Doves on Rooftops

On Sunday I met up with will-be roomate’s Egyptian friend Islam.  We strolled along the Corniche through the old section of Alexandria, and as he pointed out all of the Greek and Roman architecture, as well as a billion and one attractions on the over-sized English map of Alex that I bought at the bookstore, my attention drifted away from the eagerly imposing army of very useful but-entirely-too-much-for-my-brain-to handle-all-at-once information and caught sight of a splendid ball of fiery hibiscus lava melting into the Mediterranean.  My first African sunset!  I am only slightly embarrassed to admit that I immediately recalled the Circle of Life scene from the Lion King with the sun rising over the Pride Lands and thought that it pretty much looked just like that!  Except this one was over water, which totally beats Disney any day!

 

As we continued through the narrow, winding streets that seemed to be where Greek/Roman city planning meets the Hebron Harvest Fair for all the giant stuffed animals (at least they were stuffed and not real!) being sold, I began to notice doves flying overhead and perching on rooftops.  Islam explained to me that Alexandrians are fond of breeding doves.  When I asked him why, he shrugged and said they just like to.  Maybe I am too much a of romantic, but something about living in a city where symbols of love and peace are bred for pleasure just made me smile. 

 

For dinner, I had (not all at once) subiya (vanilla coconut milk), sugar cane juice and popcorn!  All three were equally exciting J 

 

I started teaching on Monday and am still recovering… I don’t want to make any judgments yet, because it has only been two days (today is a national holiday, apparently something to do with a revolution in 1952 hooray!).  For now let’s just say that my main challenges are going to be discipline and figuring out how to teach them critical and creative thinking.  They are about 8 years old, but in terms of behavior I would say they seem more like kindergarteners (that is, at least picturing my own elementary school and the one I worked in up in Alaska).  Also, they are not taught to think creatively or critically the way American students are, so a lot of the activities that I thought of doing are actually going to be too difficult for them.  For example, on Monday I asked them to write a story about a superhero they made up, but they didn’t understand the concept of making up a superhero.   They all wrote about Superman and Batman, and when I tried to tell them that they had to use their imaginations, they were baffled.  Most of them went back to their desks, sat there a while and then brought me back the same story again.  So I am going to have to work on trying to get them to be creative and invent things.  Anyone with ideas please feel free to share! 

 

My landlord came by today to bring me some clothespins because he saw that I had hung my sheets on the clothesline outside and one had blown off onto a tree!  So that was very kind of him.  When he came in, he noted that I had quite a few bug bites, and he asked why I leave me windows open at night.  I said because it was hot!, to which he responded, “oh, then I can get you an air conditioner!”  I think my jaw must have dropped when I heard him say air conditioner.  I had not expected him to offer to get me an a.c., and it certainly never occurred to me to ask!  So we’ll see how that goes.  Then he asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with him.  I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 3:00 in the afternoon was wondering whether he meant tomorrow.  Then he added that he would be leaving in about two hours.  So I am currently awaiting my 5:00 lunch date!

 

More exploring in the days to come, and in the meantime I am occupying myself by trying to learn two main things: key words in the Egyptian Arabic phrasebook and how to cook.