The Shack

I have recently finished reading this book, The Shack, for the second time. There is no way that I can put all my thoughts about this book into words so I'm just going to let you read and discern for yourself what you think about it.
I'm sure every one of you who has read this book have your own opinions about it and experienced it in a different way. For me, it has given me the most incredible insight and understanding of how God truly is and how he works in our lives. It is truly the best book I've ever read and encourage anyone who hasn't, to read it. If you want to discuss it please email me. (michaelbeans45@live.com)  I'd love to hear all your opinions.
              

            

Thanksgiving

Being an SM is hard. There is no other way to say it. To say that it's just a vacation from school or that it's a year of continual fun and excitement could only be said by someone who's never done it. To say that it's an impossible task that can't be done and will ultimately destroy your life would also be untrue. Yes, some missionaries have it easier than others but I've never heard of anyone saying that they never had a bad experience or felt lonely at some point. So to say that it's "hard" I think is the best adjective I can give.

There are certain days during your missionary year that confirm the fact that you just might survive this year. For me, Thanksgiving was definitely one of those days. Of course I missed my family and friends terribly but I have begun to form a new family here at NUA that did a pretty good job at filling in for them. It was fun for all of us to sit and reflect on how far we've all come since the start of the year. I know it's only been 3 months but we really are starting to feel like family here. Even our competitive staff football game, where half of us came out with bloody knees and sore legs, couldn't tear us apart. Nothing like some good Thanksgiving football.

Being thankful. Such an easy concept when you really think about. This has to be the biggest cliché in the book but shoot if your reading this that means you are alive, have eyes to see the screen, and the brain capacity to find this webpage and to read it. Imagine your life without those last 2. (Cause without the first you wouldn't be alive) Now we all know that the concept of being thankful is all about your mental state of mind right. If you are always thinking and looking for things to praise God about, trust me you're going to find them. If you're always looking for the worst, well, you'll find that to. But I say that it goes beyond just looking for things to be thankful for.  I know people who are thankful and content with most of their life but still can't seem to find God in all of it. Well what if it was just a state of mind. If you believe God exists, which is the first step in getting to know him, then maybe it's just a matter of looking for him in your daily life.

I recently read in a devotional book called "Jesus Life Coach" that one of the best ways to see God in your life is to take something that you don't see too often and make a pact with God by saying, "Whenever I see this, I'll know that your with me". I chose the monarch butterfly. I don't know why, I've just always been intrigued by them since I see them so little. I have begun to see a monarch butterfly almost every day since I made that pact. Now someone who is scientific and has the info could tell me that monarch butterflies don't live in Egypt and it's impossible for them to be here. All I know is that I've been seeing butterflies that look like monarchs and it reminds me that God is right there with me. So back to my original point, if you find a way to see God in your life every day, won't it make him that much more real to you? I can't remember seeing a single butterfly here in Egypt until the day that I made that deal. That's not to say they weren't always here, I just wasn't looking for them. I think you can all guess where I'm going with that.

Thanksgiving was one of the best days I've had here. The food was great, the people were awesome, and God showed me how far I've come since that first day that I landed here. There is no doubt in my mind that I needed to be here this year not only for this school but for myself. It may not be the best Thanksgiving I've ever had but it's definitely taught me the most. Thanks to all of you who read this and I hope you are all touched in at least some small way by the humble words I type. God bless all of you and I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving.

Zewak

I have just returned from our short 5 day home leave. I decided to spend this vacation in the village of Zewak with some of my students. I will say it is not a place that I would ever desire to reside in or even visit for an extended period of time but I do not regret going. It was culture shock #2 for me here in Egypt. I had become tired of the sights and sounds of the city and was very much in the mood for some peace and quiet. I was told by my students that it was a small village with houses, not apartments, and wasn't as crowded as Cairo. They were not lying. After an 8 hour train ride and a 20 min bus ride we were in Zewak. We arrived at about 5:30 a.m. and I was immediately introduced to a traditional Zewak meal. Here are a couple things to know about the food. At every meal you will have a medium sized loaf of bread that probably weighs about 2 pounds, they'll serve some sort of meat, the portions are massive, and most people will make you feel like you killed one of their children if you don't eat it ALL! Lucky for me the student that I stayed with made sure that I wasn't forced to eat at least in his house.

