Happy Islamic New Year!

Today is Islamic New Year, which is a free day in the middle of the week. A small group of us decided to take advantage of this day and go sandboarding in the desert. Seth is a bit under the weather and, unfortunately, had to sit this trip out.



We met at 8:00 am, piled into 5 Jeeps and set out on a 2.5 hour drive into the desert. Along the way we made a brief stop at a petrified wood site where our guide explained that, approximately 250 million years ago, Egypt was under water. When the waters receded, about 35 million years ago, the area became a dense forest. These pieces of petrified wood are all that remain.



After this stop the Jeeps brought us to our "camp", which was a tent set up at the base of a line of sand dunes. The kids in the group took off for the top of the dunes straight away, leaving the adults to schlep the boards up for them. This was a quad burnout trek up the side of the dune, for each step you took your foot slid back down 1/2 step.



This reminded many of us of our childhood trips up and down the sledding hill. The walk up is dreaded, but the ride down is worth it. After about an hour of boarding we had a delicious lunch of kabobs, pita, salads and rice under the tent and finished off the afternoon with another hour or so of hiking up and riding down the dunes.





On the drive back in to Cairo I snapped a few quick photos along the drive in an effort to capture "a day in the life" type of scenes:


"Bread Heads" walking down the side of the highway.


Roadside Pyramids


Shanty Town under the overpass


The proverbial "turnip truck"

A Year of Riding in Egypt

Next week marks a year that we have lived in Egypt. (Meg got here a couple weeks later, but it's close enough for me.) Somewhere in there I got the guts up to meet some folks out to go for a bike ride, and well Cairo hasn't quite looked the same since. It's about time I put some photos up though. Meg now joins us when she's healthy and available, and from all accounts she really enjoys it!

I've seen the asphalt of Cairo up close and personal twice. (Double the number of other times I've crashed.) One of those times I apparently felt the need to have my view confirmed by Meg. We went down together. One that I'm sure I'll never hear the end of, though I'm hoping she heals up soon and gets back on the saddle!

There are two routes with a few minor variations:
- Clockwise or Counterclockwise (or anti-clockwise for those of us with a British accent.)
- Up the hills or avoid the hills
- Long way around the American University in Cairo (AUC) or the short way around (10K less).

That's about it. Really the max ride is about 100K and the variations make up maybe 10-20K difference. Oh well.

There are still some very strong riders which makes me push myself most Friday mornings. Usually the company and the effort are enough to keep me from noticing that I've done this before. Plus most times we get a cup of coffee afterwards and enjoy the always-sunny weather in Cairo.

Overall, I'm very surprised that Cairo has reasonably decent road riding available. The mountain biking is VERY good too, but with 20 million people I'm amazed that road riding is reasonably safe and pleasant here.

Going up a hill, give me 5 more pedal strokes, cameraman!



Not me, but a shot from the "long way around AUC".

Istanbul for a Weekend

I'm long over due for a post, but its been one of those months! At one point, I was on 4 continents in a single week! Istanbul (Asia and Europe sides) - Cairo (Africa) - Washington, DC.

In the middle of October, I took a quick trip to Istanbul, Turkey to catch up with a bunch of friends and run a 15 km race. I have heard a lot of people say that Istanbul is great, but I've always been more of a 'do-er' than a 'see-er', so I didn't generally believe that I would enjoy it as much. I was wrong. Istanbul is a very fun city to go to. It feels very European with the narrow streets and construction, but the Islamic influence is also pervasive and makes a very interesting contrast. Also, some of the old Christian Cathedrals have been "converted" to Islamic Mosques. But the original frescoes are frequently still there.

The 15k went well (68:30 ain't too shabby for someone who really hasn't trained for it) and I had a really great time catching up with some good friends.  I'm not much of a shopper, but the colors and detail work almost make shopping a trip to a museum. Very interesting stuff!

This is an ancient cistern:


An old Cathedral (still Christian)



A huge palace grounds / park:


Spice Market:


The blue mosque:

Biking Away Depression

This morning I set out for the usual ride with the cycling club and was quickly asked if I was up for a different ride than our normal route. Most of the guys out this morning were much faster than I and the 2 guys I could hang with were interested in changing it up a bit. I said I was game as long as we stuck together.

