I'm going to the desert and I'm taking...

So we probably have all played those games, either in our classrooms or even younger in our childhoods. You know the game I mean, where you say you are going somewhere (grandma's, on vacation, to the store etc etc etc) and you are either taking things with you or you are buying things. Well, let's play a little game called "I'm going to the desert and I'm taking..."

Many things likely come to mind that you would want to take in/to the desert; camels, carpets, sunscreen, sunglasses... probably the first and most important that came to mind was water. Well, good for you! It seems that when you GO to the desert, you SHOULD actually take water with you! Of course all those others are important, but water being the "life blood" that it is is ultra-important.

It seriously, when moving to a desert country, to a desert city of 28 million people.... yes, that's right 28,000,000 people, never even ever(!) crossed my mind that drinking water would not be available. This country, like many other developing countries, have perfect the water purifying process in large areas. The real problem lies in how the water gets from the purification station TO your house. Most of these places have metal pipes which have been corroding for years and will add in all sort of lovely little chemicals and bits of rust, microbes that will indeed make you sick. So what is the solution to this problem? Bottled Water!

Bottled purified water is an excellent drinking source, when available! As it stands, 3 days ago I went to get some water from a place near school delivered (a big 20 liter jug) which presumably would last for at least 2 weeks. The store had the water in, but because of the area that I live in, they were not willing to deliver it. Foolish me thinks "Well, if they have them, there are a ton of stores between here and my house that should have them and will deliver to me." Upon visiting 4 stores on the way home, non of the other stores had the large bottles of water. Many had small bottles of water which come in a box of like 20. Who in their right mind wants to pay MORE for a small box of LESS water than you would get in a large jug? 3 days ago, not me! So I walk home because after all, I did still have a 1.5 liter bottle in the fridge.

The following day, I foolishly go back to the same store that had the large bottles in the first place to buy one of them and they are out. He's willing to sell me a box of water, but at this point, I have 4 other stores I can check between there and home and I decide "nah, I'll find something." Nothing between there and here, except 1 store with small bottles.

Yesterday, I go back to the original store after getting my 2nd hepatitis B shot and no water at all. I check 4 other stores and with the exception of one store where I would have to have a charge account with the company. I go to the smallest store closest to my house, one I've been avoiding for the entire time because it's small, I'm foreign, you do the math! No water. Cute little Egyptian teenager tries to get me to say the word water in Arabic and WHAM, a slap in the back of the head from presumably his father, the store boss for what I can only guess. But, no water there at all. He smiles and say "No water today!"

Welcome to Thursday. I've been out of water at my house for 2 days and am parched. The sun really does take a lot out of you, but it's also the lack of the dreaded humidity that my body is so accustomed to that could be worse. Sucks the water right out of you and cotton mouth within 2 minutes outside. Finish a nice day of school, walk home and stop to buy (2) 1 liter bottles of Coke Light. Leave the shop and head home. Look over at the small shop on the way home and a beacon of heavenly light shines down on these gorgeous boxes of Dasani water. Small bottles mind you, 500ml, but 20 in the box. I run right up and snap a box up for myself. The kid behind the counter is friendly, tells me he will deliver it whatever time I want, but while writing up the bill of sale, his poor pen runs out of ink. I pull out a pen from my bag (sorry Joseph) which just happens to be a Mimosa Park Elementary Pen and leave it as a token of gratitude for saving me from certain death by dehydration!

So, I'm going to the desert and I'm taking..... WATER, A PEN (oh and I forgot my stupid sunglasses at home today so I was squinting all day) MY SUNGLASSES!!!!!!

Ain Sukhna this weekend. Been here less than 2 weeks and already taking a holiday. My classroom could use some more work, the curriculum could use some going over, but it will get done Inshallah!(If it's God's will!) More about Ain Sukhna Monday or Tuesday and pics too! Until then, what are YOU taking to the desert???

The Great Pyramids of Giza

Today we visited the great pyramids of Giza. They are the last remaining ancient wonders of the world. Located several miles from school and right out of town is the Giza Plateau. The Giza Plateau is a large area of bedrock which they used to build the pyramids on. There are 3 great pyramids, 3 lesser pyramids (for the queens) and the statue of the Sphinx. The 3 pyramids are successive in size. The first built and the largest was for King Khufu. The next pyramid, smaller in stature, but best preserved was built for Khufu's son Khafre. Then the smallest of the 3 was then built for Khufu's grandson Menkaure. The really interesting thing about the pyramids is that they are not smaller in stature to denote lesser important kings, but merely because they were running out of bedrock on which to build them. They couldn't be built on sand due to their weight, so they had to place them on the bedrock itself. All of the pyramids entrances face the west, with a temple in the east. The ancient Egyptians believed that the west was the burial place of the Sun God (or something like that... I wasn't really listening THAT well to the guide). The temples for the pyramids were all built on the east facing side.
They pyramids were the largest buildings in the world for thousands of years, right up until the Eiffel Tower was built.