To say that life in Zewak is relaxed would be the understatement of the year. I have found few places in Egypt where I was truly bored until this place. Of course I enjoyed not having to teach classes or supervise workers but I'm just not the type of person that likes to do absolutely nothing. For the majority of the 4 days we were there we would wake up, eat, sit around, eat, sit around, eat, watch a movie, eat, eat, eat, you get the picture. I was tempted to become bulimic for the weekend. I will say that I am very grateful for the tremendous hospitality that was bestowed upon me while I was there and I have met few nicer people. The people I met were very kind and meant only the best by offering me as much food as they did. (I just didn't want it) The kids treated me like a rock star and never hesitated to say hello. (It's the only word they know)

In all honesty I was able to do a couple of fun activities while I was there. The first being soccer. The students took us to, basically a rec center, except just for soccer. It's like paying to use the basketball court for a couple hours except it's an outdoor, tile floor, soccer field. They had three fields all right next to each other and man could those guys play. It was amazing to see how well they could handle the ball especially when the ball rolls twice as fast on tile. We played from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. and the students still wanted to play more. Needless to say I was exhausted.

The next activity may surprise you a bit but we were actually able to go hiking. Apparently there are some pretty good size foothills in upper Egypt and we decided to check them out. The students actually took us to an old monastery that is built at the base of the rocks. The monks actually used live in small cut outs in the rock itself but have moved to a formal building. The cut outs are still in the rock though and so we began to hike straight up towards them. It didn't seem like a long way at first but I found that hiking in sand is definitely not the easiest thing I've ever done. It was hard and I loved every minute of it because it was the first time on the whole trip that I felt I might want to eat something when we got back. That climb was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. Anything I can do that is remotely close to something I would do at home just makes me happy.

All-in-all I'm glad that I went to Zewak and got to experience a way of life that I would not even have known existed. When you're in America you don't think about what people are doing 5000 miles away from you. It was a great opportunity to understand this culture and see why these people are the way they are. God created us all differently and each of us has a different purpose in life. While the people in Zewak think about whose house they are going to visit that day or what they're going to eat, I sit and think about what career I'm going to pursue when I return next fall, how I'm going to balance my work schedule for next summer, and why on earth am I wasting an entire year of my life in a different country? (I've only felt like that a couple times) In my heart I know it's not a waste. It's only during the times when I'm by myself and thinking only about myself that I feel that way. Obviously. I'm just interested to see who is going to be looking back at me from my bathroom mirror when I return home.

1/4

I am one-fourth done with my stint here in Egypt. As I've always experienced to be true, time seems to have flown by when you look back on it. The snails come out when you're in the present. Days become years, until they're over and you look back and think "It feels like I just woke up and now I'm going to bed". I do my best to not count the days till I go home because I know it just makes it worse. So instead I count the months............  Because 8 sounds a lot better than 226. (I swear this is the first time I have ever counted the days till I go home and it will be the last because it was a lot more than I expected)
        

Fall weather has finally hit Egypt. This morning I went for a short run before I did my sit-ups. (I'm going for the Shannon Sharpe abs Dad) The early mornings have been chilly for about 2 weeks now but today it stuck around. I wore a long sleeve and jeans for goodness sakes. Alec wore his coat. (Forgive him he's from Georgia) I came home from work, made a cup of Nescafe, and sat down on the coach to read. The cool breeze coming through the windows and the smell of Fall filled the room. It was one of the best feelings I've had since being here. Thanks Jessica for being as excited about it as I was. I can honestly say I'm comfortable here. No it's not home and I'm sure it never will be but I don't feel like such a foreigner anymore. I can go outside the wall without feeling like a billboard. I've even gotten to know some locals. Every Friday I eat breakfast at Achmeds bean and salsa stand. Nothing like a stack of bread, a dish of beans, and a dish made with tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. That's the "salsa". And all for $1.18. He speaks pretty good English to. Whenever I buy bread, I go to the same shop on the corner where a girl about my age works. She is the first and only Egyptian woman to be somewhat friendly to me so I keep going back. It's understandable because of the culture here but you have no idea how much you miss heterosexual interaction until you know longer have it. Anyways she always smiles at me and even though she doesn't know any English she does her best to communicate and be patient with me. I've also gotten to know the students a lot better which has made me feel more at home. I still have my challenges though.

