Back in Egypt

I've been back in Cairo for about two weeks now, and the time has been full of adventures. The first few days, I stayed in the Pearl Hotel with other new teachers while everyone hunted for apartments. As people found places to live, I slowly moved into mine. I say slowly because I only slept there about half of the time. I've never lived alone (and now know that I probably wouldn't like to), so I stayed in friends' spare bedrooms a few nights.

One treat that AIS had for new teachers was an iftar meal at Al Azhar Park in Cairo. We went before sunset to enjoy some views of the city. Once the sun set, the iftar began and we enjoyed a buffet of delicious rices, meats, vegetables, and eventually desserts.

The next night, AIS planned a felucca trip on the Nile for any new or current teachers in town. We had three boats tied together because there were so many of us! We enjoyed getting to know each other while eating and sipping on sakara beer.

My first trip to Egypt did not include a visit to the pyramids, so I made sure to get there early in this stint so I didn't miss out again.

One last important note...I got my stuff back! I had left two suitcases here in January when we left in a hurry, and the school stored them for me. I've noticed a few things that I thought would be in the suitcases were gone, but I don't know who all had hands in storing them. I'll just assume that I misplaced those items or didn't pack them...

School starts tomorrow for teachers, September 6th for most students, and September 11 for early childhood students. Looking forward to some structure!