Finally, a view looking at the other end of the street. No, not all of Cairo has this many trees.  

Here is my sweet bedroom.  

Here is our living room in the apartment. 

My Answers....

Okay, okay, so I've been getting some questions on the blog and I figured maybe, just maybe I would answer one or two of them.

First off, the pollution here is not just smog, but there is honestly trash on the streets. Don't get me wrong, they do have people that come around and collect trash from our building (as well as other buildings) but there is still trash on the streets.
Also, the water is a little gross. Drink it and you'll get sick (just ask two of the new teachers here). They say that you will get used to it after a few weeks, but I couldn't deal with the Pharaoh's Curse for that long.
As for a Feminist movement, that's where things get interesting. To be sure, there are plenty of strong women in the country. However, women are seen as objects here, more so than in the States (in my opinion at least). I've been on the Metro and watched as men stared at the women I'm traveling with. I'm not talking about 5 seconds or anything even near that short, but for a long, long period of time. I've also heard stories of men saying outrageous things to women and even touching them in inappropriate places.
However, this being said, if anyone was to mess with a woman here, and she yelled or did something about it, the men within the vicinity would assist her and he would get what was coming to him. Interesting contradiction huh?

As for more photos.....soon.

God Bless

My Contact info...

Some of you have been asking for contact info: To be honest, mail isn't great here in Egypt. I've been told the mailing things to the school is reliable, so once I get that address, I'll post it. As for phone numbers:

Home: (20) 02-635-8886 We have a rotary phone with no machine, so no messages. Sorry. If this doesn't work, take out one of the zeros.

Cell: (20) 10-712-0303 Again, no voicemail here either. So if you catch me, yeah!!

Hope to hear a voice soon.
God Bless

This is the view from our balcony looking at the Military Academy. You can see the satellite dishes on top of the buildings in the background. 

My first few days.....

Well, it's official, I've been here for two weeks now. Don't worry, I'm actually having a good time over here, although there have been a few slip-ups and lots of laughs.

This week has been interesting, to say the least. I have decided to join a softball team this semester. The team plays/practices in Maadi, a suburb about 35 minutes away (in a cab at least). We practiced yesterday and truth-be-told, I suck. For those of you that don't know, I've never played baseball or softball, especially organized baseball/softball. In fact, I really don't like baseball, but this is giving me a way to get out of the apartment and a way to meet people.

Today, we took a trip to Maadi to eat lunch. About eight of us went from the school and we had a blast. We ate at a place called Luciles (or something like that). It is an American restaurant there. Maadi is a suburb with a lot of foreigners and ex-pats. It's a very nice place, but it's a complete contradiction to the Egypt that I live in.

School is going well. Currently I'm the only 3rd grade teacher, which would worry me a lot more if we started on Sunday. They have to hire someone to teach Math/Science. This also meant that I was volunteered to be on the Discipline Committee. Good times.

Arabic is coming along slowly. My roommate Alex and I are working on a word of the day. Today is was behb or door. Other words have been beda (eggs) and gamoosa (water buffalo). We don't pick the most useful words, but they're fun to know.

I'll post a picture or two tonight. I hope all is well where ever you are.
God Bless

My Mistake, pt. II

Okay, okay, so I blew it again. My information department (thanks Dustin) looked it up and the average Egyptian makes around $3,900 per year, not the $1,200 I had read in my travel book (blasted Lonely Planet liars).

My Thanks.....

First off, a big thanks to everyone who has left a comment over the past few weeks. It makes me think people are actually reading this thing, instead of me just typing this for my parents. So Thank you so much for saying hello or leaving a note.

I suppose I haven't really introduced you to Cairo yet. The city is huge, dirty and very busy. There are some where between 16.5 and 20 million people in and around this city. So far, everything looks the same, although I'm beginning to be able to tell where I am sometimes. Life here is rough and many people are poor, some extremely poor. I believe I read that the average Egyptian makes $1,200 a year. I've seen rich ex-pats living in Maahdi, a suburb S of the city, which looks completely different to what I see daily. I've also seen people, even children, sleeping on a piece of cardboard in the street. It's a little different.