My Dad gave me some of the best advice I've had so far last night. He told me that life is about how we handle our trials, not how we avoid them. I'm not going to avoid the fact the every time I see a plane flying over head I want to be on it. But I can decide whether I let that affect my attitude and how I live my life here. I recently read a letter of encouragement that a friend gave to me before I came here. It was one of the most encouraging letters I've ever read. She didn't say anything extravagant, she just reminded me of things I already knew. Let me share a bit of it with you. "Someone once told me that a person show's their true self when life is Hard not easy. Remember that whatever your going through, the Lord designed for you to go through and persevere. You're there because you wanted a chance to define yourself by Your standards and to show people the type of man God intended you to be, not the previous perceived thoughts that others already set upon you." Like I said, she just reminded me of things I already knew and yet I felt more encouraged than ever after reading that. She didn't give me something new to think about or a new idea. She just assured me that I could accomplish the things that I originally set out to do. It brought me to tears. One of the many times a letter from home has done that so thank you to all who gave me one.

Life is definitely a journey. One that we can decide to survive in or thrive in. I'll admit that I survive a lot and thrive little but I try to focus on the positive. I've started to try and remember at least one happy moment of the day before I go to sleep. Seek and you will find as Jesus says. Once again in the words of my wise father, "Embrace Egypt and love the people, give them all you have and you will be blessed for sure."

-Keep that left heal down Dad.
 

A Pleasant Surprise

Those of you who have been reading my blog might be thinking a couple of things. I was told by a friend that I've written some intense stuff since I've been here and after reading through all my blogs I would have to agree. I guess I've just been doing a lot of thinking and I feel like letting you guys know about it. It's a lot better than just giving you a play-by-play of my day because if I did, it would be pretty much the same all the time.

            Yesterday was a different story. It's time to lighten up the mood and focus on the simple and pure joy of a game called tennis. A lot of you know that I love this game. What you may not know is that I even brought my racquet to Egypt hoping by some miracle I would live next to a court. That is not the case so my racquet has been collecting cob webs in the corner for the past month and a half. Yesterday after PE one of my students asked me if I played tennis. I told him yes and that I had even brought my racquet. He got all excited and told me to go get my racquet. I did and met him at the volleyball court. I don't know why I never thought of this but he said that another SM from last year liked to play tennis so they would untie the volleyball net and tie it around the base of the poles. It was just like a regular tennis court minus the lines and the fact that the net didn't stop the ball. Minor detail. One advantage though was that the sand around the court helped stop the ball when you hit it out. Even as I was playing I was thinking, now this is something to write home about. I mean we even had all three surfaces in one. Mostly concrete for the hard court. Grass and weeds popping up through the cracks. Wimbledon anyone? And finally the sand that accumulates around the edge of the court makes for a perfect clay like surface. I think even Nadal would be impressed with my hit and slide. I only fell once.

Just simply being able to hit the ball back and forth with someone made my week. Plus the viewpoints and comments that some of the students have just make me laugh inside. One of them asked to see my racquet and upon examining it, told me that the one he got in his small village is better. Who am I to judge, maybe it is. Another student ran to his room and brought back two Badminton racquets. When I tried to explain what sport those were used for he didn't really get it. Come on how do you explain a "birdie" to an Egyptian?

All in all it was a great day in Egypt. Definitely have to do it again sometime.