The sphinx was is a pretty impressive state that is 25 meters tall and 80 meters long. It is the largest stone carved statue in the world according to the guide. The sphinx was buried under sand many times and uncovered many times. It is also known that the sphinx has had many reconstructive surgeries over the years, from ancient Egyptian times til today. The nose is missing because it was believed to be a pagan statue and they wanted to destroy it, but since it was buried up to the nose in sand, the breaking of the nose was all that occurred.

One of the most interesting things I think is that the pyramids were built on that spot not only for the bedrock that they sit on, but also due to the fact that the Nile river, when they were built, flowed alongside them. It has since changed course in the 4,500 years or so since construction began and was finished.

If you have ever been to a developing country and encountered a true tourist trap, you know exactly what the experience of visiting the Giza Plateau is like. Lots of people selling lots of things, mostly junk. Most of it is cheap-ish, considering that the exchange rate is basically 6 Egyptian pounds to 1 US dollar. I picked up a little nomad riding a camel statue for 50LE, which is about $8. Not bad at all. Interesting to see all kinds of people selling out there, from young kids who can't be more than 5 to old men who have to be more than 80. One kid struck up a conversation with some of the people in our group when we first entered and then we met up with him over by the sphinx where he talked to us a bit more. A few of our teachers took camel rides, which meant they REALLY got taken for a ride. Some of them were forced to pay exorbitant prices, I say that with a tiny smirk because they paid 100LE or about $15 for rides which they didn't necessarily know they were taking. The vendors there can be very very pushy and it's a lot to take in. I bargained with this kid for the camel statue for about 5 minutes and he kept saying 60LE and I kept saying 50LE. In then end, I won out, since the adults he was with said ok ok. He wasnt giving up and neither was I! I wouldn't have minded paying the 60LE ($10) except I didn't have a 10LE not on me and didn't want to have to break a 20LE note with him for change.

A good day all in all. Our tour guide, Salah, didn't get to give us nearly half the information he wanted to because we being teachers didnt listen, or go where he asked us to go haha. I figure he'll be a good guide when I go back and actually go IN the pyramids.

Should you care to read more about the Giza Plateau visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramids_of_Giza

Preparing to Depart

So this blog post is a very long time after the last one posted in Poland. In fact, it's getting very close to 2 years. I have been thinking about starting up the old blog posting again. I have been asked a million questions about Cairo, many I do not have answers to. Many other questions you will likely have throughout the course of the next 2 years. I am hoping to use this "blog" as a way for you to post your questions and receive answers. I realized that the last time, I just got tired of having to think of topics or trying to be interesting. So this will be a way to interact with me. You are welcome to ask any questions, request any pictures etc, etc, etc. In keeping with the topic at hand, preparing to depart, I depart Saturday 8/4/2012. I HAVE NOT finalized packing and am a bit nervous about it. Anyone who knows me knows that I generally wait til the last minute and then get very frustrated about packing. Let's see if we can make this departure any different. This is a week which will be packed with "chores" spread among various houses, possible last minute trips to the quarter and lunches with friends. Thursday we are planning a "farewell" party of which my niece remarks I have too many. A week packed with lots to do and hopefully a week that will go smoothly and not contribute to any more of the anxiety, which isn't at all bad, that comes with preparing to depart to a foreign country. So I've officially started again and the ball is in your court. Should you not be able to post a question or request on the post, you likely have my email address, so email it to me. I'll try to mention each person in an answered question or photo request. Here we go!

Joseph Comes Today!

Joseph comes today. He is in Paris right now. His flight leaves there at 11 and heads here. Should get here about 1:20-ish.
I'll leave for the airport around 11 and take the train there. Kind of exciting. Guess we will see how the week goes.
AND he has all my stuff that I've asked him to bring from the states here.... hope it all makes it haha.

Craziest Cinema Experience EVER...yet.

