كل عام و أنتم بخير

Hey Everyone,

Tomorrow is the first night of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calender and is a time of fasting, prayer, and charity for Muslims worldwide. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. They abstain from physical desires such as food, water, and smoking. They are called to reflect upon and concentrate on Allah. Muslims break their fast each night with an evening meal called the iftar. This meal is typically a community event as many Muslims visit close family and friends. A meal called the sahoor precedes the sunrise each morning and the start of a new day of fasting.

Daily life in Islamic countries changes dramatically during the month of Ramadan. A taxi cab driver told me today that tomorrow at 7 PM the streets will be empty as everyone has gone home for the iftar (الإفطار). Alexandria's streets are typically bananas at 7 PM. Many restaurants and shops close or maintain limited hours throughout the month. I am excited to be here and experience Ramadan.

On a somewhat globally less significant note, classes also start tomorrow. Play time is over, unfortunately. I will be taking classes in Classical Arabic or fousha (فصحى), Egyptian colloquial Arabic (عامية مصرية), an elective (Arabic translation, Media Arabic, or History of the Middle East), and a one-on-one discussion on a topic of my choice with a professor from Alexandria University. I requested a professor from the Economics department and I hope to discuss economic issues in the Middle East such as water (or the lack thereof), bread (or lack thereof), pollution (nope, plenty of this) and oil (why can't we eat this?? I suppose it would do a number on our teeth...).

Yesterday I went with my friends Sara and Joe to a church service in Arabic. The people were great and the service was very nice (although I can not say I understood that much). I am looking forward to going again. Christian worship services take place on Fridays or Saturdays in Egypt to line up with the Egyptian weekend and Islamic holy day of Friday.

As I mentioned before, I am new to this whole blogging thing so I did not realize you could insert pictures. Well. This brother has learned. This evening our group went swimming in the Mediterranean and 'twas amazing.


Lastly, as promised, a video from the Wadi Sports Camp. Enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1035486921309

Garden lions, monkey in the middle of the Mediterranean, and almost a whole(ly) month in Egypt

Lots of New (and some Old) School

Captain's Log 8.26.08 (or for those in basically anywhere but the U.S., 26.08.08)

Good.

I'm in Alexandria! I arrived two days ago by train from Cairo. I met other students in the Midd program at the train station on the 24th and we rode together. I enjoyed meeting everyone. I think the group will be delightful. These past few days have been an orientation to the city of Alexandria and to the program expectations and rules. The orientation has been a little dry but it has been nice having more time to get to know each other before our language pledge begins. Everyone in the program knows Arabic well enough to communicate and interact so we will not be totally silenced but I definitely do not take for granted the freedom of expression that comes with English. I am trying to get it all out before Thursday when we sign the pledge.

My few days in Cairo were great. Anne, a friend of mine from Midd, and I went on a culinary tour of Cairo. Egypt, at least I have heard, really does not have much to boast of when it comes to food when compared to other Middle Eastern countries. That may be the case but I was quite satisfied with what I ate. Both Anne and I ate more than we should have eaten. We just found ourselves moving from one restaurant or cafe to the next. It was probably not healthy but it was amazing. I am looking forward to eating some good seafood in Alexandria.

In other news, I joined a gym today. It is pretty darn nice. It will probably be good to exercise after all these yummy meals. On yet another related note, I saw the most incredibly muscular human being with my own eyes the other day. I was with the other guys living in the dorm waiting for a mashro'a when Whey Protein with legs walked by us looking for a taxi. His biceps were literally the size of bowling balls. I was afraid that he would give up on trying to hail a taxi and just grab one (and start eating it). When he finally gets a taxi (by this point we are all watching), there was legitimate concern that his arms would not fit in the cab. They were that big. It was like his body gave birth to twin super Goliath arms that would only eat nails and fear. Oh my.