Service

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" - Mark 10:45

             I have been in Egypt for exactly 41 days now. Most of which have been spent on this campus. I have excepted the monotony and even somewhat grown to like it in a way. I get to hang out with students all day long who are all smiles and love to make fun of my Arabic. Plus I get to teach a PE class full of students who actually want to be there. No they don't always enjoy the running and the sit-ups but once the game starts there is no stopping them. It seems a lot better than having to study for mid-terms right now. Or study at all for that matter. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Thanks Dad.

            Counting blessings is easy. Using those blessings to effect how you treat others......... yeah we all know the answer to that one. Since I have been in Egypt I have asked God for two things. I have asked him to give me wisdom and to give me love. Two things that I have lacked for a long time. My freshman year in High School would have to be, without a doubt, one of the best years of my life. I was finally going to the school I had always dreamed about, playing on the sports teams I had always dreamed about, over half my friends were upper class-men, and I had a girlfriend who was a grade ahead of me. Sounds a bit too Hollywood when you put it that way but hey, that was my life. And you know what the best part about all of it was? I had a relationship with God to back it all up. It was the first time in my life that I truly felt him. I felt him during vespers, during church, friday nights at home with my friends, friday nights at the Brasses, and even when I played sports. I could feel him working all around me and I couldn't help but get excited.
I've learned a few things since those days. Everything that shimmers also fades. Everything that blooms also wilts. Everything that is built-up also becomes dust. Now I'm not trying to be a pessimist here but we all know it's true. Nothing in this world satisfies. Of course it will for awhile, maybe a year, maybe ten, but eventually it all comes crashing down. I have been searching for that feeling that I felt my freshman year ever since then.
Every time that I feel God isn't listening or has stopped working in my life he slaps me in the face with exactly what I asked for. Not always the way I would have liked but we can all agree that God gives us what we need, not what we want. I asked for wisdom. Specifically to show me why I feel so distant from him and everybody else around me. The answer was Service. From the moment you stepped off that plane you were thinking about how you were going to change YOUR life. Thinking of how YOU could further YOURSELF. Thinking of how this experience was going to help YOU in the years to come. I will admit I walked around this place feeling pretty sorry for myself the first month. I never thought about going out of my way for anyone else. I just wanted to do my job and go home. I tried to tell myself that I wanted to get to know the kids. Than why do you not stick around after class is done, make sure the kids have balls to play with, and maybe, just maybe, try playing with them outside of class?  Now trust me this sounds a lot more intense than it really was. It wasn't one of those moments where I broke down crying, feeling like the scum of the earth and asked God to forgive my evilness. No. It was just a small voice inside saying, Hey wake up bro, you wanna get to know these kids? Than try hanging out with them. Try worrying about whether they have fun stuff to do after school instead of what your friends are doing back home. Not that I don't care what's going on in your lives but you get the point.
This last week was the best week I've had in Egypt. Besides the fact that I had the coolest experience on Monday (my parents can tell you that story) and we had two days off, one for a National Holiday and another for an SA field trip. I actually began to hang with the kids when I didn't have to. This is when I began to realize the element of love that I have been missing. And this goes back even before Egypt. Now this is not an excuse, but being a college student makes it very easy to focus on yourself. After all, it is about figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life which is also very important. To be quite honest if you don't focus on yourself, you won't survive. Yes it is true, feeding the homeless will not score you extra points on your next A&P test.  The element of love that I had lost was Service. Now I'm sure it didn't always show on the outside but on the inside I had become very selfish. And I'm sure it took longer than needed but God finally got through to me. Even if I had to come half-way around the world to hear it. It's almost like I knew all along what I was missing, but I wasn't in a position to fully realize it back home. I was too safe. I had too many things I could fall back on to distract me from it. I lost my need and ability to listen to God because I had so many other things to listen to. It seems almost embarrassing now writing this because it's nothing new. It's not like I came to some great revelation, it's just the fact that I can finally acknowledge it. If I had read this blog last year, I probably still wouldn't have understood. I would have closed this page, turned some jazz music on, opened up something to study, and turned the TV to Sports Center. (I would mute it though because it made me feel like I wasn't actually watching and being distracted by it if there was no sound) See what I mean. Too many voices.

