Christmas in Madrid

The time is just flying by here in Spain.  So many places to go and visit and historic places to take pictures of.  The lights at night have been a splendid reminder that it is indeed Christmas today!  Allow me to recap the last couple days for you.

The last couple days have been adventurous to say the least.  We have spent our time in various areas of Madrid.  Madrid is a massive city with many interesting little areas to investigate.  This time we were able to find the tourist center in the Plaza Mayor which  made our personal walking tour more efficient.   Having the kiddos with us on this historical tour has made our approach very different than the past adventures we have created for ourselves.  I distinctly recall various occasions where we would spend one day in a city and see all the major sites as we power walked through the popular districts.  We often took the quick picture and ventured off to the next site.  Now, we spend a tremendous amount of time getting from one place to another.  It has taken us 2 trips to the historical center to see half of what we want to see.  But, viewing the journey from the kids eyes has been fascinating.  We have seen things we may have missed because Princess wants to stop and pose for a picture.

The Plaza Mayor (the main plaza) is a popular place to hang out and enjoy tapas and drinks.  We expected that since we were heading there on Christmas Eve Day, that it would not be as busy, but we were very wrong about that!  There were people everywhere!  There were vendors shooting bubbles out of bubble guns in an effort to draw in the kids.  Sponge Bob, Santa and Smurfette were also in attendance at the Plaza.  People were walking around with funny hats and crazy wigs.  The tapas markets and bars were packed with people.  It truly was the place to be!  It was a little hectic for our liking however, so we ventured off to find alternative locations to entertain us.  We tried to wander through a tapas market, but it was so full of people it was difficult to walk through with the stroller.  The kids were getting tired so, we traveled back to the hotel.  It was time to get ready for church anyway.

Yes, even though we are on vacation, we still went to church.  We found an English Candlelight Service at a small church just a few kilometers from the hotel.  The people were friendly, there was Sunday School and their choir was great.  We sang out of hymn books, which I have not done in years, and the message was excellent.  (More on that in a post later today).  It was nice to be at church on Christmas Eve as that is part of our family tradition.  It would not have felt like Christmas without it.

This morning the kids gave Hubby and I the best Christmas present.  They slept past 8:30.  It is quite possible that they just thought it was still night time because the hotel room has black out blinds.  Once they woke up however, it was straight to the presents.  There was no real surprise for the kids as they were with us when we bought their presents.  Dimples was kind of oblivious still, but Princess knew exactly what was in each thoughtfully wrapped box.  Once Princess was decked out in her fairy costume, we decided to head back into the Old City to explore some more.

The weather could not have been better.  It felt like a beautiful fall day, leaves crunching under our feet, the sun beating down and warming the air around us.  With it being Christmas Day, many of the shops and restaurants, museums and other historical sites were closed, but we could still see the outside of them.  We wandered around, found some impressive cathedrals, monuments and fountains.  Today was the day of the fountain.  Pretty well everywhere we looked there was a fountain.  Princess really likes fountains so we had to stop at every one we found.  She was feeling particularly photogenic as well today, so we could not leave until she was done taking pictures.

The final place we visited today was Retiro Park.  It felt and looked exactly like Central Park in New York City.  There were people busking, artists painting, people selling things and puppet shows.  It was a nice place to be, and there were a lot of people walking, biking and running around.  We walked through the park, the kids played at the various playgrounds we located and overall had a great time!  We eventually headed back to the hotel as the kids were starting to fade...

When we originally planned this trip, we were having a tough time deciding whether we should stay in Barcelona or Madrid.  We are very happy that we decided to stay in Madrid.  There is so much to do here ranging from parks and shops to historic and modern areas. 

Super Busy Tapas Market in the Building!

Plaza Mayor

Princess and her fountains...

A candid moment of Hubby and Princess

Family picture with a pretty fancy fountain.

A rare moment where Dimples posed for a picture.

Playing in the park.

Dimples and Daddy checking out the sunglasses.

Princess driving daddy in the train.

Although I have not mentioned the shopping that we have done, it has been a great place to pick up some things that we cannot get in Egypt.  Since the voltage in Spain is the same as in Egypt, electronics have been high on our list of things to purchase here.  There are some very high end malls, and then there are some awesome Outlet Malls and of course I have mentioned Ikea.  So, our bags will be a little fuller when we return to Egypt, but, the kids will have some new clothes that fit well and mommy will have a few kitchen gadgets that she has missed greatly!

Day 3 in Spain

Our adventures have continued throughout Spain.  We took another day trip out of Madrid to explore the historical town of Toledo.  Toledo is about an hour’s drive south of Madrid.  The drive was not as scenic as our journey through the mountains to get to Segovia Hbecause we were on a major motorway.  We passed by numerous shopping centers on our way and as we passed the Ikea sign, we knew where we would end up later in the day.

When we approached Toledo, the panoramic view was stunning.  You could see the cathedral domes standing high on the horizon and the castle was at the far left.  This is supposedly the town where many kings have been buried, although we never discovered where that was.  When we drove into Toledo, it was very obvious that this town was very different from Segovia, which is great because we wanted to see something different.  The gate to the town was gorgeous and very detailed.  Contrary to the way we used to tour towns and cities before we had kids, we wanted to find the tourist center to obtain information and a walking map, but the visitor’s center evaded us as we never found it.  So, it was back to our traveling roots!  We parked the car, got our and started walking.  

It was still relatively early, which meant that it was still quite cold.  Now, please keep in mind that we have adjusted to the climate in Egypt, so, even though it was only zero degrees out, we found that quite cold, especially for the kids.  So, we walked around a little park and took some pictures of the castle, but quickly found our way back to the car because we were unsure as to which way to go and did not want to wander because it was too cold for the kids to do that.

