March 8, 2019: Yarn store exploration, part 2

Took another trip to the yarn store to get materials for our Mother’s Day letter and yarn for a blanket that my friend, Karma, is crocheting me (woohoo!).  This is the inside of the yarn store. It’s a pretty typical layout for a store of this size. You squeeze yourself into the tiny aisle with the other customers, and there is a store lady who follows you around to try to help you.  She doesn’t know English, and I don’t know any yarn related words in Arabic, so I try to motion to her that she doesn’t really have to help me, but it doesn’t really work. So instead, she sticks around and eyes my choices, giving me (what I think are) suggestions and recommendations, but I can't be sure.  Numerous times I have to squeeze against the shelf to let a few other woman pass behind me. When I check out, I discover my yarn was dirt cheap! With these prices, I’m tempted to learn how to crochet, but then I remember I have no patience, pay very little attention to detail, and would hate every aspect of yarn related crafts.

March 6, 2019: Ettakelem Arabee Schwaya

I’ve started Arabic lessons!  My coworker, Sara, and I are getting tutored by our other coworker, Ahmed.  In today’s lesson we learned how to shop. I now know how to order myself chicken shawarma with cheese (no spices) and I can get strawberries and bell peppers from the market.  Next session, Ahmed is taking us shopping and we have to get our own produce.

Sara had to leave today a few minutes early, so those last few minutes I told Ahmed everything I had learned in Arabic before coming to Egypt.  Once I accepted my job here, I spent 5 months listening to “Arabic for Dummies” on cd while driving to and from school, only to arrive in Egypt and discover that most of what I learned was classical Arabic and not used here.  I’ve heard that the Arabic I learned is kind of like Shakespearean English to a native English speaker. Very formal and funny sounding. This afternoon, I had Ahmed literally in tears as I spoke to him in the Classical Arabic I learned.  I imagine it probably is very funny to hear these old, fancy Arabic words coming out of the mouth of a super ignorant white girl! Especially since I was unaware that I was saying everything in the same tone that the cd lady used, which makes it sound like I’m a Shakespearean GPS system.  I love that I can provide such entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment, a few Arabic mishap stories:

1. Apparently “yellow” and “clever”  sound very similar. I have asked for a clever pepper  rather than a yellow pepper on occasion before finally being corrected.  I of course asked for clever peppers on purpose. Doesn’t everyone know those are the best kinds? I’m happy that this was a mishap that wasn’t offensive at all.  I’ve since learned that the word for “late” sounds very similar to vulgar word for “poop.” I’m committed to never commenting on anyone’s lack of punctuality while I live here.

2.  Earlier this year, I was working on CVC words with my students.  We came across the word, “hum” and one of my kids blurts out, “Yeah, like hum me a mum me a gammel.”  I asked him what it meant, and he replied with, “mmm it means, ‘this food is good.’” Excellent. I filed that away for future use.  Fast forward a few weeks and I was at a restaurant. The food was, indeed, good, so I busted out the hum me a mum me a gammel phrase.  The server just stared at me, obviously confused. The next day, I asked my student if I had said it correctly, and he verified that I had.  After school I asked my Arabic speaking coworker about the phrase, and he told me that the phrase is what moms say to their little babies when they are feeding them.  It’s the Egyptian Arabic version of “here comes the airplane.” So to my student, it would translate into the food being good, but highly inappropriate for me to say to a server!  My coworker does stand up comedy, and he laughed so hard at this story that he asked if he could incorporate it into his routine. I of course said I was happy to provide any sort of material possible.  He sent me the video of his routine when he performed it live. I of course couldn’t understand anything he said other than the “hum me a mum me a gammel,” and once he said it, the crowd burst out laughing.  I’m here all week, Egypt.

March 5, 2019: Learner Profile

We spent the morning today in an IB training.  Schutz will be an IB candidate school next year (!!), so the teachers are being trained in what that will look like.  During the training, we split into groups and were tasked with listing traits that our ideal, successful Schutz graduate would have.  Then we had to come up with a visual that explained those traits. This is what my group came up with. Can you see the McDonalds inspiration?   This came from an icebreaker conversation we had to have about one of our guilty pleasures. Obviously mine is McDonalds, though I’ve only eaten it four times since moving here.  Shawarma seems to be my new thing.

March 4, 2019: Here Comes Mother's Day!

I hear that Mother’s Day in Egypt is a pretty big deal.  Here we celebrate in March, and the moms are invited to the classroom for muffins and to hang out with their child.  I love having parents come into the class. It’s a great way to have the kids show their parents what they are learning, and for the parents to get a good idea of what we are doing on a day to day basis.  We had donuts with the dads a couple of months ago and the kids loved it. There’s always a little bit of (often unnecessary) anxiety when preparing for something for the first time, especially when you’re not quite sure of everyone’s expectations, and you have a personality like mine that wants everyone to be happy.  We decided to have the kids make a gift for their moms. We cut each mom’s first initial of her name from a piece of cardboard, and the students are going to wrap the letters in yarn to make a decorative keepsake. I think they’ll be cute!

March 3, 2019: Running Blues

The weather is warming, and runs outside have the potential to be more enjoyable than treadmill runs.  If I’m on campus, I’ve gotten used to treadmill running, simply because our campus is so small that my runs take FOREVER because you can’t run more than a few yards without turning.  It makes for a very slow pace. Today I sucked it up and ran around campus because it was too beautiful to be inside the gym. All in all, I passed this point about 18 times on my 3 mile run.  I know earlier in the year I went to Greece and was inspired to sign up for the Greece Marathon next year. That isn’t happening. At least not anytime soon!

March 2, 2019: Run through Montazah

Went on another beautiful run through Montazah.  I loved the way these palm trees looked against the white clouds.  You always see palms set against a bright blue sky or teal water, but rarely clouds like these, so it struck me as especially beautiful.  While on our run today my friends and I ran along a bridge near the water, and the waves were pretty strong. At one point they broke along the rocks near the bridge, and the ocean spray completely drenched us.  It may have been my favorite moment all week, though it was a bit chillier than I would have hoped for.

February 28, 2019: Mystery Reader

The second grade class at Peterson Elementary (in Kodiak) is celebrating Dr. Seuss Week, and they needed a mystery reader to read one of his books to the class.  Their teacher, Erica, asked me if I minded skyping the class and being today’s mystery reader. She wouldn’t tell the kids who was reading ahead of time. I would have done it either way, but I was extra excited because these are the kids I had last year in my class.   I was pumped to see them, so I donned my disguise and called them up. I didn’t say a word, but as soon as they saw me on the screen, they knew right away it was me. I was initially offended. The only thing you can see is my nose! I knew it was a little distinguished looking (thanks, Dad), but I didn’t think it was THAT much of a give away!  I’m choosing to believe the kids immediately recognized my black winter hat. Being Kodiak, I did wear it 85% of the school year. Either way, It was an absolute joy to see my kids again. They had lots of questions for me, mostly about whether I had been in a pyramid or seen a mummy (yes and yes, though not at the same time). It was so good to see those smiling faces!