Yesterday was an amazing day with my parents. I spent the morning finishing packing, getting one last tanning session in, and we left for Chicago around noon. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express at I decided that it would would be awful to try to get around the airport with 2 suitcases and a carry-on... I could barely make it in the hotel!! So, I decided to take one suitcase and one carry-on with me to Cairo to live on for two years. Yes, I cried when deciding what I had to leave behind. It was the only stuff I had that I knew that was coming with me... if that makes any sense. But I sucked it up and decided it would make me a better person.
There were 2 omens of the night... omens that I believed to be good. We had "Wheel of Fortune" on in the background, and one of the puzzles was "Final Boarding Call." Weird, right?! And, we stayed in room 522. My address in Viroqua with my parents is 522 S. Washington Ave. Again, weird. My last American meal was at TGI Friday's.
I woke up at 4:00 AM this morning, and we got to the aiport a little after 7:00. But, not only was my flight different... I didn't have a ticket number with either of them!! My flight was changed from American Airlines to Delta, which is fine. But neither of them had a ticket number. Delta had be booked on their flight, but no number. Then I had a panic attack. I had no way of getting on the plane and getting to Cairo. I called the only number I had... the superintendent of the school. I finally got ahold of her and she called people in Egypt. She called me back around 9:00 AM and told me to have my dad buy me a new ticket, and the school would reimburse them. So my dad charged a round-trip flight to Cairo for $2700. But I had a ticket number and a flight! The only kind of bad thing is that the flight changed, so I am currently sitting in JFK airport on my 7-hour layover. It was VERY dramatic. I didn't think I was actually going to make it to Cairo.
My goodbye with my parents was very fast. We suddenly realized that they couldn't come past the security checkpoint, and we said a quick goodbye. I was also frantically telling them to call the superintendent and tell her that my flight had changed so someone would be in Cairo at the aiport to pick me up! When I walked past security to find my terminal, it was a strange feeling of being on my own. I realized that I wouldn't see a face that I knew for the next 10 months or talk to a familiar friend in person. I felt incredibly sad and alone, but also like I was starting an amazing adventure and changing already.
Let's hope there's no more airport drama because I want everything else to go smoothly! I'm currently reading more about Cairo, my school, and listening to Arabic. Keep good thoughts!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Tomorrow...
I can't believe I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow and flying out Tuesday morning for Cairo. I have been a big bucket of emotion today... and the last week really. It's been so hard saying "goodbye" to so many of my close friends and family, but I know it's not goodbye forever. It's just hard to leave all of my family, friends, and my old life behind. Tonight is the first time I can truly say that I feel confident and ready to experience what Egypt has to offer me, and to start my first teaching job. I will miss everything/everyone that is here, but I'm ready to embrace the future and live my life doing what I love.
My emotions have been a roller coaster, so who knows how I'll feel tomorrow. All I know is that I'm doing what's right for me... and that's a nice feeling to have. By this time in 3 days I will be in Cairo!!
My emotions have been a roller coaster, so who knows how I'll feel tomorrow. All I know is that I'm doing what's right for me... and that's a nice feeling to have. By this time in 3 days I will be in Cairo!!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
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!
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!
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