Other things of note:

The other day in Cairo Anne and I were totally scammed. We were looking for a market and this man, detecting our confusion (and apparently our gullibility) offered to help us. I mean, he was just a nice, friendly man on his way home who only wanted to help us reach our destination. How humane of him! Wrong. He some how convinced us to visit this mosque (oh now I remember how, he lied to us) and then told us that in order to see the mosque, we had to contribute to the mosque's collection. He told us it would be 50 pounds. I paid the 50 pounds and then he said, "No, no, no. 100 pounds! 100 pounds!" At this point, Anne and I both were like, "No way, chico" and left.

I felt silly. I was also frustrated that some one would offer their assistance freely and generously only in an effort to take your money. I certainly do not want to say something extreme like 'Humans can not be trusted' but to an extent, it makes me hesitate before I accept someone's help, no matter how congenial they are. I do not want to be that way at all but being scammed definitely makes you cautious of others' intentions.

Yesterday I played soccer along the Cornishe (the main road along the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria) with some Egyptians. I was walking with none other than Anne when the guys were like "Yo, come play!" (rough translation). It was fun. We played 3 v. 3 on a side walk. (It was a pretty wide sidewalk.) My team lost unfortunately. I am now historically 0-2 against Egyptian teams in soccer. During sports camp the American counselors played the Egyptian counselors in a game that we also lost. I would like to think both matches were well played but perhaps the Egyptians were just going easy on the ol' amrikee.

I am living in the Alexandria University dorms. They are small but cozy. I have a single. I am excited to buy posters of Egyptian pop stars to decorate my walls. I got to be cool, you know.
Our program coordinator has arranged soccer games for Friday afternoons for the students living in the dorms. I am so excited. The field next to the dorms is one of the nicest I have seen in Egypt. It should be great.

I have been writing this while washing my cloths. I sweat a lot in Egypt. I will end here because I think I may have just broken the washing machine. Oops. Let's hope not.

The sea!, cell block 1 building B, and cross cultural jam sessions

Lotus! Oh, Lotus!

This is my shout out to the Lotus. You know who you are.

Okay. So the other day I went to the pyramids with the group from Houston. The pyramids are incredible. To give perspective to my visit, I had the opportunity to see Niagara Falls on my drive home this spring. I had high expectations for the Falls. I thought it was going to be a deafeningly large, overwhelmingly grand waterfall. Like the can't-hear-yourself-think-or-your-neighbor-talk type of loud waterfall. Do not get me wrong. Niagara Falls is beautiful but it it was not quite all I expected.

The pyramids, on the other hand, are amazing. They are so huge. From a distance they are huge and up close, well, surprise, they're even bigger. I had no idea how insanely massive they are. Not only are they huge but their corners are perfectly aligned with the cardinal directions and the top of the pyramid is directly in the center of the square base. So well done. I have tried stacking sugar packets at dinner and frankly the results are not as impressive.

For our visit to the pyramids, our group had a tour guide. He was quite friendly and a very good tour guide. Before we began our tour, he introduced himself, asked us questions about ourselves, and finally asked if we wanted a group name. The idea behind a group name is to help us stay together during the tour Our group was pretty tired so no one was that interested in team names. Our tour leader recognized our apathy, took the reins, and began suggesting name ideas. We should have said something. Fearlessly and shamelessly, our tour guide choose the name "Lotus." Thus, for the next hour and a half, when ever we moved to a new site, our tour guide would call, "Lotus! Oh, Lotus!" It was painful but I could not stop laughing.

Sadly, Cairo has expanded so far that the pyramids are more a suburb of the city rather than an exotic, isolated wonder of the world. City building are beginning to encroach on the land around the pyramids and the city is easily seen from the pyramid park. A road runs between two of the pyramids. Boo development.

When you visit the pyramids, you have the opportunity to ride a camel. Good deal, huh? The ancient pyramids of Giza, exotic desert animal, and a warm Coke. Yummy.

I chose to not ride the camel and I wish to share why: Camels are ornery, ornery creatures. Perhaps they are so ornery because foreigners ride them all day long. They spit too. Ornery I say. Ornery.

