Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Ma'a Salama

Ma'a Salama is arabic for goodbye.  If my father's prayers are answered, this will be the last time I use those words.  We are leaving Egypt today, with the only return plans being a short stop to pick up our luggage on our way back to Canada.  Goodbyes are never easy, whether they are at the end of a night out, a trip to visit your parents, or a school year.  Saying goodbye to family and friends as we left Canada was really tough.  After ten months in Egypt, saying goodbye to friends here is tough as well.  Sorry for no pictures in this blog, Tom's laptop got backed before I could put the pictures in.

The most mundane tasks and events gain prestige when it is their last time.  Awww, this is the last day I will yell at my math class.  Awww, this is my last exam I will mark in Egypt.  Awww, this is the last time I will walk down a crowded street with no sidewalks.  Seriously though, we've had some sad lasts over the past week.  The last Maadi runners run, the last Egyptian cooking lesson, and the last meal with new friends here.

The end also brought a lot of firsts for us, as we tried to cram everything Cairo we could into our last week.  Friday after our (awww) last group run, we headed to the famous Egyptian museum, which contains the world's largest number of Pharaonic antiquities.  Saturday we headed to Alexandria, a city you likely saw on the news during "Unrest in Egypt".  More traditionally known as Egypt's former capital, founded by Alexander the Great, it is safe now.  We were able to spend a day having coffee/shakes next to the famous library, soaking in the Mediterranean coast, visiting a fairytale-like castle and enjoying our (awww) last fiteer (Egyptian pizza).

Sunday was back to work for me, but we took advantage of the evening for one last Egyptian cooking lesson:  soups and dessert.  The lentil soup was awesome, and I've never met a dessert I didn't like.  The teacher and the rest of the slaves (a.k.a. cooking students) weren't so bad either.  We are so happy to be heading home with a small repertoire of Egyptian recipes to share with you all.

The fun didn't stop Monday.  After work, we headed to the free sufi dancer show in the Khan el Khalili market.  We shopped a little, ate kushary (Egypt's national dish) for our (awww) last time, and headed to the show.  They performed in the courtyard of an old mosque, a beautiful setting for the show.  The musicians were outstanding and the sufi dancers spun non-stop for longer than you can imagine.  I found the show altogether mesmerizing, and can't believe it took us ten months to go see it.  It's better than missing it entirely I guess.

Tuesday was supposed my last day at work, and it was the length of nearly two days.  With grad in the evening, I stayed at school until nearly 10pm.  Grad was nice though, and outdoors (feasible in a country that doesn't get rain), and I was happy to say proper goodbyes to the small group of grade 12 students I taught all year in chemistry then physics.  I think grad night is the one night each that I recognize some parent-like instincts within me.  I just can't help be proud of the sometimes goofy, sometimes hardworking, sometimes drive you up the wall, and always remarkable students I've taught as they go on to bigger and better things.  I even got a personal thank you in this year's valedictory speech, so I felt pretty good about my year with these kids.

Wednesday Tom and I were hosting a farewell breakfast for our friends on staff, as most people, us included, were leaving Wednesday night.  Unfortunately, I had to come into school to guarantee our flight back to Canada.  For those of you who are interested, we are scheduled to land in Canada on Thursday, August 11th, at 3:50pm. 

Tom hosted breakfast and said farewells this morning without me.  I guess that's okay, I kinda hate goodbyes.  Our last (and hardest) will be tonight as we go to a bbq with our running leader, cooking instructor, and very close friend, Mr./Papa Mohsen.  He has kindly offered us a last meal, and a ride to the airport, as we head to Thailand tonight.  

The adventure continues...

Friday, June 24, 2011

June Jet Lag

What time is it?  This is a question that most of us learned to answer in grade one or two, however it has been very difficult for Tom and I to answer lately.  I guess that will happen if you take a round trip across seven time zones in a period of about as many days.  The passing of one of the greatest women I've ever known, my Granny, sent Tom and I on an impromptu trip to Canada last week.  High school exams brought us back to Cairo only a week later.  It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks of sadness, laughter, family, friends, and far too many airports (6 if you're counting).

Just a few days before the sad news brought us to Canada, and more specifically to Metcalfe where the internet sometimes barely works, I swear I was writing a blog about our previous weekend in the Fayoum oasis, a region about 2 hours south of Cairo.  We went there mostly to visit the Valley of the Whales, a 45 million year old ocean (now desert) containing some unique and significant fossils.  We also did a long run in another stunning valley, and shopped for local pottery in a very quaint village known for its pottery school and numerous pottery shops.

We left Cairo early-ish Friday morning with about a dozen people from our running group, and went straight to the Valley of the Whales.  This dried ocean was the site of remarkable rock formations, fossils, and mangrove roots.  You could almost picture yourself walking along the ocean floor, covered in water, and you really wished you were covered in water, as you walked through the open desert in the hot sun.  Apart from the fascinating landscape, this valley contained many whale bone displays, with informative explanations in small sheltered huts.  It turns out that the fossils at this site show whales that used to have legs, to travel from land to water.  This is one of only two sites in the world where this has been found.  Pretty cool for a place we had never heard of despite living in Cairo for nearly a year.

We were fortunate to have a runner from our group with a cottage near this valley, so we spent the late afternoon, evening, and overnight at her place.  The pool was fresh (Tom's word for friggin' cold), and the food was plentiful and delicious as always.  We slept up on the balcony beneath the stars, and got up earlier than you should on a weekend away for a morning run.  The truck we'd taken there wouldn't start, so 12 of us piled into one SUV.  Luckily a few of the runners are very fast and very slim!

This was a beautiful run.  It was in a valley called Wadi Rayan, with a view of a small natural lake.  The air was clean, there was no traffic, and the scenery was breathtaking.  There were more sandstone rock formations all around, with a path down the middle perfect for our running.  We ran for over an hour and a half, but it didn't feel any longer than an hour run in Cairo. 

After a swim, the usual Maadi runners breakfast, and a second swim, we headed out to the village for shopping.  Apparently about 40 years ago a Swiss woman came to the area and fell in love with an Egyptian.  She got married and stayed there, and to help boost the local economy, she opened a pottery school.  Many of the students have opened pottery shops in the village, with prices far far better than you could find in Canada.  We bought a large bowl that will match our house in Arnprior perfectly.  I know that some of you are happier than others to hear about us making plans for home near Ottawa.  No matter where we go now, our home will contain some pieces of Egypt.