Delays

I went to school yesterday (yes, on a Sunday... my work week is Sunday through Thursday) eager to meet the entire staff of Hayah. It was the first day for all staff, not just the new staff orientation. The day started with a meeting in the gym... and there was a delay/bad news right away. I already knew that the government said no schools are allowed to start until after Ramadan and Eid El Fitr (the holiday after Ramadan) are over. But Hayah was going to "ignore" this and start anyway. Well... guess what... not anymore. Apparently we've been ordered not to start or the school will be shut down. This means that I don't officially start teaching until September 13.... I was supposed to start teaching next Sunday, August 29th. Holy ****. I was really pissed off at first (pardon my French, but I was). Why am I here?!?! Why couldn't I stay home for 3 more weeks, then come if I'm not starting until the 13?!?! Then the new expats had a meeting with someone from the school who tried to calm us down. We're not getting paid any differently, and I'm still working next week... even though I should have been teaching. The school is going to plan fun and CHEAP things for the new expats to do every day that we are on break now since we're starting late. A lot of expats are going on trips during the long break, like to the beach. I would really like to... but money's tight right now. So keep your finger's crossed! Apparently this is very normal in Egypt. Last year the school shut down for 2 or 3 weeks during the H1N1 crisis. Hopefully this is the only time we shut down!

On to other happier/catch me off gaurd school news... I also found out yesterday that I'm teaching high school elective drama classes. What does this mean exactly? I'm not sure. There is no curriculum for drama classes, so I'm kind of making things up as I go. Which is cool, but kind of scary. Did I mention yet that classes are split according to gender? So I'll have all 7th grade girls in a class, for example, and then all 7th grade boys. Which will be interesting... you never want a class of all boys at any age. I haven't received my actual teaching schedule yet, but we are supposed to tomorrow. "Insha Allah" (God-willing), as everyone says, I will.

I like to share interesting things about living in Egypt... this is one of them. Each apartment building, like in the US, has what's called a bowab (or landlord if you prefer). My bowab's name is Mohamad. Here's a fun fact about names. If you ever meet someone of Arab descent and they tell you that they will give you 2 guesses and 1 million dollars if you can guess their name... your first guess should be Mohamad. If that's not right... your second guess should be Ahkmed. Chances are, you've just won yourself a million dollars! Anyway, my bowab is so sweet. Every morning he is out washing everyone's cars like all the other bowab's on the street. When I walk by him on my way to the bus stop, he always says "Good morning miss... miss Sara." Basically, your bowab will do anything for you... run your errands, buy your groceries, take out your trash, fixes minor things in the apartment, etc. You just tip him. It's amazing. And if you're nice to them, they're nice to you.

In the US, you never see people just hanging out or walking on the interstate. You also never see people driving a donkey on the interstate. In Egypt, however, these are all quite common. You will also see people sleeping in the back of trucks, or sitting on top of semi-trucks. These are all reasons I love Egypt. A trip from here to there is never the same and you always see new things.