Thursday I went to the BCA Katameya with my coworkers. We only had one day off, so we wanted to make the best of it. BCA has really good food, and they serve alcohol which is one of the few places where you can find it.  Besides that its a nice place and they serve amazing food, they also serve pork. We set outside, had a few beers. We had to leave before 11 since we are still on curfew. Ugh curfew can ruin a weekend, but we made the best of it so far. I stayed behind with Lindsey we left at 10:30 when they closed. Every taxi that we flagged would say no. It's not the first time this happend, apparently in Cairo taxis have preferences. Finally, we got a taxi he found our place after a hard time to communicating with him. We went to Kelly and Nauls place, had amazing food, and called it a night by two oclock.

bca fail

Being in a different country with a language that you can't understand has it's downfalls. Especially when you get on a taxi. This Friday I felt like going to the British club, to have some lunch. So, my friend Lindsey and I planned in advanced, we brought a map, called the BCA asked them to explain to our guard how to get there, so we could give directions to the taxi driver. We get on the taxi, Lindsey wasn't feeling that great as she had a long night. The taxi driver kept hitting the gas pedal on and off, so we felt as if we were in a roller coaster. Also, taking the back roads, which means a bunch of potholes. Our taxi diver kept asking every passerbyer where the Canadian school was, as the BCA was next to it. After driving for about 30 min to a place that could have taken us 5, we gave up. We asked the driver to take us back to the place were we where, and he again wanted directions, at this point we were done with it. So, we decided to eat at the restaurant by the gym, since we passed by it. We get the taxi fare, 20 Egyptian pounds, and he still wanted to get a tip.

Downtown

This was our first week at the school. WE got a chance to settle our classrooms, and get other administrative things done. School was schedule for the 1st of September, but due to curfew we will not start until the 14. Which means that we will probably come to school some Saturdays, we will in fact start school on a Saturday. 

I really like my classroom, it's huge. There's even a little play area, and I have a bunch of resources, and things to hang in the class that they other teacher left. On Monday we went to Downtown, a mall in New Cairo, that we'v been frequenting a lot lately. I got my nails done with Christina and Lindsey on Monday, we were suppose to go shopping that day but it was a bit fail. We made an appointment for 4:30, but we didn't get seen until about 5:30 we were done by 6:30. Due to curfew most things close at 6:30-7, so we had to call it a night.  We had to go  shopping on Tuesday. I love how many spices they have, and how they sell spices even in big groceries stores. They even had hibiscus, so I made some Jamaica water. 

Lindsey and I went out to dinner and shisha after. We left the restaurant at 7:15, thinking we would be good. The day before we left at 6:40, but we were wrong. We kept asking taxi drivers to take us to our place, and all of them kept saying no. We thought it was a language barer, so we asked the military guards behind us to help us, but he said that all of them were going the other way, and due to curfew they wouldn't have time to make it home by 9. He said we had to go to they other side of the street, and this meant crossing three busy streets. So, he helped us cross the street, and we were able to make it home safe. :)

I been busy  lately so I haven written anything. Anyway, this past weekend the school organized a trip to Ein Al- Soukna a resort in the red sea 90 minutes away from Cairo.It was nice to go on a trip with the teachers from the school. We got to relax a bit, the sea was incredible. It was calm, so we stayed at the beach for a while. At night we ate at the buffet. There was a variety of salads, and middle Easter food. We got a hookah after, while we listen to some life Arabic music. We only stayed a night at the hotel, so the next day everyone woke up early to make the best of it. We spend sometime by the beach, and the pool.

Today the owner of the school took all of the American teachers to lunch.  We went to a place called downtown New Cairo. It was an outdoor mall, with many restaurants, cafes, and stores. We went to a place called Olive. There was already appetizers salad and water at the table. We had some stuffed grape fruits, kebab, olives, and a cheese spread. Everything tasted so fresh and delicious. I really think I'm gonna get spoiled here. Since most things are not stuffed with pesticides, and it seems as if most animal products that they sell here are grass feed. You can really taste the difference, even my first day eating at a food court restaurant I didn't feel as if I was stuffing myself with poison. Everyone has been super helpful. Egyptians really want to make us feel at home. When we left the mall we had to cross the street at rush hour. When our bus driver saw us he came to help us cross the street, he was even holding one of the guys hand.  We ended our night at apartment 10, drinking some beers and getting to know each other.

First days

I arrived to Egypt Tuesday afternoon after three flights, and having to walking a million miles on the Frankfort airport. I had 40 minutes between flights, and it seemed like I was never gonna get there. I kept seeing signs for terminal D, but it seemed as it terminal D never arrived. I finally made it to my gate I asked the man who was standing there it it was the flight to Cairo turns out there was a gate change. I finally made it to the gate, I waited 5 minutes and we all got into a bus to drive to our plain. I could barely stand still, kept falling into people. One family kept looking at me and started talking to me in Arabic. I kept saying no for everything they asked, and then they ask me in English "You are not going to Cairo". I haven't even arrived to Egypt and I was already lost in translation.

I finally arrived to Egypt got my tourist visa, it was faster then what I expected. Ellen, her husband and their daughter were there to greet me.  They took me to the rez. I was expecting a bunch of protest on the way to the rez, but it was all calm. We only passed by one check point. My apartment was bigger then what I expected, and they left water, cheese, and yogurt for us. They other group of people arrived 3 hours later, we all gathered in one of the other girls apartment and had dinner. We were all pretty tiered so we passed out early.

The next day it was our time to go shopping. We arrived at a huge Carrefour. It was packed it was 2 o'clock and the store closed at 4 due to the 6-7 curfew. It seemed I could barely walk in the aisles, it was packed with families, and workers. We only had two hours to buy food, and things for our apartment. When we finally made it checkout, everyone's fruits and vegetables had to be taken back. In Egypt you have to get a bar code for fruits and vegetables before you check out. At this point everyone was overwhelmed, so we decided to leave with out them.

It seems like I cant get used to this new schedule. I woke up at 4 a.m today. I decided to catch up worth some friends. I went to sleep again at 6 a.m. Only to be woken up by a laud knock on the door at 10:30 school maintenance was checking to see if everything was working. They fixed what needed to be fixed, and I went back to bed. Today we are suppose to go to the fruit and vegetable market, so lets see how that goes.