Madrid

First pictures of Spain...
No time to blog, but here is a taste of some of my trip!

Planning a Trip

I finally got together with my Christmas travel buddy last night to work out the details of our trip. It took much longer then I expected it to and we are still not finished!
It turns out that my friend who was supposed to be in Germany over Christmas will not be there after all. Her boyfriend was playing professional hockey out there and was injured so they will be back in Winnipeg by Christmas.  I’m disappointed because it would have been really cool to spend Christmas with someone from home (and one of my oldest friends!), and also because she will no longer be able to visit me in the future. And of course it sucks for them that they have to cut their adventure short!

Well everything happens for a reason. This means we have much more time in Spain and Italy which we will definitely put to good use!

Kim and I went to The ACE Club to plan our trip. Kim has an internet stick which usually works and I was going to use the ACE’s Wi-Fi. Well of course nothing is as easy as that. The internet was in and out all night, but the ACE is a nice place to sit and chat. There is no pressure to buy any food or drinks (but we usually do) because it is a private club where we paid for a membership.   We also have gotten to know much of the staff so they make us feel welcome.

After four hours of planning this is what we have come up with:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
				23 Leave Cairo at 945am Arrive in Madrid at 2:00 pm	24	25 Leave Madrid at 11:00 pm Bus to Barcelona
26 Arrive in Barcelona from bus at 7am Shop until we drop!!	27	28	29 Leave Barcelona at 9:48am Arrive in Venice at 11:15am	30	31	1 Leave Venice at 920am (yuck!) Arrive in Florence at 12:15pm
2	3 Go to Rome (Haven’t figured out which flight or anything yet…)	4 Sight seeing	5 Shopping	6 Leave Rome at 1:45pm Arrive back in Cairo at 6pm

a note about hockey for those who might be interested...

Here is what happened:
Lisa and I went skating, but we were really disapointed because both of us could hardly skate due to how shitty the skates were. We took them off and the guy "sharpened" them right in front of us, put them back o n and tried again. I had one skate that had sort of an edge and lisa still had none. There were hockey sticks behigd the counter and we were so excited and asked if we could use them and he said no eventually he told us it would cost an extra 35 piunds (7 bucks) to rent them. As if. He did tell us about a hockey "league" where guys come on friday and play a game. He told us we were invited to come. Lisa and i were skeptical because of how bad the skates were and he didn't have a lot of information but we decided we would check it out sometime anyway.
So while the idea of skating was awesome the actual skating was less awesome. But even with our bad skating we impressed three girls who came to watch. I invited them to come skate with us so they did. Back to the horrible skates... before sharpening the skate blades are completely rusted over. But the guy refused to sharpen the skates for these Egyptian girls. So even if they had the skills (or we taught them the skills) to skate they couldn't because of the horrible skates. It made Lisa and I sooo mad. The girls seemed to really like it anyway. we were trying to explain that it was extra hard to skate becasue of the skates but we aren't sure if they got it or not. One of them spoke English pretty well the other 2 didn't speak a lot. But we went bolwling and then for dinner with them. It sure is nice to meet people other then people we work with. It is even nicer to get out and do somethign different.
After dinner lisa and I were going to a movie. As we were buying our tickets we hear someone calling our name we look over and he says "hey are you guys the ones who want to play hockey?"
We went over and talked to him and he seemed like a really nice "normal" guy. he told us that he had different skates that we can use and he would sharpen them for us. He said that they have a coach fro the states (now i wonder what exactly this means). He said that he lived in the UK for a while and played there.
After talking to him Lisa and i are really excited to play. We exchanged information and he texted us to tell us there will be a game this wednesday. Lisa and i are deciding if we will go or not. We would have to go straight off the bus... the other thing is it costs 35 pounds each time. but for now I think it is worth it...

What? Christmas is less than a month away?