Everyone is different. God knew I needed this year, so he sent me here. Not everyone at Union needs an entire year in another country to figure these things out. I do. I've realized I'm not patient enough with my Mom. I always knew that but I had more "important" things to worry about. She loves me more than anybody else in the world and never misses a chance to tell me so.  God knew that I needed some time away from those distractions. A chance to breathe per say. He knew I needed to be away from my life at home so I could begin to appreciate it, and to know where to make changes. He is the one who got me here. Now all I have to do is listen.      
                
      

Refocusing

           Last Thursday marked the start of our first home leave here at NUA. Most of us had been surviving our classes instead of teaching them so it was a great opportunity to reflect on our first couple weeks and begin to develop a game plan for our classes. Friday was our first full day of vacation and the administration went all out for the SM's and scheduled massages for everyone. Definitely something I was not expecting this year but i'll take it. And Diana if your reading this, you are still the best. Saturday was a chill day and around 8:30 we packed up and headed to Alexandria. A student went with us and actually set up all of our transportation and lodging for us. The ride up was definitely an experience. The only thing that compares to the driving on US Highways is the speed. In fact they may drive even faster here. Now imagine driving 80 miles an hour on a road with no lanes, ok I take that back there are lanes but nobody uses them, and it's so bumpy that by the end of the trip you have: hit your head on the roof 20 times, your butt feels like you've been sitting on a tractor for two hours, and your upper body feels like you've been weed eating for that same amount of time. Ok enough complaining, it's all about the experience.

    

              Alexandria was a breath of fresh air. There's something about being next to the ocean that just makes you feel refreshed. We were able to relax and see some pretty cool historical sights. The Library of Alexandria definitely topped everything else though. The architecture was just amazing, inside and out. Our tour guide said that they have enough space to hold at least 8 million books.  How's that for an afternoon of reading? They also had a couple of museums that held pictures and artifacts from Alexandria back in the 17 and 1800's. One photo that really caught my attention was one of the town square. Ok I guess it wasn't the photo but the caption underneath it that shocked me. I'm not sure who he was but I think he was an important visitor at that time and his comment was, "The streets are so clean here in Alexandria that you could eat off them". Needless to say this hasn't been my experience. Yes it was a lot cleaner than our town of Gabble and I did actually see a dump truck at one point, I almost fainted. But it was still probably dirtier than an NFL stadium after a game. It's sad but I'm adjusting to it. On Tuesday afternoon we went to an open air cafe right on the ocean. I will admit this is the first place I've been in all of Egypt that I could sit outside without sweating. The breeze from the Mediterranean was amazing. So amazing that I even ordered a Nescafe, which is a hot drink and one of the best drinks in Egypt. And no it's not like Nescafe in America.