My friends who did ride told me the camels were named funny names like Michael Jackson and 007. Ha.

On an bright note, everyone should try rice pudding with ice cream, fruit, and nuts. Wow. Perhaps everyone else has had that before but it was the first time for me. So amazing.

Building blocks, sand castles, and way too much good food,

Pushing, Catching, and a smaller, better world

Captain's Log: 8.20.2008

We're four months out from port. No sign of the whale but we're not giving up hope. Our beards are thick and manly. Thank goodness.

Okay. So the beard thing did not work out. I honestly tried. I do not want to give up entirely but I'm beginning to think that I just do not have what it takes. Don't worry. I have good support around me. It may take me a while but I want to give it another go.

Things have become so drastic that I'm considering performance enhancing drugs. A new friend, Kyle, is a scientist. (That's right. He makes science.) He won a big science award for creating an algae miracle grow to help in the process of converting algae to gasoline. I have since commissioned him to create a facial hair miracle grow for men (or boys) like myself that find their facial hair, well, lacking (read: invisible). I'll let you know when human trials begin.

This past week I volunteered with a group from my church at the Wadi Sports Camp. The camp is located about an hour west of Cairo toward Alexandria. The camp is supported by the Kasr Al-Dobara church in Cairo. It was amazing.

My main responsibility at the camp was to coach baseball. Baseball is not a popular sport in Egypt so many of the kids were unfamiliar with the rules and the skills. We definitely had to start from the beginning. Another counselor suggested to me that we start by playing kickball. Kickball is a game they know and would help introduce the basic rules of the baseball. We had to clarify, however, that you do not get someone out in baseball by pegging them with the ball. Important distinction.

After kickball, we practiced throwing, catching, hitting, and fielding. The kids learned amazingly fast. I was quite impressed. After covering the major components of the game, we started playing games. Apparently baseball can be boring so the kids were happy to start playing games and competing.

The campers were of the 12-14 year old age group and candy still wields a mighty influence over thier behavior. (I'm 20. I still respond to candy incentives.) A funny story involving candy and aforementioned (I'm so glad I just used that word) Egyptian campers invovles my Egyptian counselor friend Toto. When the campers saw we had candy, they would swarm me and my American co-counselor Daniel. Toto would see this and say, "Egyptians. Egyptians. We have candy in Egypt. Calm down." Toto kept me laughing the entire week. I am so glad he was with the baseball group.

The accommodations at Wadi were really nice. Wadi also hosts corporate groups who come for team building exercises so the rooms for the coaches and campers were cozy. I had two roommates. Their names were Kyle (the scientist) and Michael. They are amazing. I miss them already.

My Arabic was a novelty at the camp. Most of the foreign coaches that come know very little Arabic. After a while it felt a bit like a party trick. The campers and counselors spoke incredibly good English so the sports instruction was done in English. I would try to mix in some Arabic phrases or words which elicited from friendly laughter. Hanging out with the kids and counselors did help me learn some good Egyptian. The counselors are great people. I hope and look forward to seeing them again.

Kyle had the funniest observation about Arabic. He said, "Arabic is nice but it sounds like a lot of pushing. Too much pushing." Perhaps one had to be there. I still think its funny.

There are no rules in Egypt. Sometimes at night the campers would participate in games. One night they played a game called Commandos. The camper's objective was to find a hidden base to earn points for their cabin. As a coach, my job was to catch the campers and send them back to the start. Imagine over 150 kids running and being chased around a sports camp campus at night. Everyone, including the campers, knew people were going to be injured. Kyle told me stories about campers who tried to run through soccer nets (with no success) and through the low ropes course (with no success). Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt but there were some scraped knees and sore ankles.

You could never do something like that in America. You would be sued for more amounts of money that do not even exist. Go Egypt.

One day, Shady, one of the coordinators, took the group to Alexandria. It was neat to see my future home. We ate some delicious seafood and ice cream. I am excited to try new restaurants and foods. I will post some pictures of the city for all to see. I will also soon have links to two videos from the sports camp of myself being silly. Please enjoy.