Hello!
It's so strange to think that there is piles of snow on the ground in Winnipeg! I thought I would really notice and appreciate that there is no snow in December (and while I do appreciate it) it just sort of seems normal. Like a really long summer. Yesterday it was 25 degrees for most of the day which is great! It really doesn't feel like Christmas is less then a month away! In Winnipeg we know Christmas is coming as soon as Halloween is finished, but here there are very few christmas references around. When I went to Cyprus there was a christmas display in the airport and that reminded me just how close christmas is! I have to say it is kind of nice not feeling stressed out by all the shoppers and traffic that comes with this time of year in Winnipeg!
I did go to a craft sale  the other day put on by the expats. I will miss seeing craft shows in winnipeg with my mum so it was nice to go to one here with a couple of girls. They had someneat stuff, it wasn't too much like a craft sale in Winnipeg though, less homemade stuff it seemed like, but a lot of beautiful items made by people in need and if purchased the money goes right back to them which is great!
Today and next sunday we have off due to elections. It is quite a big election in Egypt this year. I don't know too much about it but we were given the day off and told to stay in Maadi, "just in case". I wish there was a local english newscast becasue i feel really out of the loop as to what is going on sometimes!
I am about to leave for my weekly grade two meeting... a meeting where we end up mostly gossiping about the weekend and planning for the week for about ten minutes at the end. But it's great. I really like my teaching partners!

Kailey Goes to Cyprus

Cyprus is really different then Egypt, but I get the feeling that I am nopt experiencing Cyprus at its best. Most of the people we meet say oh yeah you could do that, but it's better in the summer.
We went to a beach called Agia Napa. It was really pretty, but basically deserted. The streets were lined with souvenir shops and strip clubs... much different then the atmosphere in Egypt.
They say Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea in Paphos. It looks beautiful and we would like to see it if it works out, but it turns out that it is about 40 km from Paphos city centre and we don't hae a car. We did run into a couple Candian girls who are also teaching in Egypt and vacationing in Cyprus who rented a car. We went to Agia Napa with them the first full day we were here and they plan on coming to Paphos in the next couple of days so maybe we can hook upwith them to see it.
For now there is a lot to  see within walking distance. The tombs of the Kings sounds really interesting and the sea is beautiful. I look forward to a nice day of exploring on foot tomorrow. We were going to rent bikes yesterday in Larnaca but it turns uot everythin is closed on Sundays. Larnaca is much like a small town. It looks like Paphos shuts down around 530 as well, which is really different then Egypt where everything stays open late.
The view on the ride here was worth the trip alone. Breathtakingly beautiful. Pictures will never do it justice.

Ataba

Today was a great day.
Our friend Sonny took us to a market called Ataba. It is similar in a way to the Khan el-Khalili which I talked about before. But Ataba is a market by locals for locals. The Khan is really touristy and sells a lot of trinkets and stuff. Ataba has everything one could ever need. I walked out of thee subway station and was instantly surrounded by shops. At first it was just tables filled with random things. Like q tips and nail files and flash lights and hair brushes and socks and books. But was only the begining. Our main mission was to biy bikes so Sonny took us to the bike shop which is in the hardware section. By section I mean streets. The streets are lined with shops some actual buildings some tables most very small but really filled up. The two people I wish most that could see the hardware section are my grandpa and my brother. The streets reminded me of my grandpa's workshop. A mishmash of things but everything seemed to belong in that place. Sonny often goes to Ataba and said one can literally find anything they need there. And you can by one tool, one machine or even one screw and you can haggle it all for a lower price.
We stopped in at the bike shop and had a look around. We found bikes that interested us and decided to keep looking and come back later to make our final decisions.
Well I thought later meant in about an hour or two. Nope. When we began to explore I realized that one could not possibly see Ataba in one day. And I bet one could never see all Ataba has to offer. There are sections for bathroom things and kitchen things and electronic things and cell phone things and clothing and shoes and food and books and so much more.
the meat market.
we walked off the street and into a section off the street that resembled an alleyway. As we looked around we realized that the was raw beef hanging from the roof and raw chicken piled on wooden tables. There were clies everywhere and the grossest thing of all was what we were walking through. the meat was simply dripping off the tables and onto the ground. there were puddles of bloody chicken juice every step. And we were all wearing flip flops.
but as we thought about the meat we thought about the meat in canada and decided that even with the flies landing on it and the wooden tables that it is kept on it is probably better for us then much of the processed "fresh" chicken in canada.
After looking through the books we went back for the bikes. I knew instantly which one i wanted. it is red of course and it has a basket. all it is missing is a bell. which i will get becasue it is actually necessary here. The bike was originally 500 pounds which is not wuite 100 bucks. Not bad, but after striking a deal we got them for 485 pounds which included a lock and a basket.
I'm really excited to explore my new limits of Maadi on a bike.