So, we piled back into the car and started driving.  We took a “wrong turn” and ended up in the center of the downtown touristy area...driving through the extremely narrow roadways.  We folded in our side view mirrors and barely squeezed through some of the roads.  We drove past all the major historical sites and eventually found our way back to the original place we had parked.  About 45 minutes had elapsed so we parked the car again in hopes that it was a bit warmer.  Now that we knew which way to go, it seemed that it would be possible to walk around town.  Hubby loved driving through the very narrow streets.  It was quite an adventure for him; probably his favourite part of our time in Toledo.

Once we got out it was warm enough for the kids and we started walking.  It was fun to walk through the twisty narrow streets, but overall, the historical features of this town were extremely spread out and not nearly as magnificent as those that we saw in Segovia.  The Cathedral was very expensive to enter, so we did not.  We have been in numerous Cathedrals and Churches during our travels in Europe, so we did not find the need to go in to this one.  

The view of Toledo from the Castle.

Me and Hubby in a classic shot.

Narrow Twisty Streets.

Princess at the Cathedral.

Cathedral Spires.

After walking around Toledo for a couple hours, we opted to depart.  Although we had enjoyed our time in Toledo, it was time to go.  If you find yourself in Madrid and want to take a day trip, but can only take one, go to Segovia.  It has more charm and history and makes for a more enjoyable day. If you have time to go see both towns, they are both worth seeing for very different reasons!

Day One in Spain

Traveling with the kids can be challenging at times.  Especially with Princess who is able to express her own sense of adventure and fun while we venture about.  Dimples is pretty happy wherever we go.  The plane ride was smooth and virtually without any problems.  The kids were great overall and we got to Spain mid afternoon.  We rented a compact car (which is a VAN! We are happy for the space but do not understand how this vehicle is a compact!)  We spent most of the day getting settled into our beautiful hotel and getting some dinner.  We were all tired from the day of traveling. 

 So, for our first day in Spain we decided to travel to Segovia.  We jumped in the car and headed north about 100 km's from Madrid.  We put Segovia into the GPS and began our journey, opting for the scenic route instead of the toll road highway.  We were astounded at how late the sun rose here.  In Cairo the sun starts to come up around seven, here it was well after eight before we saw any beacon of light.  Once the sun came up we discovered a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and mountains.  Plus, there was wildlife just about everywhere that we looked!  Of course we saw cows and horses, but there was also and abundance of sheep and deer. 


I had heard a lot about this quaint little city and it was a priority to get there.  I am so glad that we did.  Segovia has entered my top ten list of great places to visit. 

Upon entering the downtown area we were greeted by a massive Aqueduct that was built during the Roman Empire.  It was very big and very old, but where the pyramids seemed kind of "sloppy" in places, the aqueduct was immaculate.  No stone was out of place.  We continued up the hill and went further into the downtown area and discovered that there were over 60 historical sights in Segovia.  This was more than I had originally thought and everywhere we looked there was a church, monastery or convent.  The major places to visit in Segovia however are the Aqueduct, the Cathedral and Alcazar. 

As we approached the downtown plaza, the Cathedral was definitely the main attraction.  Absolutely huge in size, the Cathedral was "magnificent" as Princess declared.  The spires were massive and the architecture was unreal.  It reminded me a lot of St. Vitas Cathedral in Prague, except that this Cathedral did not seem as dark and eerie as St. Vitas.  I am always astounded by the incredible detailing in the ceilings and walls in historical Catholic Cathedrals.  I cannot the amount of time that went into building them. 

We continued to walk down the narrow and quaint little roads an ultimately arrived at Alcazar.  Apparently, Walt Disney used this Castle as inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle.  So, with that in mind, we told Princess we were going to Sleeping Beauty's Castle, and she got really excited about that.  The Castle was tremendous and although we did not go in, I have a slight feeling that we will be going back to Segovia before we leave this incredible country.

A family pic amidst the mountainous terrain...although it was foggy.

Ancient Roman Aqueduct in Segovia.

Narrow roadways, historical buildings.

Cathedral in the main plaza.

Princess sitting on a wall of a historical church.

"Sleeping Beauty's castle"...or the Castle where the Spanish Monarchs lived...

In the evening we ventured down to a shopping district.  We thought it would be fun to walk around, look at the Feliz Navidad lights and find a place to eat.  Little did we know that the Stadium where Real Madrid plays was in the same area, and, surprisingly, there was a game!  People from all over Madrid were filing into the area and it was loud!  Everyone was decked out in Real Madrid jerseys, scarves, hats and horns.  They were ready for the game to begin.  We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere.  Perhaps if it was earlier in the day, we would have tried to get some tickets to the game, but the kids were pretty tired as it was well after seven and we had a pretty long day already.

So, it was back to the hotel to settle down, relax and rest for the next day of adventure.  If someone would have told me last year at this time, that I would be spending this Christmas in Spain, I would have laughed.  Spain has never been high on my list of places to visit.  But, I am so glad that we are here because there are so many interesting places to see and things to do.  I think that we will have a very busy 10 more days!

And They Are At It Again...

Yesterday we decided to spend the day at a Shopping mall that rivals West Edmonton Mall and the Mall of America.  It is simply huge.  I get lost just thinking about where things are let along walking around actually trying to find specific stores.  It is about an hours drive from our house, so we left planning to spend the day. 

It was fun to window shop and look around for Christmas presents.  As I have mentioned before, the whole idea of Christmas consumerism has been lost on me this year.  It really has not crossed my mind that we "should" be spending a small fortune on stuff right now.  Sure, we have gotten the kids a few things, but that is about it.  The trip to Spain is a present in itself and that it will create memories to last a lifetime.  But, it was easy to get caught up in the consumerist mentality while we were at the mall.  Watching people walk around with bags upon bags of items in their hands, it made me think that perhaps we were not doing enough.  But, I know we are because we have been consistent with sharing the Birth story of Jesus, and that is the true reason that we celebrate.  Princess LOVES the Polar Express...I think that we have watched it everyday for the last two weeks, but she still thinks that Santa is a fictional character...Dimples is oblivious to all things commercial in regards to Christmas. 