We headed downtown along the Corniche, the main road paralleling the Nile. We rode past an ancient Roman aqueduct that is still standing among the buildings downtown (so cool) and through some crazy traffic circles when we came upon a large group of cyclists gathered on a side street. As it happens a local cycling club (The Cairo Cycling Club, not to be confused with our group: The Cairo Cyclists) was putting on a charity ride to bring awareness to depression as a part of World Mental Health Day (who knew?)

This was hilarious and cool at the same time. There were probably 100 people, men and women, gathered for the event. We stopped to ask about it and the organizers asked us to participate. They signed us up as a team and gave us free T-shirts (we tried to pay for them but they would have none of that). We drew quite a bit of attention between our bikes and specialized gear such as helmets and other crazy accessories (clear signs that we were foreigners). We were interviewed by 2 local news stations (I wonder if any of my students will notice me, yikes.)


A pick up truck pulled up with a pile of 50 or so bikes in the bed. We assumed these were being loaned for the event as people just walked up and helped themselves. The bikes were cracking us up. Many had the seats, handle bars and frame wrapped in either plastic wrap or cardboard. These were bikes people owned. It turns out this is a common practice as people don't want to scuff, dirty or otherwise sully the condition of their bikes by riding them.

After an hour or so of standing around and asking if people could take their photos with us we got antsy and decided to head off to complete our regularly scheduled ride. I'm not sure if the charity ride ever officially got under way, but if it is anything like the Breast Cancer Awareness run taking place next weekend it was a short spin around the block. The Breast Cancer run is 1.5K.

Quite a spontaneous adventure. Here's to venturing off the beaten path!

A sandstorm in September is like Christmas in July

We had a sandstorm last night! In Egypt March is typically the month of the "Khamseen", Arabic for the number 50 due to the nearly 50 days of winds and sandstorms the city experiences. It is extremely unusual to have a sandstorm this time of year. We had an unusually hot, dry, oven-like day and people said, in hindsight, that is an indicator of a sandstorm coming. Personally, I failed to detect the subtle difference between today's "hot and dry" and any other day, but apparently the long-timers could pick up on it.

I went for a trail run in the wadi after school with a group and on our drive back into town we noticed how hazy the air was but we just chalked it up to a bad pollution day. I got home, showered, and then headed out to pick up a friend on foot and walk to dinner with her. It was unreal. The level of dust and grit in the air was huge, the trails of light cast by car headlights illuminating all the sand and dust were eerie. And the WIND! By the time I walked the 4 minutes to my friend's apartment I felt like my shower had been a waste of time. Grit was plastered to my face and clothes, my contacts were caked and traffic was a mess. Apparently the storm was coming from the north. One of the other women we were meeting for dinner had a friend who was driving to Alexandria for the weekend and he called to tell her that traffic was stopped on the road because they couldn't drive (just like we would stop because of a blizzard in Buffalo or Michigan).

We walked out of the restaurant 2 hours later to slightly cooler temps and clean-er air.

Who thought this was a good idea.

I'm doing a little traveling for the next couple weeks, and I brought the bike with me. I scouted a course out on Google Maps and came up with the below "plan". The plan included a coffee shop (a must for any good bike ride), though it was starting to look like rain was coming when I got there, so I just grabbed a juice to go.

 Continuing on, it seemed like my rolling hill ride was going to be great. Just cruising around on well paved country roads in clean air. What a great day.

Then as I approached mile 44 of my 55 mile ride, I saw something like this:

Only it wasn't quite like this. The hill went the other way.  Since I was already on a smaller hill and wasn't moving very fast I had plenty of time to stare at it and fully comprehend what it meant. I really tried to figure out how it might POSSIBLY mean a 14% decline. (That is, am I seeing this photo on the right? No, I was not.)

A very unexpected 14% grade for 0.75 miles. Ow.


Maybe I'll do it again. Who knows.. my brain isn't that bright anyway.

For those who care, the Garmin stats are here for your enjoyment.

