First Blog Entry

This is my first blog and my first blog entry... so we'll see how this goes! The countdown has begun and I officially leave the country in 12 days. And yes, I am freaking out a little bit. But I have had an amazing summer and have spent time with my family and friends as much as possible. For my first blog entry, I obviously don't have anything to say about living in Egypt because I'm not there yet. I have discovered, however, that a lot of people don't know why I'm moving there, how I got my job, and there are a lot of common questions asked. So that's what I'll tell(?) all my fans about now. Is it weird that I feel like I'm planning a lesson?

For those of you that don't know, I'm moving to Cairo, Egypt because I received an AMAZING job teaching theatre full time at an American school called Hayah International Academy. Theatre?!?! That's strange. Yes, it kind of is. But that's what my degree is in... theatre education. So I'm super pumped to actually be using my degree the first year after I graduate!

I got the job by going to the Overseas Recruitment Fair at the University of Northern Iowa. It's basically 2-3 days of interviews and if people like you, they offer you a job. (If anyone wants more info about the fair, e-mail me... it's amazing). So I went to the fair in February, had a 30 minute interview with the school in a hotel room (which isn't as strange as it sounds), and they offered me a job the next day. I had less than 24 hours to decide if I wanted to move there for 2 years. But how could I say no? That's the story of how I got the job in a nutshell.

The school is providing me with a furnished apartment that I only have to pay utilities on, they're flying me there and back once a year, giving me extra money to ship/fly with extra luggage, and overall it's a pretty amazing deal. Plus I get to live in Egypt for 2 years. I will be living in a "suburb" of Cairo called Maadi and a bus will pick me up every day at my apartment, bring me to school, and back home again. I will not have a car or drive because traffic there is CRAZY... seriously. My work week is Sunday through Thursday because Friday is the Muslim Holy Day. (Cairo is 90% Muslim). I do not have to wear a headdress, but my attire will be much more conservative. While at school I'm not allowed to show my elbows, knees, shoulders, or chest. Yes, Cairo is safe for women and very peaceful overall even though approximately 8 million people live there. And the students speak English in school.

Those are all the common questions I am asked. That is all I can think to say now for a blog entry... but I will probably write more in the next week about how I'm freaking out. Enjoy and thanks for reading!