July 9 and 10

Friday was quite relaxing. I finally got a chance to sleep in but I woke up at about 9 or 9:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. But it's ok because I wasn't that tired anymore. I had a lot of time to just lounge around in the afternoon, and then later Manal and I went to the market and then to Royal House (a local grocery store) to get some food. Eriny is gone to her village in Upper Egypt to prepare for her wedding in August, so for the next week Manal and I will be holding down the fort in the preschool. But 2 other girls will be coming to help and will probably be with us for most of the summer. Anyways then at 7:30 Manal and I went to the evangelistic meeting in the church and then had some skype partyness and introduced each other to some of our skype contacts. It was a pretty fun night.

On Sabbath after church I went to another potluck outside in the preschool yard again. It was going to be at a park but for some reason it got moved to the yard. It was another nice time. After visiting for awhile when the potluck was done I came back to my room and had a very nice and lengthy nap which was quite appreciated. Then Manal and I made some food and watched The Blind Side. It was really motivating and I liked the message. I hope I can always have the same type of spirit that the mom did. Now I'm off to bed and ready for another week of work ahead of me. Goodnight!

Teaching, Instrument Shop, and a Cathedral

Thursday was pretty cool. In the preschool we studied articles of clothing and then we made hats (actually I guess they were crowns). The kids loved them and some didn't want to take them off all day. In the afternoon we turned on the sprinkler and got all wet which was very welcome in the hot weather. Girgis, Eriny's finance, came with some other people from NUA to the preschool and he cooked for us. It was very much appreciated, and very yummy! After work I helped Manal make some signs for a missionary couple that were coming back from furlough. Then later on I went with one of the preschool families to an instrument shop to help them find a violin for their son Youssef, who I will be teaching violin lessons to. They are the nicest people and are such a gracious and kind family. After that we went to their Coptic church. The cathedral was very huge...I believe they said it's the biggest Coptic cathedral in Egypt. While the dad was at a meeting we went to the club area. I met some people and talked with the mom while we waited. It was a very interesting experience. They have large areas for children and youth to play and there's also a food shop. They bought me some food and a couple pops. I sang the ABC song with Mirey, their 2 year old daughter who comes to the preschool, and went over some colors. She's getting pretty good at knowing her colors and she especially likes the color orange. Whenever I ask her at preschool which color of paper she wants (for a craft or something) she always picks orange. We stayed at the church for over an hour and then headed home. Mirey fell asleep on me in the car...it was very cute. I think Youssef is excited to learn to play the violin, but I just hope I can teach effectively to an Arabic child. So my day was quite interesting and I'm loving each new experience that I am having.

July 7

Today was a rather regular day. In the preschool we made fans out of folded paper and colored them. I thought the kids could use them well in this heat! Oh, I also took some of the dress-up items that I brought with me to Egypt down to the preschool today. The kids loved putting them on, so I hope they can continue to have fun with them this year. The afternoons get really long and hot because the air conditioning in the preschool stopped working this week so we get pretty warm. After work I basically just relaxed all evening, which was very welcome because I didn't have to go out anywhere. I guess I'm getting a cold because my throat has been pretty scratchy and I've been coughing a lot, especially after I wake up. But I hope this will pass quickly. Ok well that's about all I have to report for this day...

Beginning of July

So my Sabbath was really nice. After church we had a potluck out in the yard by the preschool and the food was sooo good! There were about 12 ppl there I believe. After we finished lunch we stayed outside just talking for a good while. We also watched the missionary pastor play with his kids in the sprinkler which was amusing. He wasn't intending to get wet but the sprinkler fell and got him all wet so he ended up drenching himself and playing with his children. Later on I had some time to relax in my room, and then after sunset Manal and her sister Jackline and I went over to Karin's house to visit with her since she had been feeling sick that day. She was doing ok by then, besides her usual shoulder pain. We had a nice time with her and she offered us some really yummy food as well.

Sunday was back to work. We made sunshines out of yellow and orange construction paper and then put the kids names on them and let them decorate it with small colored pom-pom ball thingys and also glitter. Then we put them up on the wall above the bulletin board. Since the preschool is called Sunshine Preschool I thought it would be fitting to have sunshines up on the wall with the kids names on them. In the evening we went to the evangelistic meeting in the church and then I talked to some of the church members for awhile after the meeting. So those were the main highlights of the day.