As we concluded our day at the mall, we called our driver to come and get us.  Turns out, he was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic because, "something was happening downtown".  When you looked around the mall it appeared that no one seemed to know about it.  My mind started racing at the vague statement and went dozens of directions, including, the "are we going to get home safely" thought, to "we should have stayed home" thought.  We went through downtown to get to the mall earlier in the day, and had been unaware that anything was being planned to happen.  Typically the local media alerts those in Cairo of any planned unrest or protest.  When we hear these types of alerts, we stay home in our safe haven of a community.  So, needless to say we were caught off guard.  So, with our driver stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, he suggested we take a cab.  Our driver, the kind and considerate man that he is, talked to the cab driver and told him very specific directions to take us home so that we would avoid and major traffic concerns and downtown unrest.  The driver got us home efficiently and safely and we saw nothing unusual on our trip.

This protest seemed to be very haphazardly called together and resulted in Egyptians chucking rocks at the military.  For the most part, people have been camped outside of parliament buildings waiting for the military to step down.  They have not caused much disturbance lately, mostly making a statement by their presence.  But, in the end several people died because the military came into the group of people with guns and weapons, including chunks of concrete.  Women were being beaten and shots were fired.  The irony is that the current Prime Minister said that the military would not use excessive force in dealing with protesters, yet, yesterday, that was clearly not the case.  The people are still fighting for the military to step down and hand the power of the country over to a group of civilians.  It had appeared that this "fight" had come to a standstill and the elections began without much disturbance.  But, the military came in with their guns blazing yesterday, not taking into account human life.  At least 7 people died yesterday as a result of the clashes.  Rocks were being thrown at the military by the civilians and the military threw rocks back.  The streets looked very messy from the disturbance last night.

The way the military acted will likely result in some serious push back by the protestors.  There is a lot of tension here politically and the Prime Minister stating that they will not use force was proven incorrect yesterday.  That is sure to set a fire beneath the Egyptian people.  The next few days will be interesting.  We will be keeping our ears and eyes wide open as we venture out and about. 

This is an excellent article that indicates there is a lot of finger pointing between the two groups.  A lot of he-said-she said types of attitudes.  Read More.

My first four months as a "real" teacher...

Okay, I have hardly posted anything on this blog about the transition from University and Student Teaching to life as a "real" teacher.  I have to say that most of the time I do not feel like a "newbie" in the classroom.  That may come from teaching EAL in the Czech Republic all those years ago, or the time I spent as a Lab Demonstrator for Human Anatomy.  I have always felt comfortable in front of a group of people, especially in front of students.

It has been a whirlwind four months of teaching though.  The process of setting up a classroom that is conducive to learning is more challenging that it would seem, especially with two little ones running around trying to "help".  It did not help that I had no idea what my classroom would look like, so I had to think on the fly with the supplies and resources I could access here.  I cannot just make my way to the store and pick up some borders and posters.  That is not an option here.  The other challenge was the fact that the walls are all concrete.  There is only so much you can do; sticky tack is a hot commodity here.

Once I got the classroom set up the way I liked, I found out that my teaching assignment had changed.  I was no longer teaching grade 7 Social Studies and Math.  Rather, I was going to teach grade 7, 8 and 9 math.  The biggest problem then became that I had to set up ANOTHER classroom.  I had spent all my energy and clever ideas on the first classroom. I was completely exhausted from classroom design.  I kept in minimal and simple as the teaching assignment change was supposed to be only temporary.  Then as the days, weeks and months rolled by, the more permanent the assignment change felt.  That is when I decided to finally decorate the classroom.  I was spending so much time there, I wanted there to be color.  White walls were starting to feel a little too institutional.

In University, they send the teachers-to-be to actual schools for the first week to see the "start of school experience" through watching other teachers start the year.  In reality, they should send the teachers-to-be to the school the two weeks before too because setting up a classroom is much more challenging that it would seem to be.  Then during that start of school experience, the teachers-to-be sit and watch.  I did this two years in a row, and no matter how closely I paid attention or how many notes I took, nothing could actually prepare me for the "REAL" start of school experience.  There are so many things that I would do differently on that first day, that first class, because it truly sets the tone for the year.  Did I do a terrible job, no.  The students and I have a great rapport and the class moves along well with few issues, but, there are still things that I would do differently.  

So, it is now Christmas holidays and the time really did fly by.  There were glorious moments and challenging moments, some that really challenged my teaching philosophy.  The first unit that I taught in grade 8 and 9 math were also challenging as I had only looked at the curriculum the week before I had to start teaching it.  I had not studied math in University and all I had to fall back on was conventional teaching methodology.  I was teaching one day at a time.  If I looked any farther ahead I would have panicked.  Now, however, I have looked right through the curriculum and feel that I can handle whatever the Mathematics Curriculum wants to throw at me...and next year, if I teach math again, I will certainly address Surface Area of Composite Objects from a different angle.

The students have taught me a lot about myself as well.  I have had to re-evaluate my personal thoughts and methods of teaching to effectively reach students.  In University they prepare you to enter the field of education from a fairly naive position.  Pretty well every problem can be solved through the use of a simple acronym, and if you follow all the steps correctly and in the right order, you will be successful.  Well, teaching is not that simple and although the acronyms float through my mind every once in awhile, the books that made the most impact on my first four months as a "real" teacher are, 'Discipline Without the Stress' and, 'Thanks for Chucking That at the Wall Instead of Me'.

There is no formula to teaching.  There are only ideas.  Ideas that can be attempted and fail miserably while other ideas are attempted and shine brilliantly.  I have tried to keep track of both situations because both can help me grow as a teacher.

I am looking forward to what this career choice will continue to teach me about myself.  There is no telling how many times my patience has been tested over the last four months.  I now know how my grade 8 teacher felt when he dealt with me, "Little Ms. Chatterbox"; my entire class is a replica of me back then.  When I look at my students I see my class back in grade 8...the whole class, not just me.  Not much changes, grade 8's will always be grade 8's and no matter where you are in the world, it does not change much.  But, it is such a glorious age to teach!  I simply love it...