My Baby

It seems as though all of our friends who have a blog are blogging about their babies or their efforts to make a baby these days. They're proud of their babies who are sitting up or rolling over. They're proud of their baby's first day of school. They're proud of their baby's first college football game or Labor Day cookout. In an effort to make sure that I keep up and continue to belong to this evolving and remarkable group of friends I felt compelled to blog about my baby.



My baby is so stinkin' cute I can't stand it. Look at that face. Not only is he adorable but he can do his own laundry and pay for my drinks! Now without being too boastful I would be remiss if I did not point out that, while your baby is sitting up in a Bumbo chair without any help, my baby is riding his bike on the highway in Cairo, Egypt on the first full day of Eid after Ramadan. Imagine a highway in the States on the day after Thanksgiving and the Superbowl just let out. Just sayin'.

Henry L. Johnson, How Do I Hate Thee...

It seems sad that I have such strong feelings about a man I've never met. I mean, at first I felt sad for the guy, and then I was a little irritated but at least patient. But recently? Well, I'm starting to despise the man and cursing his children is not far away.

Who is this man? I don't know either. But Henry L. Johnson is a name my household hears of fairly regularly. At the worst times of day and night. It would be one thing if we were in the United States and the phone calls arrived at a reasonable hour, but 7 hours ahead, they now arrive at 2 or 3am.

What's the deal? Well, apparently there are a number of credit agencies trying to get in touch with Mr. Henry L. Johnson. And by credit agencies, I mean computers calling old numbers of his. Apparently at some point in his life, he put our phone number down on a piece of paper. So now, we get the pleasure of receiving his phone calls. Each phone call usually has a way to inform them that this is not his number, and when we do reach a person, they are almost always very apologetic. It's not their fault.

It's his.

It's been a year of this. For a while I thought we had escaped it since we hadn't received a phone call in a few months. But we got another one the other day, which probably means more will follow it. They're like ants you know. Ants looking for sugar.

Maybe I should kick off my own search for him, so that I may find some peace and sanity.

Naming Children

On Tuesday I took a cab home from work. Nothing special there, just another day driving down the Corniche. About 10 minutes into the ride though, the driver got a phone call. All of a sudden his face lit up and he was clearly elated about something. Through his broken English and my poor Arabic, he gets across that his wife just gave birth to his first son. (His first 2 children were girls and he's been hoping for a son.) Now that he has a son, the baby factory is done. Khalas!  I told him congratulations then he asks me, what he should name his new son.

Excuse me? (There is no way I'm picking the name for this guy's kid.)

But he insists! I tell him it's an important decision and he should choose. The cab driver pushes back and insists that I choose the name because he's so happy he can't think straight. I suggested his name, (no way), maybe his father's name? (No way, same problem.) How about mom's father's name. (That's absurd.) So he rattles off a few Egyptian names and I picked one at semi-random. (Ibrahim. Why not?) He likes it and rolls with it!

A few minutes later apparently his father-in-law calls and he informs him of his choice of names. It sounds like the Father-in-law wants to know where he got the name from, because he turns and asks me what my name is. Apparently it goes well because he keeps insisting on Ibrahim. A few minutes after that, his wife calls (mind you, she just finished a c-section) and he informs her of the son's name and where it came from. After all this, he looks at me and says, "That it! She agreed to it! Ibrahim it is!"

I said congrats, paid him a healthy tip and got dropped off a little farther from home than I would have liked to help him get on his way to his wife. How cool is that? I named some guys kid!
......
or did I?
....
So I told this story to a co-worker the next day and he tells me that a few guys we had in from the U.S. last week had a similar experience just last week.  Hrm.. ok, I'm getting suspicious, but maybe people time childbirth for Ramadan?  I did find it a little odd that when I offered to get another cab so he could go to the hospital he was ok with taking me all the way home.

So the next night, I got into another cab and wouldn't you know it, this taxi driver just had twins while we were driving down the road! Amazing!

Nice try buddy, but here's the normal fare.

On the first day of school my principal gave to me...

A brand new MacBook Pro!