              Alexandria was a blast and it really helped me refocus on why I'm here in Egypt. I'm beginning to leave stage 2 behind and except that this is where I am, this is where I live until June 16, 2010. Yes I love to keep up with my friends lives back home, my cousin is getting married for goodness sakes and I'm probably gonna miss it. (Unless she changes the dates.......) I love to here about what's happening at Union and who made or didn't make the basketball team..............  But that's not why I came here. I didn't come here to live my life in front of a computer screen watching everyone else live theirs. I came here to help this school and to witness to these students. I came here to test myself and to give myself a clean slate. Nobody here expected me to be or act a certain way because they didn't know me. Nobody here judges me by how I played basketball in high school. Or by how I did anything in high school for that matter. I guess it's just nice not to here, "Yeah man before you came to Union I thought you were a jerk". "Why?" "Well mostly because Campion just wins everything so we love to hate on you". It's ok I'm over it now. (Back to the point) I like the fact that I can be known for my calm presence in staff meeting (thanks pastor Tom) or by my grueling PE class (thanks to all my students). Now this may surprise some people. Ever since about 4th grade when I started playing competitive sports I have been defending my reputation as an athlete. Whether it be on the playing surface or off. (These are the thoughts in my head) "I am an athlete, therefore I must perform at a certain level to protect my reputation as a soccer player, as a baseball player, as a basketball player, as a tennis player, as a volleyball player, as a _________ player", you get the point. I'm not just a person that likes  sports, I eat and breathe them. For example, we went fishing in Alexandria. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate fishing. But yet in my head I had to catch more fish than anyone else. I found myself trying to find the best possible way I could cast my makeshift bamboo fishing pole into the water as to catch more fish. And  I don't even know the first thing about fishing. Why do I do this? Cause I'm An Athlete! If they show it on ESPN I better be good at it. Now in some ways this isn't all bad. Giving your best to everything you do is not a bad thing but you need to be ok with it when it's just not your forte. I'm learning.

                
                I'm refocusing. I'm focusing on Egypt, my class, my students, and my responsibility to give them the best education possible. They receive an American Diploma from this school by the way. Which means they get the same credit I got in my Dad's PE class. Except now it's My class. Scary eh? I'm focusing on sharing and being patient. Be it, letting others use my internet or letting Sara try a bite of my food........ I'm focusing on God. Making sure that I surrender to his will everyday, and doing my best to follow his lead. Easier said than done but I'm making an effort. If I learn nothing else here in Egypt, that is what I want to take home with me.

     

Stages

Monotonous: [mo-not-o-nous-]
: lacking in variety, tedious, humdrum, boring, dull.

I am officially a stage 2 missionary!! Now for those of you who

 have no idea what I'm talking about let me explain. Yesterday was a rough day. It started off slow and ended slower. As I was going about my afternoon work supervision it hit me, "Am I really going to do this for the next 9 months?!! Am I going to wake up and do the exact same thing everyday?!!"  Now later that afternoon during supper I asked Jessica these questions. She began to laugh hysterically and asked me if I remembered anything from my student missions class. I decided to be humble and give her my honest answer of "not really........" She loudly blurted out "Your In Stage 2"!!!!! She explained that the first couple weeks of missionary life is called the honeymoon stage where everything is new, exciting, and fun. You are very intrigued by the new culture and everything is so interesting. Then everything comes crashing down. You realize that you do mostly the same things everyday. You can't just get up and go places like you can in America. You can't just pick up your cell phone and call someone. You can't just say "hey Rich let's go play some one-on-one over at Calvert". You become depressed and wonder why in the world you are where you are. Supposedly the length of this stage varies from person to person. Stage 3 is when you begin to accept where you are, the culture, the way of life, and also the monotony of it all. It becomes your way of life and you actually may begin to enjoy it. I'm working hard to get to this stage.
    

Hope the ankle is healed and your ballin outta control bro.

        

      Now who ever thought that learning people's names could be so hard. I forget names just as much as the next person but for the most part I can remember the names of people that I see every day. I have come to the conclusion that if I know the Deng's and the Mina's I'm in good shape. I think at least half the school is comprised of these names. Now this is an obvious exaggeration but try putting different faces to all these names in your class: Deng Deng, Deng Francis, Deng Mayol, Deng Pal, Deng Garang Deng, and Deng Mayol Deng!!!! Easy enough you say. But that's not all. How about: Mina Beshara, Mina Emile, Mina Farid, Mina Helmy, Mina Mahewae, and Mina Samir. (Those are all boys names by the way) I know at some point this semester one of them is going to get a grade that was meant for someone else.