So, today, the school was closed because of the elections.  It was "technically" the last day of classes, but the school had to close.  Many teachers and students are heading of to splendid Christmas holiday locations, ourselves included, but today, we went to the school.  We gutted the classroom again.  I am looking at January as another opportunity to start the year.  Re-establish the class rules, set the tone for the next 5.5 months and have a fresh start.  Plus, I am feeling particularly rejuvenated with the idea of January rolling around for various reasons.

This is by no means the whole sum of what has occurred over the last 4 months at school, however, it is a glimpse.  Did my 5 years at University adequately prepare me for my first 4 months??  I would have to say, yes, in some ways it did.  But, in others, it failed me miserably.  Academically, there is no way I could have been prepared better...that is for the B.A...but, when it comes to the Education Faculty, there is much to be said about on the job training.  Yes, the Universities to facilitate Student Teaching experiences, but, the few weeks teaching consecutively in someone Else's class is nothing compared to having a class of your own.  I have learned more over the last 4 months then I did during my final 2 years of University.  There is something to be said about trial and error and learning from mistakes, and walking victoriously through adversity.  That is something that a book on Classroom Management cannot possibly teach you.  You can do all the Case Studies and research you want, but until you walk through the fire, you never know how YOU will react.  The theories are great, but if you cannot practice what you are learning, there is now way to know if it works for you.

I am not saying that University was useless because without it, I would have never gotten the piece of paper that has permitted me to work in this wonderful profession.  But, perhaps it could re-evaluate the necessity of the books and essays...let us walk through the fire, it is the best way to learn!

Students and Christmas Songs

I know that I have mentioned this once of twice in my last few blog posts, but, it has continued to amaze me that Christmas is honored in so many different ways here.  Most of the time I believe that it is unintentional, but, it was glorious to walk through the school today and hear Christmas hymns being sung.  So, I had to write about it.

I believe that the majority of the Christmas sentiments found throughout Cairo are to entertain the large Ex-patriot community that resides here.  It is nice to see one tiny aisle devoted to all things Christmas when we go to the store, no matter how poor the quality. 

It was different though, to hear the Christmas hymns.  Of all the songs the music department could have chosen to sing, they are singing songs like, Silent Night, Away in a Manger and Oh Holy Night.  Sure Jingle Bells and Santa Clause is Coming to Town are also on the list, but in Canada, the first two would not be on the Program.  The ironic thing is that when we sing Oh Canada in French the word Cross is taken out.  But, for the Christmas program, singing deliberately about the birth of Christ is acceptable.  Is it merely the Christmas season that permits this type of music to be sung at school, or is it merely a coincidence?  I cannot answer the question.  It was just genuinely relaxing and spiritually edifying to hear such angelic voices singing the traditional Christmas Carols..in a school in Egypt of all places.  I do have to wonder however, how children from Muslim families feel about singing these types of songs.  Moreover, what will their families think or feel when they hear the songs they are singing on Tuesday.  But, as I mentioned in a previous post, the Islamic faith believes that Jesus was an important prophet, so perhaps, it is okay for them to sing these types of songs.  It just continues to astound me that in Winnipeg, it is all about Santa and the Elves to appease people from all cultures, and here, in an Islamic country, it is all about all things Christmas, the way it was when I was in elementary school.  I still remember being an Elf in the school play, yet sang Silent Night at the same time.

The Christmas Program will be on Tuesday morning.  I pray that the music will touch the lives of those that attend.  I just wish that I could be there to listen to the music...instead I will be teaching math.  The joys of being a secondary teacher.

20 Degrees and Sunny

It is December 9th and it is 20 degrees and sunny outside.  Princess is running around in a sun dress outside, while Dimples and Hubby take a nap.  It is a glorious day off from school and students.  (Remember, Friday is like your Saturday...and Friday is the Holy Day here).  We had a busy morning sweeping and cleaning like most Friday's, it is amazing how much dust and dirt accumulates here over short periods of time.  Later today we will go to Maadi for church and a staff potluck.  This led to me spending the morning slaving over my hot, gas powered stove prepping some very, very high calorie, starchy side dishes for the party.  (More on this later).

I have always like cooking for people and having dinner parties, or dessert get togethers.  That has been one of the more challenging this here for me to adjust to.  We just do not know as many people here, and the people we do know well, live almost an hour away, so getting together for dinner is not convenient.  But, we did have some friends over a couple weeks ago, before we went to the pyramids and had a delicious array of vegetarian food.  (We are not becoming vegetarians anytime soon, but have been enjoying the diversity of many different items we have access to here.


Then, we had an invitation to an Egyptian Feast at a friends house.  The food was simply divine; although I did avoid the livers and the salad.  Livers because I do not like the texture and the salad because I did not clean it, so I did not know if it had been cleaned according to my standards.  We have to be meticulous with cleaning our fruits and vegetables here.  When we are ready to eat something, I fill the sink with water and dish soap and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to ensure that the dirt is loosened, and any little bugs that decided to find a home in the veggies has left the area and drowned.  Plus, there could be any number of bacteria and chemicals and the fruit/vegetables and it is not worth the illness to ignore a thorough washing process. Fruits with thin skins like strawberries, lettuce and broccoli are the most challenging to deal with.  In fact, we just had our first strawberries since arriving and they were fabulous.


Anyway, the food at the party was excellent, rice with an interesting green sauce, foul, stuffed veggies, fried chicken, fried beef, salad, corn soup, an aubergine dish, livers, shamy bread, fruit salad, and three types of desert.  Three hours after starting our meal I rolled off my chair and waddled out of their house.  I was stuffed with deliciousness.  I wish I had taken my camera because the food was simply amazing, and I developed an affinity for Guava because it was prepared so deliciously.