Yes, I too was shocked and amazed. The first week of orientation has come to a close and I continue to be impressed by the school administration as well as my fellow incoming teachers. We have sat through many informational sessions from a crash course in introductory Arabic to an overview of the curriculum development and evaluation process. Time and again I have noticed the little things that have been done to make us feel welcome and well informed. Returning teachers have volunteered to be our "buddies" and touch base with us regularly. Dinners have been arranged and paid for and every effort has been made to ensure that we have access to what we need in order to be effective in the classroom. The energy level on campus is ramping up as we get ready for the returning teachers and full staff orientation next week.

I am finding the task of setting up my room to be a bit daunting. This is the first time in 8 years working in education that I have had my own classroom. I look at my space and think, "8 years from now I will know exactly where to put that [insert classroom item here: book shelf, couch, table, filing cabinet etc]. For now I am focusing on what I am good at: purging junk, straightening shelves, cleaning surfaces and organizing materials. I am having a similar internal debate over posters and bulletin boards. I want them to have a purpose, not just cover the walls to look pretty, but am finding that a blank wall or bulletin board brings up the same anxiety that a blank journal book does: "What ever goes in/on it has got to be fantastic." I have no less than 3 blank journal books in my office that have been given to me as gifts over the years and I love them. They hold unlimited potential for captivating narratives or travel logs. While the journals stare blankly out from my shelves, it is getting close to the time when I need to put something up on my classroom walls, fabulous or not!

If you have any memories from your first days of school at any grade level I'd like to hear them, especially if they involve bulletin boards.

A Long London Layover

I began the long journey home to Cairo this past Friday evening. After a smooth flight from Dulles to London I found myself with 12 hours to fill before my connection to Egypt. Typically I play it safe as a traveler and prefer to stick close to the airport, not taking any unnecessary risks that could result in missing connections. But I had never been to London before and wanted to take the opportunity to explore the city and see some history. I also wanted to scope it out as a potential future posting for us.

After dropping my carry-on bag with an airport service for 8 GPB I bought a day pass for the Undeground and city map to plan my afternoon. The professor I had for my last class this summer is from the UK and she had given me some recommendations of things to see and do. Based on her suggestions Hyde Park was first on my list. After 9 hours of sitting I was game for beating a path around a wide open green space.





I was not disappointed. As I walked along the paths, being passed by cyclists and joggers, I made a mental note to pack my running gear in my carry-on the next time I have a layover like this. My first stop was this statue of Achilles, which was commissioned by King George IV to honor British soldiers.



From there I walked on and discovered this "tree house". Not in the sense that we typically use the term but the tree had grown over in such a way that close to 15 children were playing inside of its branches:



I continued along the path to The Princess Diana Memorial Walk around Serpentine Lake



These deck chairs were set up in rows along both sides of the lake. There were several park workers scattered among them in bright yellow vests. When you sat back to relax and watch the rowers on the lake the park workers would make their way over to you to collect the 50 pence per 30 minute fee for using the chairs. Not surprisingly many chairs remained empty while the public park benches were usually full.



On my way across the park to the other entrance I spotted this group of roller skiers. The instructor is sitting on the fence in the left of the frame. It appeared to be a group of beginners as they were taking turns drifting across the path and running out into the grass. It's never to early to get ready for ski season!



The opposite entrance to Hyde Park lies near the Marble Arch. This archway was the original entrance to Buckingham Palace in 1828 but was moved to this site when an extension was built on to the palace leaving insufficient space for the arch.



From Hyde Park I made my way over to Buckingham palace in time to see the changing of the guards. Frankly, I found it unimpressive (the changing of the guards, not the palace). It's got nothing on Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown. Nevertheless crowds were packed along the fence and scattered all over the fountain across the square. I didn't have time to take a tour but I'd be interested to see the inside of the palace on day.







The statue and fountain above are details from an enormous fountain in the square across from the palace that was a gift to Britain from The Netherlands.

The final stop on my whirlwind tour was Westminster Cathedral, the oldest Catholic Church in Britain. I felt uncomfortable taking photos inside as there were people worshiping but I wish I could have shown you the detailed chapels around the perimeter of the main sanctuary as well as the vaulted, domed ceilings black with soot from centuries of candle light. It is truly awesome to be inside these ancient structures and imagine what has taken place within these walls. Choir practice began as I was leaving making it feel as if I was walking back in time.





