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Published: February 2nd 2008
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Sharm El Sheik
beachy resort filled with foreigners hanging out around cairo
So I was busy catching up on emails this morning, and realized that I have slowly been getting into the habit of just writing individual emails instead of keeping up with the blog. Everyone seems to still be keeping up with it, so I figured that I might as well write it all down at once!
First, Ill go waayy back to mid-january after I returned from my Greek adventures. Anna ( my roomate) and Courtney (another teacher) and I all went with one of Courtney's friends to a place called El Gouna. It is on the way to Hurgada (I have written before about this place) Anyway, it is a totally artificial little resort town (sorta a cross between a major golf resort and a seniors retirement complex) that is owned by some big tiem egyptian man...yes thats right, he owns the whole freakin town. Courtney's friend has a great little villa there, so we got to go spend a couple nights out there and check it out. We got a ride with one of his friends and being the child of my mother, my first question was " is he a
good driver???" hahah well... what was supposed to be about a 3 hour ride was actually a 4 hour drive (with no traffic) because this guy drove so slow!!!! Seriously, the road to El Gouna is 3 hours of prairie like road, flat, straight and empty and he was driving like 80 km. But anyway, once we arrived we had a blast! You really don't feel like your in egypt at all, which seems to be a common theme to alot of the vacation spots around here. In fact, I feel like Im starting to lose some of my hard-earned arabic skills because everyone seems to speak english. Anyway, the villa was great, overlooked a nice man-made lake and beach. We just hung out on the beach, played some beach volleyball and checked out a few of the restaurants and pubs. The great part about this place is that its targeted towards retired ex-pats so it lacks the tourist trap stuff. We didn't have to barter once, nor were there any tourist shops at all. Just high end botiques selling european goods. Courtney's friend was flying to Paris and the other was going camping, so the three of us hopped
Sharm El Sheik
main touristy "city" area...filled with restaurants..and foreigners on a bus to head back to Cairo after 2 nights. We had complained about the slow speed on the way there, but it was nothing compared to the bus. It took the bus 6 hours to get back to downtown Cairo!!! BAHHHH!!! luckily we were on the longest christmas vacation ever (about 26 days i think) so we still had the weekend back at home to gear up for back to school.
While we were on vacation, our bathroom was supposed to be renovated. If you go way back to my first or second blog you can see a picture of our bathroom and see why this was necessary..or ask mom, bernard or brad about the awful showers! so really it wasnt a surprise that they werent finished by the time we returned! but what was a surprise was how ugly the bathroom turned out! We got new tile floor, new counter and sink and a new toilet...well you would think they just closed their eyes and spun around the room to pick each piece because it is the most random bathroom ever and they left the bright blue tub and blue, tiles walls...hideous! but what was more
Sharm El Sheik
camels and beach surprising was the stink going on in our place..at first we thought it was the workers (who were sitting on our couch smoking and watching a soccer match on a tv that they brought themselves, when we came home!!!!!!!!!!) but then the mould started to grow on the wall and we realized that was the smell. Something upstairs had expoloded and leaked into the cement/brick walls and it started to peel like a bad burn.. it was discusting! Our boss got some workers in to fix it...but by fix it I mean they scraped at the peeling paint for a few minutes and then PAINTED OVER IT!!! so anyway the mould is growing back now...we are now shopping for a new apartment.
So...Back to school was definitely a shock to the system after being away for so long. The 545am wakeup the first Sunday morning was rough. Luckily, for the most part, the kids seemed to be picking up right where they left off in class and things just felt easier. The accreditation team from BC came the second week back. This accreditation has been hanging over our heads since the beginning of december, with the pressure of impressing
Bedouin camp
after the camel ride you come here for some bedouin tea the BC ministry of education into granting us our accredited status again. Thankfully both Ed and Brian were wonderful and very impressed with both the teachers and the school itself. Everyone was very proud and felt very relieved that it had gone so smoothly. Although, I must say that they both came in to check out my class and never once touched "the binder"... The Binder is the ginormous binder full of proof of our teaching to the Ministry Guidlines. It contains a detailed year plan for each course that we teach ( I teach 12!!!), a daily lesson plan for each class that is referenced with the year plan to make sure that it matches, lists of the Prescribed Learning Outcomes, our grades etc for each student, a sample of low, med and high writing from students in each class (thankfully this isnt necessary for the PE classes), a section with our assessment stuff (rubrics etc) and a bunch of stuff with our ESL practices.. anyway it took months to really compile this binder and organize it etc...and believe me we didnt do these binders for our own health!!!! THEY DIDNT EVEN LOOK AT MINE!! oh well, I will
kamloops?
nope! Sharm.. lug that thing into any job interview I guess and wow them with the amount of paper work that can be created for one year.
One last adventure to write home about is the Hash . I have been meaning to go on this hash since september and finally got around to it a couple weeks ago. They are called the Hash House Harriers and they are international, with groups all over the world, even van. Basically its a group of people who meet every week to go on different runs/walks together. Someone different sets the trail each week by leaving a trail of lentils, flour or any other cheap food substance and the group follows it to the end where everyone has a beer and socializes...I went with Paul, Sara, and Melissa (one of the other teachers). We had a blast! It was more of a hike than a walk because thye usually go to the Wadi Degla desert. (check the pics) it was beautiful and we will definitely return!
So anyway its now February and its getting to be the time where I make some life decisions about what I want to do next year. They
are really trying to build this school and its sports and a new indoor gymnasium is in the works, and a full size soccer pitch is projected for next year. I am getting some awesome experience doing so many things that are just not feasible for a first year teacher in BC. Stickin around for another year is for sure the best decision professionally as the BC school district is not going anywhere. Of course, financially I am surprisingly still saving tons of cash despite all the travelling etc that I have been doing. Im just not sure I want to be in Cairo for another full year. It has been unreal having Paul and Sara here. I have known Paul for over 4 years and being able to talk about stuff from home and stories from the past has really made things more comfortable. Both of them are really fitting in well with all the teachers and many of them have commented on what a great addition they are to BCCIS! They are committed to returning to Canada next year, which is too bad, as this would definitely help me stay here. On the other hand, I miss everyone
at home soooo sooo much! I miss the trees and the ocean. I miss being able to walk anywhere without getting stared at. I miss sport camps! hahaha snowboarding, female soccer as the norm not the exception, FAMILY and FRIENDS of course!!!!!
alrighty, well check out the pics, some of them are totally unrelated to my blog!!
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Kelley O
non-member comment
Sounds like they even have Kyle Shentons in Egypt......thats rough, luckily everything else...minus the bathroom debacle sounds great!