school visit

Wednesday I visited Marwa's school for the first time. It is the Egyptian Girl's School and was opened in 1935. It is a private school and the students are from well off families. They wear uniforms - gray for the winter - which they all complain about. They were very excited to meet me and stood each time I entered the room! The questions they asked were a bit superficial (music, food, etc) and they were shy about using their English. They shouldn't be shy though since their English is very clear. I also was introduced to nearly every adult in the school - the departments chairs, principals and headmistress. We even had a small ceremony at which I was presented with a plaque commemorating my visit to the school.

School runs from 8:30 to 2:00. The students stay in one class while the teachers move each period. The classes meet for two 30 minute segments each day, but these times vary from day to day. The school is preparing for exhibition day and speech day, so everyone is very busy.

After school we returned home for lunch. We had chicken and Mahshy. It was much better food than we had in any restaurant in Cairo. Mahshy is like tiny stuffed cabbage rolls with rice inside. Yum!

I was able to Skype with my 6th period IB class. It was 11:445 their time and 5:45 ours. We had a nice chat and they asked great questions. Thanks Chris. My only regret is that I said I did not need it recorded, but afterward Marwa said she would like to have a copy to show her students.

In the evening Marwa and I headed to the mall. We enjoyed the casual walk and did some people watching. While smoking is not permitted in retail - people do it anyways - very annoying. After a milkshake, we headed home to find out that the internet was down and I could not blog or upload photos. Off to bed around 1 am.