to the culture, so I didn't say anything, but then he tried to kiss me! I was like "WTF are you doing?" He explained that he was just so attracted to me. I explained that he didn't even know me and now I was going to go nowhere with him, so he might as well leave. He then apologized and said that he'd like to start over and at least take me somewhere nice to see the town. I was really put off, though and it took me a while to calm down. Eventually, he convinced to let him take me to get some water and then we ended up driving around Cairo for two hours looking for a possible place to eat and then me just wanting to go back to the hotel to sleep. In the end, I did get 4 bottles of water that were very helpful during my trip!

Thus ends the adventure of Day 1 in Egypt!

More coming...

-T

Egypt - An overview

(I had planned to update regularly while on my trip, but alas Internet is hard to come by, thus I will do so slowly when I return and unfortunately, pictures will have to be viewed then as well.)

Since I was 8-years-old and heard about the great pyramids, I have wanted to see them. In junior high school, I was so involved in a school project on Egypt and King Tut, that I was instantly in love with the idea of seeing these wonders of the world. Having focused my travels on Asia so far, I wasn't sure that I would really ever make the journey and was quite envious of my parents when they trekked over a few years ago.

However, life brought me to the Middle East and so I have taken advantage of my first break to fulfill a dream. It has been more than worth it so far.

I booked a tour package with Ramses Tours because I talked to a few people who said I would be better off going on a package tour rather than travel on my own as a single woman in the country. I definitely understand what they meant by that and am happy that I have booked the tour. However, for the first time I am truly traveling alone. The tours to the sites are with just me and a guide. I have a private driver to everywhere and all other things are done on my own including my meals. For the most part, I don't mind it, but I had thought that I would at least join some other groups and have more interaction with other tourists. Still, just being in touch with the local guides and my driver has been nice because I get a touch of the local people more than if I were just hanging with other travelers. Also, it has given me some much needed time within my own head and heart. :D

So far I have seen the great pyramids, the sphynx, the valley of the kings, the west and east banks of luxor and other sites. It's all been great so far. I'm booked to set sail this evening for a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan and then will take a night train back up to Cairo for a day tour to Sakkara and then home to Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
When I return I promise to update more!

Until then,

-T

Moving back to my blog!

At last the internet has been connected at home! So, I will be slowly updating my regular website with photos of my apartment and activities.

Now that "Home" is in Abu Dhabi, I will return this blog to updates on my travels. However, I may still put some bits and pieces here about settling in and such as travel tips to the UAE.

Anyway, more to come and look for updates at creativemeanderings.com!

Until next time...

-T

ZOO: Teaching Moments 2

I have a special needs student in my class. She has physical trouble getting around the school, but intellectually she is quite adept.

From day one, she has interrupted me while I was speaking to tell me that she didn't have a handout since she hadn't been to the first classes, or that she had a totally unrelated question. She constantly would tell me when she finished her work, which was always before anyone else in the class. Even though I have asked her a number of times to hold her answers until others are able to respond, she continues to shout out her answers before anyone else has a chance, thus silencing the class.

My teaching style is to let students shout out answers rather than call on individuals because I believe it creates a more open atmosphere, but she has continuously been trying to prove herself to me and her classmates that she is sharper and better.

Finally, yesterday I called her out in front of the class asking her to confer with her classmates about answers since she was in a group and to perhaps let others participate before she responds. She then clearly complained about my reprimand in Arabic, which one does not need to know the language to understand what was said. So, I asked her if she had something she'd like to say to me directly, to which she completely stopped talking for the rest of the class and wrote little notes in her notebook.

In the afternoon, I was called in to the Assistant Director's office because she had made a complaint to Student Services about me not being fair or understanding of her needs. I politely explained that while I respect her special physical needs, I will not provide her with any slack on the intellectual side. Though I do not know the culture here regarding people's responses to those with any kind of disability, I refuse in any country or culture to treat people differently if their minds are fully intact. Perhaps she is not used to this kind of treatment.

The good news is that the AD is being very supportive of the situation from my perspective and is taking what I've said back to Student Services who will then speak with the student again. Eventually, I will probably have to speak with her directly, though she should have just asked for an appointment to speak with me at the beginning as I have quickly learned that this culture is much more open about expressing their feelings than in Japan.

We shall see how it plays out, but this is very clearly contributing to my current lack of enjoyment with my students. I still have to see them for another 5 weeks, so it will have to get sorted out somehow.

On the bright side, they all just gave fabulous presentations! :D

Until next time...

-T

Settling in...

I know that I should be updating more. Some have asked for pictures and some have wondered what has happened to me. I'm here, but I still don't have internet at home, thus it is difficult to update my usual blog. My fingers are crossed for the internet to be connected some time this week, which is a story in itself. I will write another post for that after I get connected. ;)

So, life is starting to settle as my weeks start to take on a normal routine. Here is a general lowdown of the passing of my time.