        I have come to some very important conclusions since I have been here. I was feeling very lost when it came to my spiritual life before I came here and I won't deny that being here has tested me even more. I do feel though that God has been talking to me a lot through other people and situations. I am a very "feelings" oriented person. This gets me in trouble a lot because feelings can change at a moments notice. When someone pours the foundation for a building, is that foundation going to change weather it's hot, cold, loved, depressed, sick, healthy, or just plain sick of life? No. Yes it may shift if the ground beneath it is not stable. Or it may be uprooted in a tornado and shattered into a million pieces. But it's still just concrete. Whether it's a block or a million pieces it's still just concrete.       My beliefs are my beliefs. They are not changed by people, circumstance, or my feelings at a certain moment.    God is God. He is not changed by people, circumstance, how I feel about him, or who I think he is at a single point in time. He is there when I "feel" he is there and when I don't "feel" he is there. God is not understood or figured out. He's just God. You either believe he is there or you don't. Because if you only believe God is there when you feel he is there than you will end up feeling the way I have felt for the past couple years. I could count the times that I have truly felt God's presence in my life on one hand. Does that mean I'm less of a christian or that I don't believe in him? No. Now I will say that I have been through situations and events where, after the fact, I have looked back and seen how God led me and guided me. I have seen how he has worked in my life in the past. But even if I don't see him working. Even if I don't know why my life is going in a certain direction or taking this path, I will still believe. Because what life would you rather live? A life full of worry, distrust, and wondering if he's really there until the day that it's too late? Or a life that may not always give you the answers, it may not always be easy or understood, but because you believe full heartedly in something greater, something that is all powerful and will give you the desires of your heart, you will have peace. You can live of life peace knowing that you don't always need to understand. You don't always need to have the answer. All you need to know and believe is that he is there and he wants to be a part of your life. 

Good Luck at La Sierra Germeen

Starting To Understand

INTERNET!!!! I never thought I would miss this so much. Now it's not that I miss the internet really but more so what I can do with it. I could live without ESPN.com or anything like that but the fact that I can't use skype to call my parents or use email to talk to my friends really was frustrating. But with a little money and the help of an Egyptian friend I now have internet anywhere I go in the entire country for the next 9 months.
      So this last week was pretty eventful in that it was the first week of school and we were also invited to a lot of events. We were invited to a family's house on Saturday where they cooked a massive meal for us. They were so kind to us and a lot of fun to be with. I will admit the food was really good but I ate way too much. Plus the fact that it's rude to not eat a lot when you go to a house because they prepared the food just for you. About the time I had eaten all that I thought I could eat, her mother would come around with more food and just put it on your plate. And if that wasn't enough, finally when we thought she knew we were full, her father would pick up food with his hands and come from behind you and stuff it in your mouth!! It was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced and yet it was hilarious. At least when it happened to someone else. After that they invited us to go on a tour boat of the Nile River that night. Now this wasn't your normal tour boat. It was basically a boat with a lot of lights on it and they blare loud music while everyone dances for about 1 hour. Now anyone that knows me knows that I'm not the most fleet footed person but I think I started to hold my own at the end.  
         The day after that we were invited to an engagement party for an alumnist of the school. Now here in Egypt people don't just propose and get engaged. They have a ceremony similar to a wedding just to announce their engagement and then later they have a wedding as well. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive through the desert in a tiny mini bus packed full. Now I have gotten used to just being sweaty and gross all the time but this was pretty unbearable. We finally made it just in time for the party after the ceremony. And as you can probably guess, there was dancing. I finally got the picture about 2 hours in that dancing is the only reason they have the party because that's all they do. Everybody smells terrible and is sweating like pigs but no one cares. We left around 1 a.m. and they were still going strong. It was crazy.
        Then we had our first week of school. It was pretty hectic trying to help all the kids figure out where they needed to be because I guess the schedule is very different from last year. I have enjoyed my first couple classes though and the kids are a lot of fun. Some of them I'm sure don't like me much because I'm the first teacher that has made them run but most of them don't complain too much. I also have a Sudanese student who is about 6'4 and is really built. He loves basketball and wants to play at an american college someday so I'm going to be working with him in the mornings now. That made my year!!
         I'm starting to understand the culture more day by day. They live very care free lives considering all that they must go through to survive. They don't really stress about much because everyone is just happy. If something doesn't work out, it will work out next time. If someone bumps you or almost runs you over with their car, it's ok, that's just how it is here. I have seen a lot of situations where confrontation could have occurred between two people and they don't so much as glance at each other. They just go about their business. It's a very different place. More different than anywhere I have ever been. I only hope that I will be able to reach out to them as much as they have reached out to me.  