Teaching

Nothing much new to report. Almost all the teachers at school are really stressed out. The kids are bad. The most annoying thing is that they stand up in the middle of teaching walk to the front of the room to ask you a question that has nothing to do with what you are talking about. I feel like all I do is yell at my kids by the end of the day. Most other teachers feel the same way. It is really frustrating. but the kids keep coming back and the mornings are usually ok.
Today I tried to do my first science experiment. It did not work. I guess I will try again tomorrow.
Tomorrow is Tuesday and it's nice becasue we get wednesday off. On wednesday I am getting together with my friend kim to plan a trip to germany for christmas. I am really looking forward to figuring out a plan and getting things booked for that. I am also getting a pedicure!
We also get a week off in November. I am not sure what I will do for that but I think maybe go away somewhere in Egypt. Something cheap so I can afford Germany.

wow. first day of school.

The students came to class today in full blast. Kids here are super chatty (aren't they everywhere though really). It was actually really cute. All day I heard " Ms, Ms Ms, Ms Ms," and their accents make it sound really cute... for the first ten minutes, but after all day long of students calling "ms, ms ms ms" for every single thing and when I am in the middle of trying to teach, it gets less cute and MUCH more annoying.
My day overall was pretty good. Really good if you don't count the last 20 minutes. General teaching of classes (right now it is mostly teaching kids to sit quietly and listen for instruction) went fine. challenging of course but fine. I tried to play an ice breaker bingo game where they have to find a person who has a certain thing or did something and write their name down. That went really badly, as in it totally didn't work. But the kids were for the most part up walking around and asking each other things which was sort of the point. They just couldn't read what they were supposed to be asking each other. But it for some kids it really didn't seem fun and even after I explained it a million times they had no idea what to do. And I don't know if the game was just too hard for grade two in general or if it was too hard for this group or what. But I can always try again in a couple of weeks and see if they are ready then.
The hardest part of the day was all the procedural crap. Sending their lunch bags down to the lunch room before lunch, lining up quietly (hugs and bubbles) walking in a straight line, and the biggest headache: the buses at the end of the day.  I started getting students ready (writing in their agendas) at 230 and they had to be outside and ready to go at 305. not. enough. time.
first of all kids don't do their job then goof off, they goof off then run out of time for whatever they were supposed to be doing (well even I do that sometimes). Then about a quarter of my class are picked up by drivers and the rest by one of 24 buses. that means I have to get each kid to the right place as all the other kids (470+) are doing the same thing. its madness. I basically sent my car kids away and hoped for the best and then took my bus kids downstairs. Well one kid thought for sure he was scheduled to be on the wrong bus and was basically crying before we even left the class. but I calmed him down and said we would figure it out when we got there. Well it felt like I was the last person to bring my kids down, some bus lines had already left! and as soon as I got to the area where all the people were i had no idea where cones (labled with bus numbers) were so most of the kids told me they knew where to go and so i just let them go. It was a zoo outside. I took the student to the bus he was listed to go on and he wasn't on that list and therefore immediately started bawling. I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't have anything to do with me and cried and spoke in arabic. It was really challenging to help him. I finally found the vice principal who helped me after another 15 minutes. Pretty sure I made the buses late. I was extremely drained. And it sounds like it is ALWAYS chaotic. Even some people thought the bus situation went well. That scares me a little.
It turns out we were supposed to have our kids out at the cones at 250. I'm not exactly sure How I am going to get anything done during the day, especially if I have to have them outside 15 minutes early. students have religion, french, arabic, PE, music, library, art and computer. They also have to wash their hands after recess and before lunch as well as make sure they have gone to the bathroom. Well of course if you ask who has to go to the bathroom they all do and they are only allowed to go one at a time. OH and my lunch break is only half an hour and i have to make sure the supervisor is there before I leave.
Anyway. As I said the actual teaching was ok. (focus on what went well and problem solve what didn't).
Last night we went horse back riding. It reminded me a little bit of climbing the mountain. In canada to go riding as we did I'm sure we would have had to take months of lessons. Nopw. Get on the horse the guy shows which way is left and right with the reins and we are off. I really wish I could have taken better pictures but it was totally impossible. We started by walking up a very narrow alley with two way camel, horse, motor bike, donkey, and car traffic. we were all squished between each other. One horse nipped my leg. My horse kept tripping. I;m sort of hoping the in general Arabic horses are a skinnier bread, becasue these horses were skinny. Hips and even some ribs were easily seen. And we saw some horses without saddles whose backs had big sores all over them. If we go again it would be better to find horses that are treated better which would cost much more but be worth it really.
Anyway after walking up this narrow congested alley the girl who organized our trip, Nashwa, said hold on,, because when your horse feels the sand on his feet He'll take off. And he did. we ended up trotting for about twenty minutes. I haven't been so scared in a long time. (and someone should have told me to wear a sports bra) I didn't know I would so tired after horse back riding. After trotting down a path we reached a more open dessert area and the horses started galloping. it was intense. I have a whole new respect for people who ride horses. But they probably learned how to do it properly before hand. So we galloped through the open desert past the pyramids to a look out point. It was really beautiful. And I had lots of sand in my eyes. After galloping, thats all i wanted to do. It is much easier to gallop even if it is a little scarier. So on the way back we galloped for much longer. It turns out that the leaders come up behind and whip the the horse you are riding to make them go super fast. It was an amazing adrenaline rush! and totally worth it!