Monday I worked on implementing a somewhat modified schedule from what the preschool had been operating on. I'm still trying to find what works best and then make my ultimate schedule, but so far the mornings have been working out really well. I couldn't believe how well the kids behaved for worship on Monday. They were as good as gold. We're doing the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho this week and so after worship we made a craft that was related to our Bible story. We colored on paper and then rolled the paper into a horn, like the horns that you hear of being used in Bible times, and to call the army to march around the city. The kids loved the horns and really enjoyed tooting through them too. I'm so glad for some of the items that I brought that I almost didn't bring. I was going through all my old things at home this summer before I came to Egypt and I came across quite a few items that I was going to get rid of, but then realized I could use them in the preschool. One such item is this blow-up ball that has a map of the world on it...so it's like a ball and globe in one. The kids absolutely love playing with this ball. When we play outside they kick it or throw it or bounce it off their heads. It's really cute to watch. They don't have any large-sized balls at the preschool so I want to buy some for the children. Anyways I'm so glad I brought my globe-ball. Oh, after work I finally got around to sweeping the floor in my room. People keep telling me that in Egypt you can sweep one day and then the next day the floor will have dust all over it again. I believe it...it's impossible to go outside without your feet getting completely dirty. At nighttime I went with Anita and Manal to a store. Cairo is very busy at night...people also tell me that Egyptians come alive at night, and it seems to be true. This works for me since I'm definitely more of a night owl than an early bird. But I'm trying to go to bed earlier than I usually would because I have to get up early and also because I've been getting tired pretty early while I'm here...probably because of all the work in the preschool. So anyways that was my Monday.

On Tuesday we used puppets to tell the Bible story and the kids really loved it. Oh I also taught a couple of the older children how to play bingo. We did color and shape bingo on Monday and then did number bingo on Tuesday. They like the game but still find it a little tough. They know how to count out loud but aren't as familiar with recognizing numbers. But it's ok, we'll keep working on it. They're doing pretty good considering they're not even in Kindergarten yet. All in all they're pretty good kids. I went on another excursion at night with Anita and Manal, and also Ranya (a church lady) and her son Youssef, who helps out in the preschool sometimes in the summer. I also witnessed a fight on the streets when we were about to leave. I don't know what happened but 2 men were mad at each other and people were trying to hold them back so they wouldn't fight each other. It was a little scary since it was right on the road in front of the Adventist church and my apartment. All the traffic was stopped behind these 2 vehicles because they got out of their cars. So people were upset at them and honking their horns, but that happens every second of every day on the streets of Cairo so I guess that's nothing new. Anyways that concludes my updates. Oh and don't worry cuz I'm having a great time. It's a lot of work and I'm very busy, but it's also very fun too. I'm sure God has a great year in store for me.

My First Full Week

Wow so much has happened since my last post! I wish I could post everyday because I want to keep a record of every one of my days here, even if some of them are short, but I just haven't had time so far this week. So in this post I'll attempt to recount all the happenings since my last one. Here we go:

Monday:
First of all Ana and I started out the morning by going again to exercise. Then we came back and went to staff worship. I introduced myself to all the staff in the Egypt Field Office, and then all introduced themselves to me. It was good to do. I don't know how often I'll get to go to worship, because if I go to exercise then I can't really take off more time in the morning. Manal, Eriny, and I each get a one hour break in the morning and then a 30 minute break in the afternoon, since our day goes from about 7:30-5:30. Preschool ends at 3:30, but Steven, this 2 year old little boy, stays an hour late, and Omar who just started coming this week will be staying 2 hours late. Luckily the money that comes from kids staying late is split between Eriny, Manal, and I. Anyways, after worship we dove into a full day at the preschool. This was my last day not being the leader. I basically just took part in all the activities, played with and helped the kids, and tried to understand how the preschool worked. Honestly I can't remember what exactly went down this day, which is why I want to blog at the end of every day or at least every 2 days, so I can remember everything that happens. Oh, after all the other kids left I brought out this nice book of matching that has a grid and tiles that go along with it. I taught Omar how to use the book, and he loved it. I told him he was the first one to learn how to use the book and now he could teach other kids how to use it too, which he did. The next day he taught Youssef (another 5 year old boy) how to use it and they really enjoyed it. Oh and yes, in the evening Pastor Llew and Karin took Ana and I to a Lebanese restaurant. It was about a 20 minute walk away or so. The food was really good. We had these things that were like some type of puffy bread with cheese and vegetables inside. I had mango juice too which was yummy. That was about all I can remember happening on Monday.