I am now in Cairo with my friends Lizz and Anne. I have four days until I catch a train to Alexandria with my group. I am looking forward to seeing more things in Cairo.

I also had an interesting conversation with my taxi driver the other day about Egypt and water usage. I hope to learn more about water use in the Middle East, its economic and political impact, and sustainable practice.

Good friends, beach balls, and more good friends,



ps. Olympic weight lifters are unreal. If anyone aspires to become an Olympic weight lifter, I will heartily support you.

Black Tea and Super Colliders

Hey everyone,

This message comes from myself. My anti-self will be posting here shortly.

I arrived in Cairo early this morning after a couple lovely flights and a short and rainy layover in Amsterdam. Oh. There is so much to tell.

On the flight from Houston to Amsterdam I sat next to a lovely, lovely lady named Jetske who was traveling to Holland for her mother's 100th birthday. If I have a 100th birthday, it will be a barn burner for sure. And you are all invited. Thinking about it though, I think 100th birthdays could be sad. You probably can not see well so there's no point decorating. You probably can't move well so you won't be dancing. And, worst of all, you probably do not have teeth so no cake! Tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Jetske was great company and the flight went by quickly.

Amsterdam is a neat place. I visited the Rijksmuseum, home to the paintings of Dutch master painters. The most famous work in the collection is Rembrandt's The Night Watch. It is huge, in many senses of the word. The public transportation in Amsterdam is great. I'm a big fan. Being in Europe is tough though. Everyone is super trendy. That was definitely the most self-conscious eight hours of my life.

On the flight from Amsterdam to Cairo I sat next to a teacher from England. She teaches reception (the British version of kindergarten). Reception sounds so welcoming.

I am staying with my friend Lizz, a Midd graduate, in Cairo. She, her mother, and her roommates showed me around. They are all great. I will meet the rest of the sports camp group tomorrow evening at the airport.

Okay. Now seriously, have you all heard about this Large Hadron Collider in Geneva that could create a black hole and consume the planet? They are looking to recreate the conditions that existed after the Big Bang. Now I'm not a doctor, but that sounds risky. And what does the city of Geneva think of this? Do lab coats and picturesque mountains offer protection from black holes? Or practically, how do you collide two sub atomic particles? They're so tiny. Some one explain this to me.

Oddly, the term super collider could be used to describe traffic in Cairo. Or chaos theory.

The beard is going strong. So full and manly and non-existent. I am not giving up hope. You shouldn't either.

43 hours without a shower, yummy tea, and good company

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Hey everyone,

I want to begin this blog with a confession. I realize we just met but I think we can handle it.

I do not care much for the word "blog" (or any derivations, i.e. blogging). There. I said it. No taking it back. "Blog" sounds like what happens when your meal disagrees with you. I can not help it.

Therefore, this is my ____________ (public journal, diary?, captain's log) for my time serving and studying in Egypt. During the month of August (from the 9th to the 19th) I will be volunteering with a group from my church at a sports camp outside of Cairo teaching baseball. It should be amazing. A typical day's schedule reads as follows: Wake up at 8 AM, play with kids all day, bed time around 11 PM. Brilliant. After sports camp, I will move to Alexandria, Egypt where I will be studying Arabic at Alexandria University for the fall semester (from Aug. 24 to Dec. 8th).

Needless to say, I am super excited. I am shocked, though, at how quickly my departure date (this Wed., Aug. 6th) arrived. To where did the summer fly? I sure hope time passes extra slow in Egypt. First of all, that would mean more opportunities to practice Arabic. Always a good thing. Secondly, that would give me a chance to grow a full, manly beard. I can dream, can't I? It could totally happen too. I think all my beard needs is some positive reinforcement and encouragement.

I will do my best to update this (whatever we're calling it. Thoughts? I personally liked captain's log) often and include pictures when I can.

To Egypt, dreaming, and fully developed facial hair follicles