Last night, the student council at the school put on a dance for students in grade 7-11.  (Remember, our school only goes to grade 11 right now, we are adding grade 12 next year).  Since I am a teacher supervisor of the Student Council, it was part of my duty to be at the dance.  I have never been inside the school at night, but it looked so incredibly different!  Almost like a 5 star resort.  The students did an excellent job putting it all together, and a few behaviour issues aside, it was a great success.  Hubby dressed up Dimples and Princess in the Christmas outfits and they came to the dance for about an hour.  Princess had so much fun dancing with the grade 7's, it really was quite cute.  Dimples just loved the balloons...particularly popping the balloons.  Since the students are always in uniform, it was neat to see them all dressed up, ready to impress.  They all had such great fashion sense and some of them I hardly recognized when they came in.  It was a fun way to celebrate the season with the students in a different context.

Dimples ready for the dance with his Mickey Santa hat.

Princess and Dimples ready to party!

The school at night...I just love the palm trees in the courtyard, probably my favorite feature.  My class is on the top floor, the second door beside the big row of windows.

Dimples enjoying the party.

Hubby, Me, and our Friend at the dance.

Princess and our school Christmas Tree.

So, that brings us to today.  We are heading to Maadi for a progressive dinner where I am sure, I will be filled to the brim with delicious and wonderful food.  I have no idea if we will make it through the entire meal with the kids, but we will certainly try.  My contributions are very starchy and are not waistline friendly, but they are certainly tasty, and are perfect "winter"food.

It is still hard for me to think that it is Christmas time.  It is already a couple weeks into December and it just does not feel like it.  So much of my life has been spent with a White Christmas, that it is necessary to be cold and white for it to feel like Christmas.  We are heading to Spain for the Holidays, where it will be cooler, but there will probably not be any snow.  The most fascinating thing is that we have not done any Christmas shopping.  It has hardly crossed my mind.  We play Christmas music and watch Christmas movies, but it just does not feel the same without the snow on the ground.  We thought about getting a tree, but chose not to, and instead we have a single Poinsettia plant. 

As Princess is getting ready to celebrate her third Christmas, it has been especially important to ensure that she knows that Jesus is the reason for Christmas.  When we were riding the camels and saw a donkey, I reminded her that Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem and the Wisemen rode the camels to see baby Jesus.  In a way, it is easier to make the birth story of Jesus real here.  She has seen Santa in some of the Christmas movies, but she thinks he is just a character in the movie.  She could care less if he was real or not.  I am incredibly happy that we do not have the whole Santa thing here.  I am not sure if I would want her to believe in him or not.  Although, Polar Express has been her favorite Christmas movie for the 2nd year in a row.  We may have to deal with the whole Santa issue next year.  But, it will probably be easier because we do not see him in Egypt...at least humans dressed up as Santa anyways.

The second round of elections are this week, and since we live in Giza, and it is Giza's turn to vote, the school is closing early for Christmas.  This will give residents the opportunity to go and vote, and keep the staff and students safe in the event that the elections do not run smoothly.  So, next week, we teach for three days, and get an extra two days tagged on to our already lengthy 3 week holiday.  We are looking forward to the opportunity to travel and hope that the elections run smoothly so our plans go on as expected.

Thanks for taking the time to read and catch up with our lives here.  This post has become a very lengthy dialogue of our last couple weeks, I hope to post more frequently from here on out.

Merry Christmas from the Bishops

This is the Bishop Christmas Card for 2011. 

The Christmas season is upon us...in terms of the fact that it is December.  But, when I look outside, it still looks like summer.  It has been hard to think about Christmas since it does not look like it outside.  There is something about snow and cold weather that makes it feel like Holiday season.

Probably one of the most interesting things here is that wherever you go it says, "Merry Christmas".  I did not expect to see that all around the stores and shops since we are in a primarily Muslim country.   But, then I got to thinking how the Islamic faith believes that Jesus was a very important prophet, so, with that in mind, it is not at all surprising that there are Christmas signs around the stores.  The school refers to the break as Christmas break, as do students.  It all makes the whole, "Happy Holidays" sentiment, debate and argument seem pretty overdone.

We thought about getting a tree and decorating it, but, in the end opted not to.  So, to make it feel like Christmas we have a single Poinsettia plant and Christmas music and movies blaring.  Still, it seems strange because it does not feel like Christmas.  In ways I miss going to the mall and seeing all the decorations and driving downtown and seeing all the lights.  But, I am not about to complain that it is nice here.  Perhaps we will settle for decorating the palm tree in our yard.

With all that aside, the most important thing is that Jesus is remembered this season.  In ways it is easier here because we are so close to where so many Biblical events occurred.  The idea of the Wise Men riding camels is more real because we see camels in the desert.  We are working through a Biblical advent with the kids, but in ways miss our chocolate advents from home.

For those of you wondering about how things are going politically here, everything is very peaceful where we are.  The elections have started, although turnout could have been better.  There was some violence and people still flock to Tahrir Square daily.  People I have talked to feel so strongly about revolution and change for a better Egypt that they do not care what happens to them, they care about what happens to Egypt.  In general, this is the attitude of the younger population and it is the driving force behind many of the protests and gatherings in Tahrir.  A friend passed along this article, and I think that it sheds a good perspective on the revolution. Who Benefits? takes an interesting stance on the current chaos throughout Egypt. 

We wish all our friends, family and followers of this blog a very Merry Christmas.  The upcoming year will be an interesting one here in Egypt and we will do our best to offer our perspective on the latest events. 

Pyramids and Camels

When people take a trip to Egypt, often the first thing on the list of things to visit is the Pyramids of Giza and trust me, they were at the top of our list too.  We see them all the time because they are about 15 minutes away from our house.  However, when we see them they are still miles away.  Even then they looked magnificent.  But, as is true with anywhere you live, you need to make an effort to be a tourist in the area you live.

Where seeing the Pyramids for tourists is often their first stop, we opted to wait until now to see them because we wanted the weather to be cooler.  Many local people warned us about the sun and the heat, so we decided to heed their advice for the sake of the kids.  This also leads to there being fewer tourists around which had pros and cons.

