We have been in Cairo for almost a week now and it is hard to believe that we are already getting set up for school. The new teachers arrived a week before the other teachers to get settled and established in the school before general meetings and school set up begins. Yesterday we had all kinds of meetings about the school policies and got a tour of the school. The school is beautiful. It is only 5 years old and although there are construction projects happening on the school grounds the area is very functional. The school is in the shape of a pyramid with three major hallways and an inner courtyard. There are four floors...of course my class is on the top floor. I think that I will be in very good shape by the end of the school year because other than my classroom, everything I need is on other floors. The good thing is that my classroom is near the bathrooms so if a student is "in the bathroom" for more than a couple minutes I will know something is up. Students are the same everywhere...especially in classes they like to try and get out of...like math. (Which is one of the classes I am blessed to teach here to my grade 7 students!)
The school is great, the staff is great and everyone seems to be very helpful. It has been a wonderful transition to the world of teaching here and I cannot wait to get started! I would love to see my schedule and class lists, but there is a glitch in the scheduling, so hopefully I will get to see that by the end of the week...I want to know what all teachers want to know. When is my prep...and mostly I want to know how long classes are and if there a splits and doubles so that I can better prepare for my days in the coming weeks. My brain is an abundance of ideas that have no outlet at the moment...although I did start a bulletin board today. The "store" was open today and I got to go "shopping" for the supplies that I needed. We have to sign out every supply that we want to use and the clerk keeps very close track of everything that we take and we cannot take more than one box of staples otherwise he will get after us. It is an interesting process.
Tomorrow we meet with all the returning teachers. There will be more review of policies and procedures and everything else that goes with opening year staff meetings. At some point tomorrow there is going to be a resource feeding frenzy apparently. Being an overseas school there are limited resources in terms of Atlases and math manipulatives and since items are organized by subject and not by grade people grab what they can get. So, that should be an interesting adventure tomorrow. I know what I need and I do not intend to grab more than I need. That just seems irresponsible.
One of the major developments for us in the past 24 hours is that we found out the best way to get internet into our apartment and have successfully set it up. It is amazing how quickly you can feel connected to the world again with the power of one little internet stick. I am very thankful for this little internet stick, it truly is a wonderful blessing. Now to figure out how to get Wireless and we will be set! Today we are hoping to get our cell phones. That has also been a challenging process.
Since it is Ramadan at the moment, most stores and shops close from approximately 3 PM until 9 PM. The owners and employees head home to wait for the bell to ring so that they can eat and once the feast is over they head back to work from 9 PM until 12 AM. We work at the school until 2 PM and then by the time we can arrange a driver and get to the stores, the owners are usually gone. So, today Hubby is off on his own to try and find some phones for us to use. We will see if he comes back triumphant. It would be nice to have instant communication to our friends here instead of waiting until the next day.
So, as we are settling in here in 6th of October we are finding it to be more like home. One thing that we have found is that if there is even a single morsel of food on the floor, in the sink or on the counter it is inevitable that we will find ants; and not just a couple...it is a swarm of ants. It does not take long to get rid of them, but it is a nuisance nonetheless. One of the more difficult adjustments is not having the convenience of the dishwasher and the dryer. Loads of laundry are done everyday because our washer is small and we have to air dry everything. The dishes have to be done immediately otherwise
the ants will come...and if possibly cockroaches. Cooking takes longer on average because we are cooking over a gas stove with really thick pots. I think it took 20 minutes to get the water to a boil yesterday. I do miss the dishwasher though. I am however experimenting a little more in the kitchen and I made samosas the other day...my very picky little boy loved them and all 30 were gone that day. Princess and I also made donuts...and all that without my KitchenAid stand mixer. I really can live without that appliance.
On another note...some cereal has hit the floor and it is time to get the vacuum out AGAIN! The joy of having children in a country with lots of ants! I am attaching some pictures of the school for you to all see and enjoy. I hope to add some more in the coming posts and I hope to update the blog every other day if time permits so follow us and get updates on our adjustment to life here in Cairo!
The school is great, the staff is great and everyone seems to be very helpful. It has been a wonderful transition to the world of teaching here and I cannot wait to get started! I would love to see my schedule and class lists, but there is a glitch in the scheduling, so hopefully I will get to see that by the end of the week...I want to know what all teachers want to know. When is my prep...and mostly I want to know how long classes are and if there a splits and doubles so that I can better prepare for my days in the coming weeks. My brain is an abundance of ideas that have no outlet at the moment...although I did start a bulletin board today. The "store" was open today and I got to go "shopping" for the supplies that I needed. We have to sign out every supply that we want to use and the clerk keeps very close track of everything that we take and we cannot take more than one box of staples otherwise he will get after us. It is an interesting process.
Tomorrow we meet with all the returning teachers. There will be more review of policies and procedures and everything else that goes with opening year staff meetings. At some point tomorrow there is going to be a resource feeding frenzy apparently. Being an overseas school there are limited resources in terms of Atlases and math manipulatives and since items are organized by subject and not by grade people grab what they can get. So, that should be an interesting adventure tomorrow. I know what I need and I do not intend to grab more than I need. That just seems irresponsible.
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| This is the entrance to the school...with security guards and all! |
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| The school courtyard |
One of the major developments for us in the past 24 hours is that we found out the best way to get internet into our apartment and have successfully set it up. It is amazing how quickly you can feel connected to the world again with the power of one little internet stick. I am very thankful for this little internet stick, it truly is a wonderful blessing. Now to figure out how to get Wireless and we will be set! Today we are hoping to get our cell phones. That has also been a challenging process.
Since it is Ramadan at the moment, most stores and shops close from approximately 3 PM until 9 PM. The owners and employees head home to wait for the bell to ring so that they can eat and once the feast is over they head back to work from 9 PM until 12 AM. We work at the school until 2 PM and then by the time we can arrange a driver and get to the stores, the owners are usually gone. So, today Hubby is off on his own to try and find some phones for us to use. We will see if he comes back triumphant. It would be nice to have instant communication to our friends here instead of waiting until the next day.
So, as we are settling in here in 6th of October we are finding it to be more like home. One thing that we have found is that if there is even a single morsel of food on the floor, in the sink or on the counter it is inevitable that we will find ants; and not just a couple...it is a swarm of ants. It does not take long to get rid of them, but it is a nuisance nonetheless. One of the more difficult adjustments is not having the convenience of the dishwasher and the dryer. Loads of laundry are done everyday because our washer is small and we have to air dry everything. The dishes have to be done immediately otherwise
the ants will come...and if possibly cockroaches. Cooking takes longer on average because we are cooking over a gas stove with really thick pots. I think it took 20 minutes to get the water to a boil yesterday. I do miss the dishwasher though. I am however experimenting a little more in the kitchen and I made samosas the other day...my very picky little boy loved them and all 30 were gone that day. Princess and I also made donuts...and all that without my KitchenAid stand mixer. I really can live without that appliance.
On another note...some cereal has hit the floor and it is time to get the vacuum out AGAIN! The joy of having children in a country with lots of ants! I am attaching some pictures of the school for you to all see and enjoy. I hope to add some more in the coming posts and I hope to update the blog every other day if time permits so follow us and get updates on our adjustment to life here in Cairo!
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