I am a history Teacher...?!?

First of all, I want to let you know that I am missing you all terribly! I miss my family a lot, but not enough to want to leave :)
Thought I would give you a quick update on my roomie situation. Jackie and Sarah were the two girls that I've lived with for the past month and they both left Egypt this past week. I've loved living with them and will miss them a lot. My two new roomates, Melissa and Amber, are the two girls that I will be living with for the rest of the year. They are really sweet and are definately from Texas :) They arrived last week.

So I am an American History teacher, well just for the week. So more like a substitue, but still its pretty weird and exiting. A school for mks were in need of history, science, and Bible teachers for thier middle school and high school students. So yesterday was my first day and it went great! I taught 7-10th graders and I had a lot of fun.. it was pretty laid back and I felt really comfortable. Today went fine as well. Monday I start school for arabic, so this was my first and last week there. But it was a good experience and I just confirmed to me that I really do enjoy teaching.

OOHHH And I have decided on a school which has a great program! Its called Kalimat (which means word in arabic) and I start on the 1st. Thank you for praying about the whole situation!! I feel really good about going to this school and will let you know how my first day goes. Im very exited.

the clinic

The past couple of days I’ve spent working at the clinic and office. There are two girls from the orphanage that work with Jen now and we (my two roommates and I) have been teaching them English. Its interesting to watch them learn my language because in two weeks I will switching places with them and will be studying their language. On Monday I went to the clinic for the first time… I got to see kinda how everything works. Jen really provides an amazing opportunites for care and education for the woman and children in the area. Most kids are suffering from lung problems because of the cement factories in the area.. its really sad. I honestly cannot imagine myself living my whole life like most people in the area do… they are so poor and uneducated.
A team from the states is arriving on Friday and will be painting the clinic so we sanded all the walls at the clinic trying to make it an even surface for them to paint on. Breathing in the paint dust was pretty intense, so much so that we blew colors from our noses J Today, I went to the girls library club that they have at the clinic for the first time. Most of them probably were from 8-12 year olds and could just barely say their alphabet. I helped one girl, Dina, with a puzzle that matched Arabic words with pictures. So we both ended up learning a lot! They are so anxious to get their hands on anything that they don’t normally have.
My roommates, Jon, Miriam and her friend Hani and I went to the Cairo Market, “ Khan”, it was soo much fun! We walked around super narrow and crowded alley ways with vendors attempting to lure us into their shops with their broken English “I have everting you want” and “Are you looking for a husband”phrases. It was quite entertaining. Plus we found this great Egyptian Pancake restaurant… it was delicious!

Wadi Digla

Got to go hiking in Wadi Digla with Jen Day and my two roomates and a friend of ours yesterday. It was beautiful.. in a barren desert sort of way. But it really was beautiful and nice to walk around and not have everyone stare at you constantly. I posted some pictures of our trek. Afterwards a friend of ours made us an authentic Egyptian meal which was absolutely delicious!
Today I went to the office and tomorrow I will be going to help out at the clinic. Looking forward to seeing how it all works.

One week

hey all
I have now been in Cairo for officially a whole week! I love it so far! I think I just got over jetlag as this has been the second night where I haven’t woken up at 3 o’clock in the morning! I’m exited about getting back on schedule.
So far I have really enjoyed Cairo. Last night I went out with my roommates and their Arabic tutor, his siblings, and their English students. We went out walking around a town and got kousheri (the Egyptian staple of lentils, rice, and noodles in a red sauce), which is surprisingly not that bad. Gives you a little indigestion, but most things do here J I was trying to carry on a conversation with one of the girls with my limited Arabic and her limited English. It made me realize how essential language is to a relationship and how exited I am to learn Arabic. This morning, as it is Friday and the holy day, I helped out in kid’s church which was a lot of fun. I cannot wait to get to know those kids more.. some of them have some interesting personalities!