While sitting in the church I thought it might be a good idea to check my boarding pass to make sure that my departure time was still 10pm as my itinerary said. Someone must have been sending me a message because the departure time had in fact changed to 6pm. It was a good thing I hadn't started my intended walk further east toward Westminster Abbey. Instead I hopped on the "Tube" at Victoria Station and made my way back to the airport with a little time to spare. I would like to return to London some day, when I do I will make a point to see: The Globe Theater, Westminster Abbey, The Tower of London, and 221B Baker street. If you have any other recommendations drop me a line and I will add them to my list.

The Luckiest Man Alive

This past week, a pair of friends from the US showed up to visit in Cairo. Jason and Kristina were the first (and only) people who visited us in Georgia. They stopped by this week en route to South Africa to see the World Cup. We watched a lot of soccer, but they also did quite a bit of sight seeing around town.

On Thursday night, we went out to a friends house for dinner. At the end, we walked a few blocks, got a cab and drove home. After getting dropped off, we all immediately went to bed. The next morning, we were supposed to go to the Khan, but we quickly realized Jason couldn't find his wallet. We ransacked the house, but nothing. So we went over to the place we were at dinner with and checked that place out. Nothing. Crap. It's probably in the taxi.

So, while Jason went to cancel the credit cards, Kristina and I went to get some coffee. Jason realized he didn't know the address in South Africa to send the replacement cards to, so wound up just sitting around waiting for us to get back.

When we got back, we got the biggest surprise. EVER. The taxi driver found his wallet, tracked us down and delivered it.

• The taxi driver picked us up a few blocks away from our start, and dropped us off a few blocks from home. He did not know where to find us.
• There are LOTS of Americans where I live. I do not stand out that much on my own. Finding me required some inquisition.
• He didn't know the neighborhood. It's not uncommon when going from one part of town to another, to have to tell a taxi where to go. We had to share show him how to get my house.
• Timing: if he had arrived an hour earlier, we would have been downtown looking at the other place. A half hour later, he would have delivered useless hunks of plastic because they would have been cancelled. If we hadn't gone to coffee, he would have cancelled the cards even earlier.
• It is quite likely his holy day where he should be spending time with his family. But despite that he went out hunting around an unfamiliar part of town to find us.
• Honesty: There's no lost & found center, no dispatch for taxis here. This guy had access to 2 credit cards and a drivers license. He could have been scot free. But he decided to put in some serious effort and delivered Jason's credit cards.

Without this fortuitous piece of karma and good will from a stranger, Jason would have been surfing for at least the next several weeks in South Africa with no access to his cash and leaning heavily on Kristina. Nevermind the hassle of card cancellation and chaos of trying to match up delivery of a card with multiple stops throughout South Africa.

Luck, I spell you J-A-S-O-N.

Permission v. Forgiveness

A smart man once said, "Its easier to ask forgiveness than permission." He was probably talking about relations with his wife, but his statement applies to many situations, particularly in Egypt.

This morning I set out with two visiting friends and a cycling friend to go to the Olympic Stadium for a track workout. Meg had been an official at a track meet last month where we discovered this track. It's a reasonably well maintained all-season track, with all the expected markings on it. Perfect for running my (http://trackytuesday.blogspot.com) workout.

I tried to do this last week, but despite the fact that the gate was open, I made the mistake of asking someone when it opened. (They said 10am, which doesn't meet my needs.) I turned around and did my workout in the desert.

Today, we drove up and walked in with the plan of, "act like you're supposed to be here and no one will stop you." It totally worked. There was a womens track team just starting their "practice" but we ran anyway. A couple times I thought their coach was going to say something to us, but he was just getting ready to talk to his athletes. On the way out, there was a security guard, but there's no problem leaving.

I'm not sure we'll be able to do this indefinitely. Sooner or later someone might get up the guts to confront us. But for now: forgiveness: 1. Permission: 0.

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Running to work is an option!

The last few months I've been thinking that it's probably possible to run to work.  My first run in Cairo was with another new guy and I ran about 60 minutes out and back down the Corniche. At the time, it appeared the landmarks I saw were about half-way to work, and I wondered what would happen if I just committed to running the whole way. Well this morning I finally got off my butt and found out.

Before I describe the run, let me be clear: There is no way I'm going to be able to run to work every day.

