Friday, October 31, 2008
I love my job!!
There were some experiences this week that made me doubt my teaching skills (one of those moments when you feel the kids just dont get it!), but on Thursday one thing happened. We were watching a Barnaby Bear video, part of our Social Studies curriculum and one of my little boys looked at me and said: "Miss Mocanu, you are a very good teacher!!" He just made my day!!!
Planet Gaby 1
We also had an open evening for the parents to come in and have a look at our classroom etc. Earlier during the week, one of the parents of our kids asked me: "So, what are you doing on Wednesday?" I thought she was asking me if i have any plans after school, and i replied: "Nothing!" She went: "GABYYYYYY!! How come? It is the Open day!!" I gave her the weirdest and stupidest look of all, because i had completely forgotten about that!!
It all went great (i think!); apart from a small detail: open day was on Wednesday and on Wednesdays i have PE the last thing of the day, so i just went to school in PE clothes. Right when we left the flat, Nichole said: you're not wearing that for the Open Evening! I said: yes, of course i will, because i didnt bring extra clothes to change. When i got to school, everyone was dressed smart, so i kind of felt bad all day. I did go back home after classes to get changed!!
I always do stupid things like this!! I guess i need to be more formal and pay more attention to details etc. I call this "Planet Gaby" because i feel i am in my own world at times, with rules and ways that others cant understand.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Ethiopian food!!!!!
Of course, the beef was too spicy for me (me and spices = not good friends), the lentils had just enough spices that i could take, the sheep stomach i couldnt eat, just because our Romanian "ciorba de burta" - which is soup with cow's stomach and i find it disgusting, although i have never tried it. It was all served on a pita bread, which was more or less like a pancake or crepe. I did enjoy the meal and had more than enough.
After the meal we were served Ethiopian coffee - we were presented the whole process - frying it etc. Sara's friend has made it for us. You can see her in the pic - she is wearing an Ethiopian traditional costume. Coffee was served 3 times - that's the way they do it in Ethiopia. I had it just once, because it was very strong (just like my mom makes it) and my stomach is too sensitive!!
We enjoyed the meal very much and the whole day we spent together!! We listened to music and tried some salsa moves. :D - me= disaster!!
Sara has braided my hair and it looked pretty. We had Barbara (Ellien's friend from Germany) with us and it was cool that we were all from so many different countries!!!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
An afternoon at Al Azhar
Sunday, October 19, 2008
TerminANTor
Saturday morning.... what i thought to be a calm morning (trying to enjoy my day off), turned into a chaos; i went out of my room, thinking i will have a nice breakfast but to my surprise the girls (Ellien and Nichole) were bouncing around the bathroom, taking everything out of there. Then the news came: there are ants in the bathroom. I was not surprised, as we have ants in our house most of the time anyway - it is part of Egypt; it's like one of those packages you get - 3 in1; The news was that we actually have LOTS of ants in our bathroom. I thought: we'll just spray them and it wil all be ok, coz we had the same problem in the kitchen. Only that, this time, the ants were coming out of the wall.... we sprayed inside the wall, untill we had no more spray, we couldnt breathe anymore etc. The ants kept coming out of the wall; they were bungee-jumping out of the wall, because of the spray - poor creatures, they needed air, but to their surprise, even more spray was waiting for them outside the wall - actually death was waiting for them! Me and Ellien didnt know what else to do - Nichole went to get more spray and we just sat there, feeling like Terminator or TerminANTor; in the end we put scotch tape on the crack and they died there. Some of them, the smart ones, i assume, started coming out on the other sie of the wall which is the kitchen wall. So, the "party" starts again - let's go into the kitchen now and do the same thing.
It was just terrible!!!!! There were like, at least 100 dead ants on the bathroom floor. It was ok, in the end - we killed them all.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Question mark
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Cultural shock ... Round no ..?
I now realize how much i miss being home, how much i miss friends who call to say hello and check i am ok, that insist when it comes to details ... I miss that so much!!! I feel lonely although i have met a lot of people here and i socialized a lot ... but it is all so different! It is just a surface, as it is not quite "quality interaction", but more of "forced interaction" as i call it. I bump into people everywhere, so i cant really avoid them .. i have to chat with them and they have to chat with me ...
I do miss Romania and Romanians .. people i can be myself around and not having to think twice before i do or say something (which i kind of started doing here in the past week); it is not until you leave your culture and environment that you realize how different you are and what a pain in the ass you can be for the people around you ... who dont really understand you.