I would love if you guys could pray about something for me. I was planning on going to a certain language center here in Cairo and planned accordingly. After visiting the center with the Wommack Family we’ve realized why its so cheap. Pretty much its an Islamic school and they use the center as an outreach. Most of the students goals that attend there are to become better muslims and to study Arabic so that they can read the Koran in the holy language. We all were very uncomfortable with the idea of going there. Another intern started there a month ago to study Arabic and has already quit because of its concentrated Islamic studies. I just don’t know if for my long term goal of learning Arabic, this language center will be the best choice. I have checked out a couple of other ones as well.. in hopes to find a good quality school with a decent price. I have found one that I think would work great, but the price is the only thing holding me back. It puts me a little under budget. If you would please pray for me to make the decision that would be right for my language study and also where God would like to place me. I am praying about it myself and have to decide in the next few days and I would love for you to join me in prayer! Thank you guys!

I am absolutely so glad that God has given me this opportunity to come here. I know that this year will be amazing. Thank you for wanting to share it with me!
II’ll let you know what happens with the language school.
Thank you all!

On the Radio

Last night while playing ‘Life’ with the Wommacks I received a phone call. It was Zack from the airplane and he asked me if I would be ready in about 15 minutes to talk on the radio about how we met! (I wrote about the story in the previous blog.) I was like “Oh sure”… and in my mind I was freaking out. Bethany was kind to remind me that this radio station was broadcasted all over the Middle East and millions of people would be listening. It didn’t call my nerves very much to say the least. I was told that I was not allowed to swear, talk about pigs, Israel, politics, or religion.. probably a little different then the warnings you receive before going on the air in the states hehe. It actually turned out alright J I didn’t say anything extremely stupid and it was a really cool experience. Glad I didn’t freak out and hang up on them!

Tomorrow I will be going to Fajr Language Center to check it out and perhaps register for class that will start in a week. After talking to Joy and Craig I am also checking out two other language centers to see which one is best, and also easiest to get too. We might be looking at them tomorrow as well. So please pray that I make the best decision concerning which place to study. Also, please pray for my jet lag… Last night I woke up at 2 in the morning and didn’t go back to sleep till perhaps 6.. and I woke up and asked my roommate what time it was and she said 3:30 in the afternoon! I had wanted to go to the clinic with them today and hadn’t realized they had even left. So please pray that I can finally get back on schedule! Thanks guys!

I'm here

Im sitting on my bed in Heliopolis, Cairo. Its 4 o’clock in the morning and I’ve been up for the past 2 hours not being able to sleep a wink. I guess the jet-lag is worse than I thought. This is my home for the next year… a weird thought, but I know the time will fly by and before you know it you will be reading that I am leaving to go back to Minneapolis. So far its extremely HOT and humid, polluted (hit #1 most polluted city in the world), and pretty dirty, and I can’t seem to remember not to flush my toilet paper down the toilet. Yet at the same time in an odd sense it kind of feels like home. I can’t explain it, but maybe the mosquito vapes plugged into the walls, the car horns constantly honking, even the different light switches brings back memories from Lebanon. Coincidently bringing a sense of familiarity into this new country. It’s almost comforting. But The stark white walls and overbearingly fancy furniture (anyone whos been to the Middle East knows what Im talking about) in this apartment is crying out for me decorate and make this place feel like home! I can’t wait to get my hands on it J
I had a great flight over here from Minneapolis and had an 8 hour layover in Amsterdam. I ended up sitting next to a very nice guy from Seattle flying to Cairo as well so we toured around Amsterdam together. I even got to spend an hour or two in the Van Gough Museum which was exiting for me. He’s a a DJ for the only English radio station here in Cairo. On the flight to Amsterdam he accidentally spilt his wine all over his pants and so after only an hour or two getting to know him he was wearing my extra pair of pants I had brought along. It was pretty amusing to both of us. So if you could listen in to the Cairo radio station on Sunday you might actually get to hear the story J After landing in Cairo I got picked up by Craig and Jon Wommack and they took my back to my apartment. After sleeping for 10 hours my two temporary roommates (really sweet girls) and I went over to their house for a delicious spaghetti dinner and then we had youth group. Except all the youth are currently out of the country for the summer and so it was a bunch of other interns and some Egyptian guys who came over and we played catch phrase (which was hard for the Egytain guys to join in), worshipped, and had an interesting talk about heroes and such. Inspired by the new amazing movie ‘Dark Knight’. We got home last night around midnight and now I can’t sleep…
Which I need desperately because I am supposed to be going to Garbage City to play with the handicapped kids this morning and I’ve only gotten 3 hours of sleep…
God is simply amazing and I cannot believe I am here.