Oh and some new pictures... scroll to the end...
Always and Adventure

mouse!

I have mice. Well at least a mouse. The school gave me poison to put down with food. I basically refuse to cook in my kitchen until it is gone. I hate bugs and rodents. Oh well at least going out for or ordering in here is really cheap. Last night I slept at Athena’s who lives above me. But I guess tonight I will sleep at home. There was no air conditioning and I woke up many times in the night so I think sleeping here will be better even if I share my apartment with a mouse for the time being.

School has been really busy the last week and a half. Earlier this week we had “Meet the Parents” where we presented our year plan and beliefs about education and homework etc. It went really well. The parents over here do seem quite different then what I am used to seeing in Winnipeg. But I’ve never worked at a private school either so I think that is part of it.

I only met four of my students and their parents. Three of four parents told me that they had been on holiday all summer and their child did nothing and have completely lost the language (English).  One parent told me her son is very naughty. He was standing right in front of her with a giant smile on his face. I apparently have one student who likes to take off his pants in class.

My classroom is really starting to come together (well it better be we have meetings for a lot of the day tomorrow and students starting the next school day!) but it feels like I have a million things to still do. Oh well, I guess not everything has to be done for the first day, only certain things. I`m trying hard to make sure I am organized, especially when it comes to daily routines. It really helps to have Aislinn as a teaching partner. She has been teaching for two years, not grade 2, but still she knows some of the more basic things that I don’t think of.

A few of us went to watch the boys’ first ball game. It was a lot of fun. The ball diamond is really nice, its clean and sort of quiet and filled with expats. When I was there I talked to a girl about joining her team. Their next game is Friday at 1pm so I’ll have to check into it and see if it works out and I can play. It seems like it will be VERY hot to play mid afternoon, but I guess I can handle it!

It is cooling off which is wonderful. At night the temperature is totally bearable. I can even wear a sweater comfortably if I want to cover my shoulders. It is about 30 degrees at night, but compared to about 40 its great.