I got a bit upset the other day, thinking that everybody around me is so different and so American/British and i thought i should change, coz i am a circle that doesnt fit in their square shape; but then i thought: hold on a minute, why should i change?? We are all foreigners in a country that is not ours; why should i give up my culture and my individuality for one that is not mine, and more important, not of the country i live in?
I already speak a language that is not my native language, so that is a compromise for me; why should i compromise more? Dont think i am willing to do that! I feel i am getting a bit stubborn now and maybe inflexible ... but this is how i feel.
I have lived abroad before, but never encountered such struggles. I was even in an environment with more cultures than here, but i havent felt, not even a single time, that i had to abandon my culture or be someone i am not!
I admit, i am not perfect, but nobody is!!! I admit there are things about me that i dont like either ... i admit i can be very annoying to certain people ... i admit there are people who might not like me (not at home!!! i know u love me, guys!!! LOL) ... i admit i am not the smartest person (although i tend to think that my way of doing things is the best way - that is why i tend to take full responsability of things and i dont delegate);
BUT i know who i am, i know my identity, i know where i belong, whom i belong to ... and in the end, i should care less about my culture and my country because my citizenship is somewhere else!
I like to say i am from everywhere! I could say i am from Romania, but i dont feel my home is there; in the past 6 yrs my home was wherever i was, in whatever country/city i was in; i was like a snail - carrying her house with her, but i do know where my real home is.
Where is yours?
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Living in Egypt
It is rather difficult, being away from home, from friends in a new place .... having to deal with so many cultures at a time, when working in an international environment (like me) and living in an international flat.
I like people, i get my energy from being surrounded by them, but sometimes it is just too much for me, and as Wendy says, we all need "cave time". For eg, we had a felluca (still dont know which is the right way to spell that word) ride on Thursday with a bunch of new people - i hated it!!!!! too many new people at a time!!! i cant interract with new people!!! and we were on the Nile for 2 hours!!! it was dark and cold... i wanted to go back!!! Luckily i sat next to Bronwyn and her friend, Tracy and we kept making jokes about certain food that was on the table!! LOL
This weekend i painted the pipes in our bathroom and kitchen; actually i need to do it again, so that it will look better ... probably next weekend, as this week is already full. I just wanted to be in my own world, on "planet Gaby" and i love painting (not pipes, painting beautiful sceneries, but sometimes pipes are good to paint too!) ... so i thought that is a good way to be in my own world. Thoughts and thoughts kept running through my mind about various things, about Egypt, flat, work, home, Christmas ... China, summer etc.
After being in my own world for most of the day, Wendy called and invited me over. So, i went to her place, had a nice glass of white wine, got a bit dizzy ... and socialized; Sarah and John came plus Kathy ... so, even though i didnt feel like having company, it turned out to be a relaxing evening.
One conclusion after the multitude of thoughts today: i might need to change!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Smiles which brighten my day
The Citadel
We decided to be tourists every weekend; so our plan is to go sightseeing every Friday or Saturday. This last time, we went with Sarah and John to the Citadel.
It took us a while to find a parking space, but the good thing is that we got to visit this place.
The entrance fee is 40 LE – and we paid a guy to guide us around and tell us the story behind the Citadel. It was all very interesting … I will not go into details now, as I am not in the mood, but we took some great shots there.
A corner of Heaven: Anafora
We've been looking fwd to that weekend, after being busy at school with the children, plus planning etc. It was nice to be with people, get some time off, relax.. talk, enjoy the nature ...
Anafora is a retreat center - it has a Coptic church there and everybody who works there is a christian - that is surprising, as Egypt is a muslim country; i have to admit it was nice to spend time in that quiet atmosphere. I think i saw more unveiled women in the 2 days that i spent there than in the whole month spent in Cairo.
Anafora has its own farm with cows and sheep, they make soap and some other things. We had a beautiful room, very bedouin style, with a mosquito net that made me feel like a princess. There is a nice swimming pool as well - i really enjoyed that!!! We had Barnaby bear with us in Anafora - he's part of my class, so he had to join me on this trip.
Nichole was saying she could live there; there are even corn fields - that reminds her of home!! no doubt she'd love to live there. i guess it is a nice place to go and relax, as it is far from the pollution and noise of Cairo, but i still preffer the city. I would get bored there!!
Apparently, it costs only 50 LE/day there with 3 meals included (buffet style). There was plenty of food - Egyptian food (not my favorite, but i have to admit i like it - i am not crazy about it, but it's ok). Anafora is a nice place to go and relax if you like peace and quietness etc.