Students

                          

 Today we had registration. I was assigned to help at the financial desk, collecting money and writing receipts. I had another girl working with me that spoke Arabic so I wasn’t completely lost. I was actually very surprised at how much English the students already know. 95% of them could probably carry on a good conversation with you. The rumor that Egyptians are very warm and kind people is no longer a rumor but a definite reality to me. A lot of them wanted to shake my hand, find out my name, what classes I was teaching, where I was from, and how I was doing so far. I also found there is a lot of diversity within the students. There were obviously a lot of Egyptians but we have almost just as many Sudanese kids who are refugees. One thing I was really not expecting was that almost every Sudanese kid that came through wanted to know if I played basketball!! Apparently that is their favorite sport so I was super excited. I guess that answers everyone’s question of whether or not they play basketball here. I’m excited to see how they do in P.E.

            After all the day’s activities Alec (another SM) wanted to go to town to get some church clothes and asked if Paul (another SM) and I wanted to come along. An Egyptian offered to take us since we still don’t know how to get around. Now another Sudanese kid came with us because he doesn’t live in the dorm and he was going home. I got to talking with him and asked if he had always lived here. He said no and that he moved here in 2001. He hasn’t seen his family since!!! Now I’m not gonna lie I miss my family terribly right now and I have been gone for 4 days!! Imagine 9 years!!!! He even paid for our bus ride to the train station and refused to let me pay him back. It’s just amazing to see people who have so little who are willing to do anything for you.

            Once we got to the market it was complete chaos. People are everywhere!! Just to give you an idea, Cairo has 7 times the population density as New York City. Now we’re not in Cairo but it’s definitely still bad. It’s like walking down and normal size street at home but every single person in town is on that street, cars are driving on it, vendors have to periodically shift their carts just so cars can get through. Oh and don’t forget the ever present mountain of trash that is everywhere!! I will say though that if I owned a used car dealership I would hire an Egyptian to stand outside and get people to come in. They yell constantly!!! One guy who was selling purses had completely lost his voice so he just started banging them together, while still trying to yell!! I have never seen someone who wanted to sell a purse so badly. He would swing them around and even nailed a lady in the head with one (she didn’t buy it).

            Over all, I love Egypt already. Yes it’s loud outside the school. Yes it’s the dirtiest place I have ever seen in my life. And yes, it’s probably going to be the hardest year of my life. But the people make up for all of it. Not just the students but the people outside the walls. It seems to be a very giving culture and a very peaceful one. Some people may think I’m crazy and I may get tired of it at some point but I love the call to prayer. It’s like being in a scene from Black Hawk Down every time they start praying. Ok that’s not the only reason I like it. I guess it just sounds really cool to me. 

Making The Trip

I have to admit that I am a little ignorant. As i took off from Denver International Airport I had no idea what to expect when I got here. When I landed in London for my layover I came to a conclusion, based on the people there and the little scenery that i could see from the airport that being in a foreign country really was not as different as I thought. Except for the fact that I was in England where all the signs were still in English, the people spoke English, and the fact that i was in the AIRPORT!!! You can't see a whole lot of culture change in an airport, especially in one that is much like an american airport. Now I don't know why i thought this because I have been to other country's before and they are very different. None the less my theory was obliterated when i landed in Cairo. It was midnight and here I am trying to read the signs, and wondering if I would ever find the person who was picking me up. I managed to get my visa, find my bags, and find my ride all in about 10 minutes!! We made it to the school regardless of the insane driver who i swear was centimeters from hitting side mirrors with another car. One awesome thing though is our room has A/C!!! Not bad for my first experience here.