When we first pulled up to the Pyramids it was truly amazing.  They have two things going for them, they are really big and really old.  You cannot help but stand in amazement as to how they built them.  It was a very clear day so we could see virtually every massive stone in each of the 9 pyramids on the site.  Princess is a climber so naturally she wanted to climb all the pyramids.  As soon as we walked through the gates to enter the area of the historic landmark, the locals began trying to sell us things.  Men on camels trotted up and tried to sell pictures with the camel, or rides on the camels.   We played along as we usually do with these types of "salesmen" because it makes it more of a joke than an annoyance.  Hubby is particularly skilled in this department.  He develops a new name and new story with each person that tries to sell him something.  It is really quite comical.

One of the things you have the option to do at the pyramids is to go inside them.  I have heard that they are barren and empty inside and hardly worth the time or the money to go into.  However, we felt differently and had that opportunity to go inside the biggest of the pyramids.  When we walked to the entrance the two "guards" inspected us for cameras.  They asked repeatedly if we had cameras as they are forbidden inside the pyramids.  The minute we walked inside and turned the corner it was worth the money. Going inside was amazing because the tunnels were so short and the climb was quite steep in places.  Princess climbed the whole way up and down on her own, which we felt was rather impressive!  Dimples stayed outside with a friend of ours because the ascent would have been too challenging with him.  The end of the climb took us to an empty room with one sarcophagus.  There were some tour guides to show us around the empty space.  Despite the fact that we had no cameras, we did have a cell phone and the guide took our picture in the vast space.  We then began our decent, in ways the decent was easier, but Princess was moving very quickly which resulted in me bumping my head more than once on the hard stone.  We probably looked ridiculous as we walked all curled up down the stairs in this 3 foot tunnel, but it was fun.  Was it worth the money we paid for it?  Not really, but if we did not pay the price we never would have gone inside which was an experience of a lifetime.

Once we exited the pyramid, Princess exclaimed that she wanted to go in all the pyramids.  Each pyramid had different cost and I was not about to shell out more money for the same experience, so we reunited with Dimples and our friend and discovered that Dimples had played in some camel poo. Not exactly what I was expecting, but we got him cleaned up promptly and I wished I had brought him a change of clothes.  We decided to venture towards the next humungous pyramid.  This is where we met Charlotte Brown, Snoopy and Mahmoud.  Mahmoud was the camel man and Snoopy and Charlotte Brown the camels.  I have ALWAYS wanted to ride a camel around the pyramids.  In fact, within the first month that Hubby and I met 9 years ago, I created a list of places and things I wanted to do with him in my future travels.  Consider it my traveling bucket list.  I think there were upwards of 50 places on the list.  Right close to the top was Egypt's pyramids and a camel.

Princess never ceases to amaze me when it comes to her adventurous spirit.  She walked right up to Snoopy and wanted to climb right on, without help of course.  So, Hubby took Princess up on Snoopy.  It was only going to be for a short while to start with and they went for a short walk around the area.  Dimples and I stayed behind and he played with the Camel Stick that Mahmoud gave him to hold.  By the time Hubby and Princess returned, we had decided that we would see how Dimples would react to being on a camel.  He is a bit more reserved that Princess.  He seemed to enjoy Charlotte Brown, so we decided to go for an hour tour around the pyramids as a family...our friend also joined us on a third camel. 

If you ever find yourself in Egypt, visiting the Pyramids of Giza, you must take a camel ride.  The tours all take you far out into the desert where you get the most incredible pictures of all 9 pyramids in one shot.  It is truly breathtaking.  The camel ride is entertaining in and of itself and a unique way to journey out into the desert.  You would never want to take the walk to the place where we ended up.  In the sand it would be an arduous journey that would probably take two hours on foot.  Our guide was very kind and carried our camera for us and took pictures of our journey.  Dimples rolled in the sand and I was incredibly impressed by how well behaved both kids were on the camels.  No one whined or cried and that made the trip even more incredible.

When we returned to the 2nd pyramid and dismounted the camels, the very kind and generous Mahmoud became a very nasty man that insisted that we pay 350 LE for each camel that we had taken on our journey.  This is a ridiculous price because we know that the going price per camel is 50 LE.  Our Egyptian friend defended our position and after a very heated negotiation, the price dropped to what we wanted it to be.  This is where the major con of going when there are not many tourists around.  The people that are selling things become very greedy and demanding because there are fewer people around to try and sell things to. Then when they get someone to indulge in their services they try to rip them off.  This is common in virtually every tourist area so we were not phased by this.  Some of our friends were extremely distracted by it and it tainted their experience at the pyramids.

Once the negotiation with Mahmoud was dealt with we finally ventured to the area where the Sphynx sits.  I really was looking forward to seeing the Sphynx but as we walked through the little market, the salespeople really started to bother me.  They just would not let up.  The most interesting sales tactic was that they would give something to the kids and say, "it is a gift", let them hold it for a minute or so, and then ask for the money.  We had no problem giving them back their pyramid or camel or pen.  We did walk away with some small treasures, but it was something we actually wanted. 

Once we got past the market and closer to the Sphynx, it was truly grand.  It was everything that I thought it would be and we reveled in the presence of such old and magnificent structures.  We took our pictures, climbed all over the rocky structures, chased the kids and posed for the cheesy tourist photos that everyone should do, just for fun. 

 When we left the Sphynx, we decided that we were all pretty tired.  Our butts were sore from the camel ride and we smelled like camels.  But despite being tired, we still went for lunch and dined along the Nile.  It was an excellent way to end such a special day.  (Pictures of the Sphynx still to come).

Dimples loved playing with the Camel Stick. 

Princess was so excited she would not even pose for the camera!

Hubby and Princess on Snoopy, ready for the trip!

This picture was about 20 minutes into our camel travels.

This is one of the cheesy tourist pictures we just had to take.

Dimples is a sand magnet...this is post playing with the camel poop and he was already filthy anyways.  Other tourists walking past commented that one day he would be an archaeologist excavating some ancient treasure.  I couldn't have agreed with them more!

 

God Still At Work in the Revolution!