I'm living in a 2 bedroom apartment with a guy named Alex in Heliopolis, a suburb NE of the city center. It's located near the airport. It's a nice suburb, but don't get the idea of suburbia like in the States. There are tons of apartment buildings, shops, stores, fruit stands and cats. Lots of cats. Everywhere. We also live next to the Military Academy, which is interesting.

I take a taxi everywhere I go. I often meet up with some people in Korba, an area of town that is 10 minutes away by cab. The ride is cheap, around 5 LE (which means Egyptian Pounds), this is equivalent to less than a $1. Good deal. Because of the cheaper standard of living, things here are very cheap, once you figure in the exchange rate. I can buy a huge bottle of water often for 2 LE or maybe a little more.

As for my job (yes, I do work too), I don't actually have any students until the 17th of September. We are moving into a new building, which is still being built, so the start of school has been delayed. Good times!!

I hope all is well. More will come soon and I'll try to get some photos up as well.

My Delay

I do apologize for the recent delay in communication from my end. I am still waiting for the DSL to get hooked up in my flat. I am currently hanging out at Erica and Kelly's flat, abusing their internet and TV.

Things here are going well. I have food now and a towel, both which are positives. I'm currently waiting on my flatmate, Alex, to arrive before I start going crazy getting things for the apartment. He gets here tomorrow and we start gearing up for school on Sunday. It should be fun.

Well, I'm going to run. I'm sorry for how short the last two posts have been. I promise to tell you about Egypt when I get my DSL connected.

Until then,

Bill

My Arrival

Good News!! I have arrived in Cairo. It was a long couple of flights with a lot of anxiety, but I am alive and well in Cairo. I will post more once I have DSL hooked up in my flat. Until then, I just wanted you to know that I am safe.

God Bless,
Bill

My Departure....

Well, the time has come for me to head to Africa. I've been hanging out in DM for the last two weeks and I think I'm about to lose my mind. I'm ready to get to Cairo, get adjusted and begin preparing to teach.

I've finally said just about all my good-byes as well. Tonight we had a BBQ at a park in Des Moines, to welcome Dustin back from Kenya and to see me off to Egypt. It was a ton of fun as we sat around, ate some good food (thanks to Grill Master Mike) and then, to top it all off, we played a fantastic game of 4 vs 4 Kickball. It was the Brothers Farley taking on the Old Guys. If you haven't played Kickball as an adult, I suggest that you do it because it's a ton of fun. Ultimately the Old Guys were too much, defeat the younger (and more in-shape) Farleys 28-9 (if not worse, we lost count to be honest).

Tomorrow, I head for Chicago, where I will spend the night. Then on Monday, I fly off to Egypt, arriving there on Tuesday afternoon.

This will be my last chance to post before I leave, so I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has helped me (and put up with me) along the way and I'll post again once I get to Cairo.

God Bless,
Bill

The Gang ready to find some Snipe. 

My Summer Job.....

Okay, so some of you have been hearing about how much fun my summer job was. Besides working with some great people (Aaron, Melissa, Nancy, Megan, Nick-where ever he is, and yes even you Kathy) I was able to work with some great kids for the past 8 weeks. Sure, I got in trouble a few times, but we had more fun for it!

I worked at the UI Wildlife Camps this summer, in Hawk Camp, probably the greatest camp ever (so much better than those smelly otters and that weak eagle camp). I taught kids archery and I would go on a hike in the mornings where we'd search for mushrooms, insects, bones, wildlife and pretty much anything else to keep the kids occupied for 2 hours.

The last week of camp was great. We grilled out 3 out of 5 days and then on the last day we had some sweet sub sandwiches. Why didn't we start this earlier??

So the big event came of the 2nd to last day of camp. That night Aaron, Melissa and I took some other counselors Snipe Hunting (which, if you've never been, we'll arrange it for when I come back). The night ended with me being sprayed by a skunk which is just as gross as it sounds. In the end though, it was a great night and we all went down in Hawk Camp lore for it.

And if Nick ever reads this....where are you man???? (for those that don't know...Nick went cycling from Kenya to South Africa and we haven't heard from him since mid-July. Most likely due to a lack of Internet access...hopefully....hopefully not lions or hyenas or something like that....yeah.

So that is a brief view of my summer. Probably one of the best summers I can remember and it was a blast. It also allowed me to appreciate the landscape of Iowa before I head for the desert.