I’m really starting to get to know the neighbourhood and like it. We’ve met the man who owns a dry cleaner down the street. He is really friendly. Our work clothes are getting ironed as I type so I shall see how it all works out. There is a man with white hair that sits on a bench a few buildings down. We always say hi and smile. He waves, gets excited, says hi and then continues to ask questions in Arabic. We have no idea what he is saying so we smile and keep walking. I really want to buy a bike so I can explore areas that are further away and get around faster. I’ve thought it through and decided that walking is traffic or riding a bike in traffic is about the same in terms of safety.

My bowab is wonderful. Bowabs are basically doormen, but they do lots of other stuff as well, like take the garbage that I put outside my door. He is really nice and I totally appreciate all his help. He always has a big smile on his face. He seems like a happy man. He is often sitting outside the building so it is welcoming when we come home or leave. If I have a bunch of groceries and he sees me getting out of the cab he will come over and help me bring them in.  He fixed my toilet when it is broken, and I’m told he will remove the dead mouse after I kill it.

Some random things:

• ·         I listen to a radio station called Nile FM. It is great. It plays a random mix of music which is right up my alley.
• ·         They don’t have “ouchless” elastics here - very frustrating to tie back my thick hair without them.
• ·         I still love all the shoe stores out here!
• ·         I think when I go back to Winnipeg I will get bored with the shopping, because here there are a million different shops which offer many different things.
• ·         I found a pharmacy near my house
• ·         Ramadan is over so now we have to get used to stores closing at a decent hour (I think around eleven).

I would love to hear comments and about things going on in your lives so comment or email me!!

kboutang@gmail.com

PS I post pictures to facebook becasue it is a lot easier to put them up there than here. You can view them by going to these links.
Egypt in August
The Dahab Experience
Egypt in September
you can check back randomly becasue I update the album as I take pictures.

Mailing Address

The mailing system in Egypt is apparently pretty sketchy. But if you feel like giving it a try I would love to get some snail mail!

Work:

Kailey Boutand

c/o Heritage International School

P.O. Box: 38 - 12568 6th of October City
Giza, Egypt 

Home:

Ms. Kailey Boutang

road 258, building 10, apt 1

Maadi - Helwan

EGYPT

I'm giving you both, you decide which one you think will work. I really am not sure!

The School

I`ve added a few photos to the end of the album on facebook. Here is the link:
More Photos
Today we were at the school and had some official meetings. Everything seems to take quite a long time. There is a lot of hurry up and wait. I`m hoping that once we get into the swing of things this changes.
We got the keys to our classrooms and tomorrow have some time to set them up. The other grade 2 teachers and I have decided to work together to set up our classrooms. I`m looking forward to working with them!
I`m disappointed in the size of the library. In the next little while we are going to go to the public library in Maadi ans hopefully they have some English books because a very big party of teaching early years is reading picture books!

Felucia Ride

I posted some photos on facebook of the first few weeks I've spent here.
Photos
It was wonderful to feel the breeze on my face again. We sailed down the Nile on a Felucia tonight. It was wonderful. It was almost surreal thinking about the history that the Nile holds. It brought me back to grade four, when one of my favourite teachers, Mr. Bell taught us about Egypt and let us draw the Nile on the floor. I never thought I would actually sail down it.

Learning, Learning, Learning.

I saw my first camel on the way from the airport. It was in some sort of yard.

and there are cats everywhere. But not your average cute house cat... nope, gross skinny wild city cats. and they hang out outside of apartments and on top of garbage piles. There are also dogs everywhere. Makes me sort of wish I got my rabies shot... but really they haven't come up to me, so far so good.

There are also many donkeys. They look like they are dead on their feet.

As for being a teacher I'm very interested to see how it goes. Maadi has roundabouts at every intersection. The streets here don't cross, in the middle of the main roundabouts there "parks" or "meeting places". But the interesting thing is they are called Squares, even though they are definitely circles. And the children here live a completely different life style. Earlier today we saw a man (probably the father) run for a taxi away from his kids. They were running after him, and his five(ish) year old son was running after him in the middle of the fairly busy street (comparable to Meadowood drive if you know where that is... but actually it really isn't comparable because if Meadowood drive has three lanes, one for parking and two for driving, this street had one of those lanes and it was used for parking and two way driving).