This is a guest post from the pastor at the church we have been attending.  It is a different perspective on the revolution that is occurring now as it takes the spiritual battle into account.  And, since he was here in February, he has interesting perspective.  Pastor Steve keeps a blog at

Steve's Blog  www.maadicommunitychurch.com/blog/ .

Is it Revolution 2.0?  It’s beginning to feel a lot like … last February!  The tension and anxiety levels have risen dramatically.  We pray the elections will take place so that forward movement can take place.  But as violence and fear rise, God is mightily at work!

I spoke with an Egyptian pastor yesterday who was at the prayer rally to ask about what is going on spiritually in Egypt.  While you read alarming headlines, God is counter-punching Satan to open doors like never before!  In addition to 71,000 praying—the largest Christian gathering in over 1000 years by one estimate—it was also an unprecedented event in bringing unity among the three major Christian groups in Egypt: Orthodox, Evangelical, and Catholic.  Most of the 8 million Christians in Egypt are Orthodox (Coptic).  These groups have moved quite separately for centuries, so praying together was nothing short of a miracle of the Holy Spirit!  The walls are coming down!

If that was not enough, there is more!  Muslims who came to check out the prayer event expected to hear Christians pray God’s curses down as a result of the burning of churches like in Maspero and the killing of Christians in mid October.  Instead they experienced the Spirit of God as Christians prayed for peace, healing, and blessing on ALL of Egypt.  One Muslim news media person is reported to have texted on Twitter, “I am in heaven now.”  As a result, relational bridges are being built like never before.  It was not about converting; it was about extending a hand of love and cooperation.  Imagine the spiritual power released when 71,000+ used God’s tools of love and forgiveness rather than Satan’s tools of hate, violence, and fear.

As a result, many Orthodox leaders are anxious for further prayer opportunities together.  Don’t under-estimate the power of prayer.  It’s one potent tool when done with the right motive! One evangelical church that right at the epicenter of the Revolution on Tahrir Square has added another dimension to building bridges.  They opened their church to be a clinic for those who have been injured.  I don’t know about you, but I think I smell the spirit of Jesus over-powering the dust and smoke and gunpowder!

The Revolution Continues

It is 6:40 AM and our house is silent.  I though it would be a good time to update the blog on some of the most recent events here in Egypt.  Turns out they initial reason the demonstrators were protesting, as usual, has more to the story.

The elections were originally planned to be within since months of the fall of Mubarak.  The military was going to step down at that time to allow the new government to rule.  That clearly did not happen.  Whenever a deadline approaches, the military extended the deadline, which then, extended their rule.  Despite the fact that there as a prime minister and a cabinet, the military ultimately holds the power that the president would have.  So, this is why the demonstrators are extremely agitated and irritated.  Then, on Tuesday night, when General Tantawi spoke to the nation, his speech was extremely reminiscent of Mubarak's speech the day before he stepped down as president of Egypt in February.

Since Essam Sharaf's cabinet stepped down early this week, their needed to be a new prime minister.  The new prime minister, Ganzouri, held the same position during the rule of Mubarak.  Naturally, people here are not pleased because it is starting to look more and more like Mubarak's rule with a different name.  The military has truly dug in its heals and is not resigning or stepping down.

The elections are going to be proceeding as planned this week.  This is a good thing for the country, but, since it is so unstable right now, we are unsure what this holds for the upcoming week.  The military tried to calm the masses in Tahrir down by announcing that there will be a new President by mid 2012.  So, we will see if the military holds true to their word.

Again, the protests are very centralized and have not spilled out into other suburbs of Cairo.  All I hear is birds chirping.  Yesterday, we went to church in a different suburb, if anything, traffic was lighter than usual and we saw nothing out of the ordinary on our way.  Today, we are going to the pyramids with a group of teachers from the school.  I am super excited to ride a camel...it is on my bucket list.  I will be sure to write about that experience.

I have also made a Guest Post today.  The pastor of the church that we have been attending also keeps a blog at, www.maadicommunitychurch.com/blog/ .  He has been blogging about what is happening in Egypt from a spiritual perspective, so I thought that I would include that here as well.

Continue to think of and pray for this country.  Despite all the headlines, amazing things are happening in Egypt!

If you want to read more about the events in Egypt last night, check out this link from Reuters.  Protesters Dig in to Keep Pressure on Egypt's Military

More protesting

It has been just over 48 hours since the Million Man March in Tahrir Square on Tuesday.  Thousands of people gathered in major cities across Egypt trying to get the leader of the military Tantawi to step down and let the county be run by civilian rule.  General Tantawi addressed the masses in Tahrir on Tuesday evening and eluded to the fact that he would not be stepping down anytime soon.  This led to throngs of people staying until the early hours of the morning shouting, "Go, Tantawi, Go!"  People who were around in January and February have said that it is very reminiscent of when they ousted Mubarak, but Tantawi is not budging at the moment.

Yesterday was fairly peaceful in Tahrir.  It appears that there is a "truce" between the people and the Military.  A truce that will end tomorrow when the people are plan to schedule a second Million Man March in a continued effort to have Tantawi step down.  There is a lot of speculation that he will announce his resignation, but that is all speculation.

Our day to day life remains generally unaffected by the protests and riots in Tahrir Square.  With the elections just days away now and tensions intensifying, the school has granted the staff a 4 day weekend.  The Islamic New Year is on Saturday, so the government has declared Sunday a holiday, then, the elections start on Monday.  It makes for an unexpected long weekend, and a very short week of teaching next week.

As the protests grow, more and more people are making their way to the epicenter of the protests.  As this happens, we have started to hear stories first hand of what it is like to be in the Square.  Students have gone to join the protest, and parents of students have ventured out to join the rally.  Some students proudly declared that people they know were in the makeshift medical clinic in Tahrir due to side effects from the Tear Gas.  The protests bring out a unique side of people and for those that have gone to Tahrir, they are very proud of it. 