Ok, so I haven't posted ina while, which is no big deal because nobody really reads this thing anyway. For the spirits of the great beyond that read my blog here it goes.
It was 63 degrees today. Something that Polish and Russian people call "Grandmother's Summer." Gorgeous weather! I walked into the square area and finally walked up the hill and into the complex of Wawel Castle. It's humongous and amazing. There were some people in there taking wedding pictures, playing in the leaves on one of the lawns. It was super sweet.
Ok, I digress.
There is a cinema here in town that is actually retrofitted into 2 mansion townhouses just off the main square. I like the place and it normally specializes in Polish and European films. I saw a film I wanted to see there called Mary and Max, an Austrailan film with Toni Collett. The synopsis sounded great and I bought a ticket. This is a small place in terms of being a cinema, so the ticket was only 15zloty... basically 5 bucks.
I walk around town for a bit since I bought the ticket about 2 hours in advance. I get back to the cinema, get a medium combo with Pepsi... yuck, seriously Pepsi??? I go upstairs and am directed to the screen on the left. This screen is in a tiny room, probably a former bedroom in the mansion. There are about 15 chairs, not cinema seat, but like office chairs that you sit in when you visit someone's office. The stationary kind, not the rolly kind. I pick a spot and there are about 10-12 other people in there.
They start the projector, one of the old time reel projectors not a Hi-def one!!!! The sound of the projector moving the reel is almost louder than the sound that is coming from the speaker. I don't read Polish, so I have to listen to the words.
They have to hange the reel 2 times during the movie after it's started. The movie was amazing... sad, but amazing! It's based on a true story and is about Asberger's Syndrome, the highy specialized for of Autism.
I just thought it was crazy being in such a tiny room, with no real seats. I'm not complaining by any means. It was pretty cool. It felt as if we had all gathered there to screen a movie for a festival or something.
I watched one movie there before, but it was in a different room. That room was previously a former ballroom, which has been retrofitted with a larger screen than the one tonight. It also had real theater seats.
Tomorrow there's a movie I want to go se called "Wasteland." It's about the largest landfill in the world, outside of Rio in Brazil and the people who live there. It sounds amazing and the previews look fantastic. It is screened in another place though. I went there today and tried to find the box office, but couldn't. I found a former ticket booth. If I decide to go to it tomorrow, I might have to actually climb the stairs and see if it's in there.

Grad School Admission

Just a quick little thing to say that I am finally, officially, a degree-seeking candidate at University of Louisiana Monroe. I am working toward obtaining my masters in Curriculum and Instruction ESL. So yay! Finally!
I have a few pics and things to post fro walking around Krakow this past weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to get that done soon.

Zakopane, The Gatlinburg of Poland

We went to Zakopane today. Zakopane is in the Tatra mountains, right on the border with Poland and Slovakia. It was very interesting, but the best way to describe it (to anyone who has been there and understands the analogies anyway) is to say that it very much was Gatlinburg in Poland. There is a small center with some streets off of the center. The streets are lined with "log cabin" style building which hold shops selling everything from cheese to shoes, wood carving, postcards and knick-knacks and for good measure, real stores thrown in.
The city is doing relatively well for it's self financially, like Gatlinburg, but the outlying countryside is full of people who depend on winter, when the skiiers come. When it's not winter, the rest of the year is spent trying to stretch the pennies that were earned in winter and selling things like woolen sweaters, mittens boots and everything that no one has any use for in the other seasons of the year. This year, snow came late to Zakopane (January or February) which made the winter season super short, making the earnings for most of these people much smaller than usual.
Looking at the buildings, homes and everything around the area, you wouldn't guess that these are people who are struggling financially. It looks much like a Swiss village with the chalets and large homes. The large homes however, contain sometimes 2-4 families. The chalets are really only rentable in the winter and during the summer and fall stand empty.
After walking through the center and making it to a Mexican restaurant for lunch (I know bad idea... Mexican in Poland, and it wasn't the greatest by any means,) we go to hit the inclined railway to go to the top of one of the last mountains standing fully in Poland and not shared. The view was amazing, but to get to the view, you have to walk through little shops hocking the same stuff as down below. Sad to see it turned into a "shopping mall" as John put it. People have such an estranged relationship with nature so often, that without these things present one forgets that they can actually ENJOY looking at mountains, breathing fresh air and seeing nature. (There were pictures of bears all around, which I'm led to assume inhabit the area. We didn't see any!)
Anyway... in short it was interesting. Nice to visit, but probably WAY better in the winter during ski season.