Monday is Tuesday

Well, since Sunday is the start of the school week in Cairo, today seemed like Tuesday, except it was Monday. Not another Manic Monday, but a smooth school day, take a cruise on the Nile, have a relaxing dinner Monday. A fifth grader asked me today, “what enthusiated you to write poetry?” What a great word. He is learning English in addition to his native tongue and when his classmates were quick tp point out his mistake, he just shrugged it off with an “oh, you know what I mean.” And of course we all did. Everyone here is learning another language of some kind. We are learning please and thank you in Arabic and trying to get everyone thinking in the language of poetry.

The days are twirling, honking, smiling as we get to know people. I’m so tired I can’t even think straight. I suggest you check out Michael’s site for pictures of our sail and Frank’s blog for pictures of his day at the school for Sudanese refugees. http://michaelsalinger.blogspot.com/

As soon as we learn something new, another question pops up. Like did you ever wonder where those rag rugs in the store come from” These folks were working away at 9PM on a Sat. night on rag rugs. No 9-5 here.

In the same market, we saw long black abayas displayed right across the narrow market road from bare midriff belly dancing outfits. Kind on makes you wonder what’s under those things, doesn’t it? And some of the Egyptian teen-aged girls on the street who were dressed in long black robes (few are) have very tight T shirts in bright colors pulled on over the abaya. You just KNOW they didn’t leave the house that way. Kind of the equivalent of rolling your skirt up after you left home and turned the corner when I was in HS. But overall, the teen dressing is MUCH more modest here, on the street, with girls dressing in long skirts or dresses over pants — lots of creativity in the way they pull it all together as opposed to the classic uniform of jeans and sweatshirts. Whew — time for bed!