It will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few days.  Both the People and the Military are so involved in this event now, that it would be hard for either side to concede.  If the People were to give up, it would demonstrate that they do not have the will power to stand up for what they believe in and what they are fighting for.  If the military concedes, it demonstrates to the People that if they are unhappy with something or someone, if they show up with huge amounts of people in Tahrir Square, they will very likely get their way.  This would set a very dangerous precedent for the new government that is about to be elected by the People.

The question then becomes, "if Tantawi resigns and removes Military Rule, who will take over?"  We have heard many speculations, but they are just that, speculations.  Only time will tell what is going to occur and whether the Egyptian people will get their way.  In the meantime, Tear Gas floods the streets, particularly in Alexandria and rubber bullets fly.  People are injured but are proud of it because they are standing up for what they believe to be right.

We are still doing great.  After school today, we went to the mall, went for dinner and grocery shopping.  There still has not been a moment that we have felt unsafe.  Since the protests have remained very isolated we are continuing with our plans to FINALLY visit the Pyramids on Saturday and likely venture into Maadi for church.  Continue to think of us, and I will update the blog again when there is more current information.

Unrest and Protesting

Today, we woke up and got ready to go to school like any other day.  We walked to school and everything was the same.  Quiet, calm and peaceful.  We arrived at the school and prepared for the day of classes.  Everything was just as it usually is.  Except, today, we were going to leave school early because of a scheduled, "Million Man March" at 4 PM. 

Protestors in Tahrir Square, November 21st, 2011.

I will be the first one to admit that when Egypt erupted into protest in late January and early February of this year, I saw the news and assumed that the whole country was in unrest and that the whole country would be a very unsafe place to be.  I assumed that what the news was reporting was accurate and that the country was complete chaos.  At the time, I had no real attachment to Egypt, so my desire to investigate what was actually happening was minimal.

Then I got a job in Egypt.  That changed my entire perspective on the protests, riots and chaos earlier in the year.  As I looked into the protests more, the more I discovered, that the riots and protests were fairly centralized in certain places.  People here wanted some change and as you all know they got the change they were looking for.  Mubarak stepped down and the country was on a path towards an election and democracy.

Egypt has been under military rule since Mubarak stepped down in February.  People rejoiced at his resignation and looked forward to the, "New Egypt".  There have been disturbances and protests since then, and a couple since we have been here.  But, both the protests since we have been here have been relatively isolated incidents that could not be completely linked to a certain political movement. 

Then, on Friday, we were told by many local people not to venture far from our house because there was going to be more protesting downtown in Tahrir Square.  Tahrir Square has become symbolic for the events that occurred in January and February and has become a meeting point for protestors.  So, on Friday we stayed close to home, mostly because we were sick, not because we were afraid.  We stayed in our area on Saturday and on Sunday we went back to school.  We did not really follow the news over the weekend, but were promptly informed of the unrest in the square and that the protests were escalating in terms of size and violence.

I am sure you have seen the news over the past 4 days.  The headlines, "Egypt in Crisis", seem ridiculous to me.  We are here, living in Egypt, only 45 minutes away from Tahrir Square.  It is calm, quiet and peaceful.  I am not seeing tanks driving down the street, rather, I am seeing donkey carts with fruit for sale and kids riding their bikes.  Is there unrest in downtown Cairo? The pictures on the news casts make it clear that there is.  But to label the occurrences in downtown Cairo as the picture of what is happening throughout Egypt is a ridiculous statement.  Is there unrest in other parts of Egypt?  Yes, there is.  In most major cities there has been a gathering of people from the city to protest.   Is it the picture of what is happening everywhere?  No, it is not.  And sadly, many people will watch the news, as I did in January and February and believe what the media is saying, and perhaps, worry for the Canadians that are in Egypt. 

I have been asking local people why the protests are happening again.  It hardly makes any sense to me because the elections start next week!  But, I come from a democratic country and am used to the process of elections and voting and the democratic process as a whole.  When I have asked the local people, they say that there are many different stories as to why the people are protesting again, and all the stories are convincing.  It is hard to determine who is being truthful and who is trying to grow a following of people.  This has caused a division amongst some of the people.  Ultimately however, Egyptians have decided that they are tired of the rule of the military regime because they believe that it is merely an extension of Mubarak's rule.  So, Egyptians are gathering by the thousands, and potentially, by the millions, in cities around Egypt, to protest the rule of the military.  Egyptians what the military to step down and allow Civilian Rule to take its place.  Again, my thoughts are, the election is next week, why all this protesting?  It remains a mystery.

We have been in Egypt for 3 months now, and there has not been a moment that I have not felt safe here.  Sure, we have driven past tanks and seen military on patrol with AK-47's and really, really, sharp knives.  Yes, we have driven through some pretty interesting road blocks by oil fields, but everyone has been really friendly, welcoming and kind.  I have no desire to venture to Tahrir Square right now and join the protest (aside from the fact that my contract states that I cannot become politically involved).  We have been paying closer attention to the news over the past couple days, but for the most part, are not aware of what is happening downtown until after it has happened. 

Are we in danger?  Not any more danger than if we were at our house in Winnipeg.  If we were in danger, the embassy would be rushing us out of the country.  The protests could escalate and become more frightening, but as they are now, it is very centralized and we are in no danger unless we go to the places where the protests are occurring.  The school has a very thorough evacuation plan in place in the event that the country truly enters a crisis and we have plenty of extra dry goods and water in the house if necessary.  There are many people looking out for our best interest and safety including the owner of the school. 

For those of you that have thought of us during this time we are grateful.  As I mentioned, I am unsure as to why the people have decided to protest again when the elections are so close.  There are many theories as to why the protests are occurring and pieces of them all may be true.  We do not know how long the protests will continue.  The elections begin on the 28th of November and there are several other election days between the 28th and the end of December.  As I type this, the clock is turning to 4 PM.  The Million Man March should have just begun.  As the march develops and grows, the violence may also grow.  I may not have to go to work tomorrow if they protests become extreme.  Right now, we are living moment by moment because things can change in an instant.