Ya know how in Winnipeg when you start the taps the cold water is warm for a second then turns cold? In egypt it is cold for a second then turns warm. When I have a shower I use only the cold tap but wish my shower could be colder.

It is Ramadan which means Muslims fast during sunlight hours and pray more often. They prayer often startles me and sounds a little bit scary. i know this is only because I am not used to it so with time it will become "normal".

Speaking if eating (dad, tell grandma) I didn't eat breakfast today. They put a little bit of food in our fridge but the milk comes in what looks like a sunrype juice container and its basically half and half which is sooo thick and gross, and the bread just didn't look that appatizing at all. but i had forgotten about ramadan so then i was starved by lunch. we went to the mall and i ate at Chili's with a girl named Erika who will teach grade nine and ten. She lives quite close and is really nice. At the mall we had about an hour and a half and by the time we finished eating We only had about half an hour. Oh by the way I had chicken tacos which came with rice and black beans. It was great. Anyway so we only had about half an hour left to shop which was definitely not enough time. Carrefour is like walmart there was so much stuff and we definitely still have to convert the money to canadian so we know how much things cost. it is very shocking at first to see the price of thngs. for example my chicken tacos cost 29.99 pounds plus I got a drink so my meal cost about 35 with tip... but really that isn't bad at all because you divide all amounts by five so it was only 7 bucks!
For dinner went to Lucille's turns out they have the "best burger in the world" according to a writer at Time magazine.  I think I agree it was SO delicious and giant... and The restaurant was opened by and owned by a women!
Oh and I learned how to say left, right and straight in arabic which will be VERY helpful for taxis when i finally learn where I am going!

I'm looking forward to posting pictures so you can actually get an idea of all the thing I am talking about!

<3

First Update!

Hi Friends,

I am settling into my apartment in Maadi. It is different than I expected as I only live with one other person in the same building and most people live on their own. My apartment is Huge! The ceilings are high there are doors everywhere and most of the doors lock using old locks and skeleton keys!!

I live further away from where most teachers live which is too bad, but I have a feeling that when I get to know the area it won’t feel as far. I took my first crazy cab ride last night. The man driving spoke no English and had no idea where to go even once I showed him the map. I’ve also notice that even though all the roads are numbered that no one uses them, not taxis or locals... makes things a little difficult. I am going to explore a little later and try and gain a snese of direction (not always my strongest point) so that at least I know what general direct I need to head... eventually I will know where I am going! The streets here really are nuts... but crossing them isn’t as difficult as I pictured. We’ve mastered a technique of sticking our hand out and crossing... basically most aggressive move wins.... however basically every single car is smashed up a little bit!

People here are so friendly they smile and if we ask for help they try usually to no avail however.

It is a learning experience to say the least and the other teachers I have hung out with so far all seem nice and easy going which seems to be a good attitude to have around here!

Oh and its HOT. And humid for all of you who asked I said no... well it is. Apparently for a couple of weeks in august its humid... it was about 40 degrees here today. But its bearable and the ac in my room works so thats great!

I bought a few cleaning products but I need so much more stuff. Oh and the streets are so dirty. My feet are SO DIRTY all the time. Even after walking in my apartment they are gross... the streets are littered with garbage but also just from the sand. And there are uncovered man holes randomly and when they no longer want a sign posted the cut it off so there is 3 inches of metal sticking out of the side walk randomly, the pay phones are in the middle of the sidewalk as well.

Another interesting thing is the construction. It is just EVERYWHERE. They expect the population of Maadi to go up by a million in the next couple of years so apartment blocks are going up everywhere. I haven’t seen any houses at all.

Tomorrow we will go to the school in 6^th of October City to see the building where we will be teaching and talk with the principal.

That’s all for now, hope you are all doing well!

Kailey