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.