Tuesday:
This was my first day in charge at the preschool! Ana was still here, but she was packing and getting ready to leave since she flew out at 2 in the morning on Wednesday. Ohhh this day was sooo hard! Things were so disorganized and I just felt like I couldn't do this for a whole year. Kids were crying and fighting and I felt discouraged. I got there really late because after I came back from exercising I had to go with this man Yousry who works in the Egypt Field Office. We went somewhere in the city for me to get my permanent visa, since the one I got in the airport only lasts for 15 days. We took a taxi on the way there. After we got to the place I waited around for a long time while Yousry did what needed to be done, since he could communicate with the people there and I couldn't. After we left he had to make a couple stops so we walked around the city for a good while. We walked all the way back and I was so hot and boiling by the time we finally got back. Then I went to work in the preschool the rest of the day. My two Egyptian helpers, Manal and Eriny (who are sisters) were holding down the fort until I got there during lunchtime. Anyways, I finally got through the day at the preschool...hallelujah! After work was done I went to the beauty salon with Ana and a lady named Renee. Ana got her hair straightened and got all prettied up for her last night in Egypt. Then they dropped me off back at the apartment while they did a few last errands. I tried to fall asleep but I'm not sure if I actually got any sleep in. I was pretty tired. After they got back we went out to eat at Pizza King. The pizza was really good and reminded me of Pizza Hut pizza. There was a nice big group of us who went out. When we got back I said goodbye to Ana because she had to head for the airport. Some other people went to the airport to see her off, but they didn't tell her they were going, so they surprised her when she got there. I was really tired though and so I didn't end up going. I was really sad to see her leave, because she had helped me out so much, and when she left it was like my instruction left, plus a new friend. Anyways she went off on her way and I mentally prepared myself for the next couple days of teaching before the weekend.

Wednesday:
I made the trek to Pastor Jim and Joyce's house all by myself for the first time. It was a little nerve-wracking but I found my way and got my hour of exercise in, and made it back all in one piece. Tuesday was my first day in charge, but Wednesday was my first official day of being completely on my own, since Ana was still at the preschool a couple times throughout the day for awhile. I was actually amazed that this day went surprisingly well! There were a few sections that didn't work very well, but for the most part the kids were happy and abstained from fighting and crying. So the day was basically a reasonable success for my first official day as the director. I introduced the kids to some of these squishy puzzles that I brought from home and they really seemed to like them. Oh! New development: I'm going to bed teaching violin lessons to Youssef! He's 5 years old, but almost 6. He was coming to the preschool for just the summer since he's in school in the fall, but now he's going to another place because there weren't any other kids his own age until Omar came. But his mom decided to send him to this other place before Omar started coming to our preschool. Anyways his little sister Mirey still comes so I'll still see his mom and be in contact with his family. So on Wednesday when his mom came to pick the kids up she asked me if I would be interested and willing to teach him violin lessons. I think it's a great opportunity to use my music skills to further serve and witness, so I said I could for sure do that. She said she knows another boy who might be interested too. Anyways I explained everything to them, and they want me to go with them to help find a violin that will fit him, and then teach 2 lessons a week during the summer and 1 lesson a week during the school year. So I think that's pretty cool. I hope it goes well. Ok so then after work I came upstairs to my apartment and started cleaning and putting my things away finally! I got a lot of things done but I didn't finish before I went to bed.