1. Simple logistics are a pain in the butt. I have to make sure I've already deposited clothes the day before, so at most I'm looking at every other day. Realistically, every other day is pretty aggressive.
2. I can't run to work on the weekends because the gym/showers don't open until 10am. (Wish I had known that today when I arrived at 9am.) Later would work, but temps start rising pretty fast.
3. Pollution: Running down the Corniche certainly exposes me to more pollution than my normal running routes. While I thought it was tolerable this morning, I wonder what 2.5 years of running to work would do to me. Anything permanent? (Does anyone actually have references to answer this question?)

But despite the negatives, there were lots of positives in this run:

• The corniche runs right along the nile and it's one of the greener parts of town. The trees provide quite a bit of shade and there always seems to be something flowering. It's generally a pleasant view (for city running). On some days when the smog isn't so bad, I should be able to see the Pyramids along the way.
• 1 hour 10 minutes from my front door to the target stopping point is awesome. It's an 8 mile run so it's a good distance for a regular run. As I ramp up towards the Athens Marathon, I could potentially make it an out-and-back run without too much trouble.
• Pollution issues will certainly be lighter earlier in the mornings if I aim to arrive at the showers closer to 6:30/7am.
• I got some looks as I went by, but if you're just sitting on the corner, even average Americans will turn their heads and watch you go by. I'm not sure what this would be like for Meg though. Its one thing for a man to be doing this, but a girl in running apparel would probably get a lot more attention closer to downtown. Some kids at a university cheered for me as I went by.

I think I might be up for this run once a week. It's a good route, and I'd be willing to do it a lot more. I just need to figure out how to handle the clothing logistics to do it more.

View Larger Map

Life in the desert

The other morning I decided I'd be a little late to work and try to squeeze a run in the Wadi first. Sunrise is at 6am these days but it has been very light out at 5:30am. I got a little later start than I would have liked (had to convince myself to get out of bed) but I was running by 5:45 am.

Totally worth it. The dawn was cool and it was very interesting to see that sunrise takes about 2 minutes from just peaking out, to total sun.

Meg and I have commented many times about how the entry ticket we get shows all sorts of wildlife but we've never seen any indication of life in the rocky landscape. Well, this morning I saw a desert fox run across my path and up a ridge line before ducking out of sight. VERY COOL and it really made my day.

We'll see if I can make this a regular event.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Al-Azhar Mosque

A friend and I made a trip down to the Khan Al-Khalili bazaar this morning to buy gifts for our upcoming trips back to the U.S. and visited the Al-Azhar Mosque afterward. The mosque was built in two years beginning in 971 AD and is one of the oldest mosques in Cairo. Its sheikh is considered the highest theological authority for Egyptian Muslims. In 988 AD a university grew in connection with this mosque and became the world's second oldest educational institution.





The academic focus of Al-Azhar has remained much the same for over a millenium: its students study the Qur'an and Islamic law in detail, along with logic, grammar, rhetoric, and how to calculate the lunar phases of the moon. Most of this learning is done by listening in a circle at the feet of a sheikh and rote memorization. Al-Azhar is considered by most Sunni Muslims to be the most prestigious school of Islamic law, and its scholars are seen as the highest scholars in the Muslim world.

The entrance to the mosque is through the 15th-century Barber's Gate, where students traditionally had their heads shaved. The photo above was taken just inside this gate. Once through the gate you turn in your shoes (be sure to wear socks) and women must cover their hair with a scarf. You then proceed into a great courtyard, which dates from the 10th century and is overlooked by three minarets. These tall needle-like towers are where the call to prayer is sung from. The courtyard's white facade is accented by rosettes and keel-arched panels.

Students studying at the university live within this mosque in the latticework-screened residential quarters. These are not open to visitors, but we were fortunate to meet a teacher from the school who showed us the prayer hall, which is carpeted and supported by alabaster pillars (photos below).

Notice the individual prayer spaces marked in the carpet pattern. Each points toward Mecca.

My friend and I had a guide take us up the spiral stone stair case of one of the minarets for a spectacular view of Cairo. From the top we could see the alabaster mosque of Mohammed Ali which lies within the walls of the Citadel (first photo below).