5:05am - Alarm goes off; hit snooze
5:15am - Get up: It is still very dark outside
5:35ish - Hear the morning call to prayer from the nearby mosque as I finish my shower
6:00am - Eat some breakfast and continue to wake up with some tunes on my iPod
6:25am - Head downstairs to meet others for the drive to work
6:40am - Arrive at work; turn on computer; get a cup of instant coffee; surf the internet; catch up on emails and Facebook
7:10am - Look at lesson plans for the day

**Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday**
8:00 - 9:30 - Teach the first block of lessons
9:30 - 12:00 - Eat lunch/snack; chat online; surf the internet; lesson plan for afternoon; organize my desk and life...
12:00 - 1:30 - Teach the second block of lessons
1:45pm - Bolt out of work and head ... a) home; b) the mall; or c) THE BEACH!

**Monday & Wednesday**
10:00 - 11:30 - Teach the first block of lessons
11:30 - 2:00 - Eat lunch/snack; chat online; surf the internet; lesson plan for afternoon; organize my desk and life...
2:00 - 3:30 - Teach the second block of lessons
3:45pm - Bolt out of work and head home or the beach

10:00pm - Head to bed

- Thursday nights are spent out with THE SHIFT (a gathering of colleagues at a pub for an end-of-the-week drink(s)) and then usually out somewhere after that.
- Friday is a holy day so there is not much to do other than hit the beach and relax until the evening when one can go out on the town.
- Saturday seems like a regular work day for most people, so grocery shopping and other errands get taken care of then along with a trip to the beach or tennis or something else fun before the weekend ends!

Starting today, I will begin tennis with my new coach (good friend, Jen) and hopefully get myself to a point where I can play a decent game, but there's a lot of work to do before that happens. Plus, once it gets hot I will be worthless....

Coming in the next weeks will be checking out the pottery and pilates studios along with joining some salsa classes once or twice a week. So...as usual I will find myself busy. Oh and yes, there is that whole phd studying thing... :D

More to come!

Until next time ~

-T

ZOO: Classroom Moments 1

Cultural Observation: Negotiations are done loudly and with great expression until finally a coin is tossed to determine a winner.

My students have begun working on group projects this afternoon. I have given them a rare period to begin working. One of the tasks is to determine a country to focus on, but no group may have the same country. Of course, two groups wanted the same country.

Student A asks around for what countries everyone is doing. Group 1 says Yemen. Group 4 also wants Yemen (Student A's group). Arabic begins flying from group to group. Here is my translation/interpretation of what went round:

Argument 1: Group 1 has four students while Group 4 has only two present. [rationale by majority]
Argument denied.

Argument 2: Group 1 tells Teacher which country they are doing. Teacher says Sure. It's now decided.
Argument refuted that Student A had been asking other groups, so in essence she should get a say first on which country and that asking Teacher doesn't count.

Argument 3: We've already started researching about the country.
Argument refuted - so have we "See" (showing computer screen)

Argument 4: Shout over the top of the others and the loudest person wins.
Argument void as both groups shout.

Meanwhile I am laughing... I laugh more when I see the 1 dirham coin come out and Student A gets up to flip. Flip. Student A makes a noise, face and laughter ensues. She has lost.

Result Group 1 wins Yemen. Lesson learned? Majority does win and the louder the better!

Ah... entertainment at its finest. You can't get this on television, I tell ya'!

Until next time...

-T

ZOO: Teaching Moments 1

Issue 1: 5-minutes = late for both two hour sessions

On Day 1, we discussed as a class the rule for coming in late to class. Instead of having a break half-way between the two 1-hour sessions, we go for 90-minutes straight. This means that the rule for being allowed 5-minutes to be late applies to both hourly sessions in the morning and afternoon.

Yesterday wasn't a problem because class began at 10am. This morning was the first time the class began at 8am after the rules were discussed. At 8am for roll call, there were 4 students sitting in their seats. At 8:20 three more students came in and by the end of the 90-minutes 11 students were present.

The three that waltzed in first were convinced I should mark them as present for at least the second-half of the morning session because, of course, their previous teachers had done the same.

My response:
"New course, new level, new teacher, new rules".

Student response:
- Silent looks of disapproval, whispers and pouty faces.

Lesson learned: Teacher is strict...and, students are the same no matter where you go.

People are the same no matter where you go. It's comforting, at least, to know that humanity and behaviour crosses cultures and language. :D

In the end, we came to an agreement. Today, I will be flexible. Tomorrow, I will not. Any questions? None.

Until next time...

-T

PS I will post these moments back on my Mental Meanderings blog once I am internet-friendly at home!