Thursday:
This day was an anomaly to me. There ended up only being 3 kids that came to preschool that day: Steven, Mirey, and Saif. Steven and Mirey are 2 and Saif is 3 but I think he's almost 4. Saif was the first kid in the preschool. I actually just found out that a girl I know from when I was at Southern was the first one to start teaching this preschool! I knew she came to Egypt, but I didn't realize she was teaching at this preschool. Anyways when she started, Saif was the only kid, so he likes to think of it as his preschool. He's a really good little boy. But the day was so weird because there were only 3 kids, but in some ways it was crazier than Wednesday when we had 8 kids. Anyways we got through the day and after Saif and Mirey left I was playing with Steven outside...he gets picked up an hour late. He seems to do really well when it's 1-on-1 and no other kids are around. After we had played for awhile I picked him up and held him while I was swinging. I wasn't expecting it at all but he ended up falling asleep. He was so tired and just fell asleep to the lull of the swinging. It was really cute to see. His dad came to pick him up shortly after he was completely asleep. So after he left we got to work cleaning. We clean every day after we finish because there's so many ants and flies, and the table and floors always get dirty. But Thursday is the end of the work week here (Friday and Saturday are the weekend instead of Saturday and Sunday), so on Thursdays we clean everything thoroughly, including the bathrooms. When we were finally done that I came upstairs and got more of my things put away. Then Eriny, Manal, and I headed out to NUA to stay the night. When we got there I met Eriny's finance Girgis and also Manal and Eriny's uncle and aunt. We ate supper at their house. It was rice and this green Egyptian food that you put on top of rice. It was really good. I also met this little 1 year old boy named Michael which is Girgis' nephew, and then this other 3 year old girl named Donna (after Donna Rose from Kelowna who served there for 10 years). She kept putting pieces of popcorn into my mouth, it was pretty cute. Later we walked around the academy. It was night so it was hard to see things, but I got a feel for the grounds. Oh to get there you have to take the metro for maybe 20-25 minutes, then you take a taxi to the academy. NUA is in the middle of a really rustic and dirty village. There's a wall around the academy, and once you get inside the gate it's a stark contrast from the village on the outside. They have big gardens where they grow a lot of food for the school, and they have lots of trees. Anyways then we went to one of the houses where one of the missionary families live. They were watching The Gods Must Be Crazy, and they served us watermelon. I was so tired I fell asleep on the couch, so we decided it was time to go to bed. We slept in the apartment where Eriny and Girgis will live after they get married in August. Since she'll be living there I might get a new helper so that I maintain my number of 2 helpers, or maybe Manal and I will just continue by ourselves. We'll see. I was so tired that I fell asleep at the foot of the bed, but then I woke up later and moved to the head of the bed, and then woke up another time and moved under the covers haha.

Friday:
I'm sorry this post is so long! But it would be just as long if I split it up into 5 different posts...they would just be separated instead. Anyways after we got ready for the day I ate breakfast at the same place that I ate supper the night before. I had pita bread, beans, and falafels and it was yummy! Then I saw the academy in the daytime, went to the house of the girls dean, and then saw the girls dorm. Then I went back to the dean's house and she offered me her computer to use the internet which I gladly accepted. Then she threaded Manal's eyebrows while I was on the internet. After that Manal, her sister Jackline who goes to NUA and is living and working there this summer, and I headed back home. Eriny stayed for a class that she had to do on Fridays. She goes to NUA every weekend since her finance lives there, and so she won't be back until either tonight I believe. After we got back to Heliopolis, the area of Cairo that we live in, Manal and I went to the market while Jackline went back to our apartment. She's spending the weekend here. I think she spends most weekends here actually. So anyways I finally got some of my own food from the market. Then we came back and I finally got done putting the rest of my stuff away! I also discovered that I had acquired almost 50 mosquito bites on my legs...uggghh. I was wearing capris and so they go the bottom of my legs. I remember now that when I got my vaccination and medication consult before I left, the nurse told me that the mosquitoes here aren't up by your head but are down by the ground and you don't know they're there and don't feel them. And since there's not really mosquitoes here in Heliopolis I didn't think about the fact that there would probably be a lot at the academy. So my legs are nicely covered in many red itchy dots. Oh well. Then I went downstairs to the apartment below me where Anita and her family live. They're a missionary family from the Dominican Republic that are volunteering for a 2 year commitment. They've been here for almost a year now. Anita's husband is the associate pastor in the Heliopolis church, and then they have a 5 year old son and a 3 year old daughter. Anyways she invited me to come to her house to do our nails. She did mine, and also did hers since I told her I was very bad at it. Then we just sat and talked for a long time, and I stayed with them while they welcomed in the Sabbath. They light a candle in the kids' room, sing a song while Anita plays her guitar, and then pray. After they finish the kids have an ice cream bar because they let their kids have ice cream every Friday to make them look forward to Sabbath, which I think is a cool idea. Then I came back upstairs and watched Fireproof with Manal while we ate popcorn and cantaloupe. We both fell asleep during the movie since we were so tired, so bedtime was very welcome.

Thus concludes my first full week in Egypt! I will try to blog more often so each post won't have to cover so many days. But all in all things are going great, I'm starting to love it here, and it's actually starting to feel like home (or my 2nd home I suppose...hmmm or maybe my 3rd home, after Kelowna and then Southern). But yeah, if I can just nail down the teaching part so it can be as effective as possible then I think this year shall be pretty amazing. I'm so happy I came to Egypt because it's a great place and there's so many great people here that I'm sure I'll never be lonely. Until next time, God bless all my faithful (and maybe not so faithful) readers!